Al-Asaaleeb al-Nabawiyyah
The Prophet's Methods for Correcting People's Mistakes
English Translation
Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
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Contents
Introduction
Points to be noted when dealing with mistakes
The Prophet's methods of dealing with people's mistakes
Conclusion
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24 - Intervening to calm people down and put a stop to the fitnah (discord)
between those who are making mistakes
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did this on a number of
occasions when fighting was about to break out among the Muslims, so he
intervened, as was reported in the incident of the slander (al-ifk) against
'Aa'ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her). She said: "The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up that day and asked for
someone to deal with 'Abd-Allaah ibn Ubayy for him, whilst he was on the
minbar. He said, 'O Muslims! Who will deal with a man who I have heard is
attacking me with regard to my family? By Allaah, I know nothing about my
family but good, and they have mentioned a man about whom I know nothing but
good, and he has never entered upon my family except with me.' Sa'd ibn
Mu'aadh, the brother of Bani 'Abd al-Ashhal, stood up and said, 'O Messenger of
Allaah, I will deal with him for you. If he is from Aws, I will strike his neck
[cut his head off], and if he is from among our brothers of Khazraj, tell us
what to do, and we will do it.' Then a man of Khazraj stood up; Umm Hassaan was
his cousin from the same clan, and he was Sa'd ibn 'Ubaadah the leader of
Khazraj. Before that he was known to be a righteous man, but on this occasion a
spirit of tribalism took hold of him, and he said to Sa'd [ibn Mu'aadh], 'You
are lying! By Allaah, you will not kill him and you will not be able to kill
him. If he were one of your people, you would not like him to be killed!' Usayd
ibn Hudayr, the cousin of Sa'd, stood up and said to Sa'd ibn 'Ubaadah: 'You
are lying! By Allaah, we will kill him! You are a hypocrite defending the
hypocrites!' The two parties of Aws and Khazraj got so angry that they nearly
began to fight whilst the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) was standing on the minbar. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) kept smoothing things over until they calmed
down." (Agreed upon. Fath, 4141)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to Bani 'Amr ibn
'Awf to reconcile between them, and stayed there for that purpose until the
time for one of the congregational prayers came, as is reported in al-Saheehayn
and in a report narrated by al-Nisaa'i. Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Saa'idi (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: "A dispute arose between two parties among the Ansaar,
to the point that they were throwing stones at one another. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to reconcile between them, and the
time for prayer came, so Bilaal called the Adhaan and waited for the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but he did not come. So
he made the iqaamah (call immediately preceding congregational prayer) and Abu
Bakr, may Allaah be pleased with him) led the prayer." (Al-Mujtabaa, Kitaab
Aadaab al-Qadaah, 8/243). According to a report narrated by Ahmad, Sahl ibn
Sa'd al-Saa'idi said: "Someone came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: 'Bani 'Amr ibn 'Awf are fighting and
throwing stones at one another.' So the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out to them to reconcile between them."
(Al-Musnad, 5/338)
25 - Showing one's anger about a mistake
When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw or heard about
a mistake, he would show his anger, especially if it had to do with matters of
belief ('aqeedah). This includes indulging in disputes about al-qadar (divine
decree) and the Qur'aan. In Sunan Ibn Maajah there is a report from 'Amr ibn
Shu'ayb from his father from his grandfather, who said: "The Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came out to his companions,
who were disputing about al-qadar, and it was as if a pomegranate seed had
burst on his face, i.e., his face was red with anger. He said, 'Is this what
you were commanded to do? Is this what you were created for? Are you using some
parts of the Qur'aan to contradict others? The nations before you were
destroyed by this!' 'Abd-Allaah ibn 'Amr said: 'I never felt happy about
missing any gathering with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), but I was happy about missing that gathering.'" (Reported
by Ibn Maajah, no. 85. He said in al-Zawaa'id: this is a saheeh isnaad and its
men are thiqaat. It says in Saheeh Ibn Maajah: hasan saheeh. No. 69).
According to Ibn Abi 'Aasim in Kitaab al-Sunnah: "The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came out to his Companions, and
they were disputing about al-qadar, one quoting one aayah and another quoting
another aayah. It was as if a pomegranate seed had been thrown in his face
[because it was red with anger]. He said, 'Is this what you were created for?
Is this what you were ordered to do? Do not use parts of Allaah's book against
other parts. Look at what you are commanded to do, and do it, and what you are
forbidden to do, avoid it.'" (Al-Sunnah by Ibn Abi 'Aasim, edited by
al-Albaani, no. 406. He said: its isnaad is hasan).
Another example of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
becoming angry at the denial of one of the basic principles was what happened
in the case of 'Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him), with regard to sources.
Ahmad (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported in his Musnad from Jaabir ibn
'Abd-Allaah that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab came to the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) with a book which he had got from some of the People of
the Book. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) got angry. He
said, "Are you confused about it, O son of al-Khattaab? By the One in Whose
hand is my soul, I have brought you [the Message] pure and white, so do not ask
them about anything, lest they tell you something true and you reject it, or
they tell you something false and you accept it. By the One in Whose hand is my
soul, if Moosa (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) were alive, he could
not but follow me." (Musnad Ahmad, 3/387. Classed by al-Albaani as hasan
because of corroborating reports in al-Irwa', no. 1589).
The hadeeth was also narrated by al-Daarimi, may Allaah have mercy on him, from
Jaabir, who said that 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab came to the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with a copy of the Tawraat (Torah),
and said, "O Messenger of Allaah, this is a copy of the Tawraat." [The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] did not say anything. ['Umar]
began to read it, and the face of the Messenger of Allaah changed [i.e., he was
angry]. Abu Bakr said, "May your mother lose you! Do you not see the expression
of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?" 'Umar
looked at the face of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and said, "I seek refuge with Allaah from the anger of Allaah and the
anger of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). We are
content with Allaah as our Lord, with Islam as our religion and with Muhammad
as our Prophet." The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said, "By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if Moosa were to
appear among you and you followed him and left me, you would go astray from the
straight path. If he had lived until the time of my Prophethood, he would have
followed me." (Sunan al-Daarimi, no. 441, al-Muqaddimah, Baab maa yutaqqaa min
Tafseer Hadeeth al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) wa Qawli
ghayrihi 'inda Qawlihi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The editor,
'Abd-Allaah Haashim Yamaani, said: it was also narrated by Ahmad with a hasan
isnaad, and by Ibn Hibbaan with a saheeh isnaad).
Among the corroborating reports is the hadeeth of Abu'l-Darda', who said:
"'Umar brought some pages of the Tawraat to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, (these are)
some pages of the Tawraat which I took from a brother of mine from Bani
Zurayq.' The face of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) changed, and 'Abd-Allaah ibn Zayd - the one who was shown the Adhaan
in a dream - said: 'Have you gone mad? Do you not see [the expression] on the
face of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?'
'Umar said: 'We are content with Allaah as our Lord, with Islam as our
religion, with Muhammad as our Prophet and with the Qur'aan as our guide. The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) relaxed and
said: 'By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, if Moosa were among
you, and you followed him and left me, you would go far astray. You are my
share among the nations and I am your share among the Prophets.'" (Al Haythami
said in al-Majma': It was reported by al-Tabaraani in al-Kabeer, and it
includes Abu 'Aamir al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad al-Asadi, and I have not seen anyone
giving his biography, but the rest of its men are mawthooq. Al-Majma' 1/174).
We may note from these reports that the educator (the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)) had support from the other people present
when they noticed how his expression changed and took their stance based on
what they saw. There is no doubt that this combination of events had a great
impact on the person who was being reprimanded.
The process went through the following stages:
Firstly, the anger that welled up in the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), so that his expression changed even before he spoke.
Secondly, [Abu Bakr] al-Siddeeq and 'Abd-Allaah ibn Zayd noticed this and
pointed it out to 'Umar.
Thirdly, 'Umar realized his mistake and hastened to put it right and to
apologize for what he had done, seeking refuge with Allaah from the anger of
Allaah and the anger of His Messenger, and reaffirming the basic principle of
being content with Allaah, His Messenger and His Religion.
Fourthly, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) relaxed and
calmed down when 'Umar retracted and realized his mistake.
Fifthly, the Prophet's comment confirmed and reinforced this basic principle by
reaffirming the obligation to follow the way of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and warning against taking any other source of
guidance.
Another example of the Prophet's anger when he saw something objectionable was
reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) from Anas ibn
Maalik, who said that when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) saw some spittle in the mosque in the direction of the qiblah, he was so
upset that it was clearly visible on his face. He wiped it with his hand and
said, "When one of you gets up to pray, he is talking to his Lord, or his Lord
is between him and the qiblah, so he should not spit in the direction of the
qiblah, but to his left or under his feet." Then he took the edge of his
garment, spat on it and rubbed part of it against another part and said, "or he
can do this." (Fath, 405).
An example of the Prophet's anger when he heard a mistake that led to
wrongdoing was also reported by al-Bukhaari, from Abu Mas'ood al-Ansaari, who
said: "A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) and said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, I am going to go late to the prayer
tomorrow because of so-and-so, who makes the prayer too long for us.' I never
saw the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) more angry in his
rebuking than on that day, when he said, 'O people! Some of you are putting
others off. When any of you leads the people in prayer, let him keep it short,
for among them are the elderly, the weak and those with pressing needs.'"
(Fath, 7159).
Another example is for the mufti to show anger towards the person who is asking
questions when he starts to nit-pick in a ridiculous fashion. Zayd ibn Khaalid
al-Juhani (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: "A Bedouin came to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and asked him about lost property
that he finds. He said, 'Announce it for a year. Remember the description of
its container and the string with which it is tied, and if someone comes and
claims it, and describes it correctly, give it to him, otherwise, utilize it.'
He said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, what about a lost sheep?' The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'It is for you, for your brother
(i.e., its owner), or for the wolf.' He said, 'What about a lost camel?' The
face of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) became red
(with anger), and he said, 'You have nothing to do with it. It has its feet,
and access to water, and can eat trees.'" (Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath, 2436).
The educator may show anger in proportion to the mistake at the time when the
mistake is made, or when he sees or hears it, in such a way that the anger may
be seen in his face or recognized from his tone of voice. This is a sign that
his heart is alert to wrongdoing and will not keep silent about it, so that the
others present will feel afraid of making the same mistake. Speaking out when
you are angry can have a greater impact than remaining silent and waiting until
things have cooled down, because then the impact of your comments will be lost.
On the other hand, it may be wise to delay commenting on a regrettable incident
or seriously mistaken words until all the people have been called together or
until a time when they meet, because of the seriousness of what is involved or
because there are not enough people around to understand and convey the
information to others. There is nothing wrong with addressing an individual
immediately and delaying general discussion of the matter until later.
According to Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Abu Humayd al-Saa'idi reported that the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) appointed
someone (to collect the zakaah). When he had finished his work, he came and
said, "O Messenger of Allaah, this is for you, and this is what was given to me
as a gift." He said, "Why don't you sit in your parents' house and see whether
anyone brings you a gift or not?" In the evening, the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up after the prayer,
pronounced the Shahaadah and praised Allaah as He deserves to be praised, then
he said, "What is wrong with an employee whom we appoint, then he comes to us
and says, 'This is for you and this is what I was given as a gift"? Why does he
not sit in his parents' house and see whether anyone brings him a gift or not?
By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one of you unlawfully
withholds something from us, except he will come on the Day of Judgement
carrying it around his neck: if it is a camel, he will bring it bellowing, if
it is a cow he will bring it mooing, and if it is a sheep he will bring it
bleating. I have conveyed (the message)." Abu Humayd added, "Then the Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) raised his arm so high
that we could see his armpit." (Fath, 6636)
26 - Turning away from the one who has made a mistake, and avoiding argument
with him, in the hope that he may come back to the right way
Al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported that 'Ali ibn Abi Taalib
(may Allaah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) came to him and Faatimah's (peace be upon her,
the daughter of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) one night and said to them, "Are you not coming to pray?" 'Ali said, "O
Messenger of Allaah, our souls are in the hand of Allaah. If He wants to bring
us back to life (from sleep), He will do so!" The Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went away when 'Ali said that to him, and
he did not respond to it at all, but 'Ali heard him as he was walking away,
slapping his thigh and saying, " '. But, man is ever more quarrelsome than
anything.' [al-Kahf 18:54 - interpretation of the meaning]." (The words of 'Ali
could be understood in different ways. See al-Fath, 7347).
27 - Rebuking the one who has made a mistake
This is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did with
Haatib (may Allaah be pleased with him) when he heard that he had sent word to
the kuffaar of Quraysh, informing them of the Muslims' intention to head for
Makkah to conquer it. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
asked him, "What made you do that, O Haatib?" He said, "I believe in Allaah and
His Messenger and I never changed, but I wanted to make some gesture towards
them through which Allaah might protect my family and my wealth. All your other
companions have someone there through whom Allaah will protect their families
and their wealth." [The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)]
said: "He has spoken the truth, so do not say anything but good to him." 'Umar
ibn al-Khattaab said, "But he has betrayed Allaah and Messenger and the
believers! Let me strike his neck [cut off his head]!" [The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) ] said: "How do you know? Maybe Allaah looked
at the people of Badr and said, 'Do what you like, for Paradise is guaranteed
for you.'" Tears welled up in 'Umar's eyes and he said, "Allaah and His
Messenger know best." (Fath, 6259)
will be continued InshaAllah
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