One day a man had an accident while driving to work. He got out of the car and yelled at the other driver, “Lady! You need to learn how to drive. You are the fourth person that is hit me today.”

In life, we can get to a point sometimes where, like this man, pointing fingers and placing the blame on others. However, there comes a time when we need to look inside and say, “Maybe I am the one that needs to change.” Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said, “The wise man is he who knows his defection, fault, weakness and does not see the fault of other people”.1

If you are finding fault all the time and developing a habit of seeing the bad rather than the good, if you are skeptical and have trained yourself to be cynical and sarcastic rather than believing the best, and if you are constantly blaming everyone for everything that is going wrong in your life, then maybe it is time to look inward instead of at others. Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said to his son Imam Hasan2, “O, my son, the one who looks the faults of others while he has that faults and weaknesses, he is fool and stupid”.3

Just like the man who had the accident while driving to work; if he had been hit four times in one day, obviously, he is the one doing something wrong! Spend your time trying to improve your own life, and you will have a whole lot less time for being critical and judgmental. Imam Sjjad4 (peace be upon him) said, “For man it is enough that addressing his faults prevent him to be cynical and judgmental”.5

• 1. . Tohaf al-Oqoul, P. 282.
• 2. He is son of Imam Ali and the second Imam of Shia Muslims.
• 3. . Tohaf al-Oqoul, P. 89.
• 4. . He is the fourth Imam of Shia Muslims.
• 5. . Al-Ekhtesas, P. 228.