of the innate disposition, for, whatever his condition, a believer is always better than a disbeliever.

Therefore you detest him for the sin he commits, yet you love him for the faith he holds. You may ask, “How can love and hatred dwell together with respect to one and the same person?”

The answer is that they certainly can. Picture this: a physician prescribes for you a medicine that is bitter and foul-smelling, but he says, “Drink it and, by Allah’s permission, you will be cured.” In absolute terms you dislike this medicine, because it is bitter and malodorous; nonetheless, you also like it because it is the means to your recovery. You love it from one angle and hate it from another.

The sinful believer is just like that. You must not loathe him unconditionally; rather, love him for the faith he possesses and hate him for the sins he commits. Your dislike of him must not make you neglect advising him by saying, “I simply cannot face this man; I loathe the very sight of him.” Force yourself to meet him, make contact, and offer him sincere counsel. Perhaps Allah will benefit him through you. Never despair: how many people whose guidance seemed unimaginable were, by Allah’s grace and generosity, eventually guided!

Examples abound in our own time and in the past. Today there are openly immoral people whom Allah enabled someone to invite to the truth, whereupon they were guided and even became better than the one who had called them. Earlier times present many instances as well. Khalid ibn al-Walid—may Allah be pleased with him—was once an unsheathed sword against the Muslims. His actions at the Battle of Uhud are well known; he and the cavalry of Quraysh charged the Muslims from the direction of the mountain, leading to the defeat that befell them. Yet Allah later guided him. And ʿUmar b