Chapter on the Prohibition of Boasting and Oppression: Allah the Exalted said: “So do not purify yourselves; He is most aware of those who fear Him.”

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter on the Prohibition of Boasting and Oppression
Allah the Exalted said:

So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him.

فلا تزكوا أنفسكم هو أعلم بمن اتقى

[An-Najm 53:32]

And He said:

The cause is only against the ones who wrong the people and tyrannize upon the earth without right. Those will have a painful punishment.

إنما السبيل على الذين يظلمون الناس ويبغون في الأرض بغير الحق أولئك لهم عذاب أليم

[Ash-Shuraa 42:42]

‘Iyad ibn Himar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Verily, Allah has revealed to me that you should adopt humility. So that no one may wrong another and no one may be disdainful and haughty towards another.

إن الله تعالى أوحى إلي أن تواضعوا حتى لا يبغي أحد على أحد ولا يفخر أحد على أحد

Riyad as-Salihin 1589

Muslim narrated it. ”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the Prohibition of Boasting and Oppression”
Boasting is when a person praises himself and takes pride in what Allah the Exalted has given him of blessing, whether the blessing of a child, the blessing of a child or wealth, or knowledge, or status, or physical strength, or the like. The important thing is that a person praises himself with what Allah has bestowed upon him, boasting and elevating himself above people.
As for speaking of Allah’s blessing in a way that displays Allah’s blessing upon the servant, accompanied by humility, there is nothing wrong with that, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: And due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): He said, “And no boasting,” meaning I do not boast with it, nor do I become arrogant and proud of myself. As for oppression, it is encroaching upon others; a person encroaches upon another, either on his wealth, or his body, or his family, or his status, or the like. There are many types of encroachment, but they are all summarized by the violation of the sanctity of his Muslim brother. This is also forbidden.
Then the author cited as evidence the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: So Allah, the Exalted, prohibited His servants from purifying themselves, meaning praising themselves in a way that boasts over creation. For example, he might say to his companion, “I am more knowledgeable than you,” “I am more obedient to Allah than you,” “I have more wealth than you,” or the like. We ask Allah for safety from this. It is purifying oneself and a type of boasting.
This does not contradict the saying of Allah the Exalted: Because the one who purifies it—yes, it does not contradict the saying of Allah the Exalted: This is because the purifying that is prohibited is when a person boasts, elevates himself, and becomes arrogant with what Allah the Exalted has given him of good, worship, and knowledge. As for “he has succeeded who purifies it,” the meaning is the one who follows the path of purification and avoids the path of ruin. For this reason, He said:
These ambiguous verses in the Qur’an are taken by the people of falsehood as an argument to deceive people. They say, “Look, the Qur’an sometimes says ‘do not purify yourselves’ and sometimes praises the one who purifies himself.” But these people, as Allah the Exalted described them, are those in whose hearts is deviation. We seek refuge in Allah, as Allah the Exalted said: Otherwise, it is impossible for the Qur’an to ever contain anything contradictory, as He said: As for the Qur’an, there is no difference in it.
Nafi’ ibn al-Azraq, the famous Khariji, presented to Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) many of the ambiguous verses that appear to contradict each other, and he (may Allah be pleased with him) answered them in multiple verses, which al-Suyuti mentioned in *Al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Qur’an*.
Then he cited as evidence for the prohibition of oppression the saying of Allah the Exalted: “The path” means the burden, blame, and censure. It is upon these people who wrong people in their wealth, or their honor, or their persons, or their families. These are the ones upon whom the path of blame and burden lies. And they commit oppression on the earth without right, meaning they encroach without right. Allah described oppression as “without right” because, in reality, no oppression is with right; all oppression is without right. So the qualifier here is not for exclusion, but to clarify the reality, which is that everything, everything of oppression, is without right. This occurs often in the Qur’an, where you find a qualifier that clarifies the reality and is not a qualifier that excludes what is other. For example, His saying: Here, there is not a Lord who did not create us and a Lord who created us, but it is to clarify the reality that the Lord is the one who created us and the one who provided for us. So the result is that Allah the Exalted clarified that the path of blame is upon those who wrong the people and commit oppression on the earth without right.
Then he mentioned the hadith of ‘Iyad ibn Himar that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: And success is from Allah.