The Messenger's consideration to people's feelings (1)

Islam aims to please and reform people, therefore it laid many principles and basics to protect feelings and preserve emotions because this increases affability among people.

 

I saw an instructor calling one of his students saying: "Came, O blind"

hurting his feelings. Another person saw a sick man and said to him: "Praise be to Allah who has saved me from this affliction" without taking into consideration that he is saying that loudly, hurting the feeling of the sick.

 

- Islam called to promote good word, Allah (may He be Exalted) said on the tongue of His Messenger (peace be upon him) in his dialogue with infidels: "Say (O Muhammad peace be upon him to these polytheists, pagans, etc.) You will not be asked about our sins, nor shall we be asked of what you do." [Surat Saba': 25].

He did not say: You shall not be asked about what we did, and we shall not be asked about your sins. Allah (Exalted be He) says: "And speak good to people (i.e. enjoin righteousness and forbid evil, and say the truth about Muhammad peace be upon him)." [Surat Al Baqarah: 83].

He also said: "And say to My slaves (i.e. the true believers of Islâmic Monotheism) that they should (only) say those words that are the best." [Surat Al Isra': 53].

 

- Islam stresses not hurting the feelings of a mistaken. Al Bukhari reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: "A bedouin urinated in the mosqueand some people rushed to beat him up.The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:"Leave him alone and pour a bucket of water over it.

Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) commanded his Companions to leave that ignorant bedouin until he finishes urination. When he finished, the Prophet commanded that a bucket of water would be poured over his urine to remove impurity then the Messenger (peace be upon him) called the bedouin saying: "It is not proper to use the mosque for urinating or easing oneself. They are merely built for the remembrance of Allah and the recitation of the Qur'an."

 

Mu`awiyah ibn Al Hakam As-Sulamy narrated: "While I was praying with the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him), a man in the company sneezed. I said: May Allah bless you! The people stared at me with disapproving looks, so I said: May my mother lose me, why are you staring at me? They began to strike their hands on their thighs, and when I saw them urging me to observe silence (I became angry) but I said nothing. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had offered Salah (and I declare that neither before him nor after him have I seen a leader who gave better instruction than he for whom I would give my father and mother as ransom).By Allah, I have never seen an instructor better than him in teaching. I swear that he did not scold, beat or revile me but said: Talking to persons is not fitting during Salah, for it consists of glorifying Allah, declaring his Greatness." [Reported by Muslim].

 

- Islam commanded us to ask for permission before entering private places. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "O you who believe! Enter not houses other than your own, until you have asked permission and greeted those in them, that is better for you, in order that you may remember. *And if you find no one therein, still, enter not until permission has been given to you. And if you are asked to go back, go back, for it is purer for you. And Allâh is All-Knower of what you do." [Surat An-Nur: 28].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "If anyone of you asks the permission to enter thrice, and the permission is not given, then he should return." [Reported by Al Bukhari and Muslim]. So, whoever asks permission thrice and permission is not given, he should go back and do not insist on entering so as not to hurt people's feelings. If the door is open, a guest should stand at the side of the door and seek permission. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to stand at the side of the door when he visited people without facing the door. He said: (Peace be upon you! Peace be upon you!) because there were no curtains at house doors at that time. [Sahih Abu Dawud 5186].

 

When the house door is opened, a guest should not look inside but should look at the one who opened the door because the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "When one has a look into the house, then there is no (need of) permission." [Authentic, Musnad Ahmad 16 / 319].

 

- Islam prohibited insulting the dead because insulting them hurts the feelings of the living. So, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Do not abuse the deadbecause they have reached the result of what they forwarded." [Reported by Al Bukhari].

 

- The Messenger (peace be upon him) considered the feelings of people during Salah. `Uthman ibn Abu Al `As narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Lead your people in Salah. And whoever leads a group of people in Salah, he should lighten it because among them there are the old, the sick, the weak, and the busy (needy having some jobs to do).However, when someone offers Salah alone, he may offer a lengthy Salah as he wishes." [Sahih Al Jami` 1398].

 

- The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to consider the feelings of those who are inflicted by a misfortune and consoled them. Ibn `Umar said: "When `Abdullah ibn Ubay ibn Salul (the hypocrite) died, his son `Abdullah ibn `Abdullah came to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) and asked him to give his shirt which should be used for the coffin of his father. He gave that to him. He also asked Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) to lead his funeral prayer. When the Prophet (may peace be upon him) stood up to perform the Prayer over him thereupon `Umar caught hold of the clothes of Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him)and said: O Messenger of Allah, are you going to offer the Prayer, whereas Allah has forbidden to offer the Prayer for him? Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace and blessings be upon him) remarked: Allah has given me a choice saying: Whether you (O Muhammad) ask forgiveness for them (hypocrites) or ask not forgiveness for them (and even) if you ask seventy times for their forgiveness, [Surat At-Tawbah: 80] I will make an addition to the seventy. He said: He was a hypocrite and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) performed Prayer over him and Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, revealed the Ayah: "And never (O Muhammad peace be upon him) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave." [Surat At-Tawbah: 84]. So, he did not offer Salah for them thereafter." [Reported by Al Bukhari].