Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-86a
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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.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted, in the context of the hadiths, in "the chapter on the prohibition of showing off in worship
from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father):Riyad as-Salihin 1618. Al-Bukhari narrated it. "
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted in his book Riyad al-Salihin from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father)
This is because they spoke and then lied, betrayed, and did not give sincere advice. It is obligatory for anyone who enters upon the rulers, whether princes, ministers, heads, or kings, that he must speak the truth about matters and clarify the reality to them, whether the people are upright or deviant, on truth or falsehood. It is not permissible for any person to enter upon a prince or a king or the like and then say, "The people are well, their conditions are upright, the people have filled the mosques, the people worship Allah, the people's economy is good, the people's security is good," and the like, while he is lying. This is forbidden; it is deception of the rulers and deception of the entire community. For the ruler is not the sun that enters every place; rather, the sun does not enter every place—closed stones do not let the sun in. The knowledge of the rulers is limited, their hearing is limited, their sight is limited, their understanding is limited, and their minds are limited, like other human beings. They cannot know all the conditions of the people. So if such a deceiver, treacherous, and traitor comes and tells them that everything is good, peaceful, secure, and full of worship, and the like, he harms them. They assume that things are as he says and do not move to fix what is broken, because it is said to him that everything is fine. The obligation is frankness. A wound cannot be healed except by cutting it open; after you cut it and the blood and the impurity come out, then you treat it. But to smooth it over while it is disheveled, this is not permissible. For this is what Ibn 'Umar said: and truthfully, this is from hypocrisy: they spoke and lied, betrayed, and were not trustworthy. The obligation is clarification. As for hypocrisy and flattery, these are not permissible. Therefore, it is obligatory for every person who comes to a person in charge, even if he is only in charge of ten students—let us leave aside one in charge of an entire community—it is obligatory that he inform him of the reality. He should not say, "By Allah, all the students are well, all of them are eager, all of them are of one mind, and all of them are well-mannered." No, the obligation is to convey the truth and specify each one individually if the situation requires it. Mentioning a defect to remove the defect is for safety and support, and it is not backbitting in any way.
This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) meaning, from where would he spend on you? He has no wealth. Is this praise or blame? It is blame. Sahih Muslim 1480a But how did the Messenger backbite them? He backbit them for the sake of advice and guidance. So if you come, for example, to any person who has people under him and is their guardian, and you say to him, "So-and-so has such and such," and you are truthful, and there is no enmity or quarreling between you and him, then you are on the right path and rewarded, and you are a sincere advisor. Matters cannot be set right except by giving him a clear picture of them. As for concealment, this is not permissible.
Likewise, in the school, the principal of the school or the dean of the college must, if we see a student who is deviant in his morals or behavior, or if we see negligence by the rulers, that we must first advise him. Otherwise, we must report his matter so that he improves his condition. Because such a person is a germ, a corrupt germ that corrupts all the students or those over whom he has authority. And he is not left in this state where his only concern is corruption in creation, religion, behavior, or methodology, because this is what sincere advice is.
Likewise, when we come to the governor of a town and we see wrongs in the town, we see oppression, we see negligence by the other officials, it is not permissible to give the governor an image that everything is complete. We must clarify and explain. Yes, if it is possible to fix matters before reporting them to the governor, that is good and fine. But if we know that the matter is not being fixed and that if we went to the official under the governor, he would say, "May Allah make it easy, be happy, everything will be facilitated," but he is stalling, then it is necessary to inform the one above him so that he does what is necessary. So the result, may Allah reward you, is that sincere advice and clarifying matters as they are are necessary. As for meeting a person with a face and then turning away from him with a different face, this is forbidden and is from hypocrisy.
And from that is also a matter lesser than this: a person comes and says, "What Allah has willed, you are a good man, a beloved, and a generous one." He praises him with his tongue and fills the air, but his heart is full of hatred. But he wants to take what he has, because some people are wicked and take what he has. The man with the sound heart may lead to this with something if he thinks he is a sincere advisor. Then when he turns away, and may Allah protect us, he measures him with a reversed measure, speaks ill of his honor, curses him, and says, "This one is negligent, this one is in what..." So the believer must fear his Lord and avoid flattery, lying, and deception, and be frank so that Allah may rectify things through his hands. And success is from Allah.
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.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted, in the context of the hadiths, in "the chapter on the prohibition of showing off in worship
from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father):
Some people told me, "We visit our rulers and we tell them things contrary to those which we say when we depart from them." `Abdullah bin `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) replied: "In the era of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we considered this to be an act of hypocrisy."
أن نَاسًا قَالُوا لَهُ: إنَّا نَدْخُلُ عَلَى سَلاَطِيننَا فَنَقُولُ لَهُمْ بِخِلاَفِ مَا نَتَكَلَّمُ إِذَا خَرَجْنَا مِنْ عِندِهِم ْقَالَ ابنُ عُمَرَ رضي الله عنهما: كُنَّا نَعُدُّ هَذَا نِفاقًا عَلَى عَهْدِ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلمThe Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted in his book Riyad al-Salihin from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father)
That some people came to him and said, "We enter upon our rulers and say to them one thing, but when we leave them, we say the opposite." He said, "We considered that to be hypocrisy in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)."
أن أناسا جاءوا إليه وقالوا إنا ندخل على سلاطيننا فنقول لهم قولا ولكن إذا خرجنا منهم قلنا بخلافه فقال كنا نعد ذلك نفاقا على عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلمThis is because they spoke and then lied, betrayed, and did not give sincere advice. It is obligatory for anyone who enters upon the rulers, whether princes, ministers, heads, or kings, that he must speak the truth about matters and clarify the reality to them, whether the people are upright or deviant, on truth or falsehood. It is not permissible for any person to enter upon a prince or a king or the like and then say, "The people are well, their conditions are upright, the people have filled the mosques, the people worship Allah, the people's economy is good, the people's security is good," and the like, while he is lying. This is forbidden; it is deception of the rulers and deception of the entire community. For the ruler is not the sun that enters every place; rather, the sun does not enter every place—closed stones do not let the sun in. The knowledge of the rulers is limited, their hearing is limited, their sight is limited, their understanding is limited, and their minds are limited, like other human beings. They cannot know all the conditions of the people. So if such a deceiver, treacherous, and traitor comes and tells them that everything is good, peaceful, secure, and full of worship, and the like, he harms them. They assume that things are as he says and do not move to fix what is broken, because it is said to him that everything is fine. The obligation is frankness. A wound cannot be healed except by cutting it open; after you cut it and the blood and the impurity come out, then you treat it. But to smooth it over while it is disheveled, this is not permissible. For this is what Ibn 'Umar said:
This is from hypocrisy.
هذا من النفاقThis is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
A woman, Fatimah bint Qays, came to him and said, "O Messenger of Allah, three men have proposed to me: Usamah ibn Zayd, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, and Abu Jahm." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her, "As for Mu'awiyah, he is a pauper with no wealth."
جاءته امرأة فاطمة بنت قيس قالت يا رسول الله خطبني ثلاثة أسامة بن زيد ومعاوية بن أبي سفيان وأبو جهم قال لها النبي عليه الصلاة السلام أما معاوية فصعلوك لا مال لهAnd as for Abu Jahm, he is a beater of women.
وأما أبو جهم فضراب للنساءmarry Usama b. Zaid
انكحي أسامة بن زيدLikewise, in the school, the principal of the school or the dean of the college must, if we see a student who is deviant in his morals or behavior, or if we see negligence by the rulers, that we must first advise him. Otherwise, we must report his matter so that he improves his condition. Because such a person is a germ, a corrupt germ that corrupts all the students or those over whom he has authority. And he is not left in this state where his only concern is corruption in creation, religion, behavior, or methodology, because this is what sincere advice is.
Likewise, when we come to the governor of a town and we see wrongs in the town, we see oppression, we see negligence by the other officials, it is not permissible to give the governor an image that everything is complete. We must clarify and explain. Yes, if it is possible to fix matters before reporting them to the governor, that is good and fine. But if we know that the matter is not being fixed and that if we went to the official under the governor, he would say, "May Allah make it easy, be happy, everything will be facilitated," but he is stalling, then it is necessary to inform the one above him so that he does what is necessary. So the result, may Allah reward you, is that sincere advice and clarifying matters as they are are necessary. As for meeting a person with a face and then turning away from him with a different face, this is forbidden and is from hypocrisy.
And from that is also a matter lesser than this: a person comes and says, "What Allah has willed, you are a good man, a beloved, and a generous one." He praises him with his tongue and fills the air, but his heart is full of hatred. But he wants to take what he has, because some people are wicked and take what he has. The man with the sound heart may lead to this with something if he thinks he is a sincere advisor. Then when he turns away, and may Allah protect us, he measures him with a reversed measure, speaks ill of his honor, curses him, and says, "This one is negligent, this one is in what..." So the believer must fear his Lord and avoid flattery, lying, and deception, and be frank so that Allah may rectify things through his hands. And success is from Allah.