24. Defamation

24. Defamation

chapter 198. Defamation

419. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “Two men defamed one another in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One of them reviled the other who remained silent. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained seated. Then the other man answered him back and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, got up. He was asked, “You got up?” He said, “The angels left, so I left with them. While this man was silent, the angels were answering the one who cursed him. When he answered, the angels left.”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

420. Umm ad-Darda’ reported that a man came up to her and said, “A man has said bad things about you in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Malik.’ She said, “We are suspected of something which we did not do. How often we have been praised for what we did not do!”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: We should endure wicked criticisms and overlook them rather than giving vent to them. Humility, and not loving to be praised nor paying attention to unfair and devisive comments are from the symbols of Ikhlas (sincerity).

421. ‘Abdullah said, “When a man says to his companion, ‘You are my enemy,’ then one of them has left Islam or he is innocent of what his companion said.'” Abu Juhayfa reported that ‘Abdullah added, “Except the one who repents.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: This is because if the person who uttered the statement, You are my enemy, is actually in the right, then the person to whom it is directed is a disbeliever; for enmity in its real sense is only with respect to the religion. However, if he is actually only being mischevious with the statement, then his criticism is, in the real sense, directed at the religion which makes a person leave the fold of Islam. As for the expression, except he who repents, this is understood easily owing to the fact that repentance erases past sins. May Allah grant us His pardon.

chapter 199. Giving water

422. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “There are 360 joints and each of them owes sadaqa every single day. Every good word is sadaqa. A man’s helping his brother is sadaqa. A drink of water which he gives is sadaqa. Removing something harmful from the road is sadaqa.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Each of the bones have an obligation to give thanks to Allah the Mighty and Exalted who has fashioned it; giving its limbs, joints which enable him fold and stretch. Every good deed is recorded for its doer as sadaqah, and from that is the provision of water. In an authentic hadeeth the Prophetﷺ said, “there is not a charity with greater reward than (provision) of water.” (Saheeh at-Targeeb wat-Tarheeb).

chapter 200. When two people revile one another, the responsibility for what they say rests on the first to speak

423. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “When two people revile each other, the responsibility for what they say rests on the first to speak as long as the one who wronged does not become excessive.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That the burdens of the torrent of abuse from both parties fall on the shoulders of the first to speak is understandable from the fact that he started an odious thing and then, he caused the second person to do the same. This is as long as the second does not become excessive; otherwise he may equal or even exceed the first in the sin. Nevertheless, that the one who is abused maintains restraint and pardons is better. The Prophetﷺ said, “Allah increases the servant in honor whenever he overlooks.”

424. As 423, but from Anas.

425. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Do you know what calumny is?” They said, “No, Prophet and His Messenger know best.” He said, “Telling people what other people have said in order to create dissension between them.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Perhaps this hadeeth is placed under this heading to indicate that despite the efforts of those who may orchestrate campaigns of calumny between people, parties should maintain restraint and not be the first to speak abuse or be excessive in their response if they need to.

426. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah Almighty revealed to me that you should be humble and that you should not wrong one another.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: We learn from this hadeeth that: I. The Messengerﷺ received revelation from Allah apart from the Qur’an which contained Allah’s orders and prohibitions amongst other things as the Qur’an. 2. It is from Allah’s orders that one should be humble; showing reverence for Allah’s injuctions, not believing that one is better, more important or cleverer than other people, and therefore, expecting to be treated in a special way. 3. Allah the Mighty and Exa;ted prohibits wronging people.

chapter 201. Those who revile one another are two shaytans who accuse one another and deny one another

427. ‘Iyad ibn Himar said, “I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, there is someone who reviles me.’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Those who revile one another are two shaytans who accuse one another and deny one another.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

428. ‘Iyad ibn Himar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah has revealed to me that you should be humble so that none of you will oppress anyone else and none of you will disdain another.’ I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, what do you think I should do when a man reviles me in a low assembly and then I answer him back? Do I incur any wrong action in doing that?’ He replied, ‘Two men who revile one another are two shaytans who accuse one another and deny one another.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam Majid Ibn Taimiyyah (الله رحمه (explains, “Allah prohibited on the tongue of His Prophetﷺ, the two forms of feeling superior over people: pride and wronging the people. This is because if the one who feels superior does so correctly, he would have been proud, and if wrongly, he would have wronged the people. Thus, neither this nor that is allowed. If such a person is from a honourable group, it is not his place to feel proud that he is honourable, feeling self-important, because the honor of the group does not necessarily imply that he is particularly honourable. In fact, his sense of pride removes him from such group, and more so, when he feels arrogant and pompous being in the group.” The hadeeth clearly points to the prohibition of reviling and responding to a person who reviles us even when he does so in a gathering.

428. (sic) ‘Iyad said, “I was at war with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and I gave him a she-camel before I became Muslim. He said, “I dislike the froth of the idolaters.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The correct word apparently, is hirmiyy and not harb. It is the terminology with which associates describe each other during the time of Jaahiliyyah whereby they would only eat their associate’s food and make the circumambulation of the Ka’bah only in the associate’s clothes whenever they performed the pilgrimage. It is explained that heﷺ rejected the gift when he was an idolater so that ‘Iyyad may find displeasure in that which may make him accept Islam. Or that he rejected it owing to the fact that accepting gifts brings about mutual inclination which is prohibited for the Muslim towards the idolater. As regards the Jews and Christains, it is allowed to accept gifts from them due to the Prophet’s acceptance of the gifts of the Abyssinian King. This position is further strengthened by the fact of the permmisibility of the food of the People of the Book and marriage to their females.

chapter 202. Reviling a Muslim is deviant behaviour

429.Sa’id ibn Malik reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Reviling a Muslim is deviant behaviour.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narration proves amongst others, that: 1. It is prohibited to insult a Muslim except for a religious reason. Similarly, a muslim may only be fought for a religious reason. For example, those who would refuse to give the obligatory charity are to be compelled by the Authority to do so, and fought when they persist. 2. Islam prohibits whatever basically leads to evil. So, it prohibits insulting the Muslim which may eventually lead to fighting him which may even lead to spilling his blood! Allah alone grants refuge. 3. Eemaan (faith) is such that it rises with good deeds and falls with evil deeds. When a person insults a muslim, his eemaan drops which may lead him to fight him. 4. Some actions may be termed Kufr (disbelief); and conversely, some may be termed Eemaan. This demonstrates the fact that good deeds (actions) are from eemaan as opposed to the deviant position of the Murji’ah that a person’s eemaan is not affected by his actions – whether good or bad! 5. Not everything mentioned to be Kufr (disbelief) in the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah translates to disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. In this hadeeth, for example, fighting a Muslim is described as Kufr; yet, Allah refers to two Muslim parties that fall into a fight as brothers in faith between whom reconciliation should be sought. See Surat al-Mujadilah (9- 10)

430. Anas said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was neither coarse nor a curser nor a reviler, He used to say when he wanted to censure someone, ‘What is wrong with him? May his brow be dusty!'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Tariba jabeenuhu, translated literally as, may his forehead be dusty is from those common expressions amongst the Arabs which have negative literal meanings but are rather intended as supplications for the one to whom it was said. It could be used likewise to call his attention to an important matter he is being oblivious about or the like. The hadeeth describes the beautiful character of the Prophetﷺ, and emphasises the need to emulate him – peace and blessings be upon him – by abstaining from insulting the people and cursing them.

431.’Abdullah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Reviling a Muslim is deviant behaviour and killing him is disbelief.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narration proves amongst others, that: 1. It is prohibited to insult a Muslim except for a religious reason. Similarly, a muslim may only be fought for a religious reason. For example, those who would refuse to give the obligatory charity are to be compelled by the Authority to do so, and fought when they persist. 2. Islam prohibits whatever basically leads to evil. So, it prohibits insulting the Muslim which may eventually lead to fighting him which may even lead to spilling his blood! Allah alone grants refuge. 3. Eemaan (faith) is such that it rises with good deeds and falls with evil deeds. When a person insults a muslim, his eemaan drops which may lead him to fight him. 4. Some actions may be termed Kufr (disbelief); and conversely, some may be termed Eemaan. This demonstrates the fact that good deeds (actions) are from eemaan as opposed to the deviant position of the Murji’ah that a person’s eemaan is not affected by his actions – whether good or bad! 5. Not everything mentioned to be Kufr (disbelief) in the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah translates to disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. In this hadeeth, for example, fighting a Muslim is described as Kufr; yet, Allah refers to two Muslim parties that fall into a fight as brothers in faith between whom reconciliation should be sought. See Surat al-Mujadilah (9- 10)

432.Abu Dharr is reported as saying that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “If a man accuses another man of deviance or accuses him of disbelief, that accusation will come back on him if his companion is not as he said.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narration has also been reported in the Two Saheehs from the hadeeth of Ibn Umar and Abu Dharr (y), and in Saheeh alBukhaari from the hadeeth Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) with slightly different wordings but the same meaning. It highlights amongst others, that: 1. It basically discourages accussing a Muslim of deviance or disbelief. The path of admonition with good words in a nice manner should be followed firstly, such that if such statements will be made, the deviance or disbelief of the person will be clear. 2, Only those who are well-grounded in the matters that make a person become a deviant or disbeliever should utter such statements. The interfering ignorant risks falling into grave errors. 3. If the one to whom the statement was made is as described, then it does not return to the one who made it. Explanations have varied regarding what actually returns to the person who wrongly says to his Muslim brother, “O disbeliever…”. Some explain that the accuser becomes a disbeliever if he believes that to wrongly accusse his brother is allowed in the Sharee’ah. Others say that his insult of his brother returns to him and he bears the sin of wrongly accussing his brother of disbelief. It is also explained that his wrongfully accussing his brother of disbelief may lead such a person to the disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. However, what appears most preponderant – and Allah knows best – is that such an accuser has committed a grevious sin but has not committed the disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. This is because in other wordings of the hadeeth, it says, “Whoever says to his brother: O disbeliever…” This expression indicates that they are both brothers; if anyone of them goes out of Islam they will not both be referred to as brothers in the first place. Secondly, despite the fact that the Khawaarij declared those who are Muslims by consensus – the companions and those upon their path – as disbelievers, the companions and their students still related with them as Muslims; observed the prayers behind them, and the scholars amongst them had intellectual discussions with such people. They did not rule them as disbelievers. Thirdly, the Prophetﷺ said, “Cursing the believer is like killing him. Whosoever accusses the believer of disbelief, its like killing him.” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim). It is known that killing a Muslim is a grevious sin which is not disbelief. See al-Ilmaam bi Sharh Nawaaqid al-Islam (21-25).

433.Abu Dharr states that he heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, “A person who knowingly claims a father other than his own has disbelieved. A person who claims to be from a people when he is not one of them will take his place in the Fire. A person who calls a man an unbeliever or says, ‘Enemy of Allah,’ when that is not the case will have that come back on him.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Claiming other than one’s father knowingly is a grevious sin; likewise wrongfully claiming to be from a people. These false claims confuse the people’s lineage and the rulings of the religion that are lineagebased become misplaced! However, if a person makes such wrong claims unknowingly then it is not a sin. The hadeeth also proves that one must properly look at things before affirming or denying it. It also shows that the word Kufr may be employed to refer to actions (sins), and so, conversely, Eemaan may also refer to actions (good deeds).

434.Sulayman ibn Surad, one of the Companions of the Prophet, said, “Two men reviled one another in the presence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and one of them became angry. He became so angry that his face puffed out and changed colour. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I know some words which will make what he feels depart if he says them.’ The man came to him and told him what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had said, He said, ‘Seek refuge with Allah from the Accursed Shaytan.’ He said, ‘Do you think that there is something wrong with me? Am I mad? Leave!'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam an-Nawawee explains, “This demonstrates that: 1. To be angry for the sake of other than Allah the most High is from the insinuations of the accursed Satan. 2. Whosoever becomes so afflicted should seek refuge, and say, ‘A’oodhu billaahi min ash-Shaytaan ir-Rajeem (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan). 3. It (i.e. to seek refuge as described) is a means to removing the anger. The hadeeth also proves that to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed satan is not restricted to the person who is mad in direct contradiction to the one who thought so in error and even sent his companion away. Perhaps for this reason, Imam al-Bukhaari placed this hadeeth under this heading because the person exceeded the limits of the Sharee’ah in his anger and his refusal to accept admonition.

435.’Abdullah said, “There is a veil from Allah Almighty between every two Muslims. When one of them says ugly words to his companion, he has rent the veil of Allah. When one of them tells the other, ‘You are an unbeliever,’ then one of them has disbelieved.”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 203. Someone who does not say things directly to people

436. ‘A’isha said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did something and thereby created a dispensation for doing it. Some people still refrained from doing. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, heard about that and he gave a speech and praised Allah. Then he said, ‘What is wrong with people who restrain themselves from doing something which I do? By Allah, I know Allah better than they do and I fear Him more than they do!'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth teaches amongst other things, that: 1. The Prophetﷺ should be followed in the various circumstances – in a matter of concession or ‘azeemah. 2. Things that are basically allowed in the Sharee’ah should not be abandoned for fear that it may not be allowed. 3. It is allowed to be annoyed when Allah’s limits are exceeded even if the person did so out of an interpretational error. 4. We should correct people when they err in a nice manner. 5. From the major benefits of knowledge is Allah’s fear. Thus, the Prophetﷺ said, “…I know Allah better than they do and I fear Him more than they do”. 6. One could mention some good qualities that he possesses if there is overbearing benefit in doing so and that does not lead one to self-importance.

437. Anas said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, rarely told a man something to his face which he disliked. One day a man came to him with a trace of yellowish scent on him. When he stood up, he said to his Companions, ‘If only he would change or remove this yellow!'”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 204. When someone calls someone else a hypocrite without meaning it literally

438. ‘Ali said. “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent for me and az-Zubayr ibn al-‘Awwam while we were both on horseback and said, ‘Go to such-and-such a meadow. There is a woman there who has a letter with her from Hatib to the idolaters. Bring her to me.’ We found her rising along on one of her camels as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had described her. We said, ‘[Give us] the letter you have with you.’ ‘I do not have any letter,’ she replied. We searched and her camel. My companion said, ‘I do not see it.’ I said, ‘The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, does not lie. By the One in whose hand my soul is, I will strip her unless she produces it!’ She put her hand in the knot of her shawl as she was wearing a black shawl and brought it out. We went back to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. ‘Umar exclaimed, ‘He (i.e. Hatim) has betrayed Allah, His Messenger, and the believers! Let me strike off his head!’ He asked, ‘What made you do it?’ Hatim said, ‘I believe in Allah, but I want to have some authority with the people.’ He said, ;He has spoken the truth, ‘Umar. Was he not present at Badr? Perhaps Allah has looked on them and said, “Do whatever you like. The Garden is guaranteed for you.”‘ ‘Umar wept and said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.””
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth contains many benefits including, 1. The Prophetﷺ received revelation apart from the Qur’an. The message of Hatib bin Balta’ah which was with the woman was from the unseen made known to the Prophetﷺ by revelation. 2. The companions – may Allah be pleased with them all – had unshaken belief in the Prophethood and Messengership of the Prophetﷺ and thus, would strip the woman rather than accept her statement that she hadn’t any letter with her. 3. Umar interpreted the action of Hatib to be from hypocrisy: being amongst the Muslims, deceiving them with the aim of spying for the disbelievers. Umar’s consideration was corrected by the Messengerﷺ that Hatib bin Bata’ah did not intend any of that and was not from such persons. 4. The right to implement legal punishments lies with the Authority. Thus, Umar – t – sought the Prophet’s permission to cut off Hatib’s head. 5. We should not hastily accuse people of disbelief even when the matter may appear so until proper verification is made by those versed in the matters regarding declaring disbelief. 6. As regards the statement, Do whatever you like. The Garden is guaranteed for you; “the scholars say that it is regarding the Hereafter. Otherwise, if any one amongst them was proven guilty, the apprioprate legal punishment would have been implemented on him”, Imam an-Nawawee explained. Ibn Hajar added that, “However, they all continued upon the deeds of the people of Paradise until they left this world. If anything came from any one of them, he quickly turned to Allah in repentance and stuck to the right path. This is clearly known to any one who studys their biographies.”

chapter 205. Someone says calls his brother an unbeliever

439. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “If a man says to his brother, ‘You are an unbeliever,’ it is true for one or the other of them.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narration has also been reported in the Two Saheehs from the hadeeth of Ibn Umar and Abu Dharr (y), and in Saheeh alBukhaari from the hadeeth Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) with slightly different wordings but the same meaning. It highlights amongst others, that: 1. It basically discourages accussing a Muslim of deviance or disbelief. The path of admonition with good words in a nice manner should be followed firstly, such that if such statements will be made, the deviance or disbelief of the person will be clear. 2, Only those who are well-grounded in the matters that make a person become a deviant or disbeliever should utter such statements. The interfering ignorant risks falling into grave errors. 3. If the one to whom the statement was made is as described, then it does not return to the one who made it. Explanations have varied regarding what actually returns to the person who wrongly says to his Muslim brother, “O disbeliever…”. Some explain that the accuser becomes a disbeliever if he believes that to wrongly accusse his brother is allowed in the Sharee’ah. Others say that his insult of his brother returns to him and he bears the sin of wrongly accussing his brother of disbelief. It is also explained that his wrongfully accussing his brother of disbelief may lead such a person to the disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. However, what appears most preponderant – and Allah knows best – is that such an accuser has committed a grevious sin but has not committed the disbelief that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. This is because in other wordings of the hadeeth, it says, “Whoever says to his brother: O disbeliever…” This expression indicates that they are both brothers; if anyone of them goes out of Islam they will not both be referred to as brothers in the first place. Secondly, despite the fact that the Khawaarij declared those who are Muslims by consensus – the companions and those upon their path – as disbelievers, the companions and their students still related with them as Muslims; observed the prayers behind them, and the scholars amongst them had intellectual discussions with such people. They did not rule them as disbelievers. Thirdly, the Prophetﷺ said, “Cursing the believer is like killing him. Whosoever accusses the believer of disbelief, its like killing him.” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim). It is known that killing a Muslim is a grevious sin which is not disbelief. See al-Ilmaam bi Sharh Nawaaqid al-Islam (21-25).

440. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “When someone says to another, ‘Unbeliever!’ then one of them is an unbeliever. If the one to whom he says it is an unbeliever, he has spoke the truth. If that is not the case, then the one who said it has brought down disbelief on himself.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

chapter 206. The gloating of enemies

441. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to seek refuge from an evil end and the glaoting of enemies.
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: s encouraged for the servant to recognize his weakness before his Lord and regularly beseech Him. He should seek refuge with Allah the Mighty and Sublime from evil end and the enemy’s rejoice over his misfortunes.