Don’t Think Bad of People

As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum wa RaḥmatuLlāhi wa Barakātuh. A‘ūdhu BiLlāhi Minash-shayṭāni r-rajīm. BismiLlāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm. Wa ṣ-Salātu wa s-Salāmu ‘alá Rasūlinā Muḥammadin Sayyidi l-Awwalīna wa l-Akhirīn. Madad yā RasūlAllāh, Madad yā Sādāti Aṣḥābi RasūliLlāh, Madad yā Mashāyikhinā, Dastūr Mawlana Sheikh Abdullāh al-Fā’iz ad-Dāghistāni, Sheikh Muḥammad Nāẓim al- Ḥaqqānī. Madad. Ṭarīqatunā aṣ-Suḥbah wa l-Khayru fi l-Jam‘iyyah.

A‘ūdhu bi-Llāhi mina sh-shayṭāni r-rajīm. Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm.

(Qur’ān 49:12). ‘Yā ’Ayyuhā Al-Ladhīna ’Āmanū Ajtanibū Kathīrāan Mina Až-Žanni ’Inna Ba`đa Až-Žanni ’Ithmun’, ‘O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin.’ (Qur’ān 49:12). Ṣadaqa Llāhu l-‘Aẓīm.

Allāh ‘Azza wa-Jalla says, “Don’t think badly about people, su’ zann.” Don’t accuse others with bad thoughts and doubt. You assume something is as you see and as you like. But it has nothing in common with the truth. Truth is different. And what you assume is different. This is a very important matter. This is something disliked by Mashāyikh. Even if it looked bad, they’d interpret it as good. Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim would find an excuse for people, and even if it was bad indeed, he didn’t want to show them as bad.

There is this, and there is its opposite. And that is, “Inna sū’a ẓ-ẓanni min ḥusni l-fiṭan.” This is a proverb or a saying from mankind’s mind. It is neither ḥadīth, nor from Qur’ān. It says bad suspicion is vigilance. It is opposite to that. Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim was on one side. Those against him, even though they were close, the majority followed the other side. They were gone first. They passed away. He would always say “This person is good.” They would insist “This person is bad and this and that.”

How is suspicion? When a person is in the room in total darkness without any light, he sees the pillow as some other creature. He sees the blanket and things on the wall as other things. He imagines them, “These are very bad things.” He gets scared and hides under the blanket worried about making it till the morning. He turns the light on, there is nothing. There is a bed and a blanket. There is a dress hanging on the wall and the light. Everything is quite normal then. He sees everything when the light is on. Nothing bad he imagined is there. Suspicion is the same. Therefore, Mawlānā Shaykh Nāẓim

used to be angry at such things. If you are not 100% sure, don’t accuse anyone, don’t speak against them. Don’t take their sins.

Suspicion is a big thing. Of course, in everything - Don’t interfere in what doesn’t concern you. Your duty is to mind yourself. Don’t take others into your sins. There are many people who speak badly about others and ruin their homes, their families. And then they say, “We thought so and so.” If you say you thought, you surely made a sin. It is not an easy thing. Grandshaykh Mawlānā Shaykh AbduLlāh has great sayings. If people listen to them, they will see how mistaken they are, how wrong their actions are. Therefore, we must be careful. Don’t take anyone’s sin. Don’t accuse anyone.

Certainly, don’t deceive yourself by saying this is not bad suspicion. And don’t let others deceive you. Don’t interfere. Allāh ﷻ has given you mind and thought. You must ask and investigate. If you are to get married, find out about the person. That is not bad suspicion. It is not a bad thought. Thinking and investigating about who the person is, how he lives, what he did, if he was married, what he did as a child and so on for your future is not bad suspicion. You should learn the truth. And if there are people who know them can say “This person is like this. He did this, he is good. Or we don’t recommend them.” But don’t say you didn’t like them out of your suspicion. The matter of marriage is important. Sometimes they ask us and send photos. Did you see their family? “We did.” If they are good, then alright. Make your investigation. There is no wrong in it. What is wrong is to say “You did this and that. You went here and there” to a married person, to make fitnah to his family, to ruin his relations or ruin his marriage. That is bad suspicion. May Allāh ﷻ protect all of us. This is a very important matter. But people think it is easy and say things. And then they make others commit sin too. They do it altogether. They say, “This one said so. He must know. We believe what he says.” They come up saying this man or this woman is bad. May Allāh ﷻ protect us. May Allāh ﷻ protect all of us from major sins. May He ﷻ forgive us in shā’a Llāh.

Wa min Allāhi t-Tawfīq. Al-Fātiḥa.

Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad Adil ar-Rabbani 02 June 2026/ 16 Dhul Hijjah 1447 Lefke, Cyprus