Friendship: How your Friends Can Make You Succeed

by AbdulWahab Mubaraq

'And hold fast, all of you together to the rope of Allah, and do not separate'
(3:103)

In life, everyone needs somebody he will always associate with, share his or her problems with and find solution to. A friend is an individual who knows you well and you know well. He/she is a person you have regard for with affection and trust. Friends are individuals who you surround yourself with, stick and stand by you in both hard and good times. They largely determine your progress and success wherever you are both spiritually and ethically. To succeed in whatever you are doing, you must choose a friend whose goals and ambition is similar and coincides with yours.  There is an old proverb that says “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are.” This therefore shows that when one is choosing a friend, one has to be very careful and cautious because if one has bad friends then one will be surely be judged as a bad person irrespective of his or her personality and vice versa. The prophet of Allah (peace be upon him) was reported to have said “A man is upon the religion of his friend, and there is no good in friendship with one who does not see for you what he sees for himself ( Bukhari and Muslim). 

Also in Q5 V57-58, Allah says “O believers, do not make friends with those who mock and make a sport of your faith, who were given the Book before you, and with unbelievers; and fear God if you truly believe; (Nor make friends with) those who, when you call (the faithful) to prayer, make mock of it and jest, because they do not understand.”

Therefore, the person one surrounds oneself with matter, the fact is if one surrounds his or herself with positive person, one will be positive in nature and vice versa.

As a rational individual, you must always surround yourself with those people who inspire, motivate, support, encourage, stimulate and arouse you towards positivity (in attaining goodness in this world and the next). Most importantly, these people (your friends) should be individuals who stirrup and boost your morale and confidence that you can reach your full potential and attain taqwa.

In Quran (9:71) Allah asserted “And the believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another, they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong”

Bad friends discourage you from doing something you want to, prevent you from doing good deeds and engaging in misdeeds, they tell you that you can’t achieve a particular goal or attain a particular status; they always drain and weaken you telling you that you can’t be who you want to be. They tell you that you don’t need to stress and work hard, that instead you need to enjoy yourself when you suppose to be discovering the potentials. They make you waste your time on useless acts. The fact is a good friend will never be inimical to you.

There is something that is certain which is the day of judgement, numerous verses in the quran and hadith narrated the ordeal on this day, in the Quran it is has many names including being known as a day of regret. A day in which man will wish he has done many things he never did and had all the opportunity of doing.  He or she may end up in paradise or hell as a result of a friend. Be selective of who is your friend and choose friend wisely.

In Quran (Q70, V10), Allah described the day of judgement as the day “in which no friend inquires after another friend whereas in (Q44, V41) the day is described as “The day when a friend will help no friend in the least, nor will they be helped”. Choose and be a friend to a good companion so that you can attain the ultimate goal of this life lest you be a looser because of a friend. Be cautious of a friend who will make you watch football at the expense of your taraweeh or make you watch movies in the day thus preventing you from missing Quran recitation or missing the Islamic lecture you had wanted to attend.

A good and a bad companion are like the bearer of musk and the one who pumps out filth respectively. As for the bearer of musk, he will either give you a share, you will smell perfumed air, or you will purchase something from him as for one who pumps out filth, he will either burn your clothes or you will smell something filthy from him (Bukhari and Muslim)

Bad friends make you hopeless when you are hopeful, fool you instead of feeding you, limit and impede your voyage to the dreamland. They disallow you from discovering the potential in you. It is therefore obvious that to succeed as an individual, one must surround yourself with good friends especially good ones all the time. To succeed, it is high time to correct and evaluate yourself.  Are your friends, individuals who will show you the way and not the stray?

Finally, keep yourself with the best of companions who remember their lord and endure with them. Q18 V 28, Allah says “Persevere with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His magnificence. Do not turn your eyes away from them, seeking the splendor of this world, and do not follow him whose heart We have made oblivious to Our remembrance, who follows his own lust and exceeds the bound.”

Always surround yourself with companions with good opinion

Mubaraq Abdulwahab is a 500 level agronomist

Comments

Post a Comment

The Mind Builders

Telephone & WhatsApp: +2348132522291

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/TheMindBuildersTMB/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themindbuilders/The

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MindBuildersTMB


Email: themindbuildersteam@gmail.com

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Popular posts from this blog

ABOUT US: THE MIND BUILDERS

Image
About Us The Mind Builders is the brainchild of Yusuff Ademola Adesina who is a graduate of Psychology and presently pursuing the Degree of (Doctor of Optometry) at Bayero University Kano. The team consists of members who are university graduates and undergraduates studying in different fields of education. Mission : The mission of the team is to:   ➢ Engage and develop diverse young people to positively impact the world.    ➢ Promote open youth-to-youth communication.  ➢ Enhance leadership development among young people.   ➢ Foster multicultural bridge building.    ➢ Empower youth with self-actualization skills.   Execution of Mission : The team will engage in different activities to attain its mission. These activities, however, are categorized into two: short-term and long-term execution plans.     Short-Term Execution    ➢ Writing articles related to youth development by interested volunteer writers.    ➢ Periodic online coalition meeting to explore educational, p
Read more

POSITION OF THE LAW ON THE USE OF HIJAB: A CASE STUDY OF A NIGERIAN MUSLIM FEMALE DENIED BEING CALLED TO THE BAR

Image
by O. G. Chukkol One of the challenges Muslim females are facing is the wearing of hijab. Hijab is a veil they use in covering their body. These challenges are found even in public institutions. The proscription of the use of veils is normally done through rules made in those institutions. For example there has been complaint that hijab is not allowed in Nigerian Law School, it happened also in Kwara, Lagos, Osun State etc where students were not allowed to wear hijab to schools. This article seeks to establish that prohibiting Muslim females from wearing veils in public institutions is unconstitutional. Whether the position is the same in private institutions or not is outside the scope of this article. To clear a preliminary point, I am a Christian and shall by the grace of God die a Christian. This work is based on my little understanding of the law and love for rule of law. The work is also informed by my agreement with the words of Martin Luther King Jr. who once said:
Read more

THE VALUE OF POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM

Image
Authored by Munirah Abdullah (D_Dignified_Muslimah) Our self-esteem is instilled in us during our youth. Being constantly criticized by family,friends, and society tends to slowly strip us of our feelings of self worth. Our low self esteem strips us of our self confidence to make even the smallest of decisions. Improving our self esteem increases our confidence and it is the first step towards finding happiness and a better life. Self-esteem is known as an attitude toward the self and is similar to a judgment of oneself. It means to reflect a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own strength and weaknesses. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions. It is self esteem that provokes the feelings of triumph, despair, pride and shame. The self-concept is what we think about the self. Self-esteem on the other hand, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, is how we feel about it. It is the quality (positive or negative) that renders somet
Read more

HOW TO DEAL WITH DIVORCE & BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS

Image
by Munirah Abdullah (d_dignified_Muslimah) Editor: Tanimola Sherif Merriam Webster defines the word ‘Divorce’ as ‘to dissolve the marriage of (a spouse) by judgment or decree of divorce’. The word shockingly sinks into my brain each time I meet a new friend or a stranger and get to discover, after getting affectionately glued to each other, that his/her parents are divorced. To be honest I hardly see that glimpse of happiness in their eyes. It is far removed from the feelings that will naturally envelope one when one hears of his mum being delivered of a baby, or the news of a wedding ceremony. The countenance and expression on their faces appear stale like ‘it happens, that's life’. In this era of gigantic world civilization compounded by feminism, women tend to perceive themselves as being equal to men, regurgitating expressions such as ‘what a man can do, a woman can do better.’ This has undoubtedly made the percentage of divorced people to be astronomically high. Alth
Read more

WHY DOES ISLAM OPPRESS WOMEN?

Image
TECHNICAL RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAM (Episode 1): WHY DOES ISLAM OPPRESS WOMEN? by Yusuff Ademola A. The word ‘Islam’ has been negatively associated with terrorism, violence, aggression, extremism, hardships, deprivation, and imprisonment in these present times. This negative view has been strengthened by the actions of terrorists and ‘orientalists’, who in no way represent the true essence of the religion.   They have hijacked the religion and consequent media attention for their own selfish, evil goals. Hence, the global opinion tends towards viewing Islam as a terroristic and extremist religion. Most of the times, you would see people arguing that Islam oppresses women; it permits men to marry more than one woman and commands women to use Hijaab. Alternatively, they would claim Islam legalises baseless killing of innocent people – by the way of religious enforcement or apostasy. However, are these really true about Islam?   Does Islam really oppress
Read more

MARRIAGE: THE TRAGEDY OF MARITAL ABUSE

Image
Yusuff Ademola Adesina ( adesinayusuffademola@gmail.com ) The history of human society is nothing but the description of the evolution and diffusion of various institutions designed toward perpetuation, maintenance and survival of society. Marriage institution occupies a unique place in the realm of institutions. It is instrumental in perpetuating human society through regulations of conjugal and filial ties. Marriage is as old as creation of the world. Hence it is no doubt that marriage exists in virtually every known society.  There is a growing consensus among researchers that marriage is an important institution. Families built on marriage are, on average, healthier, wealthier and more stable than other familial forms. On this account, it was concluded from a series of evidence         that marriage is an important social good, associated with an impressively broad array of positive outcomes for children and adults alike. However, despite the fact that marriage is a h
Read more

HOW TO WRITE AN EXCELLENT RESEARCH PAPER: STEP-BY-STEP GUIDELINE

Image
A research paper is a comprehensive academic essay that students are required to submit before the end of each semester. This assignment is an amalgamation of the student’s total learning and attempts to test their understanding of an academic course from all possible angles. It is designed to test one’s ability to research, collect information, write, compile, analyze and interpret a topic. No matter what field of study you are in, you will mostly like be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. It is an integral component of your academic evaluation; which will definitely require you to do some kind of research for one subject or another. Unfortunately, the knowledge of research writing has slipped into oblivion for many students. They show excessive consternation whenever they are given assignments, and consider it a burden and a tiresome task because it requires a significant amount of time, effort and organization. On account of all above, this book is compi
Read more

WHY DOES ISLAM COMMAND KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE?

Image
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ISLAM (Episode 2): WHY DOES ISLAM COMMAND KILLING OF INNOCENT PEOPLE? By Yusuff Ademola Adesina It saddens my heart to hear my religion- the religion of the whole mankind, Islam- being ostracized in various forms by people around me. Last week, a full bearded man sporting a jumper trouser jumped a queue at the bank I was at, then a misinformed lady beside me commented, “hmmm. all the ‘mallam’. They are Muslims. If you dare correct them for jumping queues, they will massacre you!” Upon hearing this, I was heatedly ruminating about several questions running through my mind ready to pour out. However, not to be a vested party, I want us to continue addressing the issues surrounding misconceptions about Islam, the social stereotype etc. By the way, it should be borne in mind at this junction that not all ‘muslims’ are Muslims . We have factors such as culture, personality, social definition and so on, having great bearing on the type of Muslim they are, be it
Read more

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A CLASSICAL, STRIVING MUSLIM

Image
by Yusuff Ademola Adesina In the present century wherein the world morality has turned on its head, the characteristics of a true Muslim as defined in the orthodox teachings of his religion (Islam) can be likened to an oasis in the desert. It is the only place where trees grow in the desert and the sight of which gives a sense of pleasure and an air of inviting hospitality to the desert travelers. The character of a striving Muslim is distinct and balanced, because he is the embodiment of the illustrious guidance of Allah, drinking deeply from its pure spring and following the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Hence, it is no surprise that a Muslim is expected to be an epitome of all good character as the Prophet (SAW) said he was sent to perfect noble character traits. However, many Muslims are negligent of the ‘Muslim Personality’ as Islam has wisely deemed it to be. Sadly, there exists a lacuna between what Islam wants for its followers and what they actually want
Read more

5 Simple Ways to Become Productive and Successful

Image
by Yusuff Ademola A. Virtually everyone is most concerned about success. However, not everyone can succeed except those who know the secrets behind success! The ponderous contributor to success is nothing but PRODUCTIVITY. This is the reason numerous writers and readers are obsessed with the topic ‘Productivity’.   In this digital age, staying on task and avoiding distraction have become harder to accomplish. Therefore, it is essential that you get a guide towards achieving productivity in your everyday tasks. Here are 5 simple ways to become more productive and successful: 1.       Focus on yourself in the morning : Many people begin their day by checking their emails and other social accounts. Be careful of this, perhaps it is a big productivity killer. Start your day with spiritually productive activities – if you are a Muslim, observe the Fajr Prayer and recite the morning Sunnah adhkaar; these are true stress relievers and energy boosters which never fail to make you feel b
Read more