Chapter: "Chapter on What Has Come Regarding Excessive Praise." Explanation of the Hadith of Abu Bakrah al-Thaqafi (may Allah be pleased with him)

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
"Chapter on What Has Come Regarding Excessive Praise".
He narrated it below with his authentic chain of narration.
From 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah, from his father, meaning Abu Bakrah al-Thaqafi, one of the famous Companions: He says it repeatedly, meaning the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) repeats this phrase: at least three times, then he (peace and blessings be upon him) followed that with his saying: إن كان أحدكم مادحا لا محالة فليقل: أحسب كذا وكذا -إن كان يرى أنه كذلك- وحسيبه الله، ولا يزكي على الله أحدا في هذا الحديث أدب من الآداب الإسلامية التي هجرها جماهير المسلمين اليوم وليس ذلك فقط بل قلبوه رأسا على عقب ، ذلك أن في هذا الحديث أنه لا يجوز للمسلم أن يمدح أخاه المسلم في وجهه وذلك خشية أن يُفتتن بهذا المدح ، أما القدح واضح لأننا نتضرر يعني نحاول أ نجعل أنفسنا ضعفاء وأدباء بأن نمدحهم ولو بالباطل، بينما شرعا لا يجوز مدح المسلم لأخيه المسلم ولو بالحق، ولو كان لا بد مادحا له ولا يقطع بمدحه إياه وإنما يخفف وقع المدح في صاحبه بالتشكيك في عبارته بأن يقول : أظن فيه كذا وكذا ، مثلاً لا يصح أن نقول لإنسان نظنه صالحا : والله أنت رجل صالح والله أنت رجل طيب والله أنت ما في منك ونحو ذلك من العبارات التي يلهج بها جماهير الناس اليوم وهم يحسبون أنهم يحسنون صنعا.
يقول الرسول صلوات الله وسلامه عليه في هذا الحديث للذي مدح صاحبه : ويحك قطعت عنق صاحبك أي أهلكته وفعلت فيه من الناحية المعنوية ما تفعل السكين أو السيف من الناحية المادية، فالسيف يقطع بها صاحبه عنق خصمه فمدحه لصاحبه يفعل فيه فعل سيفه بخصمه، لذلك قال عليه الصلاة والسلام : ويحك قطعت عنق صاحبك ولم يكتف النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بكلمته هذه مرة واحدة وإنما أعادها مرارا وتكرارا : وهو يقول : ويحك قطعت عنق صاحبك وفي رواية ويحك اقعد قطعت عنق أخيك ويحك قطعت عنق أخيك أعادها ثلاثا.
ثم كأن الرسول عليه السلام قيّد هذا الإطلاق لأنه لو أنه صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وقف عند هذه الجملة: ويحك قطعت عنق أخيك لكان لا يجوز المدح مطلقا، ولكنه لطّف بأمته فقال : إن كان أحدكم مادحا لا محالة فليقل: إني أحسبه كذا وكذا والله حسيبه ، ولا يزكي على الله أحدا أي لا يقطع بتزكية إنسان، لأن قول القائل في صاحبه سواء كان ذكر أو أنثى الحكم لا يختلف اللفظ جاء مطلقا فلان صالح كأنه كُشف له عن اللوح المحفوظ فجزم بأنه صالح فهذا معناه أنه يحكم على الله بأنه صالح وهذا بطبيعة الحال لا يجوز، لذلك قال عليه السلام ولا يزكي على الله أحدا، أي لا يحكم على الله بان فلان عنده مزكّى وطاهر وصالح ونظيف وغير ذلك من المعاني وإنما يمسك عن المد ولا يمدح مطلقاً.
لكن إن كان في وضع يشعر بأن هذا الإنسان في الواقع صالح لكن هو حكمه عليه بالصلاح إنما فيما بدا له فهو ما شق عن صدره ولا كشف عما في فؤاده وإنما حكم فيما ظهر له من عمله، فإذن بناءً على هذا الظاهر يقول أظنه كذا وكذا أحسبه كذا وكذا ولا يزكي على الله أحدا.
هذا الأدب يجب أن نرعاه اليوم ولو قيل ما يقال في مثل هذا الأدب في هذه الشدة وهذه مثلا ما فيها مرونة ما فيها نواحي من الليونة، فالإسلام ينظر إلى عواقب الأمور ، صحيح أن الإنسان إذا كان أثنى على غيره ربما رضي هذا الغير عليه ولكن ما فائدة رضاه إذا كان مدحه إياه أودى به وبصاحبه للنار، لذلك فليكن حرصنا ودأبنا دائما وأبدا على مرضاة الله عز وجل ولو أن ذلك أودى بنا إلى غير مرضاة غير الله عز وجل .
إذن الرسول عليه السلام يقول لمن كان لا بد يريد أن يمدح : إن كان أحدكم مادحا لا محالة فليقل: أحسب كذا وكذا - إن كان يرى أنه كذلك - ينبغي أن نلاحظ هذه الجملة إن كان يرى أنه كذلك يعني ما يجوز أن يقول عن الفاسق صالح وهو عندنا فاسق ، لكن إن كنا نظن إنساناً بأنه صالح نقول نظن أنه صالح، أما الفاسق فلا يجوز أبدا مدحه ولذلك قال الرسول عليه الصلاة والسلام في الحديث الصحيح : إذا قلتم للمنافق سيدنا فقد أغضبتم الرب تبارك وتعالى إذا قلتم للمنافق سيد يعني رئيسنا ومحترمنا ومعظّمنا فقد أغضبتم الله تبارك وتعالى فهذا المدح أن نقول بعبارة التشكك والتردد أحسبه كذا محله فيمن نراه كذلك فيمن نراه أن يُمدح، أما إن كنا لا نراه كذلك فلا يجوز أن نمدحه إطلاقاً لأننا إذا قلنا أحسبه كذا وكذا والواقع أننا لا نظنه كذا وكذا فقد كذبنا على أنفسنا وكذبنا على غيرنا، لذلك ففي هذا الحديث في الواقع أدب كبير ما أجدرنا اليوم أن نتأدب به في مجتمعنا هذا الذي كاد يصبح مجتمعا غير إسلامي. If one of you must praise, let him say: "I think he is such and such" - if he sees that he is so - and Allah will hold him accountable, and let him not certify anyone as righteous before Allah. In this hadith is one of the Islamic etiquettes that the majority of Muslims today have abandoned, and not only that, but they have turned it upside down. That is because in this hadith, it is not permissible for a Muslim to praise his Muslim brother in his face, out of fear that he will be led astray by this praise. As for criticism, it is clear that we are harmed, meaning we try to make ourselves weak and humble by praising them, even if falsely, whereas legally it is not permissible to praise a Muslim for his Muslim brother, even if it is the truth. If one must praise him, he should not be definitive in his praise of him, but rather soften the impact of the praise on his companion by expressing doubt in his wording, saying: "I think he is such and such." For example, it is not correct to say to a person we think is righteous: "By Allah, you are a righteous man, by Allah you are a good man, by Allah there is nothing wrong with you," and similar phrases that the masses of people today use, while they think they are doing a good deed. The Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) says in this hadith to the one who praised his companion: "Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your companion," meaning you have destroyed him and done to him spiritually what a knife or sword does physically. The sword cuts the neck of his opponent, so his praise of his companion does to him what his sword does to his opponent. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your companion." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not suffice with saying this word once, but he repeated it over and over: he was saying: "Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your companion." In a narration, it is: "Woe to you, sit down, you have cut off the neck of your brother. Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your brother," and he repeated it three times. Then, as if the Messenger (peace be upon him) qualified this absolute statement, because if he (peace and blessings be upon him) had stopped at this phrase: "Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your brother," then praise would not be permissible at all. But he softened it for his Ummah by saying: "If one of you must praise, let him say: I think he is such and such, and by Allah, He will hold him accountable, and let him not certify anyone as righteous before Allah." That is, he should not be definitive in certifying a person as righteous, because the ruling does not differ in wording whether the person mentioned is male or female; the wording came absolute. "So-and-so is righteous," as if it was revealed to him from the Preserved Tablet, so he is definitive that he is righteous. This means that he is judging Allah that he is righteous, and this is naturally not permissible. Therefore, he (peace be upon him) said: "And let him not certify anyone as righteous before Allah," meaning he should not judge that Allah has certified so-and-so as pure, righteous, clean, and other such meanings. Rather, he should hold back from praise and not praise absolutely. But if he is in a situation where he feels that this person is actually righteous, but his judgment of his righteousness is only based on what appears to him, he has not split his chest open or revealed what is in his heart, but he has judged based on what appeared to him of his actions. So, based on this appearance, he says: "I think he is such and such, I believe he is such and such, and let him not certify anyone as righteous before Allah." This etiquette must be observed by us today, even if what is said about this etiquette in this strictness is mentioned, and this has no flexibility, no aspects of leniency. Islam looks at the consequences of things. It is true that if a person praises another, that other person may be pleased with him, but what is the benefit of his pleasure if his praise of him leads him and his companion to the Fire? Therefore, let our eagerness and constant effort always be for the pleasure of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even if that leads us to the displeasure of other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So the Messenger (peace be upon him) says to the one who must want to praise: "If one of you must praise, let him say: I think he is such and such - if he sees that he is so." We should note this phrase: "if he sees that he is so," meaning it is not permissible to say about the open sinner that he is righteous, while he is an open sinner with us. But if we think a person is righteous, we say we think he is righteous. As for the open sinner, it is absolutely not permissible to praise him. Therefore, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith: "If you say to the hypocrite 'our master,' you have angered the Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He)." If you say to the hypocrite "master," meaning our leader, our respected one, our honored one, you have angered Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this praise, where we say with a phrase of doubt and hesitation "I think he is such," its place is with the one we see as such, the one we see as deserving of praise. But if we do not see him as such, it is not permissible to praise him at all, because if we say "I think he is such and such" and the reality is that we do not think he is such and such, then we have lied to ourselves and lied to others. Therefore, in this hadith is actually a great etiquette that we should observe today in our society, which has almost become a non-Islamic society.