General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

The Prophet said: I and the caretaker of an orphan will be like these two in Paradise. He joined his middle finger and the one next to his thumb.

Aisha reported that the Prophet said: Gabriel continued advising me about the neighbor until I thought he would make him an heir.

Abdullah ibn Amr slaughtered a sheep and asked: Have you sent some to my Jewish neighbor? I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Gabriel continued advising me about the neighbor until I thought he would make him an heir.

A man came to the Prophet complaining about his neighbor. He said: Go and be patient. The man came back two or three times, so the Prophet said: Go and put your belongings out in the road. He did so, and people began asking him about it. He told them what had happened, and they began cursing the neighbor, saying: May Allah do this and that to him. Then his neighbor came and said: Go back; you will not see anything from me that you dislike.

The Messenger of Allah said: Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honor his guest. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbor. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should say what is good or remain silent.

Aisha said: I asked, Messenger of Allah, I have two neighbors; which one should I begin with? He replied: The one whose door is nearer. Abu Dawud said: Shu‘ba said in this hadith that Talha was a man from Quraysh.

Ali said: The last words of the Messenger of Allah were: The prayer, the prayer! Fear Allah regarding those whom your right hands possess.

Al-Maarur ibn Suwayd said: I saw Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha wearing a coarse cloak, and his servant wore one like it. The people said: Abu Dharr, if you took the servant’s cloak and added it to yours, you would have a fine suit and could give him another garment. Abu Dharr replied: I once insulted a man and taunted him about his mother, who was non-Arab. He complained about me to the Messenger of Allah, who said: Abu Dharr, you are a man in whom there is still something of the pre-Islamic age. They are your brothers; Allah has placed you above them. Whoever among them does not suit you, sell him, but do not torment Allah’s creation.

Al-Maarur ibn Suwayd said: We visited Abu Dharr at al-Rabadha and saw him and his servant each wearing a cloak. We said: Abu Dharr, if you took your servant’s cloak and joined it to yours, you would have a fine suit, and you could give him another garment. He replied: I heard the Messenger of Allah say: They are your brothers, whom Allah has placed under your authority. Whoever has his brother under his authority should feed him from what he eats and clothe him from what he wears. Do not burden him with more than he can bear; if you do, then help him. Abu Dawud said: Ibn Numayr also narrated something similar from al-Amash.

Abu Masud al-Ansari said: I was beating a servant of mine when I heard a voice behind me say: Know, Abu Masud! Ibn al-Muthanna’s version repeats this twice, then says: Allah has more power over you than you have over him. I turned and saw the Prophet. I said: Messenger of Allah, he is free for Allah’s sake. He replied: Had you not done so, the Fire would have touched—or seized—you.

Another version says: I was beating a black servant of mine with a whip, but it does not mention setting him free.

The Messenger of Allah said: Whoever among your servants is compatible with you, feed him from what you eat and clothe him from what you wear. Whoever among them is not compatible with you, sell him, but do not torment Allah’s creation.

Rafi ibn Makith, who had witnessed al-Hudaybiyya with the Prophet, reported that the Prophet said: Good care of those under one’s authority brings increase, while bad character brings misfortune.

This report has another chain through Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Rafi ibn Makith, from his uncle al-Harith ibn Rafi ibn Makith, from the Messenger of Allah, with the same wording: Good care of those under one’s authority brings increase, while bad character brings misfortune.

A man asked the Prophet: Messenger of Allah, how often should we pardon a servant? He remained silent. The man repeated his question, and the Prophet remained silent. When he asked a third time, the Prophet said: Pardon him seventy times each day.

Abu Huraira said: Abu al-Qasim, the Prophet of repentance, told me: Whoever falsely accuses his servant, who is innocent of what he says, will be given the prescribed punishment for it on the Day of Resurrection. Muammal’s version says Isa narrated it from al-Fudayl ibn Ghazwan.

Hilal ibn Yasaf said: We were staying at the house of Suwayd ibn Muqarrin. Among us was an irritable old man who had a servant girl, and he slapped her face. I never saw Suwayd angrier than he was that day. He said: Could you find no part of her face to strike except the most honored? I remember that we were seven children of Muqarrin, and we had only one servant. The youngest among us slapped her face, so the Prophet ordered us to set her free.

Muawiya ibn Suwayd ibn Muqarrin said: I slapped a servant of ours. My father called him and me and said: Let him retaliate against you, for we, the sons of Muqarrin, were seven during the time of the Prophet and had only one servant. One of us slapped her, and the Messenger of Allah said: Set her free. They said: We have no servant other than her. He replied: Then let her serve you until you can do without her; when you can do without her, set her free.

Zadhan said: I came to Ibn Umar after he had freed one of his servants. He picked up a twig from the ground and said: I have no reward for it worth even this. I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Whoever slaps or beats his servant, his expiation is to set him free.

The Messenger of Allah said: When a servant is sincere toward his master and worships Allah well, he receives his reward twice over.