Praising People

Abu Bakr reported that a man was mentioned in the presence of theProphet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and someone praised him.The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Woe to you!You have cut off the head of your companion!" and he repeated that severaltimes. He went on, "If one of you must praise someone, he should say, 'Iconsider that so-and-so is such-and-such.' Allah is the One who will takeaccount of him if he thinks that he is indeed like that, No one can appropriateAllah's right to attest to someone's character."

Abu Musa reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, heard a man praise another man and he was using exaggerationin his praise of him. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,said, "You have destroyed - or broken - the man's back."

Ibrahim at-Taymi reported that his father said, "We were sittingwith 'Umar and one man praised another man to his face." He said, "Youhave wounded the man. May Allah wound you."

Zayd ibn Aslam reported that his father heard 'Umar state, "Praiseis slaughter." The transmitter added, "He meant when it is accepted."

Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him andgrant him peace, said, "The best of men is Abu Bakr. The best of men is'Umar. The best of men is Abu 'Ubayda. The best of men is Usayd ibn Hudayr.The best of men is Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammas. The best of men is Mu'adhibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh. The best of men is Mu'adh ibn Jabal." Then he said,"The worst of men is so-and-so. The worst of men is so-and-so," until hehad named seven men.

'A'isha said, "A man asked permission to come to the Messengerof Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger ofAllah said, 'He is an evil son of his tribe.' When the man came in, theProphet was courteous and cheerful towards him. When that man left, anotherman asked permission to come in. He said, 'He is an excellent son of histribe.' When he came in, he was not cheerful towards him as he had beencheerful towards the other man. When he left, I said, 'Messenger of Allah,you said what you said about so-and-so and yet you were courteous to him.You said what you said about so-and-so and I did not see you do the same.'He said, ''A'isha, the worst of people are those who are feared on accountof their bad language.'"

Abu Ma'mar said, "A man began to praise one of the amirs. Al-Miqdadbegan to throw dirt in his face and said, 'The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, commanded us to throw dust into thefaces of those who praise people.'"

'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah reported that a man was praising another manin the presence of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar began to throw dust towards hismouth. He said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said, 'When you see those who praise people, throw dust in theirfaces.'"

Raja' said. "One day Mihjan and I went to the mosque of the peopleof Basra. Burayda al-Aslami was sitting there by one of the mosque doors.Inside the mosque there was a man called Sabka who used to make the prayerslong. We came to the mosque door which had a fringed woollen cloth overit. Now Burayda was someone who made jokes. He said, 'Mihjan, don't youpray as Sabka prays?' Mihjan did not answer and went back. Mihjan said,'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, oncetook me by the hand and we went together to the top of Uhud. He lookeddown on Madina and said, "Woe to a town whose people will abandon it whenit becomes very prosperous. Then the Dajjal will come to it and find twoangels at each of its gates, so he will not enter it." Then he went downuntil we reached the mosque and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, saw a man praying, prostrating and bowing. TheMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked me,"Who is this?" and I began to praise him, saying, "Messenger of Allah,this is so-and-so and so-and-so." "Stop!" he said, "Do not let him hearor you will destroy him."'"

Al-Aswad ibn Suray' said, "I came to the Prophet, may Allah blesshim and grant him peace, and said, 'Messenger of Allah, I have praisedAllah and you in poems of praise and eulogies.' He said, 'As far as yourLord is concerned, He must be praised,' and so I began to recite them.Then a tall bald man asked for permission to enter. The Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, told me, 'Be silent.' The man came in andspoke for a time and then left. Then I recited again. Then the other mancame back and he made be silent again. Then the man left again. That happenedtwo or three times. I asked, 'Who is this man for whom I must be silent?'He replied, 'This is a man who does not like vain things.'"

Abu Nujayd said, "A poet came to 'Imran ibn Husayn and 'Imran gavehim something. 'Imran was asked, 'You give to a poet?' He said, 'I am preservingmy reputation (from his satire).'"