Sadullah Khan – 13th Post Witr Talk Ramadaan 14442023
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of negative criticism in the face of criticism and how it can be constructive or even offensive. They emphasize the need for individuals to be knowledgeable and just in how they convey their views. The speaker also mentions the importance of finding the right balance between constructive and negative criticism in one's life.
AI: Summary ©
We continue our theme
moral guidance from everyday experiences.
We begin by reflecting on a verse of
the holy Quran where allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
in surahun nisa
speaks about those who are actively involved
and then those who are purely critical of
those who are involved, those who may not
be involved but who are armed critics,
they are not equal.
Do Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
rewards each one according to the efforts and
the deeds and Allah says
Here Allah speaks about those who strive
whether it be on the battlefield or whether
it be in the promotion of the faith,
a promotion of goodness, or in the charity,
or in the efforts of enhancing the community,
or striving and struggling for what is good
and just,
never can those who are sitting back and
observing be equal to those who are directly
involved
in the engagement.
And in this competitive verse,
Allah makes reference
to those among the people of faith who
strive actively
in comparison to those who may not strive
actively.
And, of course,
excused are those who are unable
to be able to engage because of some
other impediments.
But Allah certainly prefers
those who are actively engaged
over those who surpassively
doing nothing.
I wish to focus on the armchair critics,
of which there are very many.
Because in today's ever connected world,
easily accessible to social media,
where anybody can be in touch with everybody,
criticism
is
very cheap and criticism is everywhere.
And those who are tend to be most
critical
are those who are not to be found
when
serious work is to be done, but, of
course, they're ever vociferous
in finding words and time for condemnation
and for criticism.
If you spend any time at all on
the social media or on the blogosphere,
you will you will find multitudes of critics.
Critics who are skilled
at turning the smallest nonissue
into the biggest issues of the day.
Not only that,
since social media is a global phenomena,
the critic can convey his or her criticism
to the whole wide world
on the world wide web
at the press of a button.
You see,
it is very easy to be a critic,
but it's far more challenging
to be an activist.
Activists are like builders.
Negative critics, of course, criticism is important, but
I'm talking about negative critics.
Those, they are like demolishers.
Activists are like builders,
negative critics are like demolishers.
It takes builders a decade
to build a city.
It takes demolishes 1 bomb blast to destroy
a city. You can rebuild a city
in a month. You can't maybe build it
in a day,
but you can destroy it in a moment.
As I mentioned,
it does not
mean that we don't accept or are not
open to criticism.
Not at all.
There are those who provide constructive
criticism and this is very important. We need
this in our lives,
which is highly appreciated.
They are those
who ensure that they provide advice
without deliberately causing resentment.
There are those
who say something because it may benefit.
They don't just merely say something to fine
fold, but rather say something
in order to perhaps make a correction
to find a resolution
or to find ways
and avenues of improvement.
But when we do give criticism,
even if it's legitimate criticism,
Sophia Nasser
one of the great jurists
and luminaries of Islam, Sophia Nathoori advised us.
He said,
It is necessary for any person
who desires
to give advice, to correct, to rectify, to
do what is right, to advise what is
right,
to have three characteristics and qualities.
It is necessary for a person
who desires to establish what is right and
forbid what is wrong, to rectify, to correct,
to improve
that
in giving his criticism or his
perspective or his advice, he must be kind
in the way he does it or she
does it, must be knowledgeable about a matter.
Sometimes people give criticism out of ignorance,
and they must be just and fair in
how they do it. They can't criticize you
for something which you do, but not themselves
or anyone else for doing the same thing.
Because sometimes
criticism,
negative criticism is purely for finding.
So be kind,
be knowledgeable,
and just
when you rectify
any person,
whether you approve or disapprove,
be just, kind, and knowledgeable.
We learn from all of this
that our criticism should always be constructive,
and constructive criticism can only come truly
when it emanates from a sincere heart.
It must be conveyed in a positive manner.
A manner which wishes to uplift rather than
to insult,
to improve
rather than to condemn,
to inspire
rather than to belittle. May Allah grant us
the capacity
to take criticism when people give it to
us
and take it in good faith. But at
the same time, more importantly,
when we give criticism,
make sure we are knowledgeable, kind, and just
in how we convey it and in what
we say, but also may Allah
to grant us that it emanates from a
sincere and a pure heart, so that the
person you're advising is improving
rather than feeling insulted.