٣٦٠ - باب كراهة المدح في الوجه لمن خيف عليه مفسدة من إعجاب ونحوه، وجوازه لمن أمن ذلك في حقه

Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet ﷺ heard a man praising another man and extolling him to excess, so he said: "You have destroyed — or you have broken — the man's back." Agreed upon. Al-iṭrāʾ means going to excess in praise.

Abū Bakra (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man was mentioned in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, and another man praised him with good words. So the Prophet ﷺ said: "Woe to you! You have cut off your companion's neck" — repeating it several times — "If one of you must praise another, let him say: I reckon so-and-so to be such, if he truly sees him to be so; and his reckoner is Allah, and none is to be declared pure before Allah." Agreed upon.

Hammām ibn al-Ḥārith reported from al-Miqdād (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man began praising ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him), so al-Miqdād set about it, knelt on his knees, and began throwing pebbles into the man's face. ʿUthmān said to him: What is the matter with you? He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you see those who heap praise, throw dust in their faces." Narrated by Muslim. These hadiths concern the prohibition, while many sound (ṣaḥīḥ) hadiths have come regarding permissibility. The scholars said: The way to reconcile the hadiths is to say: if the one praised possesses perfect faith and certainty, a disciplined soul, and complete awareness, such that he is not tempted, nor deceived by it, nor does his soul toy with him, then it is neither forbidden nor disliked. But if something of these matters is feared for him, praising him to his face is severely disliked; and it is upon this distinction that the differing hadiths on the subject are to be applied. Among what has come regarding permissibility is his ﷺ saying to Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him): "I hope you will be among them" — that is, among those who will be called from all the gates of Paradise to enter it. And in another hadith: "You are not among them" — that is, you are not among those who let their lower garments trail in arrogance. And he ﷺ said to ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him): "Satan has never seen you travelling a path but that he took a path other than yours." The hadiths on permissibility are many, and I have mentioned a number of their highlights in the book al-Adhkār.