before you make a friend so that you may have no regrets about anything. Our Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has said: ‘اَلْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيْلِهِ فَلْيَنْظُرْ اَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِطُ’ A person follows the religion of his friend; he should see who he befriends. (Musnad Imam Ahmad, vol. 3, pp. 168, Hadees 8034)

Regarding this blessed Hadees, Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه has said: Before befriending a person test him whether he obeys Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and His Beloved Rasool صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم or not. Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ has said:

وَ كُوْنُوْا مَعَ الصّٰدِقِیْنَ(۱۱۹)

And be with the truthful

[Kanz-ul-Iman (Translation of Quran)](Parah 11, Surah At-Tawbah, Ayah 119)

Pious Sufis رَحِمَهُمُ الـلّٰـهُ تَـعَالٰی have said that human nature has the quality of deriving i.e. taking. By the company of a greedy person, greed will be attained and by the company of a pious person, piety will be attained. (Mirat-ul-Manajeeh, vol. 6, pp. 599)

Dear Islamic brothers! We should not blindly trust anyone regarding friendship, and nor should we have the company of those who are already indulged in evils because when the trouble befalls on a person who commits many types of evils, sometimes even those who are acquainted with him also have to face troubles. Let’s listen to a parable in order to understand it.

Friendship of rat and frog

In his great book ‘Nayki ki Dawat’ (Call towards Righteousness), on page 381 (Urdu version), Ameer Ahl-e-Sunnat دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ has stated: Describing the harmful effects of a bad company, ‘Arif-Billah, Maulana Room رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ تَـعَالٰی عَـلَيْه has stated: At a river bank, a rat and a frog met each other and became friends. The rat said, ‘If I want to meet you, how will I inform you about it? You live under the depth of water where voice cannot reach.’ It was finally decided that one end of a piece of thread be tied to a leg of the rat while its other end to a leg of the frog so that both of them could inform each other when necessary. Therefore, they did the same. One day, all of a sudden, a crow pounced on the rat, caught it in its beak and flew away. The frog tied with the