Have you ever received an invitation to a fiest and not been able to decide wether you should attend or not? Islamicly when we receive an invitation we are obliged to accept it, to maintain good ties of kinship with friends and family. It is seen as a sin to break ties with kin. I have a few thoughts about whether one should accept an invitation or not. If we are invited to a party where you know there will be music and free mixing while some are not wearing islamic dresses, if you are a practicing muslim, you would think twice before you attend such a fiest. If these things are important to you and they are not important to those who invited you, maybe you would feel uncomfortable and not easily fit in.
Attending Or Not Attending, That Is The Question
If we turn the situation around and a muslimah is having a party and you know it is going to be islamicly correct and not music or free mixing, if you are such a person that likes the opposite, you might not attend the gathering. Your excuse? It doesn`t match to what you think is fun for you. It is not seen as something good when we turn down an invitation. Though if attending that fiest goes against your soul and your heart. Those hours you spend there would most probably be like a punishment. When we turn down an invitation with these kind of excuses we are seen as extreme? Or people might think that we have so high thoughts about ourselves or think we are better. It`s not about being better than the other. It`s more about not doing something that your soul and heart is going to hate. If we were in touch with the emotions of our soul we would understand this very easily. The soul longs for Allah and Islam. Anything that takes you away from it, would suffocate the soul.
Shy Away If You Don`t Manage It
People are different. Yes we are in this world and have to live here. People who have the same ideas/thoughts befriend each other. It is very difficult to understand a friendship between people whom are totally different. For example there are people whom often lie and backbite and see it as a hobby to severe ties between people. On the other side there are people who wants to avoid backbiting and lying and likes to mend matters between people. I can`t see how these two kinds of people can be friends for a long time. If they will manage that most probably one of them will become like the other. The qualities of the people we spend the most time with rub off on us too. When one of the person will backbite the other might stop him/her and say don`t talk about others. One of them might have to give in, eventually. Maybe the person whom doesn`t lie, will start lying, because of the effect of his friend. Your friends say a lot about you. Some people say you will be like the 5 people you spend the most time with. That is why it is important to check your circle of friends and either help each other become better or shy away if you think you do not have capacity to manage that.
Respect Their Decision
If you see such a person that is shying away from your company don`t automatically think that the person think he / she is arrogant. Don`t make assumptions that make you misunderstand a situation. Maybe that person is trying protect his / her soul from company that suffocates him/her. If people`s idea of fun can be different. Some people find islamicly lectures boring, while others doesn`t want to attend anything that is un-islamic. Different people different preferences. Pointing fingers won`t make a lie become the truth. Respect their decision and leave it between them and Allah. May Allah help us understand this. Aameen.
Roshnii179 