Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (87) | The door to forbearance, patience, and kindness

0:00 *Riyad al-Salihin* (The Meadows of the Righteous) from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

0:09 Chapter on Forbearance, Deliberation, and Gentleness.

0:17 Allah the Exalted said:

0:19 "And those who restrain anger and pardon people,"

0:23 "and Allah loves the doers of good."

0:26 And the Exalted said:

0:28 "Take to pardoning, enjoin what is right, and turn away from the ignorant."

0:33 And the Exalted said:

0:35 “The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend.” (41:34)

0:38 "Repel [evil] by that which is better."

0:41 “The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend.” (41:34)

0:47 “But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness.” (41:35)

0:51 “But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness.” (41:35)

0:56 And the Exalted said:

0:58 “And verily whoso is patient and forgiveth - lo! that, verily, is (of) the steadfast heart of things.” (42:43)

1:06 On the authority of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), who said:

1:10 The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to Ashajj 'Abd al-Qays:

1:15 "Indeed, you possess two qualities that Allah loves:"

1:19 "forbearance and deliberation."

1:22 Related by Muslim.

1:24 Among the benefits of the hadith:

1:28 Affirming the attribute of love for Allah.

1:30 Moral traits are of two kinds: innate and acquired.

1:35 For it occurred in the hadith of al-Ashajj in another narration in al-Bukhari and others:

1:41 He said: "O Messenger of Allah,"

1:44 "did I acquire them myself, or did Allah create me naturally disposed to them?"

1:49 He said: "Rather, Allah created you naturally disposed to them."

1:53 He said: "Praise be to Allah, Who created me naturally disposed to two qualities that Allah and His Messenger love."

2:00 Encouragement to verify matters and consider their consequences,

2:06 as well as to be deliberate before passing judgments on them.

2:10 And on the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said:

2:15 The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

2:19 "Indeed, Allah is gentle and loves gentleness in all matters."

2:24 Agreed upon.

2:27 Among the benefits of the hadith:

2:29 Encouragement to maintain a gentle demeanor in word and deed,

2:33 and to choose the easier option,

2:35 due to the connection and harmony it brings.

2:38 Gentleness should encompass the entirety of a Muslim's life.

2:44 Returning the greeting to the *Ahl al-Dhimmah* (non-Muslim citizens) is done by saying:

2:48 "And upon you."

2:50 This is clarified by the context of this hadith's occurrence:

2:53 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

2:56 A group of Jews entered upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

3:01 and said: "Death be upon you."

3:04 I understood what they meant,

3:06 so I said: "Upon you be death and curse!"

3:10 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

3:14 "Be calm, O 'A'ishah!"

3:16 "For indeed, Allah loves gentleness in all matters."

3:20 I said: "O Messenger of Allah,"

3:22 "did you not hear what they said?"

3:25 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

3:29 "I have already said: 'And upon you.'"

3:32 A Muslim should accustom his tongue to politeness

3:37 and not become habituated to insulting others.

3:40 For this reason, the Messenger (peace be upon him) disapproved

3:43 of 'A'ishah's response to the Jews with such excess,

3:48 even though they deserved that and worse,

3:51 for Allah has cursed them and is angry with them in the explicit text of the Noble Qur'an.

3:56 The keenness of the Messenger (peace be upon him)

4:00 to convey Islam to all people;

4:04 therefore, the Messenger wished to win their hearts,

4:07 along with his keen discernment (peace be upon him)

4:10 and his returning their words back upon them without their even realizing it.

4:15 And on the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),

4:19 that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

4:22 "Indeed, Allah is gentle and loves gentleness,"

4:26 "and He grants for gentleness what He does not grant for harshness,"

4:30 "nor does He grant it for anything else."

4:33 Related by Muslim.

4:36 Among the benefits of the hadith:

4:38 Affirming the attribute of love for Allah the Exalted.

4:43 The high status of gentleness among noble morals.

4:47 The gentle person deserves beautiful praise and immense reward

4:51 from Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He.

4:54 The reprehensibility of harshness, severity, and coarseness,

4:59 as the one who possesses them is deprived of good

5:02 because he does not do good.

5:05 And on the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her),

5:09 that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

5:13 "Indeed, gentleness is not found in anything except that it beautifies it,"

5:18 "and it is not withdrawn from anything except that it blemishes it."

5:22 Related by Muslim.

5:24 "Beautifies it" means makes it fine and adorned.

5:29 "Blemishes it" means faults it and makes it ugly.

5:33 Among the benefits of the hadith:

5:36 The necessity of adorning oneself with gentleness,

5:39 for it adorns a person and beautifies them in the eyes of people and with Allah the Exalted.

5:46 Staying away from violence, severity, and harshness,

5:49 because they disgrace their possessor,

5:51 bring blame upon them among people,

5:54 and incur sin with Allah the Exalted.

5:57 And on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

6:02 A bedouin urinated in the mosque,

6:05 so the people rose to fall upon him.

6:08 The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

6:12 "Leave him, and pour a bucket of water over his urine,"

6:17 "or a large pail of water,"

6:19 "for you have only been sent to make things easy, and you have not been sent to make things difficult."

6:24 Related by al-Bukhari.

6:27 A *sajl* is a bucket full of water,

6:32 and likewise is a *dhanub*.

6:34 "To fall upon him" means to blame and reprimand him.

6:40 "Leave him" means let him be.

6:43 "Pour" means spill over it.

6:46 "To make things difficult" means acting harshly and repelling others.

6:51 Among the benefits of the hadith:

6:55 This hadith indicates the coarseness of many bedouins

6:59 and their ignorance of the rulings of the Sharia.

7:02 Avoiding impurities was firmly established in the hearts of the Companions;

7:07 that is why they rushed to denounce the act in his presence (peace be upon him)

7:12 before seeking his permission,

7:14 because enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong was established with them.

7:20 Changing an evil is obligatory whenever one has the capacity to change it, and delaying it is not permissible.

7:27 Changing an evil must be guided by wisdom and consideration of consequences.

7:34 The caller to Allah must give precedence to the weightier interest,

7:39 which is repelling the greater of two harms by bearing the lesser of the two,

7:44 and attaining the greater of two benefits by foregoing the lesser one.

7:48 That is why the Messenger (peace be upon him) forbade them from attacking him

7:53 and commanded them to refrain from him,

7:55 saying to them: "Do not interrupt him," meaning do not cut off his urination.

8:01 For if they had done so, the bedouin would have fled,

8:05 and the impurity of his urine would have affected a larger area of the mosque floor;

8:10 thus, a greater harm would have occurred than the bedouin's initial act.

8:16 One should take the initiative to change evil

8:19 and remove harms as soon as impediments are gone.

8:23 That is why the Messenger (peace be upon him) commanded them,

8:27 as soon as the bedouin had finished urinating,

8:30 to pour water over it.

8:32 Gentleness must be shown to the ignorant person, treating him with ease,

8:37 without rebuking, overpowering, or scolding him,

8:40 because doing so prevents him from seeking knowledge and accepting instruction.

8:45 Mosques must be venerated and purified of impurities.

8:50 A demonstration of the Prophet's keenness (peace be upon him)

8:54 to teach people what is good,

8:57 his compassion for his Ummah, and his gentleness with the one who errs,

9:01 so long as he is not obstinate.

9:04 One should admonish the impulsive when they make a mistake

9:07 and guide the actions of the overzealous

9:10 when they are inflamed with zeal, agitation, and emotion.

9:14 And on the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him),

9:18 from the Prophet (peace be upon him), who said:

9:21 "Make things easy and do not make them difficult,"

9:24 "and give glad tidings and do not repel people."

9:27 Agreed upon.

9:30 Among the benefits of the hadith:

9:33 It is the duty of the believer to make Allah beloved to the people

9:37 and to encourage them toward goodness.

9:39 The caller to Allah should

9:42 wisely consider how

9:45 to convey the message of Islam to people,

9:48 namely by being one who facilitates ease, not difficulty.

9:52 Giving glad tidings generates joy and receptivity,

9:55 as well as trust in the caller

9:57 and in what he presents to the people.

10:00 Creating hardship generates aversion and withdrawal,

10:03 as well as doubt regarding the caller's words.

10:07 The vastness of Allah's mercy toward His servants,

10:10 and that He has approved for them a tolerant religion

10:13 and an easy Sharia,

10:15 and He expects His callers to be likewise.

10:18 Strictness, difficulty, and repelling others

10:21 befall people from themselves and by their own hands;

10:25 whoever is overly strict, Allah will be strict with him.

10:30 And on the authority of Jarir ibn 'Abdillah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

10:34 I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:

10:39 "Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good."

10:44 Related by Muslim.

10:46 And on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him),

10:49 that a man said to the Prophet (peace be upon him):

10:53 "Advise me."

10:55 He said: "Do not get angry."

10:58 The man repeated his request several times,

11:00 and he said: "Do not get angry."

11:03 Related by al-Bukhari.

11:05 Among the benefits of the hadith:

11:09 The legitimacy of asking questions and seeking guidance toward goodness,

11:13 for this man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him)

11:17 to give him a brief counsel

11:20 that encompasses all virtues of good.

11:23 Scholars have considered this hadith

11:26 to be among the comprehensive hadiths upon which Islam revolves.

11:32 Anger is the key to evil;

11:35 that is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) advised him

11:38 not to get angry.

11:40 The man then repeated this question several times,

11:43 and the Prophet (peace be upon him)

11:46 kept repeating this same answer to him.

11:49 And on the authority of Abu Ya'la Shaddad ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him),

11:54 from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

11:57 who said:

11:59 "Indeed, Allah has prescribed excellence in all things;"

12:03 "so when you kill, kill well,"

12:06 "and when you slaughter, slaughter well."

12:10 "Let one of you sharpen his blade"

12:13 "and spare his slaughtered animal suffering."

12:16 Related by Muslim.

12:18 "Prescribed" means made obligatory.

12:22 "Excellence" (*ihsan*) means perfecting the deed,

12:25 or bestowing favor and benevolence.

12:28 "Kill well" refers to the manner and state of killing.

12:32 "Slaughter well" refers to the manner of slaughtering.

12:37 "Blade" refers to a wide knife.

12:41 Among the lessons derived from this hadith:

12:45 One should show excellence, gentleness,

12:48 and compassion to all creation.

12:51 One should swiftly take the life

12:54 of whatever is permissible to slaughter, using the easiest and most humane method.

12:57 For this reason, it is impermissible to torture an animal

13:00 when slaughtering it.

13:04 And on the authority of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), she said:

13:07 "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was never given a choice

13:10 between two matters

13:13 except that he chose the easier of them, so long as it was not a sin.

13:16 But if it was a sin,

13:19 he was the furthest of all people from it.

13:22 And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) never took revenge

13:25 for himself in anything at all,

13:28 except when the sacred limits of Allah were violated,

13:31 in which case he would exact retribution for the sake of Allah the Exalted."

13:34 Agreed upon.

13:39 Among the lessons derived from the hadith:

13:43 Choosing the easier option

13:46 in all matters of religion and worldly life

13:49 is the upright and sound approach.

13:53 Staying far away from disobedience and sin,

13:56 even if it aligns with one's desires

13:59 or one perceives some personal benefit in it,

14:02 because all goodness lies entirely in righteousness.

14:05 The magnanimity of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

14:08 and his pardoning of anyone who mistreated him,

14:12 which demonstrates his immense mercy toward his Ummah.

14:26 And on the authority of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:

14:30 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

14:33 "Shall I not inform you

14:36 of who is forbidden to the Fire,

14:39 or for whom the Fire is forbidden?

14:42 It is forbidden for everyone who is approachable,

14:44 gentle, mild-mannered, and easygoing."

14:47 Narrated by al-Tirmidhi.

14:52 "Approachable" means close to people

14:55 and beloved to them

14:58 due to his good companionship and kind treatment.

15:01 "Gentle" means humble.

15:04 "Mild-mannered" means pleasant in dealings.

15:07 "Easygoing" means lenient when settling debts,

15:10 claiming rights, or selling.

15:13 Among the lessons derived from the hadith:

15:17 Noble character is a means of salvation from the punishment of Allah.

15:20 Good character toward people is an integral part of faith.

15:25 One should draw the attention of the learner or listener

15:28 to matters of great importance.

15:31 Riyadh al-Salihin.

Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (87) | The door to forbearance, patience, and kindness

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