General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

كتاب الأدب

Chapter 88: Stern warning regarding lying

Narrated AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: It is enough falsehood for a man to relate everything he hears.

Abu Dawud said: Hafs did not mention Abu Hurairah (in his version).

Abu Dawud said: No other transmitter except this old man, that is, 'Ali b. Hafs al-Mada'ini related the perfect chain of this tradition.

Chapter 89: Thinking well of people

Narrated AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: To harbour good thoughts is a part of well-conducted worship. (This is according to Nasr's version).

Abu Dawud said: Mahna' is reliable and he is from Basrah.

Chapter 92: What was narrated about joking

‘Uthman b. Abu 'Atikah said

The only reason why he asked whether the whole of him should come in was because of the smallness of the tent

Chapter 95: What has been narrated about poetry

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying

Abu ‘Ali said : I have been told that Abu ‘Ubaid said : It means that his heart is full of poetry so much so that it makes him neglectful of the Quran and remembrance of Allah. If the Quran and the knowledge (of religion) are dominant, the belly will not be full of poetry in our opinion. Some eloquent speech is magic. It means that a man expresses his eloquence by praising another man, and he speaks the truth about him so much so that he attracts the hearts to his speech. He then condemns him and speaks the truth about him so much so that he attracts the hearts to another of his speech, as if he spelled the audience by it.

Chapter 96: Regarding dreams

Narrated AbuHurayrah

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) finished the dawn prayer, he would ask: Did any of you have a dream last night? And he said: All that is left of Prophecy after me is a good vision.

Abu Qatadah said

I heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say: A good vision comes from Allah and a dream (hulm) from the devil, so when one of you sees what he dislikes, he must spit on his left (three times), and seek refuge in Allah from its evil. It will then not harm him.

Chapter 97: Regarding yawning

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying

When one of you yawns, he should hold his hand over his mouth, for the devil enters.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted in a similar way by Suhail through a different chain of narrators. This version has; “during prayer, so he should hold as far as possible”.

Chapter 98: Regarding sneezing

Narrated AbuHurayrah

When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sneezed, he placed his hand or a garment on his mouth, and lessened the noise. The transmitter Yahya is doubtful about the exact words khafada or ghadda (lessened).

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying

There are five qualities which a Muslim should display to his brother : return of salutation, response to the one who sneezes, acceptance of the invitation, paying sick visit to a patient, and accompanying the funeral.

Chapter 99: How to respond to one who sneezes

Narrated Salim ibn Ubayd

Hilal ibn Yasar said: We were with Salim ibn Ubayd when a man from among the people sneezed and said: Peace be upon you.

Salim said: And upon you and your mother. Later he said: Perhaps you found something (annoying) in what I said to you.

He said: I wished you would not mention my mother with good or evil. He said: I have just said to you what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said. We were in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when a man from among the people sneezed, saying: Peace be upon you!

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: And upon you and your mother. He then said: When one of you sneezes, he should praise Allah. He further mentioned some attributes (of Allah), saying: The one who is with him should say to him: Allah have mercy on you, and he should reply to them: Allah forgive us and you.

Chapter 100: How many times should one say "May Allah have mercy on you" to one who sneezes?

Narrated AbuHurayrah

Respond three times to your brother when he sneezes, and if he sneezes more often, he has a cold in his head.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Abu Hurairah through a different chain from the prophet (May peace be upon him). A transmitter Sa’id b. Sa’id said

Abu Dawud said: Abu Nu’aim transmitted it from Musa b. Qais, from Muhammad b. Ajlan, from Sa’id, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, from the prophet (May peace be upon him).

Chapter 104: Sleeping on a roof that has no walls

Narrated Ali ibn Shayban

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone spends the night on the roof of a house with no stone palisade, Allah's responsibility to guard him no longer applies.

Chapter 91: One who boasts of having something that he has not been given

Asma’, daughter of Abu Bakr, told of a woman who said

Messenger of Allah! I have a fellow-wife; will it be wrong for me to boast of receiving from my husband what he does not give me? He replied: the one who boasts of receiving what he has not been given is like him who has put on two garments of falsehood.

Chapter 93: One who takes something in jest

Narrated Abdullah ibn as-Sa'ib ibn Yazid

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: None of you should take the property of his brother in amusement (i.e. jest), nor in earnest. The narrator Sulayman said: Out of amusement and out of earnest. If anyone takes the staff of his brother, he should return it. The transmitter Ibn Bashshar did not say "Ibn Yazid, and he said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said.

Chapter 94: What has been narrated about eloquent speech

One day when a man got up and spoke at length Amr ibn al-'As said If he had been moderate in what he said

It would have been better for him. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: I think (or, I have been commanded) that I should be brief in what I say, for brevity is better.

Chapter 95: What has been narrated about poetry

Ubayy b. Ka’b reported the Prophet (May peace be upon him) as saying

In poetry there is wisdom.

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: In eloquence there is magic, in knowledge ignorance, in poetry wisdom, and in speech heaviness.

Sa'sa'ah ibn Suhan said: The Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) spoke the truth. His statement "In eloquence there is magic" means: (For example), there is a right due from a man who is more eloquent in reasoning than the man who is demanding his right. He (the defendant) charms the people by his speech and takes away his right. His statement "In knowledge there is ignorance" means: A scholar brings to his knowledge what he does not know, and thus he becomes ignorant of that. His statement "In poetry there is wisdom" means: These are the sermons and examples by which people receive admonition. His statement "In speech there is heaviness" means: That you present your speech and your talk to a man who is not capable of understanding it, and who does not want it.

Chapter 96: Regarding dreams

Jabir reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying

When one of you sees a vision which he dislikes, he must spit on his left (three times), seek refuge in Allah from the devil three times, and turn from the side on which he was lying.