It is important for a believer to be open to advise

ADNAN OKTAR: Of course, a believer should be open to advice. A Muslim might make a mistake, there is nothing wrong with this. But he should always pay heed to the advice of others. In other words, a Muslim shouldn't be arrogant, disrespectful or snobbish, right? He should politely listen to it within the limits of Quran and say "I will try hard to do so." But by contradicting everything people say, shouting out, and making a scene, a Muslims will only make himself miserable. Wouldn't it be a shame? Because people only give advice for the good of others. What you should do in that case is to say, "Okay, I will do the best I can." That is all. Even if he won't do it, giving affirmative responses will suffice. You are not obliged to follow people's advice. It is only human nature if you cannot keep your promise. But even so, you should make a promise at that moment for the sake of easing the conversation. It is not right to drag the conversation into a dead end or engage in demagoguery. As God says in the verse of the Quran, "...more than anything else, man is argumentative." People like to argue. What does God mean by argument? He means speaking in a way that deviates from the Quran, that contradicts the Quran, that goes against the Quran, thereby going against reason. This is why people on television speak for hours on end but nothing comes out of it. All those hours of talking comes to naught. This is because they do not base their arguments on the Quran. It is quite natural for a Muslim to make a mistake. People should not be afraid of making mistakes. Even if it is a big mistake, it is nothing that can’t be solved through a warning. But reacting madly to a warning is not normal. You could say, "OK I will consider this. May God bless you. I will try my best." That's it. Making a fuss about it, raising hell over it is an abnormal behavior.

The best response to an advice is to say, "May God bless you, I will try to heed your advice." Fighting back is not nice. It will only put the Muslim who gave the advice into a difficult position. What is so bad about receiving an advice? For example, you might say "Alright, I will think about what you said and work hard to correct my mistake," and be done with it. Otherwise, you would be engaging in a pointless demagoguery, which is a shame. For one thing, time is precious in Islam. By doing so, you would be wasting your precious time. It would be exhausting both for you and the Muslims.  One should be receptive to advice. Ultimately, the life on this world is short. We go through a trial and leave. You are going through a trial and so is the person across you. We all are going through a beautiful trial.

As a matter of fact, this trial is a seeming one; in fact we are being trained about our innate nature. Because God already knows what we will do, so why should He put us through a trial? He is the One who created us.