The best types of friends and the worst...

People just never fail to amaze and surprise. Just when you think you've seen it all, you come across someone who completely throws you off and you start to realize how human beings are capable of anything. Anyone is capable of anything. The only thing that shapes our behaviour is the ideas that we carry, thoughts or principles which often changes according to our beliefs and experiences.

For me, the best type of people are those who can inspire others. People who enter into your life and even after they are gone, they leave you a better person. When you think about them even after so many years, they put a smile on your face because you remember the good times and the good memories. When I was seventeen years old, I had a best friend who did just that. My friend was a talented musician and taught me about music, politics and opened my eyes to the windows of the world. Taught me to question the things around me. Taught me what it meant to feel 'alive'...

Everyone wants a friend who is knowledgeable, reliable, confident and knows what to do in times of trouble. Maybe Doctor Who is a fictitious character but it represents a person that everyone would value as a friend, somebody who can open your mind to life beyond the stars, to inspire you to save the world and make it a better place. To me, this should be a character of a Muslim. It is the Qur'an that gives us the knowledge beyond the stars, an explanation of everything, teaches us to put others before ourselves and to sacrifice our own needs to save humanity. 

This is in contrast to having a friend whom you believe and trust. You thought that they were caring, intelligent and reliable. However, they disappointed you and betrayed your trust. You think that a friend would be there for life but they leave you when you need them the most. You start making excuses for them because you still believe in them but soon, you understand that they are a 'snake' in disguise.

Sometimes you just have to accept that some people lie and manipulate for whatever reason, maybe out of their own fears, insecurities, undiagnosed personality disorder or maybe out of evilness but there is no point in trying to figure out why... because they are the ones with a problem. So, just let them go to sort out their issues and pray to Allah SWT that He will guide them and help them to discover love and forgiveness.

At the end of the day, truth will prevail and Allah SWT will show people for what they are. Someday, we will find the answers we were looking for, even if things do not get settled in this life but everything will be settled in the hereafter, from the smallest things to the largest things. So, whatever pain and hurt we have caused someone, we will see it. Pain and hurt are like cuts and wounds...it will heal with time but sometimes if the wound is large, it will leave a permanent scar.

It is best to leave painful memories alone.

and...

It is best to remember the people who have inspired you...
People who give more than they take.
Those whose memories put a smile on your face.
Thank you my 'childhood' friend, so happy for you that you have found someone who loves you and that you have a little family of your own. May Allah SWT give you and your family abundance of happiness.