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بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

One thing we as people seem to lack is having the best assumption of other’s (actions, intentions, etc.). People automatically (in general) assume they know the justifications or reasoning behind someone’s action. Perfect example:

A mistake was found at work. How it came about: Someone requested something from someone else, that request was completed incorrectly, and that requestor accepted the confirmation as correctly completed and never double checked on the matter. When it was discovered – the assumption against the person who made the mistake was not that they had made a mistake (an error which I’ve made before), it was because they were stupid and didn’t know what they were doing/did not understand the concept behind how that mistake was made.

This is one simple example of the thought process. I, like many other people, have been guilty of this (one of the reasons I have my nickname). You see someone else do something or you follow up on a request only to become disappointed by your findings. Then going into this auto pessimistic mode, acting in a very condescending manner, negating the fact that by nature humans will make mistakes.

There’s a saying in Arabic that in Islam people are supposed to make 72 excuses for other people. This doesn’t literally mean excuse them 72 times and then lambaste them, but rather hold people in more positive assumption, don’t insinuate the worst when your speculating about anything. Granted this is for lesser things, bad habits, mistakes, accidents, etc. – not to be a general rule when considering larger transgressions. One application I’ve noticed by this rule is that you stress out significantly less, as other’s mistakes, for the most part, are no longer bothering you.