Do you like for Others what you like for yourself?

When we buy a gift for our friend, do we buy articles we would genuinely buy for ourselves or do we pick something just for the sake of it?

Did You Know that we should love for our brothers what we love for ourselves?

It is attested on the authority of Anas b. Malik that the Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) observed: “one amongst you believes (truly) till one likes for his brother or for his neighbour that which he loves for himself.” (Muslim,72)

When we sincerely give people what we love, the good-will reflects on them, and they will really value our gift – not because of its cost or worth, but because of our pure intentions behind the giving. It makes them feel special. The heart feels content when we ask Allah to accept our sincere deeds and it increases love between the two.

Similarly, when we hear someone doing well in their life or achieving what we ourselves wanted but never got, do we feel a sense of sadness or jealousy – or do we feel happy for him/her? Instead of having doubts about our own loss or that our du’as response is delayed, we must be happy along with them. This would please Allah SWT and increase the chances of our du’as being answered faster, with more barakah. On the other hand, if we develop doubts or feel jealous, it may decrease or annul our chances of Allah blessing us with the same.

We must always think good of our Creator, thank Him for the blessings, and face trials with patience, hoping for the reward, which would reach us sooner or later – inshaAllah.

For example, when we have two items to be shared between us and a friend or family member, why not give them happiness by giving them the better of the two? Doing so would make us feel pure and peaceful at heart, and earn us the reward and pleasure of Allah SWT and inshaAllah – He would bless us with something even better, in the form of a gift or some other disguised blessing.

Let us start being truer to ourselves and sacrifice our desires for our brothers and sisters!
This is the very essence of Islamic brotherhood, that we feel happy for each others’ success and never doubt the mercy of Allah by the success or failure of others.

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