37. Words

37. Words

387. Too Many Words

875. Ibn ‘Umar said, “Two men came from the east as orators in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They stood up, spoke and then sat down. Thabit ibn Qays, the orator of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up and spoke and the people liked what he said. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stood up and said, ‘O people, say what you have to say. seeking to present words is the best manner is from Shaytan.’ Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There is some magic in eloquence.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Here the Prophetﷺ exhorted being calm and factual in our speeches avoiding unnecessary artificiality and sweet-talking. Shaytan would deceive such speakers to tell lies, speak irrelevances and even speak the truth for pride and popularity. The Prophetﷺ had said in an authentic hadeeth that, “The best speech is that which is brief and direct.” Read the next narration.

876. Anas said, “A man gave a speech in the presence of ‘Umar and said a lot. ‘Umar said, ‘Too many words in orations comes from the skills of shaytan.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

877. Abu Yazid or Ma’n ibn Yazid reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Gather in your mosques. When the people are gathered, come and tell me.’ The first of those to whom he came was us and he sat down. One of the speakers spoke and said, ‘Praise be to Allah. No praise can be directed to anyone except Him nor is there any escape without Him.’ The Prophet got angry, stood up and we blamed one another. Then he went to another mosque and sat in it. We sent to him and spoke to him. He came with us and sat where he had been sitting or near to it. Then he said, ‘Praise be to Allah who puts whatever He wishes before Him and whatever He wishes behind Him. There is some magic in eloquence.’ Then he commanded us and taught us.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: This unnecessary aritificiality and tattling which the Prophetﷺ prohibited in this hadeeth forms the order of the day in many Friday and ‘Eid sermons people deliver today!

chapter 388. Wishing

878. ‘A’isha said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sleepless one night and said, ‘Would that a man of righteous action among my Companions would come and guard me tonight!’ Then he heard the sound of weapons. He asked, ‘Who is it?’ ‘Sa’d,’ came the answer. Sa’d said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I have come to guard you.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, slept and we heard him snore.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The point of reference in the hadeeth in relation to the chapter topic is the Prophet’s saying, “…I wish…”. In another version of the same hadeeth collected by Imam Muslim in his Saheeh, “the Messenger of Allahﷺ then prayed for him…”. From the lessons in this narration is that the people should protect their leader and that such does not contradict reliance on Allah the Exalted.

chapter 389. When someone says, “It is a sea” about a man, thing or horse

879. Anas ibn Malik, “There was some alarm in Madina and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, borrowed a horse belonging to Abu Talha called al-Mandub. He rode it, and when he returned he said, ‘We did not see anything and he found the horse to be a sea.” [Referring to its running]
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: It is deduced from this narration that one could name a riding animal and borrow a ride from a friend or associate. The horse was likened to a sea in its race. It was also reported that al-Mandub, was hitherto sluggish in its movement but became unequalled in its speed and smooth movement afterwards.

chapter 390. Beating someone for grammatical mistakes

880. Nafi’ said, “Ibn ‘Umar used to strike his son for making grammatical mistakes.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The companions y were very keen on imparting knowledge to their children and others. They would correct them when they err in the way the Arabic language is customarily spoken, and discipline them as apprioprate.

881. ‘Abdu’r-Rahman ibn ‘Ajlan said, “‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by two men who were shooting. One man said to another, ‘Do hit it (using the letter sîn instead of sâd).’ ‘Umar observed, ‘A bad grammatical mistake is worse than a bad shot.'”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 391. Someone describing something by saying, “It is nothing,” meaning that it is not true

882. ‘A’isha, the wife of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “People asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about soothsayers. He told them, ‘They are nothing.’ They said, But, Messenger of Allah, they speak about things which are true!’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, responded, ‘That is a word which Shaytan steals and then he mumbles it into the ear of his protégé with a sound like the clucking of a chicken. Then they mix a hundred lies with it.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The point in this hadeeth here is the Prophet’s saying: “laysoo bi shay-in” i.e. what they say is not true or that they are not upon the truth. From the lessons in this hadeeth is that students should not hesitate to seek clarification from the teacher about difficult areas in their studies. In an authentic hadeeth collected by Imam Ahmad and others, the Prophetﷺ warned, “Whosoever approaches a fortune-teller and believes what he says has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad.”

chapter 392. Indirect Allusion

883. Anas ibn Malik said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was on one of his journeys and the camel-drive was chanting (to make the camels move). The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Gently, Anjasha! Be careful with the glass vessels (meaning the women).'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary:See comment on hadeeth no. 264 and 884.

884. ‘Umar said, “A man is reckoned to be lying when he gives voice to all that he hearts.” He said, “As for cases of indirect allusion, are they enough to keep a Muslim from lying?”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Generally a person would hear things some of which will be true and some, of course, will be lies. So when a person tells just whatever he hears, he would transmit something that is not true becoming one of the liars knowingly or unknowingly. In indirect allusions however, the speaker would disguise his expressions such that the listener may understand other than what the speaker intended. For example, the Prophet’s statement to ‘Anjasha: “Be gentle when you are driving glass vessels!” (no. 264 and 883) could be understood by the women to mean that they should be driven gently while it was an allusion to ‘Anjasha that the women could easily be put to trial through his sonorous voice.

885. Mutarrif ibn ‘Imran ibn ash-Shakhir said, “I accompanied ‘Imran ibn Husayn to Basra. Every day he used to recite poetry to us and he said, ‘Indirect allusions give ample scope to avoid lying.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Shaykh Husayn al-‘Awaayisha (hafizahullah) explained that, “this is when one is constrained to do that to put off lies. But if their is no need or dire necessity, then no (it is not permissible)… Its connection with the chapter heading is that poetry involves allusions which prevent lying.”

chapter 393. Divulging secrets

886. ‘Amr ibn al-‘As said, “I am astonished at a man who flees from fate when he is all the time attacking it and who sees the mote in his brother’s eye and not the trunk in his own eye. He uncovers the rancour in his brother’s heart and not the rancour in himself. I have never entrusted anyone with a secret of mine and then blamed him for divulging it. How could I blame him when I have given him something he is incapable of doing?”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

chapter 394. Mockery

887. ‘A’isha said, “A man suffering from an affliction passed by some women and they laughed together, mocking him, and so one of them got that same affliction.”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)