Hammam ibn al-Harith reported that a man began to praise 'Uthman and al-Miqdad went and knelt on his knees and began to throw pebbles in his face, 'Uthman said to him, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "When you see praisers, then throw dust in their faces." [Muslim]
Allah Subhanahu wata'lah has revealed his dislike of arrogance in the Holy Qur'an
And make not your cheek crooked while talking to any one and walk not in the earth struttingly. Undoubtedly Allah loves not any arrogant boaster. (31:18)
...Undoubtedly, He likes not the proud ones. (16:23)
RasulAllah PBUH also warned us against arrogance,
"No one will enter paradise who has an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart."
'Praise' in what sense; someone praising you or you praising someone else ?
***** قال ابن أبي مليكة : أدركت ثلاثين من أصحاب النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - كلهم يخاف النفاق على نفسه
Ibn Abī Mulaykah said: "I encountered thirty Companions of the Prophet, every one of them fearing hypocrisy for himself." [Muslim]
I've been told that we can only praise someone if we know that the other person won't riya' or anything like it.
It is permissible to praise someone in their presence and in their absence. However, in the situation where one is praising a person in his presence, he should not excessively praise him as that may be a means of him becoming vain and proud.
It is narrated on the authority of Miqdaad ibn al-Aswad that Rasulullah [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] said, ‘When you are faced with those people who praise you excessively, then throw sand onto their faces.’ This Hadith refers to those who excessively praise a person or those who praise in order to gain something.
25:36 And the true servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk the earth with humility and when the ignorant address them, they respond with words of peace.
Something we went through in our al-arbaa'een classes, from the first hadeeth on niyyah (intentions), that if people praise a certain individual, and that person feels pleased by it/has a good feeling, then it is not neccessarily tantamount to riyaa (showing-off), since the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was once asked; if a man does a good deed and people praise him for it; the Messenger said:
تلك عاجل بشرى المؤمن "(This praise is) advanced glad tidings [from Allah] for the believer." [Muslim]
Obviously it goes w/o saying, that person shouldn't then feel pride etc & do righteous deeds in future out of riyaa. Otherwise, nothing wrong with it inshaAllaah.
WaAllaahu A'lam!!
***** قال ابن أبي مليكة : أدركت ثلاثين من أصحاب النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - كلهم يخاف النفاق على نفسه
Ibn Abī Mulaykah said: "I encountered thirty Companions of the Prophet, every one of them fearing hypocrisy for himself." [Muslim]
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts.
Sign Up
Bookmarks