The islamic meaning of UMMAH? [Archive] - Ummah.com

AbuMubarak

10-05-04, 10:01 AM

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Journal of Islamic Knowledge: May 08, 2004
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The meaning of the hadeeth, "Whoever taunts
his brother with a sin" and how sound it is.

Question:

Hadhrat Muaaz (Allah be pleased with him)
narrates that Muhammad (peace be upon him)
said: "Whoever taunts a brother (Muslim) with
a sin (which the Muslim has committed), will
not die until he the taunter) commits the same
sin." Could you please xplain this Hadith in
further detail?

Answer:

Praise be to Allaah.

This hadeeth was narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
(Kitaab Sifat al-Qiyaamah wa'l-Wara',
2429), where the wording is, "Whoever
shames his brother for a sin will not die
until he does it too."

Shaykh al-Albaani described this hadeeth
in Da'eef al-Jaami' (5710) as mawdoo'
(fabricated).

If a hadeeth is da'eef (weak) and mawdoo'
(fabricated), it cannot be taken as a basis
for rulings or be acted upon.

With regard to the meaning of the hadeeth,
Shaykh al-Mubaarakfoori said:

" `Whoever shames' means whoever criticizes
or condemns. `his brother' means his brother
in faith. `For a sin' means one from which he
has repented, according to the way in which
Imaam Ahmad explained it. `will not die' - the
subject of this verb is `whoever'. `Until he does
it too' means, the sin for which he criticizes his
brother. It is as if the one who criticizes his
brother will be forsaken by Allaah until he
commits the sin for which he criticized his
brother, if that criticism was accompanied by
self-admiration for being free of that sin."

(Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi, 7/173)

The fact that this hadeeth is da'eef (weak)
does not mean that it is permissible to criticize
those who have fallen into sin, for those who fall
into sin are of different types.

Some of them repent and turn back to their
Lord, or else the punishment (hadd) is carried
out on them. So it is not permissible to criticize
them because their souls have been purified by
their repentance or the punishment. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"The one who repents from sin is like one who
has never sinned." (Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 4240;
classed as saheeh by al-Busayri in al-Zawaa'id,
commentary on Sunan Ibn Maajah).

Imam Ahmad said that the punishment mentioned
in the hadeeth is for the one who criticizes a person
who has repented from his sin, as al-Tirmidhi
narrated from him. After narrating this hadeeth, he
said: Ahmad said: from a sin from which he has
repented.

Some of them commit sin but they do not do it
openly. Anyone who comes to know of that has to
advise the person and cover his faults.

And some of them commit sin openly. They should
also be advised, and others should be warned against
them to whatever extent is appropriate.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

It may be that what he meant is that your criticizing
your brother for his sin is an even greater sin than
his, because it means that you feel pride in your
obedience and you are praising yourself for that,
and claiming to be free from sin, whereas your
brother has fallen into sin.But it may be that his
feeling humble because of his sin and what has
happened to him, such as his feeling humble and
submissive, thinking less of himself, ridding himself
of pious pretensions, arrogance and self-admiration,
standing before Allaah with his head bowed, his gaze
lowered and his heart broken - it may be that all of
that is better for him than your feeling proud of your
obedience, thinking that you are doing much good,
believing that by doing so you are important, and
reminding Allaah and mankind of that.

How close this sinner is to the mercy of Allaah,
and how close this conceited one is to the wrath
of Allaah! A sin that leads to humility is more
beloved to Him than an act of obedience which
fills a person with conceit. If you sleep all night
then wake up feeling regret (for not having prayed
qiyaam al-layl), that may be better for you than if
you were to pray all night and wake up in the
morning filled with self-admiration. For the deeds
of the one who admires himself are not accepted.
Perhaps your laughing whilst admitting to
shortcomings is better than your weeping with
piety but being filled with conceit. The groaning
of the sinners is more beloved to Allaah than the
tasbeeh of the conceited. It may be that by means
of this sin, Allaah has caused him to drink the
medicine that will cure a fatal disease which you
also have, but you do not realize it. Allaah has
reason for what He does to both those who are
obedient and those who sin, which are known to
no-one except Him, and which no one recognizes
except those who have insight, and then only within
the limits of human understanding; beyond that there
are reasons which are not even known to the
honourable scribes (i.e., the recording angels).
The Prophet said: "If the slave woman of any one
of you commits adultery, let him carry out the
punishment on her and not criticize." And Yoosuf
(peace be upon him) said: "No reproach on you
this day" [Yoosuf 12:92 - interpretation of the
meaning]. For the scale is in the hand of Allaah,
and the ruling is His. The point is to carry out the
punishment (prescribed by Allaah) and not to
shame and criticize. No one feels safe from what
has been decreed for them and from the power of
His decree except those who are ignorant of Allaah.
Allaah said to the one who had more knowledge of
Him than anyone else and was closer to Him: "And
had We not made you stand firm, you would nearly
have inclined to them a little"[al-Israa' 17:74 -
interpretation of the meaning]. And Yoosuf said:
"Unless You turn away their plot from me, I will feel
inclined towards them and be one (of those who
commit sin and deserve blame or those who do
deeds) of the ignorant"[Yoosuf 12:33 - interpretation
of the meaning]. One of the ways in which the
Messenger of Allaah used to swear was "No, by the
One who turns hearts." And he said, "There is no
heart which is not between two of the fingers of the
Most Merciful. If He wills He guides it aright and if
He wills He sends it astray." Then he said, "O Allaah,
the one Who turns hearts over, make our hearts
steadfast in adhering to Your religion. O Allaah,
musrif al-Quloob, sirf our hearts to obey You."

Madaarij al-Saalikeen, 1/177, 178)

And Allaah knows best.

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