MSA Staff Writer
The Golden Rule is present in nearly all religions and cultures. And though it may be said differently, the idea remains the same: do for your brother (or sister or neighbor or friend or random stranger) what you would love for yourself.
In Islam, this idea was relayed in the form of a saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), a hadith. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.” This is taking that idea of caring for and about your brother to another level. Not only does not loving in such a way cause issues within relationships, it also causes issues within spiritual feelings. One is literally not considered a true believer if they do not have good intentions for others, which just goes to show how important it is.
The Golden Rule and the concept of an “eye for an eye” are essentially opposite. “An eye for an eye,” as they say, makes the whole world blind. Focusing on the negatives in life and trying to get revenge from people is not a good way to live. Always putting others down to place yourself above others is not the best way to live. Looking at the Golden Rule, however, it causes only good. If you are really nice to someone, they will be really nice to someone else, and that person will also be nice. It will continue until, eventually, it reaches you. Actually, the idea of paying it forward by doing something nice to someone unexpectedly, who in turn does something nice to someone else, comes from such an idea. It creates a happiness that would not be there otherwise.
The Golden Rule is also great as it makes you hold yourself to a higher level. Rather than not caring about your actions and saying and doing whatever you want, it makes you more considerate of your actions, and this doesn’t get in the way of being assertive and confident. Rather, it makes you a nicer person, in that more people would want to be around you. No one likes to be treated badly, so by thinking of how you would want to be treated, you can refrain from hurting other people, even inadvertently.
The Golden Rule creates a bond between people. If you are always around the same people, and you always do nice things to them and have their best intentions at heart, special relationships will form. It is a comforting to know that no matter what happens, there will always be only good from your neighbors. If everyone were to partake in the Rule, imagine what an amazing place the world would be!
