Allah, the Exalted, has said:
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī٧٤ - باب الحلم والأناة والرفق
٧٤ - باب الحلم والأناة والرفق
Who spend [in the cause of Allāh] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allāh loves the doers of good;
And He, the Exalted, has said:
خُذِ ٱلْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ ٱلْجَـٰهِلِينَ
Take what is given freely,1 enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant.
وقال تَعَالَى:
And He, the Exalted, has said:
وَلَا تَسْتَوِى ٱلْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا ٱلسَّيِّئَةُ ۚ ٱدْفَعْ بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا ٱلَّذِى بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُۥ عَدَٰوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُۥ وَلِىٌّ حَمِيمٌ
And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon, the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.
وقال تَعَالَى:
And He, the Exalted, has said:
وَلَمَن صَبَرَ وَغَفَرَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمِنْ عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُورِ
And whoever is patient and forgives - indeed, that is of the matters [worthy] of resolve.1
[الشورى: ٤٣].
[al-Shūrā: 43].
وعن ابن عباس ﵄، قَالَ: قَالَ رسولُ الله - ﷺ - لأَشَجِّ عَبْدِ القَيْسِ: «إنَّ فيكَ خَصْلَتَيْنِ يُحِبُّهُمَا اللهُ: الْحِلْمُ وَالأنَاةُ». رواه مسلم.
Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to al-Ashajj ʿAbd al-Qays: "You have two qualities that Allah loves: forbearance and deliberateness." Narrated by Muslim.
وعن عائشة ﵂، قالت: قَالَ رسول الله - ﷺ: «إنَّ اللهَ رفيقٌ يُحِبُّ الرِّفْقَ فِي الأَمْرِ كُلِّه». متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed Allah is gentle and loves gentleness in all matters." Agreed upon.
وعنها: أنَّ النبيَّ - ﷺ - قَالَ: «إنَّ اللهَ رَفِيقٌ يُحِبُّ الرِّفقَ، وَيُعْطي عَلَى الرِّفق، مَا لاَ يُعْطِي عَلَى العُنْفِ، وَمَا لاَ يُعْطِي عَلَى مَا سِوَاهُ». رواه مسلم.
And from her: that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Indeed Allah is gentle and loves gentleness, and He grants for gentleness what He does not grant for harshness, and what He does not grant for anything else." Narrated by Muslim.
وعنها: أنَّ النبيَّ - ﷺ - قَالَ: «إنَّ الرِّفْقَ لاَ يَكُونُ في شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ زَانَهُ، وَلاَ يُنْزَعُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلاَّ شَانَهُ». رواه مسلم.
And from her: that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Gentleness is not present in anything but that it adorns it, and it is not removed from anything but that it disgraces it." Narrated by Muslim.
وعن أَبي هريرة - ﵁ - قَالَ: بَال أعْرَابيٌّ في المسجدِ، فَقَامَ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهِ لِيَقَعُوا فِيهِ، فَقَالَ النبيُّ - ﷺ: «دَعُوهُ وَأَرِيقُوا عَلَى بَوْلِهِ سَجْلًا مِنْ مَاءٍ، أَوْ ذَنُوبًا مِنْ مَاءٍ، فَإنَّمَا بُعِثْتُمْ مُيَسِّرِينَ وَلَم تُبْعَثُوا مُعَسِّرِينَ». رواه البخاري. «السَّجْلُ» بفتح السين المهملة وإسكان الجيم: وَهِيَ الدَّلو الْمُمْتَلِئَةُ مَاءً، وَكَذلِكَ الذَّنُوبُ.
Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A bedouin urinated in the mosque, and the people rose up against him to set upon him. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Leave him, and pour over his urine a bucketful of water, or a pailful of water, for you were only sent to make things easy and you were not sent to make things hard." Narrated by al-Bukhārī. "Al-sajl" — with a fatḥah on the unpointed sīn and a sukūn on the jīm — is the bucket filled with water, and likewise al-dhanūb.
وعن أنس - ﵁ - عن النبيِّ - ﷺ - قَالَ: «يَسِّرُوا وَلاَ تُعَسِّرُوا، وَبَشِّرُوا وَلاَ تُنَفِّرُوا». متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "Make things easy and do not make things hard, and give glad tidings and do not drive people away." Agreed upon.
وعن جريرِ بنِ عبدِ اللهِ - ﵁ - قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رسولَ اللهِ - ﷺ - يقولُ: «مَنْ يُحْرَمِ الرِفْقَ، يُحْرَمِ الخَيْرَ كلَّهُ». رواه مسلم.
Jarīr ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "Whoever is deprived of gentleness is deprived of all good." Narrated by Muslim.
وعن أَبي هريرة - ﵁: أنَّ رَجُلًا قَالَ للنبيِّ - ﷺ: أوْصِني. قَالَ: «لاَ تَغْضَبْ»، فَرَدَّدَ مِرَارًا، قَالَ: «لاَ تَغْضَبْ». رواه البخاري.
On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): A man said to the Prophet ﷺ, "Advise me." He said, "Do not become angry." The man repeated his request several times, and each time he said, "Do not become angry." Narrated by al-Bukhārī.
وعن أَبي يعلى شَدَّاد بن أوسٍ - ﵁ - عن رسول الله - ﷺ - قَالَ: «إنَّ الله كَتَبَ الإحْسَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَإذَا قَتَلْتُم فَأحْسِنُوا القِتْلَة، وَإِذَا ذَبَحْتُمْ فَأحْسِنُوا الذِّبْحَةَ، وَليُحِدَّ أَحَدُكُمْ شَفْرَتَه، وَلْيُرِح ذَبِيحَتَهُ». رواه مسلم.
On the authority of Abū Yaʿlā Shaddād ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: "Allah has prescribed excellence (iḥsān) in all things. So when you kill, kill well; and when you slaughter, slaughter well. Let one of you sharpen his blade and put the animal he slaughters at ease." Narrated by Muslim.
وعن عائشة ﵂، قالت: مَا خُيِّرَ رسول الله - ﷺ - بَيْنَ أمْرَيْنِ قَطُّ إِلاَّ أَخَذَ أيْسَرَهُمَا، مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ إثمًا، فَإنْ كَانَ إثمًا، كَانَ أبْعَدَ النَّاسِ مِنْهُ. وَمَا انْتَقَمَ رسول الله - ﷺ - لِنَفْسِهِ في شَيْءٍ قَطُّ، إِلاَّ أن تُنْتَهَكَ حُرْمَةُ الله، فَيَنْتَقِمَ للهِ تَعَالَى. متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
On the authority of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was never given a choice between two matters but that he chose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful; for if it was sinful, he would be the furthest of people from it. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never sought revenge for his own sake over anything, unless the sanctity of Allah was violated, in which case he would take retribution for the sake of Allah, Most High. Agreed upon.
وعن ابن مسعود - ﵁ - قَالَ: قَالَ رسول الله - ﷺ: «ألاَ أخْبِرُكُمْ بِمَنْ يَحْرُمُ عَلَى النَّار؟ أَوْ بِمَنْ تَحْرُمُ عَلَيْهِ النَّار؟ تَحْرُمُ عَلَى كُلِّ قَرِيبٍ، هَيّنٍ، لَيِّنٍ، سَهْلٍ». رواه الترمذي، وقال: «حديث حسن».
On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Shall I not tell you who will be forbidden to the Fire — or to whom the Fire will be forbidden? It is forbidden to everyone who is approachable, easy-natured, gentle, and easy-going." Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: "A good (ḥasan) hadith."