Character and Manners

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest. [Al-Bukhari]

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): A man said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Counsel me,” so he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not become angry.” The man repeated [his request for counsel] several times, and [each time] he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Do not become angry.”

On the authority of Abu Ya’la Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Verily Allah has prescribed ihsan (proficiency, perfection) in all things. So if you kill then kill well; and if you slaughter, then slaughter well. Let each one of you sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he slaughters.”

On the authority of Abu Masood Uqbah bin ’Amr al-Ansaree al-Badree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Verily, from what was learnt by the people from the speech of the earliest prophecy is: If you feel no shame, then do as you wish.”

Ibn 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by a man of the Ansar who was admonishing his brother regarding shyness. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Leave him alone, for modesty is a part of Iman."

'Imran bin Husain (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Shyness does not bring anything except good.".In a narration of Muslim: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "All of shyness is good."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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."

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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..

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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."

'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: 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."

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported: 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."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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.".Another narration adds the words: "Even if he observes Saum (fasts), performs Salat (prayer) and claims to be a Muslim."

'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'as (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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."

Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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."

'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'as (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: 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."

'Adi bin Hatim (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Guard yourselves against the Fire (of Hell) even if it be only with half a date-fruit (given in charity); and if you cannot afford even that, you should at least say a good word."

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "It is also charity to utter a good word.". It is part of a narration that has preceded in its entirety.

Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Do not disdain a good deed, (no matter how small it may seem) even if it is your meeting with your (Muslim) brother with a cheerful face."

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Whenever the Prophet (ﷺ) said something, he would repeat his words thrice so that the meanings would be understood fully; and whenever he came upon a group of people, he would greet them, and he would repeat salutation thrice.

Jarir bin 'Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) asked me on the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage to tell the people to keep silent, then he (ﷺ) said, "Do not revert to disbelief after me, chopping the heads of one another."