Virtues and Manners

As-Sā'ib ibn Yazīd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) returned from the battle of Tabūk to Madīnah, the people received him and I met him along with the children at Thaniyyat al-Wadā’. In another narration: "We went out along with the children to meet the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) at Thaniyyat al-Wadā‘."

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: My father's mutilated body was brought to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and placed in front of him. I went to uncover his face but my people stopped me. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The angels continue to shade him with their wings."

Usāmah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was brought to him while breathing his last. The eyes of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) overflowed with tears. Thereupon, Sa‘d said to him: "O Messenger of Allah, what is this!" He said: "This is mercy that Allah, the Exalted, has placed in the hearts of His slaves. Verily, Allah shows mercy to those of His slaves who are merciful."

Al-Ma‘rūr ibn Suwayd reported: I saw Abu Tharr (may Allah be pleased with him) wearing a nice clothes, and his slave was wearing a similarly nice clothes also. I asked him about this and he said that he had exchanged harsh words with a person during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and insulted him by making an offensive reference to his mother. That person came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and made mention of that (abuse) to him. Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are a person who has remnants of the ignorant pre-Islamic manners. Your slaves are your brothers and servants whom Allah has placed under your authority. He who has his brother under his authority should feed him from whatever he eats, dress him with whatever he wears, and not assign burdensome and difficult tasks to them that are beyond their capacity. If you do this then help them."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man emigrated from Yemen to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) who said (to the man): "Do you have anyone in Yemen?" He replied: "My parents." He asked: "Have they given you permission?" He replied: 'No!' So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go back to them and seek their permission. If they give you permission, you can engage in Jihad, otherwise, be dutiful to them."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You will eagerly seek out a position of authority, but it will be a source of regret on the Day of Judgment. How excellent is the wet nurse, and how evil is the weaning one."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "While a man was walking on a path, he found a thorn branch on the road, so he put it aside. Allah, thus, thanked him and forgave him."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I left no minor or major sin without committing it." He said: "Do you not testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah?" He repeated the question three times. He replied: 'Yes.' The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This prevails over that."

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do not seek knowledge in order to show off in front of the scholars, or to argue with the foolish; or to get the higher status in gatherings. Whoever does that, the Fire, the Fire."

An-Nawwās ibn Sam‘ān al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah has given a parable: a straight path that is surrounded by two walls on both sides, with several open doors within the walls covered with curtains. There is a caller on the gate of the path who says: 'O people, enter the path, all of you, and do not deviate from it.' Meanwhile, a caller from above the path is also warning any person who wants to open any of these doors: 'Woe unto you! Do not open it, for if you open it, you will pass through.' The path is Islam, the two walls are the limits set by Allah, and the open doors are Allah's prohibitions. The caller on the gate of the path is the Book of Allah, while the caller above the path is Allah's admonishment in the heart of every Muslim."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Would any one of you like to find three large, fat, pregnant she-camels when he returns to his family?" We said: 'Yes.' He said: "Three verses that one of you recites in his prayer are better for him than three large, fat, pregnant she-camels."

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who recites the Qur’an openly is like he who gives charity openly, and he who recites the Qur’an secretly is like he who gives charity secretly."

‘Ali reported: Indeed I am a man who, when hearing a Hadīth from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), Allah benefitted me thereby as much as He willed for me to benefit thereby. When a man from his Companions narrates some Hadīth to me, I ask him to swear upon it, when he swears, I believe him. And Abu Bakr narrated to me - and Abu Bakr told the truth; he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "There is no man who commits a sin, then gets up and performs Tahārah (ritual purification), then performs prayer, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, except that Allah forgives him." Then, he recited this verse: {And those who, when they commit a shameful act or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins.} [Surat Āl ‘Imrān: 135]

Abu ’Umāmah al-Bāhili (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "What do you think of a man who fights seeking reward and fame - what will he have?" The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He will not have anything." He repeated it three times, and the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) would say to him: "He will not have anything." Then, he said: "Allah does not accept any deed except what is done purely for Him and in pursuit of His Countenance."

Abu Sa‘īd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) once observed I‘tikāf (seclusion for worship) in the mosque, and he heard them reciting (the Qur’an) aloud. He lifted the curtain and said: "Indeed, each of you is conversing privately with his Lord, so let not one of you harm another, and let none of you raise his voice above another in recitation," or he said: "in prayer."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Part of a person's excellence in Islam is his leaving what does not concern him."

Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Wear white clothes, for they are among the best of your clothes; and shroud your deceased in them."

Jābir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) reported: We were on an expedition when a man from the Muhājirīn (Emigrants) shoved a man from the Ansār (Supporters). The Ansāri cried: O Ansār, help! And the Muhājiri cried: O Muhājirīn, help! Allah made His Messenger (ﷺ) hear this. He asked: "What is this?" They said: A man from the Muhājirīn shoved a man from the Ansār, and the Ansāri called: O Ansār! and the Muhājiri called: O Muhājirīn! The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Leave it, for it is disgraceful." Jābir said: The Ansār were more numerous when the Prophet (ﷺ) arrived (in Madīnah), but later the Muhājirīn increased. Then ‘Abdullah ibn ’Ubayy said: Have they really done this? By Allah, when we return to Madīnah, the mightier will surely expel the weaker from it. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah, let me strike the neck of this hypocrite. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Leave him, so that people will not say that Muhammad kills his Companions."

‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was sleeping upon a straw mat, and then he got up, and it had left marks on his side. We said: O Messenger of Allah, we could get a mattress for you. He said: "What do I have to do with this worldly life? I am in this worldly life like a rider who seeks shade under a tree, then he goes away and leaves it."

‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her), reported: The family of Muhammad (ﷺ) never ate two meals in a day except that one of them was dates.