12. Dealing with people cheerfully

12. Dealing with people cheerfully

chapter 120. A Muslim is the mirror of his brother

238. Abu Hurayra said, “A believer is the mirror of his brother. When he sees a fault in it, he should correct it.
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: The mirror shows a person what he may not see of himself; and so, he rectifies himself as apprioprate. Likewise, the believer is as a mirror to his brother; he helps him rectifty himself by calling his attention to his faults.

239. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A believer is the mirror of his brother. A believer is the brother of another believer. He protects him against loss and defends him behind his back.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: The hadeeth exhorts the believer to be kind to his brother; he should show him affection, and protect his person and property from evil to the best of his ability.

240. Al-Mustawrid reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “If anyone eats a meal at the expense of a Muslim’s honour, Allah will feed him a like amount of Hellfire. If anyone clothes himself with a garment at the expense of a Muslim’s honour, Allah will clothe him with a like amount of Hellfire. If anyone achieves a position of showing-off and hypocrisy at the expense of a Muslim’s honour, Allah will put him in a position of showing-off and hypocrisy on the Day of Rising.
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Meaning, whoever refuses to assist his brother overcome his faults but hampers him; telling his enemies about his faults in order to earn a favour and bringing him disrepute and denigration will be punished in the Fire on the Day of Resurrection with the like of what he got. This seriously warns against disgracing a Muslim to get people’s admiration or benefit in any form.

chapter 121. Playing and joking which is not permitted

241. ‘Abdullah ibn as-Sa’ib reported that his grandfather said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘None of you should take the goods of his companion, either in jest or seriously. When one of you takes his companion’s staff, he should return it to him.'”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: To seriously take the property of a person is clearly theft; and to jockingly take his property could cause the owner discomfort and breed ill feeling. A stick, which is from the most triffle things a person could have is used as an example to ram home the fact that the warning is more serious with the importance of the property taken. The hadeeth is evidence that whatever leads to a prohibited thing is also prohibited.

chapter 122. The person who guides to good

242. Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari said, “A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, ‘My camel has become exhausted, so give me a mount.’ He replied, ‘I do not have any. But go to so-and-so and perhaps he will give you one.’ He went to that man and he gave him a mount. Then he went back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and told him. He said, ‘Whoever guides to good has the like of the reward of the person who actually does it.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: One could guide towards a good deed by saying, writing, gesturing or acting upon the deed. However, to earn this reward, the guide should intend by his action, Allah’s Countenance; for Allah the Mighty and Exalted rewards only that which is done for His Sake

chapter 123. Excusing and pardoning people

243. Anas reported that a Jewish woman brought the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, poisoned sheep. He ate from it and she was brought. It was asked, “Should we not kill her?” “No,” he replied. He said, “I continued to recognise the poison in the sighs of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth indicates the permissibility of taking food from a person whose food is basically legitimate for us to consume without asking for the source except when there is cogent proof to act otherwise. The Prophetﷺ excused and pardoned this Jew but some of the Muslims will not pardon their fellow Muslim if he offends them!

244.’Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr said on the minbar, “Make allowances for people and command what is right and turn away from the ignorant.” (7:199) He said, “By Allah, we are only commanded by this ayat to accept people’s character. By Allah, I will accept people’s character as long as I am with them.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

245. Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Teach and make things easy and not difficult. When one of you is angry, he should be silent.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That is, teach the people what they should know from the matters of their religion and in doing that, make things easy and not difficult. Anger could be from the insinuations of the satan; it could take a person out of his normal self to such an extent that he might say or do any evil. He might also harbour hatred and other evils including disbelief. However, when the angry person keeps silent, it calms his anger and grants him control over it. So, the Prophetﷺ repeated it twice for emphasis. In an authentic hadeeth collected by the author, Al-Bukharee, and Imam Muslim in their Saheehs, the Prophetﷺ said regarding a person who was angry, “I know a statement which will take away what he feels if he says it; where he to say, A’oodhu billaah minash Shaytaanir Rajeem’ (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed satan)”.

chapter 124. Cheerfulness towards people

246.’Ata’ ibn Yasar said, “I met ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As and I said, ‘Tell me about the description of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in the Torah.’ ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘By Allah, he is described in the Torah partly as he is described in the Qur’an: “O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of good news and a warner and a protection to the unlettered. You are My slave and Messenger. I have called you the trusty one who is neither coarse nor harsh nor loud in the markets. Allah Almighty will not take him until He has made the crooked community straight by him so that they say, “There is no god but Allah,” and by it they will open blind eyes, deaf ears and covered hearts.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The Prophetﷺ’s being mentioned as a slave of Allah the Mighty and Exalted rejects the extremism of those who exerggerate in his praise, and being mentioned as a Messenger of Allah refutes those who reject his Messengership. To have trust in Allah and not be clamorous in the markets is evidence that Tawakkul (reliance on Allah) does not contradict actually seeking the means to attain needs as some of the people wrongly opine; yet the means should be legitimate as the need.

247.’Abdullah ibn ‘Ata’ said, “This ayat which is in the Qur’an, ‘O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bringer of good news and a warner’ (33:45) is found in the Torah in a similar form.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

248. Mu’awiya said, “I heard some words from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by which Allah helped me.” Jubayr ibn Nufayr said, “I heard him say that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “If you openly show your suspicions of people, you will corrupt them.’ Therefore I do not show my suspicions of people openly so that I will not corrupt them.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Ibn Atheer (الله رحمه (said, “if you falsely accuse people and publicly announce them as probably guilty of offences, that makes them do what they are accussed of and they become corrupted.” Being cheerful to people rejects falsely accussing them and spreading evil about them while they are actually innocent.

249. Abu Hurayra said, “These two wars of mine have heard and these two eyes of mine have seen the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, take the palms of al-Hasan or al- Husayn in both his hands. His feet were on the feet of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Climb up.’ The boy climbed until his feet reached the chest of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and hen the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Open your mouth.’ Then he kissed him and said, ‘O Allah, love him for I love him!'”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 125. Smiling

250. Jarir said, “Since the time I became Muslim, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, never saw me without smiling at me.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A man from the best of Dhu Yaman will enter by this door whose face has been touched by an angel.” Then Jarir came in.
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary:The hadeeth further shows the good character of the Prophetﷺ; his humility and cheerfulness to people. Heﷺ had said in another authentic narration collected by At-Tirmidhee in his Sunan, “Meeting your brother with a cheerful face is sadaqah”. It also shows his love for Jareer . After the death of the Prophetﷺ people would look at Jareer in admiration.

251.’A’isha said, “I never saw the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, laugh until I could see his uvula. He used to smile, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” She said, “When he saw a cloud or wind, distress could be seen in his face.” She said, “Messenger of Allah, when people see a cloud, they rejoice, hoping that there will be rain in it. Yet when you see it, I see distress in your face.” He replied, “‘A’isha, what will assure me that there is no painful punishment in it? People have been punished by wind. Some people saw the punishment and stated, ‘This is a rain cloud coming to us.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

chapter 126. Laughter

252. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Laugh little. Much laughter kills the heart.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)

253. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Do not laugh a lot. Much laughter kills the heart.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: One should seek the things that enliven the soul rather than what deadens it. This is an admonition for those who even invest their resources in laugh programmes.

254.Abu Hurayra said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out to a group of his Companions who were laughing and talking. He said, ‘By the One in whose hand my soul is, if you knew what I knew, you would laugh little and weep much.’ Then he left and the people were weeping. Then Allah Almighty revealed to him, ‘Muhammad! Why did you make My slaves despair?’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Give good news, guide people and draw near to one another.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The believer should regularly keep in mind the difficulties of the grave, Resurrection and the wrath of Allah, it will aid his refraining from what is prohibited. Likewise, one should hope in Allah’s Mercy and His bounteous reward for His servants in this world and the hereafter so that he is regularly urged towards good deeds. These states of the mind are interrupted by laughter; and so, the more a person laughs, the further he is from the realities of existence. Therefore, one should try to perform good deeds and remain steadfast and still give a cheerful face which is from the aspects of sadaqah.

chapter 127. When he faced someone, he faced him completely, and when he turned away, he turned away completely

255. Abu Hurayra said, “When he faced someone, he faced him completely. When he turned away, he turned away completely. I have never seen anyone like him and I will never see anyone like them.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The Prophetﷺ was handsome in nature and character. So, when he faced or turned away from people, he did so completely. This mind alertness aids obedience to Allah, the Mighty and Sublime and refraining from His prohibitions. It also leads to attaining absolute sincerity and modesty.