Allah, the Exalted, said:
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī٧٥ - باب العفو والإعراض عن الجاهلين
٧٥ - باب العفو والإعراض عن الجاهلين
Take what is given freely,1 enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant.
And He, the Exalted, said:
وَمَا خَلَقْنَا ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَآ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ ۗ وَإِنَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ لَـَٔاتِيَةٌ ۖ فَٱصْفَحِ ٱلصَّفْحَ ٱلْجَمِيلَ
And We have not created the heavens and earth and that between them except in truth. And indeed, the Hour is coming; so forgive with gracious forgiveness.
وقال تَعَالَى:
And He, the Exalted, said:
وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَٱلسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُوٓا۟ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينَ وَٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَلْيَعْفُوا۟ وَلْيَصْفَحُوٓا۟ ۗ أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy and the emigrants for the cause of Allāh, and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allāh should forgive you? And Allāh is Forgiving and Merciful.
وقال تَعَالَى:
And He, the Exalted, said:
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَـٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
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;
وقال تَعَالَى:
And He, the Exalted, 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
والآيات في الباب كثيرة معلومة.
The verses on this chapter are many and well-known.
وعن عائشة ﵂: أنها قالت للنبي - ﷺ: هَلْ أتَى عَلَيْكَ يَوْمٌ كَانَ أشَدَّ مِنْ يَوْمِ أُحُدٍ؟ قَالَ: «لَقَدْ لَقِيتُ مِنْ قَوْمِكِ، وَكَانَ أشَدُّ مَا لَقيتُ مِنْهُمْ يَوْمَ الْعَقَبَةِ، إذْ عَرَضْتُ نَفْسِي عَلَى ابْنِ عَبْدِ يَالِيْلَ بْنِ عَبْدِ كُلاَلٍ، فَلَمْ يُجِبْني إِلَى مَا أرَدْتُ، فَانْطَلَقْتُ وَأنا مَهْمُومٌ عَلَى وَجْهِي، فَلَمْ أسْتَفِقْ إِلاَّ وأنَا بِقَرْنِ الثَّعَالِبِ ، فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي، وَإِذَا أنَا بِسَحَابَةٍ قَدْ أظَلَّتْنِي، فَنَظَرْتُ فَإذَا فِيهَا جِبريلُ - ﵇ - فَنَادَاني، فَقَالَ: إنَّ الله تَعَالَى قَدْ سَمِعَ قَوْلَ قَوْمِكَ لَكَ، وَمَا رَدُّوا عَلَيْكَ، وَقَد بَعَثَ إلَيْكَ مَلَكَ الجِبَالِ لِتَأْمُرَهُ بمَا شِئْتَ فِيهِمْ. فَنَادَانِي مَلَكُ الجِبَالِ، فَسَلَّمَ عَلَيَّ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ إنَّ اللهَ قَدْ سَمِع قَوْلَ قَوْمِكَ لَكَ، وَأنا مَلَكُ الجِبال، وَقَدْ بَعَثَنِي رَبِّي إلَيْكَ لِتَأْمُرَنِي بِأَمْرِكَ، فَمَا شِئْتَ، إنْ شئْتَ أطْبَقْتُ عَلَيْهِمُ الأَخْشَبَيْنِ». فَقَالَ النبي - ﷺ: «بَلْ أرْجُو أَنْ يُخْرِجَ اللهُ مِنْ أصْلاَبِهِمْ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ اللهَ وَحْدَهُ لاَ يُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا». متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ. «الأخْشَبَان»: الجَبَلان المُحيطان بمكَّة. وَالأخشبُ: هُوَ الجبل الغليظ.
And it is narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Has there come upon you a day harder than the day of Uhud?” He said: “I have indeed suffered at the hands of your people, and the worst that I suffered from them was on the day of al-ʻAqabah, when I presented myself to Ibn ʻAbd Yālīl ibn ʻAbd Kulāl, but he did not respond to me as I had hoped. So I set off, distressed, not knowing where I was going, and I did not come to myself until I was at Qarn al-Thaʻālib. I raised my head, and there was a cloud that had shaded me; I looked, and there in it was Jibrīl (peace be upon him). He called out to me and said: ‘Allah, the Exalted, has heard what your people said to you and how they rejected you, and He has sent to you the angel of the mountains, that you may command him to do whatever you wish with them.’ Then the angel of the mountains called out to me, greeted me with peace, and then said: ‘O Muhammad, Allah has heard what your people said to you, and I am the angel of the mountains; my Lord has sent me to you that you may command me as you wish. So whatever you wish: if you wish, I will crush them between the two mountains.’” Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Rather, I hope that Allah will bring forth from their loins those who worship Allah alone, associating nothing with Him.” Agreed upon. “Al-Akhshabān”: the two mountains surrounding Mecca; and al-akhshab is the rugged mountain.
وعنها، قالت: مَا ضَرَبَ رسولُ الله - ﷺ - شَيْئًا قَطُّ بِيَدِهِ، وَلاَ امْرَأةً وَلاَ خَادِمًا، إِلاَّ أَنْ يُجَاهِدَ فِي سَبيلِ اللهِ، وَمَا نِيلَ مِنْهُ شَيْءٌ قَطُّ فَيَنْتَقِمَ مِنْ صَاحِبِهِ، إِلاَّ أن يُنْتَهَكَ شَيْءٌ مِنْ مَحَارِمِ اللهِ تَعَالَى، فَيَنْتَقِمُ للهِ تَعَالَى. رواه مسلم.
And it is narrated from her that she said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) never struck anything at all with his hand—neither a woman nor a servant—except when fighting in the cause of Allah; and never was any wrong done to him for which he took revenge on the one who did it, unless one of the sacred limits of Allah, the Exalted, was violated, in which case he would take retribution for the sake of Allah, the Exalted. Narrated by Muslim.
وعن أنس - ﵁ - قَالَ: كُنْتُ أمشي مَعَ رسول الله - ﷺ - وَعَلَيْهِ بُرْدٌ نَجْرَانيٌّ غَلِيظُ الحَاشِيَةِ، فأدْرَكَهُ أعْرَابِيٌّ فَجَبذَهُ بِرِدَائِهِ جَبْذَةً شَديدةً، فَنَظَرْتُ إِلَى صَفْحَةِ عَاتِقِ النَّبيِّ - ﷺ - وَقَدْ أثَّرَتْ بِهَا حَاشِيَةُ الرِّدَاءِ مِنْ شِدَّةِ جَبْذَتِهِ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ، مُر لِي مِنْ مَالِ اللهِ الَّذِي عِنْدَكَ. فَالتَفَتَ إِلَيْهِ، فَضَحِكَ ثُمَّ أَمَرَ لَهُ بِعَطَاءٍ. متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
And it is narrated from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he was wearing a Najrānī cloak with a coarse border. A bedouin caught up with him and tugged him by his cloak with a violent pull, so that I looked at the side of the Prophet’s shoulder (peace and blessings be upon him), and the border of the cloak had left a mark on it from the force of his tug. Then he said: “O Muhammad, order that I be given some of the wealth of Allah that you have.” He turned to him and laughed, then ordered that he be given a gift. Agreed upon.
وعن ابن مسعود - ﵁ - قَالَ: كأني أنظر إِلَى رسول الله - ﷺ - يَحْكِي نَبِيًّا مِنَ الأنبياءِ، صَلَوَاتُ اللهِ وَسَلامُه عَلَيْهِمْ، ضَرَبَهُ قَوْمُهُ فَأدْمَوْهُ، وَهُوَ يَمْسَحُ الدَّمَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ، ويقول: «اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِقَوْمِي؛ فَإنَّهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ». متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
And it is narrated from Ibn Masʻūd (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: It is as though I am looking at the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) relating the story of one of the prophets—may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them—whose people struck him and made him bleed, while he wiped the blood from his face and said: “O Allah, forgive my people, for indeed they do not know.” Agreed upon.
وعن أَبي هريرة - ﵁: أنَّ رسول الله - ﷺ - قَالَ: «لَيْسَ الشَّديدُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إنَّمَا الشَّدِيدُ الَّذِي يَمْلِكُ نَفْسَهُ عِنْدَ الْغَضَبِ». متفقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
And it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The strong man is not the good wrestler; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when angry.” Agreed upon.