Ramadan 2022 - The Manners of The Believers #12 - Thinking the Best of Others (usn al-Dhann)

Of the characteristics of the believer (Part 12 of our series) is that the default is to think the best of people, and to interpret ambiguous phrases and unclear incidents in the most positive manner.A pure heart leads to pure thoughts of others, while a heart full of suspicion leads to suspicious thoughts of others. The Prophet (SAW) said, "I warn you against being suspicious of others, because suspicion is the most lying of matters..." [al-Bukhari]. Having ḥusn al-dhann and always interpreting ambiguous phrases in the best of ways would completely demolish the toxic refutation culture that social media is saturated with. Even if others aren't living up to those standards, remember that we have to answer to Allah, and we should not get involved in the rampant climate of 'name and shame' and 'cancelling' because of an ambiguous issue. The believer is more worried about his own deficiencies rather than obsessing over the alleged faults of others.