jazakAllahu khairan for this reminder.
Indeed we should make 70 excuses for our brothers when in doubt:
From Sa'd ibn 'Ubaadah (radiyallaahu 'anhu) who said that Allaah's Messenger (salallaahu 'alaihi wa'sallam) said:
...and there is no one who loves to accept an excuse more than Allaah, and because of this he sent the bringers of good news and the warners....[17]
So a Muslim seeking to make an excuse for his brother and those whom he loves will cause good will to spread instead of antagonism, and will bring about ties of relationship instead of estrangement. Since if Allaah, He who is free of all imperfections, grants excuse, and He is the Creator and the Most Great, then how can you O servant of Allaah, a weak creation of his, not seek to make excuse for others? Rather as is said: Seek an excuse for your brother.18 Likewise there is the saying: the believers seek to make excuses for others, whereas the hypocrites hope for the downfall of others.
17.Reported by al-Bukharee (Eng. Trans. 9/378/no.512) and Muslim (Eng. Trans. 2/782/no. 3572)
18.Some people quote this as being a hadeeth but it has no basis as such
"Indeed, truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Heaven. And, a man [continues to] tell the truth, until he is recorded before Allah as a truthful one. And, indeed, lying leads to evil, and evil leads to Hell. And, a man [continues to] lie until he is recorded before Allah as a liar. [Bukhari, Muslim]
"Insulting a Muslim is impiety, and killing him is [a form of] unbelief." [Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi, Tabarani, Daraqutni.]
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullaah
