"Solitude is better than an evil companion and a righteous companion is better than solitude..." 
- Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم
(Bayhaqee)

♡

Choose your friends wisely, especially your high school friends. 
The friends you make can drastically change you, either for the better, or for the worst. Some friends can lead you in the wrong direction and be a bad influence. Don't do things that you are not comfortable with and don't do things just to fit in, especially if it is something that is against the commandments of Allaah Ta'aala; because of peer pressure you may land yourself in bad and haraam situations. 

If your friends are not a good influence and are not good role models, try your best to show them what is right. If you don't invite them to what is good, they will invite you to what is evil if you are unable to advise them to keep your distance from them. If you have righteous friends who encourage you to do good and remind you of Allaah Ta'aala and prohibit you from what is wrong, never let them go. Stay close to them, for friendship for the sake of Allaah Ta'aala never dies and helps your imaan rise. 

T

he cafeteria of Johannesburg High School buzzed with chatter, as each of the students conversed with their respective groups, enjoying their short break before their classes resumed once again.

One group of boys amongst the many groups, sat around their table, discussing a topic that was commonly discussed amongst them. 

"Guys, guys! I can have any girl I want!" Imraan boasted to his friends. 

"Yeah, right!" Talha scoffed .

"Jealous now, are we?" Fayaaz nudged Talha in his rib and Talha rolled his eyes in response. 

"No man, Talha is just feeling down because he hasn't had a chic for a while." Imraan gave Talha a mocking smile. 

"Guys, seriously, for once, can you all discuss something besides girls at lunch break!" Suhaib sighed, irritated with the discussion that was going on for the last ten minutes. 

It seemed like his new friends had nothing else to discuss during break. 
Of course, guys were naturally attracted to girls, but the way they spoke about some girls began to annoy him.

He knew this topic would go into further discussions that he was not comfortable with. 

Suhaib scrunched his nose in disgust, recalling some of the things his friends discussed in the two months he got to know them. Not cool at all! 

The three boys laughed aloud on seeing Suhaib's disgusted expression, gaining the attention of many people in the cafeteria. 

Some looked at them amused, others with annoyed expressions and a few gave them bored looks and turned away. Everybody was used to the loud group of boys. Well, of course, Suhaib excluded. 

Suhaib recently relocated from Rustenburg to Johannesburg. He, as well as his older sister, were born in Johannesburg, but moved to Rustenburg when he was three. Now after fifteen years, they moved back to Johannesburg. 

His father Luqmaan found a better job with a better pay in Joburg, and they needed the money desperately. Being a family that consisted of eight members was indeed a lot of expenses. 

Suhaib was upset at first, as he only had one year of school left and he wished to finish grade twelve with his close friends. 

Two months ago he had been enrolled in a new school and he now felt quite comfortable with the new environment and new company, some uncomfortable topics excluded. 

His new companions were very different to his friends back in Rustenburg. Hanzala and Bilaal were from good, deeni homes. They were not extremely pious guys but they were practicing muslims They were not perfect - nobody is - but they were good company. 

They would go to the masjid together, volunteer for charity work, help serve the mu’takif during Ramadhaan and help out at the ijtima.  

They were a good influence and would encourage one another to do good. Of course, they would also hang around and chill at some restaurant, or go out at times as well. 

Suhaib's new companions weren't that bad, they were great guys and welcomed him like a long lost friend, which he was grateful for. They were just a bit distant from deen and Suhaib intended to change that, In Shaa Allah. He just was not sure if he alone was the best influence to them.

Suhaib was the quiet and shy type of guy around most people, especially non mahram girls.  He tried to be a good Muslim, he tried his best to stay away from sin and resist haraam temptations, but he was beginning to find this more difficult and had to work harder on his nafs now. The most difficult was when his friends would stand outside in the parking lot, leaning against their cars just to check out girls, whistle at them and rate them! It would be really difficult to lower his gaze but he succeeded so far. He prayed and wished that it would stay that way. 

Why did he hang around after school with them anyway? He could just walk home, his house was just a few blocks away. 

He had no answer to that....he just...did

"Oh, come on buddy, you enjoy listening to these conversations, don't deny it!" Imraan smacked him on the back. 

Suhaib gave him a look of disagreement. 

Just then, they heard the clicking of heels. 

Farhana, Joburg High's 'princess', as she called herself, walked past their table, swaying her hips, wearing a much too fitting skinny leg jeans that showed off her curves, a white top that just covered her stomach with a deep cut neckline and black heels. 
Her waist length brown hair was gathered on one side. Everything about her screamed "ATTENTION SEEKER!" 

Imraan wolfwhistled and all three boys turned their attention to her, checking her out, head to toe. 

Farhana turned around and smiled, chuffed with their attention .

Suhaib lowered his gaze and glared at his friends, but they were much too busy staring at Farhana to notice. 

"Hey, boys!" Farhana waved at them, showing off her perfectly manicured nails. 

"Hey, Farhu!" Talha smirked at her, but she simply ignored him and turned her attention to Suhaib, who had his gaze fixed onto the table. 

She frowned at him. 

Why was he not looking at her? 

For two whole months she waited for him to notice her - maybe hopefully ask her out!

Most of the girls were swooning over this new, good-looking boy, but he didn't seem to notice or just didn't care! 

She loved the attention. No boy could resist looking at her and she knew it, but why was he so disinterested? 

"So, you guys have a new friend?" 

She hoped that would get his attention and he would at least glance at her once. 

Since he didn't notice her, she would have to make her existence known to him. 

Suhaib shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, but kept his gaze fixed on the table. 

What is so damn interesting about the table? 

"Ya, this is Suhaib Ahmed. He just moved to Joburg recently." Imraan answered, since he just knew Suhaib wouldn't answer her. He nudged Suhaib, indicating that he should turn to her, but Suhaib just shrugged, disinterested. 

"And I am Talha, " Talha piped in, grinning at her. 

"Nobody asked!" Farhana snapped at Talha. 

"Bomb!" Fayaaz muttered and chuckled at Talha's annoyed expression.

"That's nice, welcome to Jozi." Farhana said sweetly and turned her attention back to Suhaib. 

Eish, why doesn't she get it! He didn't want to converse with her! Yoh! So desperate! 

He just nodded, still not averting his gaze from the table, which caused Farhana to frown once again.

He was so handsome with his dark brown hair, well built body and perfect jawline on which he had a small stubble growing. 

She couldn't see the colour of his eyes. 

She sighed dreamily. She wanted to stare at his handsome face and get lost in his eyes...

"He's still a bit shy. Just give him a few more weeks of hanging out with us and he will be the one starting conversations with girls!" Imraan said confidently. 

He sensed Farhana's irritation.

Everyone knew very well how much she loved the attention, and once she wanted something, she would not give up.

He felt sorry for Suhaib, she was the clingy type. Shame, poor guy...

"I hope so," she said quietly, and then stomped off, her heels clicking loudly on the tiles.

Talha whistled, "Man! she's one of a kind!"

"I agree. Suhaib, boss, you missed out, why so shy?" Fayaaz laughed. 

"Ugh!" Suhaib put his head in his hands, "Give me a break!" 

"Leave the guy! Let it be; soon he will be the one seeking girls’ attention." 

Imraan smirked. "Anyway, Farhana, neh, man, she's the clingy, desperate type. Leave it to Imi The Love Guru, I will get you a nice chic."

Suhaib let out a frustrated sigh. Why can't they drop the topic? 

"I don't think he needs to ask for their attention, he gets it without asking!" Talha frowned.

" You grumpy, jealous man!" Fayaaz smacked Talha's head. 

Suhaib put his hand up signalling them to stop. He was annoyed now. There's so many other topics to discuss, for crying out loud! He knew where these conversations would eventually lead to....

"You guys! Please have a decent conversation for once!" Suhaib almost pleaded. 

The rest just laughed,amused.

Ya Allaah please help me! Should he tell them that little advice he remembered from one of the Jumuah lectures? Maybe he should - at least he could stop them from evil if he couldn't encourage them with good.

"The eyes are linked to the heart, if the eyes don't lower the gaze from what is haraam ,then the heart won't lower it's desire from what is haraam," Suhaib quoted Moulana’s advice.

The response from all three boys was complete silence. 

Suhaib didn't know if they were silent because they were annoyed or because they were pondering over this piece of advice. He hoped that it was the latter.