Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 116
116 the worst form of “ whoso imitated the ways of others became one of them. ” Reflect, O ye who have eyes! It is no doubt true that there is no harm in adopting a good thing in a befitting manner. Even our chief (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) says in this connection: “A wise saying is the lost property of the faithful, and wherever he finds it, he is most entitled to take it, for it is his property. ” 26 But it does not mean that every nonsense should be adopted blindly. On the contrary, in taking to a thing, there should be two determining factors taken into consideration: 1. Firstly, it should be, in fact, good and should not be contrary to the spirit of Islamic teaching and tradition. 2. Secondly, it should not be adopted blindly, in imitation, but should be thoroughly scrutinised and its pros and cons carefully weighed, and it should be adopted in a healthy way. 26 Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Book of Knowledge, Chapter: What has been related about the superiority of Fiqh over worship. See Page: 164