A lot of people whom aren`t that into Islam, though are muslims, often make fun of others who are following the deen. I have experienced this myself. If you are the only one in your friends or acquaintances that read salah or have a beard and is trying to follow the sunnah, people will make fun of you. They will give comments about the other persons looks and make fun of them in front of others. Though deep down, i believe they actually want to be like them, but haven`t come as “far” as those muslims in practising their deen. So instead of encouraging them they belittle them.
I am thinking that these people should be a bit careful about how they look down on others that are practising the deen. If they by their remarks make someone un-motivated to do a good deed, they might be those people whom have managed to take someone off seerat-ul-mustaqim. So they will get a share in their bad deeds or the gunah for them stopping to practice something they did before.
Instead they should motivate and encourage others and look up to good muslims. Maybe in a few years they will be in that person’s place and someone else would look down on them. Lets stop the vicious circle. If you can`t encourage someone when they are doing something great at least don`t prevent them from doing something good.
A very nice hadith quote i like is “Wish for your fellow muslim what you wish for yourself”. Lets in sha Allah put that in practice 😉 When one is happy for others in their accomplishments, Allah will also give you like as much, if not even more.
What is important in life. It is not the fancy car which you have just bought it is more about your accomplishments in your deen. Have you started to read salah with khusho, Quran with translation, and improve your character by reading hadiths. Than that is where the eternal felicity is.
People that have to listen to other muslims remarks when they are practicing their deen, need to remember that hadith-quote, that Islam started as something strange and in the end it will become something for strangers (few will practice is as the sunnah is), so glad tidings to the strangers. Be proud of who you are (Muslims), where you have come from and all the Islamic heritage that we have gotten from our Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) his Sunnah, the Quran and the sahaba and the righteous muslims that have lived.
Roshnii179 