[Bukhārī]
By constantly debating and discussing a persons heart becomes hard , his ʿibādāt (acts of worship) become mechanical and all he thinks about and is perturbed about are the fine points of religion , which are best left to the ʿUlamā (scholars), whilst at the same time neglecting the major aspects . This leads to a character of criticizing others starting by those around him , followed by those in religious authority (present and past) and even as far as criticizing the Ṣaḥābah (Companions of Rasūl Allāh (Salla ‘Allahu 'alayhi wasallam) ,. Debating , criticizing and obstinacy stem from arrogance .
However the teaching of Islam is that rather being critical of others , a * person should be critical of himself* . Before thinking of criticizing others a person should ask himself whether he is in a moral or scholarly position to do so and whether it is the genuine , sincere and constructive criticism a Muslim imparts to his fellow Muslim referred to in the ḥadīth ,
“ A believer is a mirror of a believer .”
[Abū Dāwūd]
What this means is that if a Muslim sees a fault in his fellow Muslim he should sincerely advise him in the best way possible .
