 Because if you have a bad friend, it can destroy your life. It can destroy your marriage. It can destroy your business. It can destroy you personally. People break down from betrayal, from friends that actually say words that break your heart. And it's difficult because people don't understand. There was a man who was being stoned to death for a wrongful acquisition. Everybody was throwing stone. One of the people who knew that he was innocent, he didn't want to throw a stone. He threw a rose. But all this stone, he didn't make a noise. But with the rose, he said, ouch. He said, you didn't make a noise with the stones, but with the rose, you said, ouch. He said, they're ignorant people. They don't know, but I didn't expect it from you. You're my friend. Because it really hurts. So Imam Abu Habib al Ghazali contemplated on Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, saying, I took Ibrahim as Khalil. Ibrahim, alaihi salam, is Khalilullah. He's a friend of Allah. So he came up with five qualities that we should look into someone before we befriend them, before we take them as our friends. Because he said, Imam Ghazali said, that a believer gives and receives friendship. And the one who has neither of the two, he said, there's no good in that person. That you don't give in friendship and receive in friendship. And friendship is always a give and take relationship. So the first one he said is that you should look, the person that you pick as your friend should be intelligent. And intelligent doesn't mean a master's degree or a PhD or any type of degree. We have met people who never went to school and yet they have more intelligence than the people who have PhDs. So intelligence is a beautiful tip, akhal, that Allah has given that person akhal. You don't wanna be a friend with foolish people. He went to the degree to say that stay away and run away from foolish people. Not only don't take them as your friend, but don't even be around them. There's a famous Persian proverb that there's a story behind it. Ta-tawani mi-guris az-yar-abad, yare-abad bat-tarbuat az-maw-abad. And this is Imam Zarnoji who wrote a beautiful book called Ta'alim al-Muta'alim in Arabic. He put a line of farsing there and this is the line that is in his book that flee from bad friends, run away from them. Because a bad friend is worse than a poisonous snake. Because he said a poisonous snake can only harm your body, but a bad friend harms your body and your soul. So there's a beautiful proverb that says Dushmari d'Onobe has no dawn educed. An intelligent friend is better than a stupid, an intelligent enemy is better than a stupid friend. And this goes back to a story of a young man who's in school and he has quite a few friends and they're all stupid, a few of them. And then he has one intelligent enemy and they go out one day and accidentally he fails into a well. And he fails into a well and his stupid friend says, we can't tell his parents about this because if they find out they'll be devastated, they will die to see their young son fall into a well. So let's just keep it a secret. And don't tell them, so they don't find out. The intelligent enemy says, this is going to be on my shoulder. They're going to find out that this boy fell and they're going to accuse me. They're going to say, you probably pushed my son. If they find him dead, I'm done. So he runs to the house and tell the parents that your son fell into the well. So he saves the life of his enemy because he was intelligent. So the dumb boy says, he was intelligent. So the dumb friends that would have let him die inside the well because they didn't want to break the heart of the parents. So it's always good. Intelligence, is something that the Quran, this is a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question does not even answer. If I am outside on a sunny day and I said, is it sunny outside? You don't have to say, yes, it is sunny outside because Ibn Atallah secondary said, when do you need a proof for the existence of the sun in a clear midday? You don't need a proof. I don't need a verbal proof from you to say, yes, there's a sun. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, say, Qul, are those who have knowledge and those who don't have knowledge, they're the same? Of course they're not because in another place, the Quran says, والذين أوت العلم الضرجات Allah's increase in rank, those whom He has granted knowledge to them. And the only verse in the Quran that Allah is telling His servant to ask for increasement is not about faith, it's not about sustenance, it's not about love, it's not about anything. وَقُلُ رَبِّ زِدْنِ عِلْمَا Say, oh my Lord, increase me in knowledge. Increase me in knowledge because this is the greatest gift, is knowledge because through knowledge you have the ma'rafah of yourself in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. You come to know yourself and you come to know Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So pick, choose a friend that has akhla, that has intellect. Number two, he says, someone who has good character, someone who has good akhlaq, good character. إنما بُعِذْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَا مَا كَارِمَ اللَّخْلَابِ The Prophet ﷺ said, I was only sent to perfect noble character. His character was so amazing that Allah says, وَإِنَكَ لَعَلَى خُلِغَنْ عَذِيمِ Allah is saying in the Qur'an, his character is vast. He is, he is the, the Prophet ﷺ has a pattern on character. Akhlaq is his, is his dominion. He owns it. All of the virtuous action goes back to him ﷺ. So someone with akhlaq, and akhlaq is when you don't allow your desires to control you. That's akhlaq in a nutshell. If you can control your desire, you're a man of akhlaq. You can control lust. You can control your anger. You can control envy. You can control kibbut. You can control all your desires. You're a man of akhlaq. So someone who has good character, and then he says someone with morality. And morality is different. What he is talking about here, morality is someone who is not persistent in disobedience to Allah ﷻ. People who constantly disobey Allah ﷻ. And there are people who have a lifestyle of disobedience to Allah ﷻ. Do not take them as friends. Anybody. The Prophet ﷺ said, all of the children of Adam make mistakes. But the best of those who make mistakes are those who make tawbah. There are people who make mistakes. We're not talking about that. We all fell short. Every single person. We all disobey Allah ﷻ. Every single person here and there, we forget, miss a prayer, make it up. You know, all of these things happen. Slip of a tongue. But that's not what he's talking about. He's talking about people who know, the right and wrong, they choose the wrong. And there are those people who are persistent. They keep doing it nonstop. This is their life. Stay away from them. Don't take people who don't have morality. Do not take them as your friend. The fourth one he said, make sure that your friend, your friend is free from green covetousness or tawbah in Arabic. And the diseases of the heart, they say the mother disease is tawbah. It's to, you know, people who are greedy. The greedy people, they don't want anything for you. No good. Because they want everything for themselves. It's about me, me, me, Nafsi, Nafsi, Nafsi. How could you have a friend that's all about him or it's all about her? Make sure that your friend is a person who's generous. Has the opposite of greed. Because greed in every culture is a negative. It's something that's negative and looked down upon. So make sure that they're free from greed. And the last one he said, that make sure that you have a friend that has a class sincerity. Because sincerity is like a treasure that is inside the human chest. The human chest inside of it if it's gold, you're a person of echlas. You're a person of sincerity. And if you have a friend that they're sincere, you can trust him with everything about your life. And know that even if you break up from that friendship and things don't work out, they would never go out and tell your secret to others. Because there are people that their heart is made out of gold. They're not zinc people. They're not toxic people. They are people of gold. And if you have a person like that in your life, if you have a friend like that, you need to appreciate that and say, Ya Allah, shukr, alhamdulillah, that I have a friend like that. There's a Hadith Qudsi that is da'if. But the meaning is beautiful. All of the meanings are beautiful. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Hadith Qudsi is the word of Allah in the tongue of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Al-Ikhlas sirwan min asrari. That sincerity, ikhlas, is a secret from my mysteries. Istawdaqtahu qaldun man ahbaqta min i'ibadi that I put in the heart of those servants of mine that I love, that I love. And everyone who has sincerity, wallahi, you can see the light of iman in their face. This is the nature of people who have ikhlas and they're sincere. So may Allah make us amongst the people that take on these characteristics that we become friends that are giving good friendship to others and may Allah bring people in our lives that have those characteristics that we are friends with beautiful people like that. I'll say a few words about that. Astaghfirullah, inda Allah. Astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah, astaghfirullah. Alhamdulillah, rabbilal min us-salatu wa s-salam al-sayyid al-mursaleen wa ala'li wa sahbih, al-muhassibi, al-muhassibi, al-muhassibi. Al-muhassibi said something very interesting. He said that a true friend is when you see him, he reminds you of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When he speaks to you, you learn something, it increases you in knowledge. And when you see his action, it reminds you of the hereafter. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in a hadith in Sahih al-Muslim said, he said a true friend is that, that he will worship Allah with you. But if you forget, he will remind you. That's a beautiful friend. That's a friend. The hadith about seven people who are under the shade of Allah on the day that there's no shade, one of them is two people who love each other for the sake of Allah. That is a true friendship, that it is for the sake of Allah. That friendship is for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And look at the friendship of the Sahaba. Look how they were friends. Look how they looked at the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. But here's the thing. It is better to be with someone than to be alone, a good person. That's if you have, but if you don't have good friends, it is better to be alone with bad person, with evil people. Because sometimes, Allah drives you from everybody in order to bring you home to Himself. And when you're alone, remember you're alone with the alone, with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that relationship, Allah who value lathina ahmanu. The Quran, Allah says, I am the friend of the believers. I am the Wali. What is a Wali? A Wali is a friend, someone who's there for you, someone who will take care of you. Allah says, I'm your Wali. Isn't that enough for us? If you don't find anyone in the dunya, we know that Allah is always there for us. In every relationship, people who have some gray hair, they know, in every relationship, there's going to be, it's like rose and they will have thorns. This is the nature of the dunya. Every rose has a storm, right? This is the nature of dunya. وَكَمَالِهُسْنِهُزُورْهِكِهُمَانِ نَقْصِ جَهَانْهِ يَهِيْ پُولْ خَرْسِ دُورْهِ يَهِيْ شَمْمَيِّكِ دُوَانِهِ But if you want a rose without thorn, it's only the Prophet's soul. He is that rose that has no thorn. And he's that candle that has no smoke. Only in him you will find that. And this is why Allah is telling us, emulate him. I've given you the perfect model. I've given you the perfect model. Know him. Get close to him. Love him. He is your Prophet. And he is my beloved. Now, there's a little secret. Ibrahim is Khalilullah, right? The Sahabas were sitting by the Hatim. They were talking about this. They said, Musa is Kaleemullah. Isa is Ruhullah. Ibrahim is Khalilullah. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, passed by and heard him. And he said, But I'm a Habibullah. And I'm the Habib of Allah. A Habib is different than a Khalil. A Habib is also a Khalil. Someone you love is your friend. Someone you love, you talk to them. Someone you love. All of those is within the Habib. But a Khalil is not a Habib. A Khalil is not a Habib. It's a different Muqam. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has all of them. The friendship, Allah spoke to him. All of that, isn't it? And the Habib is all of that. peace be upon him, So what an honor to have him in our lives. Wallahi, that by itself is something that we could just do units of shukr that we know our Prophet, peace be upon him, and that we have a Lord that says, I am your friend. I am your Wali. Allahu Wali-ul-Ladhi-n-Amanu. You know, one of the Mufassirin said, Is that no Allah is extending a hand of friendship to us. And we're not grabbing it. It's not a case. Right? As though Allah is extending a hand of friendship in this verse. And saying, Allahu Wali-ul-Ladhi-n-Amanu. I'm your Wali. I'm here for you. May Allah make us amongst the people, inshallah, that we implement these beautiful reminders and truths, inshallah. And we become friends, inshallah, and with the beautiful statement of Mawlana Rumi who said, Be careful who you hang with, because between the hearts, there are little windows that mysteries travel. Be careful who you hang with, because between the hearts, there are little windows that mysteries travel. So choose your companionship well, because sometimes you don't even have to say a word and they will know your state. So if you want your state, who do you want to share that secret that is hidden inside of you with? Those are the people you should keep your friendship with.