Explanation of the athar of Umm al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with her): (That we are accused of what is not in us, so long as we have been praised for what is not in us).

The Shaykh : As for the second, its chain of narration is hasan, and it is an athar from the athars that stop at some of the Companions, specifically Umm al-Darda'. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it with his hasan chain from Umm al-Darda': "That a man came to her and said, 'I am a man who has spoken ill of you in the presence of 'Abd al-Malik.' She said, 'Listen, O women, look at the character of the righteous Salaf among the women. From Umm al-Darda': "That a man came to her and said, 'A man has spoken ill of you in the presence of 'Abd al-Malik.' She said, 'If we are accused of what is not in us, so long as we have been praised for what is not in us.'"

The questioner: What do you mean?

The Shaykh : It is a great matter. "A man came to Umm al-Darda' and said to her, 'A man has spoken ill of you in the presence of 'Abd al-Malik.'" "Spoken ill of you" means he slandered you. And in whose presence? Not in the presence of just any man, but in the presence of the king, the ruler of that time, who was 'Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan al-Umawi. So a man conveyed to this lady, Umm al-Darda', this slander that so-and-so had spoken ill of her in the presence of the king. Not a hair on her body trembled; rather, on the contrary, she received this slander with complete composure, deliberation, and correct Islamic character. She said, "If we are accused," meaning if we are slandered, "and criticized for what is not in us, we have been praised for what is not in us." It is as if it were words from the inspiration of the heavens. The Messenger (peace be upon him) said in that authentic hadith in al-Bukhari: Meaning, among the Children of Israel there were many inspired prophets, but in this Ummah they are few. That is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) made this Ummah rich with the revelation He sent down to the heart of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), making his message the final of messages and his religion the final of religions. So there remained no great need for there to be inspired prophets in this Ummah as was the case with the nations before you. Therefore, the inspired prophets in this Ummah are few, and if there is one among them, it is 'Umar. And indeed, it is established in more than one incident that 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) would speak and revelation would descend in accordance with his speech; he would propose something and revelation would come in accordance with his proposal. So this hadith: contains an indication of the scarcity of inspired prophets in this Ummah. I see it as if this Umm al-Darda' was one of these inspired prophets when she answered that man who conveyed the slanderer's attack on her by saying: "So long as we have been praised for what is not in us, if we are attacked for what is not in us, there is no surprise in that; this is the counterpart of that." "If we are accused" means if we are slandered for what is not in us, we have been praised much for what is not in us. So if someone praises us for what is not in us, does anything move in us, any anger or rage, even though the speech is false?