Hawzah News Agency - The Prophet SAWA said “"المؤمن مراة المؤمن, a believer is the mirror of a believer. This beautiful simile has many points in which some are listed below:

1. Be like a mirror, see their strengths as well as their weaknesses, do not be like a fly that will only sit on the injuries and lacerations.

2. Be like a mirror, not a microscope. Do not magnify faults of others and see them bigger than what they really are.

3. Be like a mirror, not a fine tooth comb. A mirror will reflect the outer faults but a comb will go deep and dig out the faults buried within.

4. A mirror considers not the personality and position of the person standing in front of it, neither is it involved in bribery and threatening behaviour.

5. A mirror can only efficiently reflect realities if it is smooth and reflective with no dust gathering on its surface, likewise the time that humans are able to criticise others should only be when they themselves are free from faults.

6. The breaking of a mirror, because it has reflected a fault, is a miscalculation. Annoying is the one that criticises a fault of others they themselves demonstrate.

7. If a mirror is broken, the broken pieces will also reflect our faults. Therefore, retaliation and reprisal does not mean that we no longer have to do work upon ourselves.

8. The smoothness of a mirror allows for the reflection of our faults. Likewise, a true believing friend must reflect on the faults of his brothers in religion on the basis of smooth, honest and true friendship and not based on retribution and reprisal.

9. A mirror will not keep at heart our faults once it reflects it… the moment we turn and leave, our faults also turn, leave and erased from the mirror. A believer must likewise reflect the faults of his brother in faith but once we leave them, their fault is no longer contained in our hearts.

10. Anyone who wants to identify their own fault can do so however if one so desires, it is possible for us to simply see ourselves in a shallow dimension without ever searching for our own faults.

Taken from "Parables: Important questions & Simple answers" written by Muhsin Qara'at