Islam has many rules that are meant to make the life of a Muslim in order, including in finding friends. Allah SWT will never let you to live through the hardship in the world alone, so that He prepare for you the best of friends you could ever have. Allah SWT has set His own rules and ways how to choose good friends in Islam.
The good friends should keep you in remembrance of Allah SWT. Not all the people we know is a good friend to us, so we must know how to find one. Here are the easy ways how to choose good friends in Islam:
1. Worshiping Allah Obediently
The best friend one can have is the friend that obediently worshiping Allah, and whose life is spent only to please Allah SWT.
“Surely, the human being is at loss. Except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to patience.” – Al Asr (103:1-3)
Also read: Value of Friendship In Islam
2. A Friend Who is Not Envy
Along with greed, envy become one of the most dangerous heart disease one should avoid. A friend who is full of hasad will not be happy to see us succesful. Thus, he will never give you his sincere help nor support you in achieving your dreams.
3. A Supporting Friend
We will always need the support from our loved ones while we are living in this world. Without support, we may never be able to survive. To have a supporting friend is one of the greatest blessing from Allah SWT.
Also read: Rights of Friends in Islam
4. Friends Who Remind You of Allah
A best friend is someone who always remind you of Allah. He can control and stops us whenever we are going to the wrong direction.
5. A Friend Who Gives His Helping Hand
Choose a friend who never hesitate but help you with everything you need. You know you can always rely on him.
Also read: Importance of Friendship in Islam
6. Friends with Good Moral
A friend with a good moral will affect us in a positive way. As the Prophet (SAW) said,
“Permissibly that the good friend’s and the bad friend’s are like a perfume seller and a blacksmith. The perfume seller may give you perfume, or you can buy perfume from him, and even if you do not, you still get the smell from him. While the blacksmith, it could be a spark of his fire hit your clothes and if it is not you still get the smell of his odor’s smoke.” – Bukhari and Muslim
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7. A Knowledgeable Friend
Choose a friend who is knowledgeable and want to share his knowledge with you, both in science and religion. However, don’t choose a friend who becomes stingy and arrogance because of the intelligence he has.
Also read: Dua to Make Friends in Islam
8. A Friend with Positive Mind
Critics are good if the intention is good. But if one likes to critics other just to bring them down, then he should never be kept as friend. As useless critics may cause harm to others, it’s become forbidden in Islam to be friend with someone like that.
9. Holds the Same Aqeeda
A Muslim should choose fellow Muslim and keep him for company. It’s for the sake of himself since we can remind each other every time. However, we must treat non Muslim friends with a good manners. But you must be careful not to have fight or dispute regarding religion.
Also read: Ways to Get Good Deeds in Islam
10. Have No Tendency to Commit Sins
If your friend loves to commit sins and not likely to repent on them, then sooner or later you will commit the same sins as his.
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Criteria for Good Friends in Islam
Not only it’s important to know the ways how to choose good friends in Islam, but we should know who called as good friends in Islam. A good friend should at least possess these five things as listed below:
“A man is considered by God to be of the religion of his intimate friend (khalil) so let each of you consider whom he has taken for an intimate friend.” – Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
1. Intelligent
One quality to look for in a friend is his intelligence. He should not be smart , but intelligent means he is care for his surroundings and not apathetic to others.
“Do not be in the company of an ignorant friend; beware of him & let him beware of you.” – Ali ibn Abi Thalib
2. Have a Good Character
Always look for the best in a friend. Never associate yourself with someone who has a bad traits on him. Such as the one who fail to content himself, tend to explode when he is angry and over exaggerating the happiness when he’s excited. Be the company of someone who is giving his helping hand to you in any situation.
3. Righteous Servants for Allah SWT
Stay away from a friend who tend to commits major sins and refuse to repent from them. Those kind of friend will only make you more and more further away from Allah, which is not good for your imaan.
“Allah SWT commanded his Prophet (SAW): ‘Do not follow him whose mind we have caused to be neglectful of remembrance of Us and who follows his passions, and whose case exceeds all bounds.” – Al Kahf (18:28)
4. Not a Greedy Person
One of the most dangerous poison for human’s heart is greed. Greed makes ones never feel thankful to Allah SWT. He always try to imitate others and lost his true identity while doing so. If you associate yourself with a greedy company, it will increase your greed as well.
5. Remind You of Allah
The best of friends are those who always remind you of Allah SWT and the Day of Judgement.
The Prophet (SAW) said, “Allah will ask on the Day of Judgement: ‘Where are those who loved each other for the sake of my glory? Today, on a day when there is no shade but Mine, I shall shade the with My shade.” – Muslim.
Those are all the ways how to choose good friends in Islam. May all of us granted with the best of friend that will bring us closer to Jannah.