Judging Others Doesn't Let You Love

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 18 November 2022 " To Judge Is To Nudge Your Heart In A Negative Way. " - Turkish poet Nazim Hikmat " Judging Others Doesn't Allow You To Love. " -Mansur-Al-Hallaj 'A heart that doesn't judge, loves the best,' said Fariduddin Attar. The most loving and beautiful thoughts reside in a heart that has no time to judge others. Just before drinking poison, Xenophon (a disciple of Socrates) asked him whether he had bitter and negative feelings for those who planned and executed his ritualistic punishment, Socrates smiled and said, 'Mer Enst Vi En Phin' (How can I judge?). Just imagine, the man is condemned to die yet he's not judging his foes! Because, he has no foes or he doesn't consider anyone to be his adversary. Only a heart so pure and sublime is above all pettiness and bitterness. When an Armenian mystic Sarmad Kashani was brought before the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a courtier asked him ' Do you know, he's Jahaan Panaah (one who shelters the whole world, in other words, emperor)? The naked fakir laughed uproariously and said, ' Whole life, I never differentiated between an emperor and a commoner because my loving heart had no scope and room to judge people from different walks of life.' Only by NOT judging, we remain egalitarian to all. A heart that doesn't differentiate is the heart that embraces all. It's the inherent nature of judging embedded in the collective psyche of mankind that engenders vices like racism, apartheid, casteism, jingoism etc. Why do we dislike certain people and they dislike us? The root cause is our habit of judging them and vice versa. Judgement is always an impediment. It impedes the flow of love and acceptance. It begets prejudices and a prejudiced mind cannot love wholeheartedly. To judge is to entertain a permanent grudge. When British professor Sir Arnold Toynbee read that Rudyard Kipling condescendingly said, ' East is East and the West is West and the twain shall never meet,' the gentle professor of History at Oxford just commented, ' This East/West judgement of petty minds enslaved a great civilization (India).' To judge is to harbour negativity. All the unrest in the world is due to mankind's cumulative judgemetalism (Michel Foucault's apt phrase) that makes us think fallaciously that others are not on a par with us. When the mind gets bereft of all judgments, it can see things as they are. Perceptions become crystal clear. The mirror of mind must always be dusted off so that the sands of judgments cannot stick to it. Finally, if at all one wants to judge, one must start with judging oneself, for, Aghiyaar Ko Tatolne Mein Hayaat Gayee/ Apni Qeemat Taaq Pe Rah Gayee (Life went in vain in judging others/ My own value got shelved). So, following the latest murder in the Capital, don't judge and condemn all Muslims as people with a fiendish mindset. That'll be an act of gross injustice to an entire community. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/judging-love-mystic/d/128426 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism