Perception vs Assumption

Salam,

These two words are used almost interchangeably. Another word often associated to these words is 'fitnah'. Well, the latter is the worst of all. It brings out the worst side of a person because it is based on fictions and the consequences often are detrimental. Perception, on the other hand, is based on experiences. He or she (trying not ot be gender bias here) will sort of 'calculate' the consequences based on past events. It's like predicting a trend, really. Assumption is in between. It is fictionous but yet based on some (probably to some extend, unrelated) facts. Of course, this is not the real definition. It is, presumably, my PERCEPTION of the meaning of these words. What intrigued me to write about this is the truth that comes with these words. I was once asked to eloborate further on these words. As I explained, I realised that all these words are related at some point. We begin with assumptions, which in turn, become perception as we relate to our past and experiences. Eventually, as we become a little bit excited about the prospect of truth in our perceptions, we step into the world of 'fitnah'. We begin to colour the truth with fictions. It is inevitable. So, my friend asked me if we should refrain ourselves from making any perception nor assumption. My anwer is NO. After all, life is not about certainty. Many parts of our life begin with making assumptions. I guess we could not avoid this. The only thing we can do is to make sure that we exit from the realm of perception and assumption as it near the 'fitnah' stage. As a child, we were always told that we must be aware of our surroundings as that could guide us to the truth. As a child, we were told to follow out heart as our heart holds the truth. Thus, any assumptions or perceptions which we are going to make in our life will be guided by the truth if we follow exactly these advices. Unfortunately, those who give the advices are also making perceptions on their own, thinking that such guidance could help these children as it helped them. Thus, what can we do? I don't have the answer, really. But I could share my experience. Which is exactly what I am doing right now.

Just my 2 cents...