Avoiding anger and dispute
Disputes are cause for people falling out with each other, becom-
ing at variance, fight and conflicts. If a small argument between two
friends grows, anger can replace all their positive feelings. In verse 54
of Surat al-Kahf, Allah draws our attention to this negative quality,
and says that human beings are, above all, argumentative. For this
reason, believers must at all costs avoid every kind of argument that
may weaken or destroy their spirit of unity, togetherness and broth-
erhood. Allah clearly forbids this kind of behaviour:
Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not quarrel among your-
selves lest you lose heart and your momentum disappear…
(Surat al-Anfal: 46)
Quarrels break believers' strength, offer no solution to a problem,
are of no benefit and come about at the instigation of Shaytan. If a per-
son in good conscience regards arguments and fights as ugly and un-
acceptable, even so his lower self may push
him towards dispute and conflict.
For this reason, someone who
takes the Qur'an as his
guide and always acts ac-
cording to his conscience
will never allow argumen-
tativeness to develop.
Even if an argument breaks
out as a result of some mo-
ment of carelessness, he will
collect himself, remember
Allah's command, realise that
what he did was not pleas-
ing to Allah and abandon
this kind of behaviour.
152
24 Hours in the Life of a Muslim
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