Hadees 11 — Al-Kalimah aṭ-Ṭayyibah — Good Words, Gentleness and Clean Speech الْكَلِمَةُ الطَّيِّبَةُ صَدَقَةٌ

1 · Where we are #

• Still in Kitāb al-Adab of Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, going through its chapters.
• Lesson 10 closed on ʿalā kulli muslimin ṣadaqah — ṣadaqah is wider than money. This lesson opens with the plainest proof of that: a good word is a ṣadaqah.

The three themes and seven narrations:

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2 · Ḥadīth 1 — a good word is a ṣadaqah #

Al-kalimatu ṭ-ṭayyibatu ṣadaqah. — "A good word is a ṣadaqah."

Narrated by Abū Hurayrah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu.

• Ṣadaqah is not only money. A good word is a ṣadaqah too.
• When someone comes to your door and you have nothing in hand to give, you still have something to give: a warm word — "come in, you are welcome".

3 · Ḥadīth 2 — guard against the Fire, even with half a date #

"The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the Fire, sought refuge from it and turned his face away; then he mentioned the Fire, sought refuge from it and turned his face away — [the narrator] said: as for twice, I have no doubt — then he said: 'Guard yourselves against the Fire, even with half a date; and if you do not find it, then with a good word.'"

Narrated by ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu.

• The Fire is a terrible place, and a believer lives in fear of it. A ṣadaqah shields a person from it — even a small one, even half a date.
• And the last step down is open to everyone: a good word. No one is too poor to give it.

4 · Ṣadaqah is wider than money #

• A good word is a ṣadaqah to anyone — Muslim or non-Muslim.
• Tabassumuka fī wajhi akhīka ṣadaqah — your smile in your brother's face is a ṣadaqah.
• So are the small kindnesses of an ordinary day: giving someone water, helping a man lift his load onto his mount, giving someone your seat.

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5 · Ḥadīth 3 — ʿĀʾishah and "as-sāmu ʿalaykum" #

"A group of the Jews came in to Rasūlullāh ﷺ and said: 'As-sāmu ʿalaykum.' ʿĀʾishah said: I understood it, and I said: 'And upon you be death, and the curse.' Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: 'Gently, O ʿĀʾishah — Allah loves gentleness in every matter.' I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, did you not hear what they said?' He said: 'I did say: And upon you.'"

Narrated by ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā.

• The Jews twisted the greeting into a curse. ʿĀʾishah understood it and answered in kind, adding the curse.
• Rasūlullāh ﷺ stopped her: mahlan — be calm. Allah loves gentleness in every matter.
• She asked: did you not hear what they said? He had heard, and he had answered — with wa-ʿalaykum and nothing more. What they wished came back on them, without one harsh word from him.

6 · Ḥadīth 3b — the second wording: keep to gentleness #

The same incident is narrated in a second wording. The class's reading of its opening was not recorded; what follows is its teaching.

"Keep to gentleness, and beware of harshness and obscenity." … "Did you not hear what I said? I returned it upon them: my word against them is answered, and theirs against me is not answered."

• There was no need for the curse. His wa-ʿalaykum was enough: Allah answers his word against them, and does not answer theirs against him.
• These were real enemies who wished him harm — and still Rasūlullāh ﷺ stayed gentle.

7 · Gentleness with the people around us #

• If he was this gentle with open enemies of Islam, how much more should we be with the ordinary people we live among.
• Islam teaches good akhlāq — softness, kindness, mercy — and these ḥadīths are how we show the people of this country what Islam teaches.

8 · Ḥadīth 4 — the bedouin who urinated in the masjid #

"A bedouin urinated in the masjid, and they rose up towards him. Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: 'Do not interrupt him.' Then he called for a bucket of water, and it was poured over it."

Narrated by Anas ibn Mālik raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu. You met this incident briefly in Lesson 9, as a parallel to the bedouin in the prayer; here it is taught in full, under gentleness.

• How serious it was: the three greatest mosques in the world are al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, al-Masjid an-Nabawī and al-Masjid al-Aqṣā — and this happened in one of them, by a grown man, not a child. A grave offence in a holy place.
• The Companions were angry, and rose to stop him.
• Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: do not interrupt him. Then he had water brought and poured over the spot.
• How did he handle it? With softness, kindness and mercy. That is the lesson of the chapter.

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9 · Ḥadīth 5 — neither fāḥish nor mutafaḥḥish #

"We went in to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr when he came with Muʿāwiyah to Kūfah. He mentioned Rasūlullāh ﷺ and said: 'He was neither obscene nor one who affected obscenity.' And he said: Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: 'Among the best of you are those best in character.'"

Narrated by Masrūq, a tābiʿī, from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā.

• Rasūlullāh ﷺ was neither. Foul speech was never his habit, and he never put it on.
• Inna min akhyarikum aḥsanakum khuluqan — the best of you are those with the best character.

10 · Character is the door to daʿwah #

• Khuluq is the main entrance to daʿwah in this country — good manners and good ethics.
• Rasūlullāh's ﷺ character was known before Islam as well as after it.

11 · Ḥadīth 6 — he did not revile, swear or curse #

"The Prophet ﷺ was not one who reviled, nor obscene, nor one who cursed. When reproaching one of us he would say: 'What is the matter with him — may his forehead be dusty!'"

Narrated by Anas ibn Mālik raḍiyallāhu ʿanhu.

• He did not revile or curse people. One occasion on which he did invoke against people was a fierce battle in which the enemy kept the Muslims from the ʿAṣr prayer: may Allah fill their graves and houses with fire.
• He corrected without humiliating. When someone did wrong he would say mā bālu aqwāmin… — "what is the matter with some people…" — without naming the man or shaming him to his face.
• Shaming people to their face and using foul words is not his character, however common it is today.

12 · Ḥadīth 7 — "what a bad son of his tribe" #

"A man asked permission to come in to the Prophet ﷺ. When he saw him, he said: 'What a bad brother of his tribe, what a bad son of his tribe.' When the man sat down, the Prophet ﷺ met him with a bright face and was easy with him. When the man left, ʿĀʾishah said: 'O Messenger of Allah, when you saw the man you said such-and-such of him, then you met him with a bright face and were easy with him?' Rasūlullāh ﷺ said: 'O ʿĀʾishah, when have you ever known me to be obscene? The worst of people in rank with Allah on the Day of Resurrection is the one whom people leave alone to protect themselves from his evil.'"

Narrated by ʿĀʾishah raḍiyallāhu ʿanhā.

• On seeing the man, Rasūlullāh ﷺ judged him a bad man of his tribe.
• When he came in and sat, he received him smiling, cheerfully, and talked with him warmly.
• ʿĀʾishah was puzzled: you spoke so badly of him, then you welcomed him with smiles?
• His answer: when have you ever seen me speak a foul word? And the worst of people with Allah is the one whom people avoid out of fear of his harm.
• He did not compromise his religion — he did not approve of the man — but he kept good relations with him rather than starting a quarrel with harsh, foul words.

13 · Mudārāh and mudāhanah #

This ḥadīth is where the scholars explain mudārāh.

• Rasūlullāh ﷺ had no personal benefit in being gentle with that man. That is mudārāh.
• The mudāhin changes his face: one face in front of a man, another behind him — for his own gain.
• Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī draws this same distinction.

14 · Living it: the politician #

• To someone's face we may smile and talk, even with people who do wrong. In society we sometimes have to deal with such people — and for the sake of the religion and the community, that is acceptable.
• An Islamic scholar may need to deal with a politician to get something the community needs. That is mudārāh.
• But praising him, justifying his injustices, his crimes and his thefts in big speeches, for a small favour — that is mudāhanah, and it is not permitted.
• How we handle a matter is very important.

15 · What to carry out of this lesson #

1. Al-kalimatu ṭ-ṭayyibatu ṣadaqah — a good word is a ṣadaqah, to anyone.
2. Ittaqū n-nāra wa-law bi-shiqqi tamrah — and if not half a date, a good word.
3. A smile, water, a hand with a load, a seat — all ṣadaqah.
4. Inna llāha yuḥibbu r-rifqa fī l-amri kullih — gentleness in every matter, even with enemies; his wa-ʿalaykum was enough.
5. ʿAlayki bi-r-rifq, wa-iyyāki wa-l-ʿunfa wa-l-fuḥsh — hold to gentleness; beware harshness and obscenity.
6. The bedouin in the masjid: lā tuzrimūhu — gentleness even with a grave offence.
7. He was never fāḥish or mutafaḥḥish; the best of you are the best in character.
8. He did not revile, swear or curse, and corrected without naming or shaming.
9. Mudārāh — gentleness for the religion's sake — is praiseworthy; mudāhanah — giving up the religion for gain — is nifāq.