Sunan Abi Dawud

This tradition has also been transmitted by ‘Isa b. Abi ‘Isa al-sailahini from Abu al-Mughirah, as Ibn al-musaffa said.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: O community of people, who believed by their tongue, and belief did not enter their hearts, do not back-bite Muslims, and do not search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah will search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his house.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone eats once at the cost of a Muslim's honour, Allah will give him a like amount of Jahannam to eat; if anyone clothes himself with a garment at the cost of a Muslim's honour, Allah will clothe him with like amount of Jahannam; and if anyone puts himself in a position of reputation and show Allah will disgrace him with a place of reputation and show on the Day of Resurrection.

Everything of a Muslim is sacred to a Muslim : his property, honour and blood. It is enough evil for any man to despise his brother Muslim.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone guards a believer from a hypocrite, Allah will send an angel who will guard his flesh on the Day of Resurrection from the fire of Jahannam; but if anyone attacks a Muslim saying something by which he wishes to disgrace him, he will be restrained by Allah on the bridge over Jahannam till he is acquitted of what he said.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: No (Muslim) man will desert a man who is a Muslim in a place where his respect may be violated and his honour aspersed without Allah deserting him in a place here he wishes his help; and no (Muslim) man who will help a Muslim in a place where his honour may be aspersed and his respect violated without Allah helping him in a place where he wishes his help. Yahya said: 'Ubaid Allah b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Umar and 'Uqbah b. Shaddad transmitted it to me. Abu Dawud said: This yahya b. Sulaim is the son of Zaid, the freed slave of the Prophet (ﷺ), and Isma'il b. Bashir is the freed slave of Banu Maghalah. Sometimes the name of 'Utbah b. Shaddad is mentioned instead of 'Uqbah.

A desert Arab came and making his camel kneel and tethering it, entered the mosque and prayed behind the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). When The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had given the salutation, he went to his riding beast and, after untethering and riding it, he called out: O Allah, show mercy to me and to Muhammad and associate no one else in Thy mercy to us. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) then said: Do you think that he or his camel is farther astray? Did you not listen to what he said? They replied: Certainly.

Is one of you helpless to be like AbuDaygham or Damdam (Ibn Ubayd is doubtful) who would say when morning came: O Allah, I gave my honour as alms to Thy servants?

Is one of you unable to be like Abu Damdam? The people asked: who is Abu Damdam? He replied : A man of old before you. He then mentioned the rest of tradition to the tradition to the same effect. This version has : who would say (in the morning) : My honors is for the one who reviles me. Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Hashim bin al-Qasim from Muhammad b. 'Adb Allah al-'Ammi from Thabit on the authority of Anas from Prophet (ﷺ) to the same effect. Abu Dawud said: The tradition of Hammad (i.e. 'Abd al-Rahman's version) is sounder.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: If you search for the faults of the people, you will corrupt them, or will nearly corrupt them. AbudDarda' said: These are the words which Mu'awiyah himself from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and Allah benefited him by them.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When a ruler seeks to make imputations against the people, he corrupts them.

Zayd ibn Wahb said: A man was brought to Ibn Mas'ud. He was told: This is so and so, and wine was dropping from his beard. Abdullah thereupon said: We have been prohibited to seek out (faults). If anything becomes manifest to us, we shall seize it.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: He who sees something which should be kept hidden and conceals it will be like one who has brought to life a girl buried alive.

AbulHaytham quoted Dukhayn, the scribe of Uqbah ibn Amir, saying: We had some neighbours who used to drink wine. I forbade them, but they did not stop. I then said to Uqbah ibn Amir: These neighbours of ours drink wine, and I tried to prevent them but they did not stop, and I am going to call the police about them. He said: Leave them. I again came to Uqbah ibn Amir and said: Our neighbours have refused to refrain from drinking wine, and I am going to call the police for them. He said: Woe to thee! Leave them alone. I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: he then mentioned the tradition to the same effect as recorded above on the authority of the narrator Muslim. Abu Dawud said: In this version Hashim b. al-Qasim said on the authority of Laith: Do not do it, but preach them and threaten them.

A Muslim is a Muslim’s brother: he does not wrong him or abandon him. If anyone cares for his brother’s need, Allah will care for his need ; if anyone removes a Muslim’s anxiety, Allah will remove from him, on account of it, one of the anxieties of the Day of resurrection ; and if anyone conceals a Muslim’s fault, Allah will conceal his fault on the Day of resurrection.

when two men abuse one another, what they say is laid to the charge of the one who began it, so long as the one who is wronged does not go over the score.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Allah has revealed to me that you must be humble, so that no one oppresses another and boasts over another.

While the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was sitting with some of his companions, a man reviled AbuBakr and insulted him. But AbuBakr remained silent. He insulted him twice, but AbuBakr controlled himself. He insulted him thrice and AbuBakr took revenge on him. Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) got up when AbuBakr took revenge. AbuBakr said: Were you angry with me, Messenger of Allah? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied: An angel came down from Heaven and he was rejecting what he had said to you. When you took revenge, a devil came down. I was not going to sit when the devil came down.

A man was reviling Abu Bakr. He then mentioned the rest of the tradition in a similar manner. Abu Dawud said: Similarly, it has been transmitted by Safwan b. ‘Isa, from Ibn ‘Affan, as Sufyan said.

Ibn Awn said: I asked about the meaning of intisar (revenge) in the Qur'anic verse: "But indeed if any do help and defend themselves (intasara) after a wrong (done) to them, against them there is no cause of blame." Then Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad'an told me on the authority of Umm Muhammad, the wife of his father. Ibn Awn said: It was believed that she used to go to the Mother of the Faithful (i.e. Aisha). She said: The Mother of the Faithful said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came upon me while Zaynab, daughter of Jahsh, was with us. He began to do something with his hand. I signalled to him until I made him understand about her. So he stopped. Zaynab came on and began to abuse Aisha. She tried to prevent her but she did not stop. So he (the Prophet) said to Aisha: Abuse her. So she abused her and dominated her. Zaynab then went to Ali and said: Aisha abused you and did (such and such). Then Fatimah came (to the Prophet) and he said to her: She is the favourite of your father, by the Lord of the Ka'bah! She then returned and said to them: I said to him such and such, and he said to me such and such. Then Ali came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and spoke to him about that.