The Book of Good Manners

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to go by way of Ash-Shajarah and return by way of Al-Mu'arras. He would also enter Makkah through the Higher Pass and would leave it through the Lower Pass.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) liked to use his right hand in all matters: in combing his hair and wearing his shoes.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah was used to using his right hand for performing Wudu' and for eating his food whereas he was used to using his left hand in his toilet and for other similar purposes.[Abu Dawud]

The Prophet (ﷺ) instructed us at the time of washing the dead body of his daughter Zainab (May Allah be pleased with her) to begin with her right side, and from the parts that are washed in Wudu'.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When any of you puts on his shoes, he should put on the right one first; and when he takes them off, he should begin with the left. Let the right shoe be the first to be put on and the last to be taken off."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to use his right hand for eating, drinking and wearing his clothes and used to use his left hand for other purposes.[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When you wear your clothes or perform your Wudu', begin with your right side."[Abu Dawud and At- Tirmidhi].

When Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) went to Mina, he came to Jamrat-ul-'Aqabah and threw pebbles at it. After that, he went to his lodge in Mina and sacrificed. Then he called for a barber and pointed his right side to him, said, "Shave from here." Then he pointed his left side and said, "Take (hair) from here." Then he distributed his hair among the people.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: After the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had thrown pebbles at Jamrah and sacrificed an animal, he turned the right side of his head towards the barber who shaved it for him. Then he called Abu Talhah Ansari (May Allah be pleased with him) and gave his hair to him. Then he turned his head to the left side and asked the barber to shave it. He gave the hair to Abu Talhah and told him, "Distribute it among the people."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Shyness does not bring anything except good."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].In a narration of Muslim: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "All of shyness is good."

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Iman has sixty odd or seventy odd branches. The uppermost of all these is the Testimony of Faith: 'La ilaha illallah' (there is no true god except Allah) while the least of them is the removal of harmful object from the road. And shyness is a branch of Iman."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was even shier than a virgin behind her veil. When he saw something which he disliked, we could perceive it on his face.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The most evil of the people to Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be the man who consorts with his wife and then publicizes her secret."[Muslim].

My father 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) said: When (his daughter) Hafsah (May Allah be pleased with her) became a widow, I met 'Uthman bin 'Affan (May Allah be pleased with him) and offered Hafsah for marriage to him. 'Uthman said: "I shall think over the matter." I waited for a few days and then 'Uthman met me and said: "It occurred to me that I should not marry at present." Then I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) and said to him: "If you are willing, I shall marry my daughter Hafsah to you." Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) remained silent and did not utter any word to me in reply. I grew more angry with him than with 'Uthman. I had waited for only a few days when Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked for her hand in marriage and I married her to him. Thereafter, I met Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) who said, "Perhaps you were angry with me when you offered Hafsah to me and I said nothing in reply." I said, "Yes, that is so." He said, "Nothing stopped me to respond to your offer except that I knew that Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had mentioned her and I could not disclose the secret of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Had Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) left her, I would have accepted her."[Al-Bukhari].

On one occasion all the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) were with him when his daughter, Fatimah (May Allah be pleased with her) who walked after the style of her father, came there. He (ﷺ) welcomed her saying, "Welcome, O my daughter", and made her sit on his right side, or on his left side and then whispered something to her at which she wept bitterly. When he perceived her grief, he talked secretly to her again and she smiled (with happiness). I said to her: "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ chose you from amongst all his wives to speak secretly to you and yet you cried." When he left, I asked her, "What did Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say to you?" She said, "I will not divulge the secret of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." When Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed away, I said to her: "I adjure you by the right I have in respect of you to tell me what Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had told you." She said: "Now (when Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has died), I will tell you. When he whispered to me the first time, he told me, 'Jibril (Gabriel) used to listen to my recitation of the Qur'an and then recite it back to me once or twice a year, and this time he has done it twice; and so I perceive that my death is approaching. Then be mindful of your duty to Allah and be patient and steadfast, for I shall be an excellent predecessor for you.' On this I wept as you saw. When he perceived my distress he talked to me secretly the second time and said, 'O Fatimah, are you not pleased that you will be the chief among the believing women or of this Ummah?' This made me smile as you saw."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came to me while I was playing with the boys. He greeted us and sent me on an errand. This delayed my return to my mother. When I came to her, she asked, "What detained you?" I said; "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me on an errand." She asked, "What was it?" I said, "It is a secret." My mother said; "Do not disclose to anyone the secret of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)." Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said to Thabit (May Allah be pleased with him): By Allah, were I to tell it to anyone I would have told you.[Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Three are the signs of a hypocrite: When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; and when he is trusted, he betrays his trust."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration adds the words: "Even if he observes Saum (fasts), performs Salat (prayer) and claims to be a Muslim."

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Four are the qualities which, when found in a person, make him a sheer hypocrite, and one who possesses one of them, possesses one characteristic of hypocrisy until he abandons it. These are: When he is entrusted with something, he betrays trust; when he speaks, he lies; when he promises, he acts treacherously; and when he argues, he behaves in a very imprudent, insulting manner."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me, "When the revenues of Bahrain will arrive, I shall give you such and such and such." He passed away before the revenues were received. When they arrive during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him), he ordered to be announced: "Anyone whom Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) promised or owed anything, should come to him." I went to him and said: "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had said to me such and such." He took a double handful out of the money and gave it to me. I counted it and found that it was five hundred dirham. Then Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "Take twice as much more of that amount."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me, "O 'Abdullah! Do not be like so-and-so; he used to get up at night for optional prayer but abandoned it later."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].