The Prophet's Methods for Correcting People's Mistakes Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Here we may note the following points: * The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to them and addressed them directly; when he wanted to teach all the people, he did not refer to them by name or expose them, he merely said, "What is the matter with some people...?" In this way he was gentle with them and covered up for them whilst at the same time acting in the common interest by teaching everybody. * The hadeeth describes finding out about the action of good people and seeking to emulate them. Investigating such things is the sign of a sound mind and efforts to improve oneself. * This report indicates that when it comes to useful matters of religion, if it is not possible to learn them from men, it is permissible to learn them from women. * There is nothing wrong with a person talking about his deeds so long as there is no element of showing off and it is for the benefit of others. * We also learn that going to extremes in worship may cause a person to get bored, which in turn could lead him to stop worshipping altogether; the best of things are those that are moderate. (see al-Fath, 9/104). * Mistakes generally come about as a result of misconceptions; if the ideas are put right, mistakes will decrease. It is clear from the hadeeth that the reason why those Sahaabah adopted those concepts of extreme worship and monasticism was that they thought they had to go beyond the Prophet's actions in worship in order to attain salvation, because he had been told that all his sins were forgiven, but they did not have this advantage. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) set them straight, and told them that even though he was forgiven, he was the most fearing of Allaah among mankind, and he commanded them to follow his Sunnah in worship. A similar thing happened to another Sahaabi, whose name was Kahmas al-Hilaali (may Allaah be pleased with him), who narrated his story: "I became Muslim and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and told him that I had become Muslim. I stayed away for a year, during which I became very skinny, and when I came back, he looked me up and down. I said, 'Do you not know me?' he said, 'Who are you?' I said, 'I am Kahmas al-Hilaali.' He said, 'What happened to you?' I said, 'After I saw you, I never spent a day without fasting, and I never slept at night.' He said, 'Who told you to torture yourself? Fast the month of patience [i.e., Ramadaan], and one day of every month besides that.' I said, 'Let me do more.' He said, 'Fast the month of patience and two days of every month besides that.' I said, 'Let me do more, I am able for it.' He said, 'Fast the month of patience and three days of every month besides that.'" (Musnad al-Tayaalisi. Reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, 19/194, no. 435. Also in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah, no. 2623). Some misconceptions may be based on how one judges people and regards them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was very keen to correct this and put people straight in this regard. In Saheeh al-Bukhaari, there is a report from Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Saa'idi who said: "A man passed by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who asked a man sitting by him, 'What do you think of this man?' He said, 'He is one of the noblest of the people. By Allaah, if he proposes marriage he deserves to be accepted and if he intercedes he deserves to have his intercession accepted.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said nothing. Then another man passed by and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked the man with him, 'What do you think of him?' The man said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, he is one of the poor Muslims. If he proposes marriage he does not deserve to be accepted, if he intercedes he does not deserve to have his intercession accepted, and if he speaks he does not deserve to be heard. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'This man is better than an earth full of men like the other man.'" (al-Fath, 6447). According to a report narrated by Ibn Maajah: a man passed by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said (to his Companions), "What do you think of this man?" They said, "We think that he is one of the noblest of people. If he proposes marriage he deserves to be accepted, if he intercedes he deserves to have his intercession accepted, and if he speaks he deserves to be heard." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said nothing. Another man passed by and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked, "What do you think of this man?" They said, "By Allaah, O Messenger of Allaah, he is one of the poor Muslims. If he proposes marriage he does not deserve to be accepted, if he intercedes, he does not deserve to have his intercession accepted, and if he speaks he does not deserve to be heard." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "This man is better than an earth full of men like the other one." (Sunan Ibn Maajah, 'Abd al-Baaqi edn., no. 4120) 5 - Dealing with mistakes by repeatedly reminding people to fear Allaah Jundub ibn 'Abd-Allaah al-Bajali reported that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent a group of Muslims to fight some mushrikeen, and they met in battle. One of the mushrikeen was ambushing individual Muslims and killing them. One of the Muslims wanted to catch him out and kill him. [Jundub said:] "We used to think that that man was Usaamah ibn Zayd. When he raised his sword, the mushrik said 'La ilaaha ill-Allaah,' but he [Usaamah] killed him. A messenger came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and reported to him about what had happened in the battle. When he told him about what had happened to the mushrik who said Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent for Usaamah and asked him, 'Why did you kill him?' He said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, he had caused much grief to the Muslims, he killed So-and-so and So-and-so,' - and he named a number of people - 'I attacked him and when he saw the sword he said Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'And then you killed him?' Usaamah said, 'Yes.' He said, 'What will you do when Laa illaha ill-Allaah comes on the Day of Resurrection?' He said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, pray for forgiveness for me.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) simply said, "What will you do when Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah comes on the Day of Resurrection?"; he did not say any more than that. (Reported by Muslim, 'Abd al-Baaqi edn., no. 97). According to a report narrated by Usaamah ibn Zayd, he said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent us out on a military campaign and we reached al-Haraqaat near Juhaynah in the morning. [During the battle] I caught a man and he said, 'Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah,' but I stabbed him. Then I felt bad about that, and I mentioned it to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'He said Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah and you killed him?' I said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, he only said it because he was afraid of my weapon.' He said, 'How can you know what is in his heart? How can you be sure whether he was sincere or not?' He kept repeating this until I wished that I had not become Muslim until that day [because embracing Islam wipes out all sins that came before - Translator]." (Reported by Muslim, no. 69) One issue that may be included under the heading of reminders is reminding people about the power of Allaah. An example of this follows: Muslim (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported that Abu Mas'ood al-Badri said: "I was beating a slave of mine with a whip, and I heard a voice behind me saying, 'Listen Abu Mas'ood!' but I did not pay any attention to the voice because I was so angry. When the voice got nearer to me, I realized that it was the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and he was saying, 'Listen Abu Mas'ood, listen Abu Mas'ood!' I dropped the whip from my hand (according to another report: the whip fell from my hand out of respect for him). He said, 'Listen Abu Mas'ood, Allaah has more power over you than you have over this slave.' I said, 'I will never hit a slave again.'" According to another report he said: "I said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, he is free for the sake of Allaah.' He said, 'If you did not do this, the Fire of Hell would blow in your face, or the Fire would touch you.'" According to another report also narrated by Muslim, "the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'Certainly Allaah has more power over you than you have over him.' So he freed him." (Saheeh Muslim, no. 1659) Abu Mas'ood al-Ansaari said: "I was beating a slave of mine when I heard someone saying from behind me, 'Listen, Abu Mas'ood, listen, Abu Mas'ood.' I turned around and saw that it was the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said, 'Allaah has more power over you than you have over him.'... I never beat any slave of mine after that." (Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 1948. Abu 'Eesa said, this is a hasan saheeh hadeeth). 6 - Showing compassion to the one who is making a mistake This applies in the case of those who deserve compassion, who feel remorse and show that they have repented, as is sometimes the case when people come to ask questions and find out, as in the following story: Ibn 'Abbaas reported that a man who had divorced his wife by zihaar and then had intercourse with her came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allaah, I divorced my wife by zihaar then I had intercourse with her before I offered kafaarah (expiation)." He said, "What made you do that, may Allaah have mercy on you?" He said, "I saw her anklets in the moonlight." He said, "Then do not go near her until you have done that which Allaah commanded you to do." (Abu 'Eesa said, this is a hasan ghareeb saheeh hadeeth. Saheeh Sunan al-Tirmidhi, no. 1199) Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "Whilst we were sitting with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), a man came to him and said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, I am doomed!' He said, 'What is the matter with you?' He said, 'I had intercourse with my wife whilst I was fasting.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'Are you able to set a slave free?' He said, 'No.' He said, 'Can you fast for two consecutive months?' He said, 'No.' He said, 'Do you have the wherewithal to feed sixty poor persons?' He said, 'No.' The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said nothing more about the matter for a while, and whilst we were sitting there like that, a large basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said, 'Where is the one who was asking?' The man said, 'Here I am.' He said, 'Take this and give it in charity.' The man said, 'Who is poorer than me, O Messenger of Allaah? By Allaah, there is no family in Madeenah poorer than mine.' The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) smiled until his eyeteeth were visible, then he said, 'Feed your family with it.'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath, 1936). This person who had made a mistake and came to ask about it was not joking or taking the matter lightly. He felt remorseful and guilty, as is clear from his saying "I am doomed." For this reason, he deserved pity and compassion. The report narrated by Ahmad (may Allaah have mercy on him) makes the man's state even clearer: Abu Hurayrah reported that a Bedouin came, hitting his cheeks and tearing out his hair, and saying, "I am sure that I am doomed!" The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him, "What makes you doomed?" He said, "I had intercourse with my wife during Ramadaan." He said, "Can you free a slave?' He said, "No." He said, "Can you fast for two consecutive months?" He said, "No." He said, "Can you feed sixty poor persons?" He said, "No," and mentioned how poor he was. A large basket containing fifteen saa' of dates was brought to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "Where is that man? ... Feed the poor with this." He said, "O Messenger of Allaah, there is no one in Madeenah who is poorer than my family." The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) smiled until his eyeteeth were visible and said, "Feed your family." (Al-Musnad, 2/516. Al-Fath al-Rabaani, 10/89) 7- Not hastening to tell someone he is wrong Something happened to 'Umar which he himself told about: "I heard Hishaam ibn Hakeem ibn Hizaam reciting Soorat al-Furqaan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). I listened to his recitation, and he was reciting it differently to the way that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite it. I nearly interrupted his prayer, but I waited until he had said the salaam, then I grabbed him by his cloak and said, 'Who taught you to recite this soorah I heard you reciting?' He said, 'The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught me to recite it.' I said, 'You are lying! The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught me to recite it differently.' I took him to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, 'I heard him reciting Soorat al-Furqaan differently than the way you taught me to recite it.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'Let him go. Recite, O Hishaam.' He recited it as I had heard him recite it. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'This is how it was revealed.' Then he said, 'Recite, O 'Umar.' So I recited it as he had taught me. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'This is how it was revealed. This Qur'an was revealed with seven ways of recitation, so recite it in the way that is easiest for you.'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 4992). Among the educational methods we learn from this story are the following: * Telling each one to recite in front of the other and approving their recitation was more effective in confirming that both were correct and neither was wrong. * When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told 'Umar to let go of Hishaam, this was preparing both parties to listen in a calm manner. This was an indication that 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) had been too hasty. * A person who is seeking knowledge should not be too hasty to condemn any opinion that differs from that with which he is familiar; he should first be sure of what he is saying, because that opinion may turn out to be a valid scholarly opinion. Another relevant point is that one should not hasten to punish someone who makes a mistake, as we see in the following story: Al-Nisaa'i (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported from 'Abbaad ibn Sharhabeel (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: "I came with my (paternal) uncles to Madeenah, and we entered one of the gardens of the city. I rubbed some of the wheat, and the owner of the garden came and took my cloak and hit me. I came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asking for his help. He sent for that man and they brought him to him. He said to him, 'What made you do that?' He said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, he went into my garden and took some of my wheat and rubbed it.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, 'You did not teach him if it was the matter of him not knowing, and you did not feed him if it was the matter of him being hungry. Give him back his cloak.' And the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that I should be given a wasq or half a wasq ( measure of wheat)." (Al-Nisaa'i, al-Mujtabaa, Kitaab Aadaab al-Qudaat, Baab al-Isti'daa'; Saheeh Sunan al-Nisaa'i, no. 4999). >From this story we learn that we should find out the circumstances of the one who is making a mistake or acting in an aggressive manner, so that we may know the right way to deal with him. We may also note that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not punish the owner of the garden, because he was in the right, but he had handled the matter wrong. He pointed out to him that the way he had dealt with someone who knew not better was inappropriate in such circumstances, then he taught him how to handle the matter properly, and told him to give back the garment he had taken from the hungry man. will be continued InshaAllah www.islam-qa.com <http://www.islam-qa.com>
