Grudges..

What should I write about today I wonder..? Well, lets talk about forgiveness shall we?

After a long talk with Ayah in the car all the way to KL the other day, he finally got thru to me. At that particular moment, I was actually having a misunderstanding with a childhood friend, and I told him about it. He knows, knows the history of me and this friend since the beginning so he'd understand. And some of the things he said, got me thinking for a while.

He said that we shouldnt hold on to grudges. We should not be feeling any revenge coz that's exactly what's gonna bring us down later. People who you consider friends hurt you, you're angry. That's normal in life. But you must learn to let it go.

He told me a story about a Sahabah, whom wasn't that famous. He wasn't famous for being Rasulullah's companion like Abu Bakar, he wasn't as brave as Umar, he wasn't as loving as Abu Hurairah nor was he generous as Uthman, but he was still included in the 10 people destined for Jannah. Why?

When Rasulullah told the others the name of the tenth man destined for Jannah, they were all shocked. In their minds they asked themselves "What did he do?". When this sahabah was told of this wonderful news, he was shocked himself. So the rest asked him, what did he do that was so special making him one of the ten people. He thought about it and finally found the answer. Every night before sleeping, he would forgive everyone who has ever hurt him or offended him. He didn't hold on to grudges. That answer concluded it, he was of pure heart.

That's what made me thinking. But then I asked Ayah, but isn't it our right to be angry? His answer was Yes, it is our right. You should let it all out, make sure that person understands that you don't like their behaviour, but after that you have to learn to forgive. But for whatever reason, don't finish the friendship you once had. How close it is depends on you. You can choose how close you want to be with them. That's your right.

Then he said that we have all degrees of friends. There are some whom we keep a distance, others we share our secrets, others we remember their birthdays, others we just contact twice a year. It all depends on how we feel about them. But a note to remember, they are still friends. All the responsibility as brothers and sisters in Islam should still be followed. All the sunnah, such as fulfilling an invitation when given one.

Well, that certainly got to me. The first thing I did after Ayah said that was getting back with my childhood friend. She is right, life is too short to dwell on silly misdunderstandings.