Riyāḍ uṣ-Ṣāliḥīn · Chapter 75 of 372
Forgiveness of the Ignorant
The Book of Miscellany – Chapter 75 : Ahadith 643 – 647
Imam Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf an-Nawawi (d. 676 AH)
🎧 Listen to all hadiths in Arabic Ch 75 H 643 – 647
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Allah, the Exalted says:
خُذِ ٱلۡعَفۡوَ وَأۡمُرۡ بِٱلۡعُرۡفِ وَأَعۡرِضۡ عَنِ ٱلۡجَٰهِلِينَ
“Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish (i.e., don’t punish them).”
[Al-A‘rāf 7:199]
فَٱصۡفَحِ ٱلصَّفۡحَ ٱلۡجَمِيلَ
“So overlook (O Muhammad ﷺ), their faults with gracious forgiveness.”
[Al-Ḥijr 15:85]
وَلۡيَعۡفُواْ وَلۡيَصۡفَحُوٓاْۗ أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغۡفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمۡ
“Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?”
[An-Nūr 24:22]
وَٱلۡكَٰظِمِينَ ٱلۡغَيۡظَ وَٱلۡعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ
“And who pardon men; verily, Allah loves Al-Muhsinun (the good-doers)”
[Āl ‘Imrān 3:134]
وَلَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنۡ عَزۡمِ ٱلۡأُمُورِ
“And verily, whosoever shows patience and forgives, that would truly be from the things recommended by Allah.”
[Ash-Shūrā 42:43]
643 `Aishah (radiyallahu anha) reported: I asked the Prophet ﷺ “Have you ever experienced a day harder than the day of the battle of Uhud?” He replied, “Indeed, I experienced them (dangers) at the hands of your people (i.e., the disbelievers from amongst the Quraish tribe). The hardest treatment I met from them was on the Day of `Aqabah when I went to Ibn `Abd Yalil bin `Abd Kulal (who was one of the chiefs of Ta’if) with the purpose of inviting him to Islam, but he made no response (to my call). So I departed with deep distress. I did not recover until I arrived at Qarn ath-Tha`alib. There, I raised my head and saw a cloud which had cast its shadow on me. I saw in it Jibril (Gabriel) ﷺ who called me and said: `Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, heard what your people said to you and the response they made to you. And He has sent you the angel in charge of the mountains to order him to do to them what you wish.’ Then the angel of the mountains called me, greeted me and said: `O Muhammad, Allah listened to what your people had said to you. I am the angel of the mountains, and my Rubb has sent me to you so that you may give me your orders. (I will carry out your orders). If you wish I will bring together the two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the extremities of Makkah to crush them in between.”’ But Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I rather hope that Allah will raise from among their descendants people as will worship Allah the One, and will not ascribe partners to Him (in worship).”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
644 `Aishah (radiyallahu anha) reported: Messenger of Allah ﷺ never hit anything with his hand neither a servant nor a woman but of course, he did fight in the Cause of Allah. He never took revenge upon anyone for the wrong done to him, but of course, he exacted retribution for the sake of Allah in case the Injunctions of Allah about unlawful acts were violated.[Muslim].
645 Anas (radiyallahu anhu) reported: I was walking with Messenger of Allah ﷺ who was wearing a Najrani cloak with a very thick border when a bedouin happened to meet him. He took hold of the side of his cloak and drew it violently. I noticed that the violence of jerk had bruised the neck of Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The bedouin said: “O Muhammad! Give me out of Allah’s wealth that you possess.” Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned to him and smiled and directed that he should be given something.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
646 Ibn Mas`ud (radiyallahu anhu) reported: I can see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ look like one of the Prophets of Allah whose people beat and made him bleed while he was wiping the blood from his face and supplicating: “O Allah, forgive my people because they know not.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
647 Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu anhu) reported: Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The strong man is not the one who wrestles, but the strong man is in fact the one who controls himself in a fit of rage.”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].