General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us; Ibn Abi Maryam narrated to us; al-Layth informed us, saying: Ibrahim ibn Nashit told me, from Ka‘b ibn ‘Alqamah, who heard Abu al-Haytham mention that he heard Dukayn, the scribe of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, say: We had neighbors who drank wine. I forbade them, but they did not stop. I told ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir, ‘These neighbors of ours drink wine. I have forbidden them but they have not stopped, so I am going to summon the authorities against them.’ He said, ‘Leave them.’ Later I returned to ‘Uqbah and said, ‘Our neighbors refuse to stop drinking wine, and I am going to summon the authorities against them.’ He said, ‘Woe to you! Leave them, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ’—then he mentioned a report with the same meaning as the one transmitted by Muslim. Abu Dawud said: Hashim ibn al-Qasim’s version, transmitted from al-Layth, says: ‘Do not do that; rather, admonish them and warn them.’

Qutaybah ibn Sa‘id narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from ‘Uqayl, from al-Zuhri, from Salim, from his father, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, ‘A Muslim is a Muslim’s brother: he does not wrong him or abandon him. Whoever attends to his brother’s need, Allah will attend to his need. Whoever relieves a Muslim of distress, Allah will relieve him of one of the distresses of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever conceals a Muslim’s fault, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of Resurrection.’

‘Abd Allah ibn Maslamah narrated to us; ‘Abd al-‘Aziz—meaning Ibn Muhammad—narrated to us, from al-‘Ala’, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘When two people insult one another, what they say is charged to the one who began, so long as the wronged person does not go beyond bounds.’

Ahmad ibn Hafs said: My father told me; Ibrahim ibn Tahman told me, from al-Hajjaj, from Qatadah, from Yazid ibn ‘Abd Allah, from ‘Iyad ibn Himar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Allah revealed to me that you should be humble toward one another, so that no one transgresses against another and no one boasts over another.’

‘Isa ibn Hammad informed us; al-Layth informed us, from Sa‘id al-Maqburi, from Bashir ibn al-Muharrar, from Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, who said: While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting with his Companions, a man insulted Abu Bakr and hurt him, but Abu Bakr remained silent. The man insulted him a second time, and Abu Bakr remained silent. Then he insulted him a third time, and Abu Bakr retaliated. When Abu Bakr retaliated, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up. Abu Bakr said, ‘Were you displeased with me, Messenger of Allah?’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘An angel descended from heaven, rejecting what he had said to you. But when you retaliated, Satan intervened, and I would not remain seated when Satan intervened.’

‘Abd al-A‘la ibn Hammad narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Ibn ‘Ajlan, from Sa‘id ibn Abi Sa‘id, from Abu Hurayrah, who reported that a man used to insult Abu Bakr, and he related the rest of the report in a similar way. Abu Dawud said: Safwan ibn ‘Isa also narrated it from Ibn ‘Ajlan, as Sufyan did.

‘Ubayd Allah ibn Mu‘adh narrated to us; my father narrated to us. [The chain continues:] ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Umar ibn Maysarah narrated to us; Mu‘adh ibn Mu‘adh narrated to us—with the same meaning—and said: Ibn ‘Awn narrated to us: I was asking about defending oneself in response to a wrong, as in the verse, Whoever defends himself after being wronged, there is no blame against them (Qur’an 42:41). ‘Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jud‘an told me, from Umm Muhammad, his father’s wife. Ibn ‘Awn said: They said she used to visit the Mother of the Believers. She said that the Mother of the Believers related: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to me while Zaynab bint Jahsh was with us. He began gesturing with his hand. I gestured with my hand until I drew his attention to her, and he stopped. Zaynab then came forward against ‘A’ishah, but he tried to stop her and she refused to stop. He said to ‘A’ishah, ‘Answer her.’ ‘A’ishah answered her and prevailed over her. Zaynab went to ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, and said, ‘ ‘A’ishah attacked you all and did such and such.’ Fatimah came, and he said to her, ‘She is your father’s beloved, by the Lord of the Ka‘bah.’ She returned to them and said, ‘I said such and such to him, and he said such and such to me.’ Then ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, came to the Prophet ﷺ and spoke with him about it.

Zuhayr ibn Harb narrated to us; Waki‘ narrated to us; Hisham ibn ‘Urwah narrated to us, from his father, from ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘When your companion dies, leave him alone and do not speak ill of him.’

Muhammad ibn al-‘Ala’ informed us; Mu‘awiyah ibn Hisham informed us, from ‘Imran ibn Anas al-Makki, from ‘Ata’, from Ibn ‘Umar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Speak of the good qualities of your dead, and refrain from mentioning their faults.’

Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah ibn Sufyan informed us; ‘Ali ibn Thabit informed us, from ‘Ikrimah ibn ‘Ammar, who said: Damdam ibn Jawsh told me: Abu Hurayrah said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: There were two men among the Children of Israel who were close companions. One of them sinned, while the other was devoted to worship. Whenever the worshipper saw his companion sinning, he would urge him to stop. One day he found him committing a sin and again told him to stop. The man replied, Leave me with my Lord. Were you appointed as my watcher? The worshipper said, By Allah, Allah will not forgive you, nor admit you to Paradise. Their souls were then taken, and they came together before the Lord of the worlds. He said to the worshipper, Did you know what I know, or have you power over what is in My hand? He said to the sinner, Go and enter Paradise by My mercy, and to the other, Take him to the Fire.’ Abu Hurayrah said, ‘By the One in whose hand is my soul, he uttered a word that ruined his worldly life and his Hereafter.’

‘Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us, from ‘Uyaynah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, from his father, from Abu Bakrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘No sin is more likely to bring its perpetrator swift punishment from Allah in this world—along with what He has stored up for him in the Hereafter—than oppression and severing family ties.’

‘Uthman ibn Salih al-Baghdadi narrated to us; Abu ‘Amir—meaning ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Amr—narrated to us; Sulayman ibn Bilal narrated to us, from Ibrahim ibn Abi Asid, from his grandfather, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Beware of envy, for envy devours good deeds as fire devours firewood’—or he said, ‘grass.’

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us; ‘Abd Allah ibn Wahb narrated to us, saying: Sa‘id ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-‘Amya informed me that Sahl ibn Abi Umamah told him that he and his father visited Anas ibn Malik in Medina during the governorship of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. Anas was performing a brief, precise prayer, like a traveler’s prayer or close to it. When he finished, Sahl’s father said, ‘May Allah have mercy on you. Was that the obligatory prayer, or a voluntary prayer?’ Anas replied, ‘It was the obligatory prayer, and it is indeed the prayer of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I omitted only one thing that I forgot.’ He then said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say, ‘Do not make things hard for yourselves, lest they be made hard for you. A people made things hard for themselves, so Allah made things hard for them. Those are their remnants in cells and dwellings.’ And he recited: ‘Monasticism they invented; We did not prescribe it for them.’ The next morning Anas said, ‘Will you ride out to look and take a lesson?’ My father replied, ‘Yes.’ They all rode out and came upon dwellings whose people had vanished and perished, lying empty with their roofs collapsed. Anas asked, ‘Do you recognize these dwellings?’ I replied, ‘How well I know them and their people! These are the dwellings of a people destroyed by oppression and envy. Envy extinguishes the light of good deeds, and oppression confirms or denies that. The eye commits fornication; the hand, foot, body, tongue, and private parts either confirm it or deny it.’

Ahmad ibn Salih narrated to us; Yahya ibn Hassan narrated to us; al-Walid ibn Rabah narrated to us, saying: I heard Nimran mention, from Umm al-Darda’, who said: I heard Abu al-Darda’ say that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘When a servant curses something, the curse rises to heaven, but heaven’s gates are closed against it. Then it descends to earth, but earth’s gates are closed against it. It turns right and left, and when it finds no way through, it returns to the one who was cursed. If that one deserves it, it settles there; otherwise it returns to the one who uttered it.’ Abu Dawud said: Marwan ibn Muhammad said that he is Rabah ibn al-Walid, who heard from him, and mentioned that Yahya ibn Hassan was mistaken about it.

Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us; Hisham narrated to us; Qatadah narrated to us, from al-Hasan, from Samurah ibn Jundub, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said, ‘Do not curse one another by invoking Allah’s curse, His anger, or the Fire.’

Harun ibn Zayd ibn Abi al-Zarqa narrated to us; my father narrated to us; Hisham ibn Sa‘d narrated to us, from Abu Hazim and Zayd ibn Aslam, that Umm al-Darda’ said: I heard Abu al-Darda’ say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Those who habitually curse will be neither intercessors nor witnesses.’

Muslim ibn Ibrahim narrated to us; Aban narrated to us. [Another chain:] Zayd ibn Akhzam al-Ta’i narrated to us; Bishr ibn ‘Umar narrated to us; Aban ibn Yazid al-‘Attar narrated to us; Qatadah narrated to us, from Abu al-‘Aliyah—Zayd said: from Ibn ‘Abbas—that a man cursed the wind. Muslim’s version says that a man’s cloak was wrested from him by the wind during the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and he cursed it. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Do not curse it, for it is commanded. Whoever curses something undeserving of a curse will have the curse return upon him.’

Ibn Mu‘adh narrated to us; my father narrated to us; Sufyan narrated to us, from Habib, from ‘Ata’, from ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: Something of hers was stolen, and she began invoking against the thief. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her, ‘Do not lessen his burden.’

‘Abd Allah ibn Maslamah narrated to us, from Malik, from Ibn Shihab, from Anas ibn Malik, that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Do not hate one another, envy one another, or turn your backs on one another. Be servants of Allah, as brothers. A Muslim may not shun his brother for more than three nights.’

‘Abd Allah ibn Maslamah narrated to us, from Malik, from Ibn Shihab, from ‘Ata’ ibn Yazid al-Laythi, from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘It is not lawful for a Muslim to shun his brother for more than three days. When they meet, each turns away from the other; the better of the two is the one who initiates the greeting of peace.’