Rawdhatul-‘Uqala’ [post 6]
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said, “Beware of suspicion (and ill-thinking), for it is the worst of false tales. Do not probe into each others affairs, and do not envy one another, and do not hate one another. But O’ slaves of Allah, be brothers!” [Sahih al-Bukhari & Muslim]
Kathir ibn Ziyad said, ‘I heard al-Hasan (al-Basri) say, “Do not ask about the good and bad deeds of your brother, for that is surely tajassus (probing, spying, finding fault etc).”‘
Abu Hatim: ‘The intelligent one must adhere to salvation by staying away from probing into the faults of people, and instead should preoccupy himself with his own faults. Surely, whoever preoccupies himself with his own faults instead of the faults of others, will find peace and relaxation in his being and his heart will not be exhausted. Whenever he looks to his faults and errors, then the similar faults of his brother will be easy for him to bear. However, whoever preoccupies himself with the faults of others instead of his own, then his heart will become blind, he will become tired out and he will forget his own shortcomings. The weakest of people is the one who criticizes others for what is in them, and the weakest from amongst them is the one who criticizes others for what is also within himself. And whoever criticizes others, will be criticized by them.’
Truthful was he who said:
‘If you rebuke others, they’ll rebuke you and do so more!
And then what was hidden within you, will be on show.
Someone once said in some statement of the past,
A word containing wisdom and beauty so vast:
If ever you mention people, then leave behind their errors
For there is no error, except that yours can be said
If you criticize a people for what is not within them
Then that is mighty in the Sight of Allah and also men
And if you criticize them for what is also within you
Then how can the one-eyed rebuke the one-eyed too?
And how can people be criticized by someone who
His faults are worse when all faults are diffused?
When you look for other’s defects, you shall indeed find them
But remember that what is in you is far greater than them
So grant peace to the people, and leave them to themselves
For they can see your errors more than you can see yourself.’
Al-Shaybani mentioned that, “It is written in the Books that: ‘As you treat others, you shall be treated, and the cup you give to others, is the cup you shall drink from…'”
Abu Hatim: ‘Probing and seeking the faults of others is from the branches of hypocrisy just like thinking good of others is from the branches of faith. The intelligent one always has a good opinion of his brothers, and keeps his grief and sadness to himself. As for the ignorant one, he has evil opinion of his brothers and does not think about his crimes and distress.’
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (radhiallahu `anhu) said, ‘It is written in the Taurat that: “Whoever indulges in trade, becomes corrupt, and whoever digs an evil hole for his brother, will end up falling into it himself.”‘
[pg. 110-112]
Assalamualaikum wr wb 🙂
Needed this! Masha Allah tabarak Allah, it is translated so beautifully, May Allah SWT Bless you with the Best for putting in the effort. Aameen. Sometimes it takes so many readings for the full implication to sink in… This is something that needs to be read over and over again…
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatu Allaahi wa barakaatuh,
This is a great and much needed reminder.
May Allaah reward you with the best of both worlds and continue to increase you and us hikmah and tawfeeq to act upon these reminders.
Assalaamu’Alaikum WaRahamtullahi WaBarakatuhu Fajr! I pray you’re in the best of health and Eemaan, Aameen! 🙂
Jazakillaahu Khairan for posting this beneficial reminder. I was actually looking for something like this, perfect timing Alhamdulillaah! Its so easy to fall in to this type of behaviour and forget that we’re all weak and to start focusing on others faults rather than our own and to stop making excuses for our fellow Muslims. As a result, we mistreat people and wrong them and forget we will be held accountable for everything we do and say. Sometimes we don’t realise the deep effect our actions and words have on others. We fail to realise that if we harm our brother/sister in Islaam and are not kind, just and merciful towards them, we will only truly be harming ourselves and will end up regretting it in this life and the next. It is of great importance that we treat others in a manner that is pleasing to Allaah, especially as the rights of others are great in Islaam. May Allaah azza wajall protect us and help us to beautify our characters, Aameen.
Once again, Jazakillaahu Khairan! Keep me in your du’aas Insha’Allaah.
Take care Sis, Wasalaam 🙂
P.s. We need to talk Insha’Allaah… did I reply to your last message?
Wa `alaykumusalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Did I not get back to your message? Oh dear, insha’Allah I’ll reply soon. Check out the links I last gave you and the comments section (I think they’ll help a lot!) 🙂
JazakaAllah khayr for posting this. Practical reminder
Alhumdullilah this was great, I will definitely pass on to all my brothers and sisters.