THE VOICE

1. Avoid Making Judgments

Whatever the situation, unless you are a ruler or judge, your personal advice regardless of the amount of knowledge and wisdom you have, is not binding upon anyone. A sincere advisor is one who guides toward goodness and does not command others to act upon it. Therefore, we should avoid being judgmental because Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) is enough for judgement and we should never attack the other person’s character. Advising is a gentle process, which requires love, mercy and compassion. If our advice is perceived as harsh or judgmental then it is likely to offend causing the listener to avoid anything we say – good and bad.  Righteousness never gives birth to religious arrogance, so we should be careful how we give words of advice.

1. Lead by example

It is likely that a person will listen to you if you have faced a similar situation in the past and acted according to how you are currently giving advice. If our advice involves something that the other person clearly sees that we are not doing, then it is unlikely that they will follow our advice.

Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) says,

“It is most hateful to Allāh that you should say that which you do not do.”