By Allah, I hate this man for the sake of Allah

A man passed by a group of people and greeted them with Salam, and they returned the greeting. But when he had gone, one of them said, “By Allah, I hate this man for the sake of Allah.” The others present said, “What a bad thing to say! By allah, we are going to tell him. Get up, O so-and-so (they said to one of the people present) and tell him.”

This person caught up with the man who had passed by and told him what had been said. The man went to the Messenger of Allah   and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I passed by a group of Muslims among whom was so-and-so and when I had left, one of them caught up with me and told me that so-and-so had said, ‘By Allah, I hate this man for the sake of Allah.’ Call him and ask him why he hates me.”

So the Messenger of Allah  called the man who stated that he hated the passerby and asked him about what he had said. The man admitted it and said, “I did say that, O Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah  asked, “Why do you hate him?”

The man replied, “I am his neighbor and I know him very well. By Alalh, I have never seen him pray any prayer except the prescribed prayer which everyone, good and bad, alike prays.” The man who had been hated on said, “Ask him, O Messenger of Allah, has he ever seen me delaying any prayer, or not doing wudu [ablutions] properly, or not doing ruko [bowing] and sujood [prostration] properly?” The man who claimed he hated his neighbor responded, “No.” Then the same man continued, “By Allah, I have never seen him fast at all except this month which everyone, good and bad alike, fasts.”

The one being accused responded, “O Messenger of Allah, has he ever seen me breaking my fast during [that month] or doing anything to invalidate my fast?” The Messenger of Allah   asked him and he responded, “No.” The man complaining then said, “By Allah, I have never seen him giving to any needy person or spending any of his wealth for the sake of Allah except for this charity [zakah] which everyone, good and bad alike, gives.”

The one being accused responded, “Ask him, O Messenger of Allah, have I ever withheld any part of the zakah or kept it back from the one who asked for it?” The Messenger of Allah  asked the man making the accusations and he replied, “No.”

After hearing all of this came an incredibly wise response from the Messenger of Mercy.

The Messenger of Allah  said, “I don’t know. Maybe he is better than you.”


Source: Mentioned in The Prophet’s Methods of Correcting People’s Mistakes by Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid, hadith located in Musnad Imam Ahmad.