In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
Keeping Good Friends (for 8 to 12 years old)
Islam talks about the importance of having good friends. After our own family and relatives, the most important people in our lives are our friends. What kind of friends should we have?
Our friends are usually closer to us in age, and like to do a lot of the things that we also like to do. They have similar interests and goals as us.
Imam Ali [AS] says:
“Friends are like one soul in different bodies.”
Our friends have a lot of influence over us. What does this mean? They can encourage us to be good and righteous, or they can encourage us to sin and tell us that nobody is watching so it is okay.
The influence of friends can be either positive or negative. When we hang out with friends who have bad manners and do not follow good teachings, they can influence us negatively. People will see us hanging around with those who are rude, who don’t have respect, who say bad words, and will judge that we are also like that because of the company we keep.
Prophet Sulayman [AS] once said:
“Do not judge a person until you see what kind of friends he spends time with. A friend is known by the company he keeps.”
The Quran teaches us that some people will stand on the Day of Judgment in regret, wishing they had different friends and did not hang around in the bad company, because had they been in good company, they could have gone to Paradise forever instead of going to the Hellfire.
There will also be some people on that day who will go to Paradise because they were wise and strong and chose good friends. The Holy Prophet [PBUH] has taught us that it is better to have no friends at all, and be alone, than to have sinful friends.
We should remember the following when choosing our friends:
1) Keep a friend who is understanding of your beliefs and supports you in practicing your faith.
2) Keep a friend who encourages you to be good and discourages you from doing bad things.
3) Keep a friend who reminds you of God and serve His creation.
4) Keep a friend who loves his family and respects them and encourages us to do the same 5. Keep friends who are hard-working and share with us.
Imam Zayn al-Abidin [A] has advised us not to be friends with the following:
1) Those who lie, because they will take us away from the right path
2) Wrongdoers, because their friendship cannot be trusted
3) Stingy people, because they will not be there for us when we need them
4) Foolish, because they will try to help us but because they are not wise they will end up hurting us instead.
Islam emphasizes for us to have good friends, because they will influence how we talk, what we eat, how we dress, how we talk to our parents, the values that we have, and our goals in life.
