:bism: (In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)
@
czgibson:
The Islamic attitude of "
hate the sin but not the sinner" comes from specifically
ahadith (prophetic traditions) and wider etiquette prescribed in Islam.
For example, story of 'Abd Allah and Prophet
:saws: (peace and blessings be upon him): The background is that 'Abd Allah used to delight in presenting Prophet
:saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) with any delicacy that came to Medina and take it as a gift, and the funny thing is that he would take it as a gift and present it to Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) but then when Prophet
:saws: (peace and blessings be upon him) would ask him to pay the merchant from which he bought the goods he'd confess that he was unable to pay even though this was a gift. Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) and he would laugh together and then the merchant was paid the price for the gift that 'Abd Allah was unable to afford but would seek to give to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Despite this cordial and jovial friendship that they shared, 'Abd Allah was a widely known alcoholic of the time of Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him). From another
hadith (prophetic tradition) we know that Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) has said that alcohol is cursed and cursed also is the person who drinks, buys, sells, makes or pours alcohol.
'Abd Allah was would be frequently so drunk that he had to be brought staggering through the streets to be sentenced by Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) for public drunkenness and this act was a common occurrence. Once when 'Abd Allah had departed from one of the frequent instances of having been sentenced as recorded in
hadith (prophetic tradition), one of the Companions declared in reference to 'Abd Allah, "O Allah curse him. How often he is summoned for this!" Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) became upset and said, "
Do not curse him, for I swear by Allah, if you only knew just how very much indeed he loves Allah and His Messenger" (Sahîh al-Bukhârî (6282)).
This right there is the attitude of hate the sin but not the sinner, for Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) himself testified as to this man's devotion to God and Messenger of God despite this man's indulge in sin and also had a loving and cordial relationship with the man who was a known and public sinner.
In Quran (verse 11 of Sura Hujarat), God says, “
O you who believe, let not (one) people laugh at (another) people perchance they may be better than they, nor let women (laugh) at (other) women, perchance they may be better than they; and do not find fault with your own people nor call one another by nicknames; evil is a bad name after faith, and whoever does not turn, these it is that are the unjust.”
Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) also said, “Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the greatest falsehood.
Do not try to find fault with each other, do not spy on one another, do not vie with one another, do not envy one another,
do not be angry with one another, do not turn away from one another, and be servants of Allah, brothers to one another, as you have been enjoined.
A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim, he does him no wrong, nor does he let him down,
nor does he despise him. Fear of God is here, fear of God is here, and he pointed to his chest. It is evil enough that a Muslim should look down on his brother. For every Muslim is sacred to one another: his blood, his honor, and his property.
Allah does not look at your bodies or your forms, or your deeds, but He looks at your hearts" (Bukhari, Muslim).
Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) said, “
Whoever shames his brother for a sin will not die until he does it too” (al-Tirmidhi in Kitaab Sifat al-Qiyaamah wa’l-Wara’, 2429).
Also, part of a larger
hadith (prophetic tradition) is when Prophet :saws:
(peace and blessings be upon him) advised, "
Let your own faults prevent you from criticizing others and do not try to find fault with others, because you commit those faults yourself. It is enough to prove you guilty that you should find in others such faults as you yourself possess, though you may not be aware of them, and that you should find in others such misdeeds as you yourself commit" (Ibn Hibban).