CHAPTER 4: SINNERS – PART 2
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade cursing the one who was lashed for drinking alcohol:
Abu Hurayrah (a Companion) reported: “A drunk man was brought to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, so the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered for him to be beaten. Some of us hit him with our hand, and some with their shoes, and some with their clothing. When he left someone said: ‘What is wrong with him, may Allah disgrace him!’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Do not help Satan against your brother.’”(Reported by Al-Bukhari (6781).)
In another narration he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, added: “Rather say, O Allah, forgive him, O Allah, have mercy upon him.”(Reported by Abu Dawood (4478).)
Ibn Hajar said: “The way such a person helps Satan is that Satan intends disgracing a person by making him commit a sin. So when the people ask for such a person to be disgraced, it is as if they are fulfilling the goal of Satan.”(Fat-h Al-Baari (67/12).)
One should also not curse such a person, as in the narration of Abu Qilabah (a Companion) when he said: “Abu Ad-Dardaa’ (a Companion) passed by a person who had committed a sin, and they were cursing him. He said: ‘If you found him in a well, would you not try to get him out?’ They said: ‘Of course.’ He said: ‘Then do not curse your brother, and praise Allah for keeping you safe (from sin).’ They said: ‘Should we not hate him?’ Abu Ad-Dardaa’ said: ‘I only hate his actions, but if he leaves this act then he is my brother.’”(Reported by Abu Dawood (232), ‘Abdur-Razzaaq in his book Al-Musannaf (20267) and Abu Nu’aym in his book Al-Hilyah (225/1).)
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade supplicating against a specific sinner:
‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab reported: “There was a man during the time of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, named ‘Abdullaah, and his nickname was Himaar, and he used to make the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, laugh. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, had previously had him lashed for drinking alcohol. One day he was brought to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, (drunk), so the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered for him to be lashed. A man said: ‘O Allah, curse him! How often he is brought (to be lashed).’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Do not curse him, for by Allah, I only know about him that he loves Allah and His Messenger.’”(Reported by Al-Bukhari (6780).)
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would sometimes strongly rebuke someone who committed a sin, especially if he was someone beloved to him:
Al-Ma’roor ibn Suwayd (a Companion) said: “I met Abu Tharr (a Companion) in the place called Ar-Rabatha, and he was wearing a garment, and his slave boy was wearing the same garment. I asked him the reason for that. He replied: ‘I argued with a person and I insulted him because of (the low status of) his mother.’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to me: ‘Did you insult him because of his mother? You are a person who has an attribute of Jaahiliyyah [the times of ignorance before Islam]. They are your brothers and servants whom Allah has placed under your authority. So anyone who has his brother under his authority should feed him the same food as he eats, and dress him in the same clothes that he wears, do not overwhelm them with work that they cannot bear. If you give them work to do then help them with it.”(Reported by Al-Bukhari (30) and Muslim (1661).)
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was sometimes severe against a sinner to show him the magnitude of the sin:
Usaamah ibn Zayd (a Companion) reported:
“The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent us to fight the tribe of Al-Huraqah, so we attacked and defeated them. A man from the Ansaar and I followed one of their men, and when we caught with him he said: ‘There is no one worthy of worship but Allah!’ At this, the Ansaari man stopped, but I stabbed him with my spear until I killed him. When we returned, the news of this reached the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘O Usaamah! Did you kill him after he said: ‘There is no one worthy of worship but Allah!’ What will you do when ‘There is no one worthy of worship but Allah’ comes to you on the Day of Judgement?’ I said: ‘He was only trying to protect himself!’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: ‘Why did you not rip his heart open to see if he was truthful or not?’ He continued to repeat this until I wished that I had not become Muslim before that day.’”(Reported by Al-Bukhari (4269) and Muslim (96).)
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would clarify the enormity of sin, so that they would repent from it and never repeat it:
‘Aa’ishah (the wife of the Prophet) said: “I said to the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: ‘It is enough for Safiyyah (one of the wives of the Prophet) that she is such-and-such’, meaning that she was short. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘You have made a statement that if it were mixed with the water of the ocean, it would have made it bitter.’”(Reported by Abu Dawood (4875) and At-Tirmidhi (2502).)
Al-Mubaarakpoori (a scholar) said: “The meaning of this is that if this backbiting could be mixed with the water in the ocean, it would have dirtied the state of the water, despite the vastness of the ocean. So how about if this backbiting is mixed with only a few deeds?”(Tuhfat Al-Ahwathi (177/7).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would boycott some sinners for a certain time:
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would do so until Allah revealed His ruling regarding them, or forgave them. This is shown in the story of the three people who stayed back from the battle of Tabook and did not participate in it:
Ka’b ibn Maalik (a Companion) said:
“…When I heard that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was returning from Tabook, I became very sad and considered lying to him. I asked myself: ‘How will I escape his anger tomorrow?’ I asked the opinion of every member of my family and then I abandoned all thoughts of falsehood, as I knew that nothing would ever save me from him; I resolved to tell him the truth. The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, arrived in the morning, and whenever he came back from a journey, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would first go to the mosque and pray two Rak’ahs in it and then he would sit to greet the people. When he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did that, those who had stayed behind went to him, started making their excuses and swearing to him, and they were about eighty men. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, accepted what they outwardly said, took their oath and supplicated for forgiveness for them and left what they had hidden to Allah. When I came and greeted him, he smiled the smile of someone who is angry, and then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Come here.’ I walked up and then sat down in front of him. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to me: ‘What kept you back? Didn’t you buy a riding animal?’
I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, if I were sitting with anyone else in the world apart from you, I would think that I could escape his anger by making some excuse, and I have been given the ability to argue. However, by Allah, I know that if I were to tell you a false excuse today which might make you happy with me, Allah would soon make you angry with me. But if I tell you the truth that will make you angry with me, I hope for a good outcome from Allah. By Allah, I do not have any excuse. By Allah, I have never been stronger or wealthier than when I remained behind you.’
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘As for him, then he has spoken the truth. So go until Allah rules regarding you.’ I stood up, and some men from Bani Salamah followed me and said to me: ‘Were you unable to offer an excuse to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, like the excuses of others who stayed behind?’ By Allah, they continued to criticise me until I wanted to return to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and deny what I had said. Then I said to them: ‘Has anyone else done the same as me?’ They said: ‘Yes, two men, they said the same as you said: and the same reply was given to them.’ I said: ‘Who are they?’ They said: ‘Muraarah ibn Ar-Rabee’ Al-’Aamiri and Hilaal ibn Umayyah Al-Waaqifi.’ They mentioned to me two righteous men who had fought in Badr and they were exemplary. When they mentioned them to me, I stayed firm in my decision.
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade people to speak to the three of us, amongst all the people that stayed behind. So the people avoided us, and changed towards us until even the land seemed strange to me, and it was not the same land I used to know. We remained in this state for fifty days. My two companions despaired and stayed in their homes crying. I was the youngest of them, and tougher than them. So I used to go out and attend the prayer and walk in the markets, but no one would speak to me. I would go to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and greet him while he was in his gathering after the prayer, and would say to myself: ‘Did he move his lips to return the greeting or not?’ Then I would pray near him and sneak a look at him, and when I was praying he would look at me, but when I turned towards him he would turn away from me. When the harshness of the Muslims continued, I climbed over the wall of Abu Qataadah’s garden, he was my cousin and the dearest of people to me. I greeted him, and by Allah, he did not return the greeting to me. I said to him: ‘Abu Qatadah, I ask you by Allah, do you see that I love Allah and His Messenger?’ He was silent. I repeated my question, and asked him by Allah, and he was still silent. I asked him a third time by Allah, and he said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ My eyes overflowed with tears and I left until I climbed back over the wall.
While I was walking in the market of Madinah, a farmer from the people of Shaam, who had brought some food to sell in Madinah, was saying: ‘Who will guide me to Ka’b ibn Maalik?’ The people pointed to me until he came up to me and handed me a letter from the king of Ghassaan. It said: ‘It has reached us that your companion has been harsh to you. Allah has not put you in a place to be humiliated or deprived. Join us and we will console you.’ When I had read it, I said: ‘This is also part of the test,’ and I took it to an oven and burned it.
When forty of the fifty days had passed, and the revelation had still not come, the messenger of Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came to me. He said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, commands you to stay away from your wife.’ I said: ‘Should I divorce her?’ He said: ‘No, just stay away from her and do not go near her.’ He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sent the same message to my two companions. I said to my wife: “Go to your family and stay with them until Allah rules in this matter.’ I remained like that for more ten days, and this was fifty days from the time when it was prohibited to speak to us.
Then on the morning after the fiftieth night, I prayed Fajr on top of one of our houses. While I was sitting in the state which Allah described about us, my soul was constricted and the earth seemed narrow for me after it had been wide, I heard the voice of someone shouting from the top of the mountain Sal’, ‘Ka’b ibn Maalik, rejoice!’ I fell down in prostration and knew that relief had come. The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, announced to the people that Allah had forgiven us after he had prayed the Fajr prayer. When I greeted the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, his face was shining with joy and he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Rejoice on the best day that has come to you since the day you were born!” I said: “Is it from you, Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, or from Allah?” He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Rather it is from Allah.’
And then Allah revealed His words (which mean): «And [He also forgave] the three who were left behind to the point that the earth closed in on them in spite of its vastness and their souls confined them and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them so they could repent. Indeed, Allah is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.» [Quran: 9:118]” (Reported by Al-Bukhari (4418) and Muslim (2769).)
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
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