General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

كتاب الأدب

Chapter 1: Regarding forbearance and the character of the Prophet(pbuh)

Narrated AbuHurayrah

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to sit with us in meetings and talk to us. When he stood up we also used to stand up and see him entering the house of one of his wives. One day he talked to us and we stood up as he stood up and we saw that an Arabi (a nomadic Arab) caught hold of him and gave his cloak a violent tug making his neck red.

AbuHurayrah said: The cloak was coarse. He turned to him and the Arabi said to him: Load these two camels of mine, for you do not give me anything from your property or from your father's property.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him: No, I ask Allah's forgiveness; no, I ask Allah's forgiveness; no, I ask Allah's forgiveness. I shall not give you the camel-load until you make amends for the way in which you tugged at me.

Each time the Arabi said to him: I swear by Allah, I shall not do so.

He then mentioned the rest of the tradition. He (the Prophet), then called a man and said to him: Load these two camels of his: one camel with barley and the other with dates. He then turned to us and said: Go on your way with the blessing of Allah.

Chapter 3: Regarding suppressing anger

`Abd Allah (b. Mas`ud) reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying

Whom do you consider a wrestler among you? The people replied: (the man) whom the men cannot defeat in wrestling. He said: No, it is he who controls himself when he is angry.

Chapter 5: Being tolerant

`A’ishah said

the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was never given his choice between two things without taking the easier(or lesser) of them provided it involved no sin, for if it did, no one kept farther away from it than he. And the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never took revenge on his own behalf for anything unless something Allah had forbidden has been transgressed, in which event he took revenge for it for Allah’s sake.

Explaining the Qur’anic verse “Hold to forgiveness”, `Abd Allah b. Al-Zubair said

The Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) was commanded to hold to forgiveness from the conduct of the people.

Chapter 6: Regarding good interactions with people

`A’isha said

A man asked permission to see the Prophet (ﷺ), and he said: He is a bad son of the tribe, or: He is a bad member of the tribe. He then said : Give him permission. Then when he entered, he spoke to him leniently. `A’isha asked : Apostle of Allah! You spoke to him leniently while you said about him what you said! He replied: The one who will have the worst position in Allah’s estimation on the Day of Resurrection will be the one whom people left alone for fear of his ribaldry.

Chapter 7: Modesty (Al-haya)

`Abd Allah b. ‘Umar said

The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by a man of the Ansar when he was giving his brother a warning against modesty. The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) said : Leave him alone, for modesty is a part of faith.

Abu Qatadah said

We were sitting with `Imran b. Hussain and Bushair b. Ka`b was also there. `Imran b. Hussain reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: Modesty is good altogether, or he said: Modesty is altogether good. Bushair b. Ka`b said : We find in some books that there is a modesty which produces peace and dignified bearing, and there is a modesty which produces weakness. `Imran b. Hussain repeated the same words. So `Imran became angry so much so that his eyes became red, and he said : Don’t you see that I am transmitting a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and you are mentioning something from your books? He (Qatadah) said : We said : Abu Nujaid, it is sufficient.

Chapter 8: Regarding good character

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: By his good character a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day.

Narrated AbuUmamah

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids quarrelling even if he were in the right, a house in the middle of Paradise for a man who avoids lying even if he were joking, and a house in the upper part of Paradise for a man who made his character good.

Chapter 11: Regarding gentleness

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin

Al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh, quoting his father, said: I asked Aisha about living in the desert. She said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to go to the desert to these rivulets. Once he intended to go to the desert and he sent to me a she-camel from the camel of sadaqah which had not been used for riding so far. He said to me: Aisha! show gentleness, for if gentleness is found in anything, it beautifies it and when it is taken out from anything it damages it.

Ibn al-Sabbah said in his version: Muharramah means a mount which has not been used for riding.

Chapter 16: Regarding sitting in circles

Jabir b. Samurah said

the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered the mosque, and saw them (his companions) in separate groups. He said: How is it that I see you in separate groups?

Chapter 17: Regarding sitting in the middle of the circle

Narrated Hudhayfah

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who sat in the middle of a circle.

Chapter 3: Regarding suppressing anger

Suwaid b. Wahb quoted a son of a Companion of the Prophet (ﷺ) who said his father reported the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said

He then mentioned a similar tradition described above. This version has: Allah will fill his heart with security and faith. He did not mention the words "Allah will call him". This version further adds: He who gives up wearing beautiful garments when he is able to do so (out of humility, as Bishr's version has) will be clothed by Allah with the robe of honour, and he who marries for Allah's sake will be crowned by Allah with the crown of Kingdom.

Chapter 4: What should be said at the time of anger

Sulaiman b. Surad said

Two men reviled each other in the presence of the Prophet (ﷺ). Then the eyes of one of them became red and his jugular veins swelled. The Apostle of Allah (ﷺ) said: I know a phrase by repeating which the man could get rid of the angry feelings: I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil. The man said: Do you see insanity in me.

Narrated AbuDharr

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to us: When one of you becomes angry while standing, he should sit down. If the anger leaves him, well and good; otherwise he should lie down.

Bakr said

Abu Dawud said: This tradition is sounder of the two traditions.

Chapter 6: Regarding good interactions with people

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin

When the Prophet (ﷺ) was informed of anything of a certain man, he would not say: What is the matter with so and so that he says? But he would say: What is the matter with the people that they say such and such?

Narrated AbuSalamah ; AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The believer is simple and generous, but the profligate is deceitful and ignoble.

The tradition mentioned above has been transmitted by `A’isha through a different chain of narrators. This version has

the Prophet (ﷺ) said: `A’isha! There are some bad people who are respected for fear of their tongues.