Husn al-Dhann حسن الظن is a beautiful teaching, if understood and practised.
Essentially it involves giving the benefit of the doubt; thinking positively of others and not jumping to conclusions.
Isn’t life easier when we exercise Husn al-dhann? Over time we become more optimistic, less negative and generally happier people. This is obviously not to be taken to the extent that we get fooled and trampled over by some who may view this as a weakness, but we should be aware that human thought is affected by many cognitive and psychological biases. The more we are aware of them, the more we can limit any lapses in judgement and generally understand social interaction better.
An example to make this easier to understand. Imagine someone cuts you off in traffic or is rude to you. You can either view this person with contempt and brand them as a certain type of person, or you can think of the things that may have caused this person to act in this way. What about if he/she had an emergency, for example? Make it about the circumstance and not about the individual. Just like we view ourselves. Are you having a bad day? You haven’t slept much because of XYZ? You’re pet tiger died? Ok then, so others have “life” happen to them just like you. When viewing others, do not be so quick to ascribe their actions to their personality or characteristics rather than circumstance.
