Sincere Advise is Love

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah al-Harits ibn Asad al-‘Anazi al-Muhasibi (q.s.) wrote, in Risalah al-Mustarshidin, “Know that the one who has given you sincere advice, has displayed love for you.  The test for one’s love for the other is sincere advice, just as the test of one’s faith is action.  You ought to give sincere advice to those you love.  Your love for them should not allow you to stand idly by while they engage in action that will lead them to ruin, such as, inaction in good deeds, overlooking the injunctions of Allah, procrastination, making excuses, and so forth.  Hence, when we ourselves receive sincere advice from those we trust and care for, know that they have done so out of love for you. 

Conversely, the one who has displayed a false face to you has betrayed you.  One who does not accept you sincere advice is not your brother.  ‘Umar ibn al-Khaththab (r.a.) said, ‘There is no good in people who do not give sincere advice, and there is no good in people that do not love those who offer sincere advice.’  False advice is literally painting the wrong picture for someone, or painting over something. You hide your intentions and feeling, and you succumb to justification and excuses.”