20 Harms of the Tongue that will take to hell if, Tawba isn't and they need to be put under control

back to Diagram ........Back to Main Text

Praise - In some cases, praise is unlawful.

Praise . In some cases, praise is unlawful." There are six harms of praise, out of which four harms fall on the praiser and two harms fall on the hearer of praise.

(1) Lying is the first harm. In case of too much praise, recourse must be had to lies. If a man praises a ruler or such man as has not got that quality in him, God will raise him in such a way that it will be difficult for him to talk to the people with tongue.

(2) Show The second harm at the time of praise is show, as love is expressed by praise but it may not be in mind and he may not believe in all he says. Thus he shows a show or hypocrisy.

(3) The praised man is praised without knowing whether he has that quality in him. It is reported that a certain man praised another before the Prophet. The Prophet then said to them : You have severed the neck of your brother. If he hears it, he will not get salvation. Then he said : If you are to praise a man, say 'I know him as such God knows whether he is pure or impure. I can't say in excess of what God knows of anybody' So it is danger to say that he is a pious man, he is God-fear, he is a philanthropist. Once Hazrat Omar saw a man praising another. He asked the praiser : Have you travelled with him ? He said : No. He asked him: Have you carried on business with him ? He said : No. He asked him Are you his neighbour morning and evening ? He said : No. He said : By God, I think you have not known him.

(4) The praised man may be an oppressor or a great sinner. To praise him in such circumstances is unlawful. The Prophet said When a great sinner is praised, God then becomes displeased. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : He who wishes long life of an oppressor, disobeys God in His world. The praised man gets two harms by the praise. It gives pride in him and he feels self praise. These two things are ruinous. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : One day Hazrat Omar was seated with a stick among the people, when a man Zarat-b-Munzer came there. One of those present said. This man is the chief of Rabiah tribe. Hazrat Omar and those around him heard it. When he came near Hazrat Omar, he was brandishing his stick over his head. At this the man said : O Commander of the Faithful, what sort of treatment is this ? He said : Have you not heard what that man said about you ? He said: Yes, I have heard it. Hazrat Omar said : I feared that praise may grow in you a sense of pride. For that I destroyed it by the show of strike by this stick.

(2) The second harm is that when a man praises another, the latter becomes pleased and finds solace and as such gives up self-improvement, as he understand that he has reached the limit of progress. He who understands that he has got faults, tries for improvement of his character. For this reason, the Prophet said You have severed his neck. If he possesses it, he will not get salvation. The Prophet said : If you praise a man in his face, think that you are passing sharp knife round his neck. The Prophet said
It is better to attack a man with sharp sword than to praise a man before his face. Hazrat Omar said : Praise is like murdered as the murdered person is saved from the responsibility of actions. Praise grows idleness or self-praise and pride. Both are destructive like murder.

If the prasier and the praised are saved from these harms then there is no fault in praise. For this reason, the Prophet praised his companions. He said about Hazrat Abu Bakr : If the faith of Abu Bakr is measured with the faith of the people of the world, his faith will be heavier. he said regarding Hazrat Omar If I was not sent as a Prophet, Omar would have been sent as a Prophet. By this praise, they did not become proud. The Prophet said : I am the leader of the children of Adam and there is no boast in it. In other words, I am not telling it out of pride. When the people once were praising a dead man, the Prophet said : He is fit to receive praise. The sage Mozahed said : There are friends for the children of Adam from the angels. When any Muslim mentions about the good works of another Muslim, the angels says : O son of Adam, keep your mysteries of secrets secret, be pleased with your affairs and praise God who has kept your hidden things secret.

Duties of the praised man : The praised man must save himself from pride, self-praise and idleness, He will not be able to save himself from these evils unless he thinks about his ultimate end and the result of his actions. The praiser does not know what the praised man knows about him. The former will surely not praise him if he knows of him what he knows of himself. The Prophet said : Throw dust at the face of the praisers. The sage Sufiyan-b- Aynah said : He who knows himself cannot be injured by praise. When a religious man was praised, he said O God, this servant of yours has come to me with your hatred. I cite you as a witness over his hatred. Another religious man was praised and he said i 0 God, three people do not know me. Once Hazrat Ali was praised and he said: 0 God, forgive me for what they say. Make me better than what they think about me, Once man praised Hazrat Omar who said : You are ruining me.