Sometimes people write in that they are aware of some weaknesses in a person and ask how they should respond? As a good Muslim we should try to help them overcome their weaknesses and advise them to seek repentance from Allah and change their ways, but we should always be ready to ‘overlook the faults of others?
The best example we have is once again the example of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in fact, a good Muslim should always think about how the Holy Prophet would have dealt with any situation and then try to follow that example. Hence why is it so important to know about the life of the Holy Prophet.
I will again relate incidences from the book ‘Life of Muhammad’ by Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad. I was very pleased that many of you took up the opportunity to receive a link to read this book, and the offer is still there if anyone else would like to receive this book, please ask and I will gladly send it to you.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, never gave publicity to the faults and shortcomings of others and admonished people not to proclaim their own faults. He used to say:
“If a person covers up the faults of another, God will cover up his faults on the Day of Judgement.”
“Every one of my followers can escape the consequences of his errors (i.e., by true repentance and reform) except those who go on proclaiming their wrongdoing” and illustrated this by saying: ,”A man commits a sin at night and God covers it up; in the morning he meets his friends and boasts before them:. ‘I did this last night, I did that last night,’ and thus he himself lays bare that which God had covered up” (Bukhari and Muslim).
Some people believe that a confession of sin helps towards repentance; the truth is that it only fosters immodesty. Sin is an evil and he who slips into it and becomes a prey to shame and remorse has a chance of climbing back into the path of purity and righteousness through repentance. His case is like that of a person who has been seduced by evil but is pursued by righteousness and as soon as a chance offers, the evil is vanquished and the sinner is claimed back by righteousness.
Those, however, who proclaim their sins and take pride in them, lose all sense of good and evil and become incapable of repentance. On one occasion a man came to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said: “I have been guilty of adultery” (this when established by proper evidence being a punishable offence under Islamic Law). Hearing the man’s confession, the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, turned away from him and became occupied with something else. He meant to indicate that the proper remedy in such a case was repentance and not public confession. But the man did not realize this and imagining that the Holy Prophet had not heard him, went and stood in front of him and, addressing him, repeated his confession. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, again turned away from him but the man again went and stood in front of him and repeated his confession. When he had done this four times the Holy Prophet said:
“I had wished that this man should not have proclaimed his sin till God should have indicated His will with regard to him but, as he has repeated his confession four times, I am compelled to take action” (Tirmidhi).
‘He then added:
“This man has himself confessed and has not been charged by the woman concerning whom he makes the confession. The woman should be questioned and, if she denies her guilt, she should not be molested and only this man should be punished in accordance with his confession but, if she confesses she should also be punished.”
It was the practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to follow the Law of the Torah in matters regarding which the Qur’an was silent, and as the Torah prescribes that an adulterer should be stoned to death he pronounced the sentence upon this man accordingly (this incident happened before the punishment for adultery/fornication of 100 lashes was revealed ch. 24, verse 3).
When the sentence was being carried out the man tried to run away but the people pursued him and carried out the sentence. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came to know of this he disapproved of it. He said that the man had been sentenced in accordance with his own confession. His attempt to run away was in effect a retraction of his confession and thereafter he should not have been subjected to a penalty which had been imposed upon him solely on account of his confession.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, laid down that the Law was concerned only with overt acts. During the course of a war, a party of Muslims came upon a non-Muslim who used to lie in wait in lonely places and whenever he found a solitary Muslim he would attack and kill him. On this occasion Usama bin Zaid, may Allah be pleased with him, pursued him and, having overtaken and caught him, drew his sword to kill him. When the man found that no way of escape was left open to him he repeated the first portion of the Muslim confession of faith,
“There is no being worthy of worship save Allah,” thereby indicating that he had accepted Islam. Usama paid no heed to this and killed him. When this, among the other incidents of the campaign, was related to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, he sent for Usama and questioned him. On his confirming the account of the incident the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
“How will it be with you on the Day of Judgement when his confession of faith will bear witness in his favour?” Usama replied,
“O Messenger of Allah! that man was a murderer of Muslims and his declaring himself to be a Muslim was merely a ruse to escape just retribution.” But the Holy Prophet went on repeating:
“Usama, how will it be with you when the man’s confession of faith will bear witness against you on the Day of Judgement?” meaning that God would hold Usama to account for the man’s death, for though he had been guilty of the murder of Muslims, his reciting the confession was an indication that he had repented of his misdeeds. Usama protested that the man’s reciting of confession of faith was due to his fear of death and was not an indication of repentance. Thereupon the Holy Prophet said:
“Did you peep into his heart to see whether he was telling the truth or not?”
and went on repeating:
“How will you answer on the Day of Judgement when his confession of faith will be cited in evidence against you?”
Usama says: “On hearing the Prophet repeat this so often I wished that I had become a convert to Islam only that moment and had not been guilty of what was charged against me” (Muslim, Kitabul Iman).
The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was ever ready to forgive people their faults and trespasses. One of the persons concerned in the affair of the slander against his wife, ‘A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, was dependent for his living upon the charity of Abu Bakr (‘A’isha’s father). When the falsehood of the allegation against ‘A’isha was clearly established, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, stopped his support of this man. Even this is evidence of Abu Bakr’s commendable moderation and restraint. An average person would have proceeded to extreme lengths against a dependent who had been guilty of defaming his daughter. When the Holy Prophet came to know of what Abu Bakr had done, he spoke to him and pointed out that though the man had been at fault, it did not behove a person like Abu Bakr to deprive him of his means of sustenance on account of his wrongdoing. Thereupon Abu Bakr resumed his patronage of the man (Bukhari, Kitabut Tafsir).
I hope this has helped you in learning how the Holy Prophet would overlook the faults of others. We are weak and sometimes slip, but if we learn of weaknesses found in others, then we should help them to change and pray for them. This is the purpose of this life, to constantly reform ourselves and purify ourselves. Therefore, rather than mock them or spread allegations about them to others, we should look to ourselves and ensure that we have overcome our own weaknesses, so that Allah will be pleased with us, as the Holy Prophet has guided us:
“None of you is a true believer unless he likes for others that which he likes for himself.” (Bukhari)
I will leave you with one more saying of the Holy Prophet:
“Whoever relieves a believer of his worries in this world will have his afflictions removed by Allah on the Day of Judgement. Whoever is lenient to someone whose means of sustenance have been straitened, Allah will be lenient to him in this world and the next. Whoever covers the weakness of a Muslims, Allah will provide him cover in this world and in the world to come. Allah always stands by the side of the one who is helpful to his brother. Whoever treads a path in pursuit of knowledge, Allah will facilitate thereby his way to Paradise. Those who gather in any of the Houses of Allah to recite the Book of Allah and teach each other, are certainly blessed with tranquillity; they are covered by His mercy and are surrounded by the angels. Allah mentions them to those who are closest to Him. The one who is left behind because of his deeds, will not have his cause advanced because of the good name of his family.” (Muslim)