Avoid Conflict by Ignoring the Lesser Evil

Avoid Conflict by Ignoring the Lesser Evil Umair ibn Habib ibn Hamasha, a Companion of the Prophet, instructed his son, saying: O my son! Keep away from the company of foolish people, because being in their company is a sickness. He who keeps away from the foolish obtains happiness. He who befriends the foolish repents. He who refuses to tolerate the lesser evil of a foolish person will have to tolerate the bigger evil of such a person. And if among you someone wants to engage in calling people to what is good and exhorting them to abstain from evil, he must be prepared to face difficulties, and he must have faith that he will receive reward for this from God. This is because he who has faith that he will be rewarded by God will not face any harm when faced with difficulties. If a foolish person throws pebbles at someone, the latter may immediately react by doing the same thing to him. However, the best answer in such a situation is to exercise tolerance. By tolerating ‘pebbles’ you will prevent the situation from turning into a conflict that involves ‘rocks’. The fact is that not to be willing to tolerate the lesser evil of a foolish person will always mean that you will have to accept having to face a much bigger evil instead, sooner or later. Once, a wrestler belonging to a particular community went to a wrestling ground that belonged to another community and entered into a match with a wrestler from that community. After the match was over, he began