Allah, exalted be He, said:
رياض الصالحينAbū Zakariyyā Muḥyī al-Dīn Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī٩١ - باب الوعظ والاقتصاد فيه
٩١ - باب الوعظ والاقتصاد فيه
Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good instruction, and argue with them in a way that is best. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is [rightly] guided.
- ﵁ - - ﷺ -
From Abu Wa'il Shaqiq ibn Salama, who said: Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to give us a reminder every Thursday. A man said to him: "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I would dearly love for you to remind us every day." He said: "What prevents me from that is that I dislike to weary you; I am careful in how I give you exhortation, just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to be careful with us in it, for fear of wearying us." Agreed upon. «Yatakhawwaluna» means: he attended to us.
وعن أَبي اليقظان عمار بن ياسر ﵄، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رسول الله - ﷺ - يقول: «إنَّ طُولَ صَلاَةِ الرَّجُلِ، وَقِصَرَ خُطْبَتِهِ، مَئِنَّةٌ مِنْ فِقههِ، فأطِيلُوا الصَّلاَةَ وَأقْصِرُوا الْخُطْبَةَ». رواه مسلم. «مَئِنَّةٌ» بميم مفتوحة ثُمَّ همزة مكسورة ثُمَّ نون مشددة، أيْ: عَلاَمَةٌ دَالَّةٌ عَلَى فِقْهِهِ.
From Abu al-Yaqzan 'Ammar ibn Yasir (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "Indeed, a man's lengthening of his prayer and shortening of his sermon is a sign of his understanding (fiqh); so make the prayer long and make the sermon short." Narrated by Muslim. «Ma'innah» — with a fatha on the mim, then a kasra on the hamza, then a doubled nun — means: a mark indicating his understanding.
وعن مُعاوِيَة بن الحكم السُّلَمي - ﵁ - قَالَ: بَيْنَا أنَا أُصَلّي مَعَ رسول الله - ﷺ - إذْ عَطَسَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ القَوْمِ، فَقُلْتُ: يَرْحَمُكَ اللهُ، فَرَمَانِي القَوْمُ بِأبْصَارِهِمْ! فَقُلْتُ: وَاثُكْلَ أُمِّيَاهُ، مَا شَأنُكُمْ تَنْظُرُونَ إلَيَّ؟! فَجَعَلُوا يَضْرِبُونَ بأيديهم عَلَى أفْخَاذِهِمْ! فَلَمَّا رَأيْتُهُمْ يُصَمِّتُونَنِي لكِنّي سَكَتُّ، فَلَمَّا صَلّى رسول الله - ﷺ - فَبِأبِي هُوَ وَأُمِّي، مَا رَأيْتُ مُعَلِّمًا قَبْلَهُ وَلاَ بَعْدَهُ أحْسَنَ تَعْلِيمًا مِنْهُ، فَوَاللهِ مَا كَهَرَني، وَلاَ ضَرَبَنِي، وَلاَ شَتَمَنِي. قَالَ: «إنَّ هذِهِ الصَّلاَةَ لاَ يَصْلُحُ فِيهَا شَيْءٌ مِنْ كَلامِ النَّاسِ، إنَّمَا هِيَ التَّسْبِيحُ وَالتَّكْبِيرُ، وَقِراءةُ القُرْآنِ»، أَوْ كَمَا قَالَ رسول الله - ﷺ. قلتُ: يَا رسول الله، إنّي حَدِيثُ عَهْدٍ بِجَاهِلِيَّةٍ، وَقَدْ جَاءَ اللهُ بِالإسْلاَمِ، وَإنَّ مِنّا رِجَالًا يَأتُونَ الْكُهّانَ؟ قَالَ: «فَلاَ تَأتِهِمْ» قُلْتُ: وَمِنّا رِجَالٌ يَتَطَيَّرُونَ؟ قَالَ: «ذَاكَ شَيْء يَجِدُونَهُ في صُدُورِهِمْ فَلاَ يَصُدَّنَّهُمْ». رواه مسلم. «الثُكْلُ» بضم الثاءِ المُثلثة: المُصيبَةُ وَالفَجِيعَةُ. «مَا كَهَرَنِي» أيْ: مَا نَهَرَنِي.
From Mu'awiya ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: While I was praying with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a man among the people sneezed, so I said: "May Allah have mercy on you." The people shot glances at me! I said: "May my mother be bereaved of me, what is the matter with you that you stare at me?!" They began striking their hands on their thighs! When I saw them silencing me, I fell silent. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished praying — may my father and mother be his ransom — I have never seen a teacher before him or after him finer in teaching than he. By Allah, he did not scold me, nor strike me, nor revile me. He said: "This prayer — nothing of people's speech is fitting in it; it is only glorification, magnification, and the recitation of the Qur'an," or as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am one recently come from the age of ignorance (jahiliyya), and Allah has now brought Islam; yet there are men among us who go to soothsayers?" He said: "Do not go to them." I said: "And there are men among us who draw evil omens?" He said: "That is something they find in their breasts, but let it not turn them back." Narrated by Muslim. «Al-thukl» — with a damma on the three-dotted tha — means: calamity and grievous misfortune. «Ma kaharani» means: he did not rebuke me.
وعن العِرْباض بن ساريَةَ - ﵁ - قَالَ: وَعَظَنَا رسول الله - ﷺ - مَوْعِظَةً وَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا القُلُوبُ، وَذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا العُيُونُ ... وَذَكَرَ الحَدِيثَ وَقَدْ سَبَقَ بِكَمَالِهِ في باب الأمْر بِالمُحَافَظَةِ عَلَى السُّنَّة، وَذَكَرْنَا أنَّ التَّرْمِذِيَّ، قَالَ: «إنّه حديث حسن صحيح».
From al-'Irbad ibn Sariya (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ exhorted us with an exhortation by which hearts trembled and eyes shed tears… — and he related the hadith, which has already been given in full in the chapter on the command to hold fast to the Sunnah, where we mentioned that al-Tirmidhi said: "It is a good and sound (hasan sahih) hadith."