💎[[Keep a Low Profile, Get in Where You Fit In, & Protect Your Heart & Religion From The Slaughterhouse of Popularity]]

Al-Ṭabarānī reported in al Kabīr and al-Bayhaqī narrated in his Sunan from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«ٱتَّقُوا هَذِهِ ٱلْمَذَابِحَ»، يَعْنِي: ٱلْمَحَارِيبَ.

“Beware of these slaughterhouses.” He meant by that: the elevated seats of gatherings (al-miḥrāb).

[Al-Albānī authenticated the narration in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ (no. 120) Silsilah Al-Da’īfah (1/641).]

1️⃣ Al-Haythamī stated:

«ٱلْمَحَارِيبُ صُدُورُ ٱلْمَجَالِسِ». اهـ.

“Al-maḥārīb are the fronts of gatherings.”

2️⃣ Ibn al-Athīr explained:

«ٱلْمِحْرَابُ: ٱلْمَوْضِعُ ٱلْعَالِي ٱلْمُشْرِفُ، وَهُوَ صَدْرُ ٱلْمَجْلِسِ أَيْضًا، وَمِنْهُ سُمِّيَ مِحْرَابُ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ، وَهُوَ صَدْرُهُ وَأَشْرَفُ مَوْضِعٍ فِيهِ». اهـ.

“The miḥrāb is the elevated, prominent spot — the forefront of a gathering — and from this, the miḥrāb of the mosque derives its name, being the foremost and most dignified part of it.”

3️⃣ Al-Munāwī added:

«أَيْ تَجَنَّبُوا تَحَرِّي صُدُورِ ٱلْمَجَالِسِ، يَعْنِي ٱلتَّنَافُسَ فِيهَا».

“That is, avoid seeking out the head positions in assemblies — referring to competing over them.”

4️⃣ Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Amīr al-Ṣanʿānī remarked:

«وَذَٰلِكَ لِمَا تَجِدُهُ ٱلنَّفْسُ مِنَ ٱلْكِبْرِ وَٱلتَّرَفُّعِ عَلَىٰ مَنْ دُونَهَا، وَفِي حَدِيثِ أَنَسٍ: كَانَ يَكْرَهُ ٱلْمَحَارِيبَ، أَيْ: لَمْ يَكُنْ يَجْلِسُ فِي صُدُورِ ٱلْمَجَالِسِ وَيَتَرَفَّعُ عَلَى ٱلنَّاسِ».

“This is due to what the self finds of arrogance and self-exaltation over others. And in the ḥadīth of Anas: ‘He used to dislike the maḥārīb,’ meaning: he would not sit at the heads of gatherings nor elevate himself above the people.”

⸻

📚 Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ṣalāḥ al-Ṣanʿānī, al-Tanwīr Sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr 1st ed. (Riyadh: Maktabat Dār al-Salām, 1432 AH / 2011 CE), 1:350.

-Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr, 1st ed. (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islāmī, 1988), ḥadīth no. 120.

-al-Haythamī, Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid wa Manbaʿ al-Fawāʾid

-ʿAlī ibn al-Athīr, al-Nihāyah fī Gharīb al-Ḥadīth wa al-Athar (Beirut: Dār Ibn al-Jawzī, n.d.).

💎 [An essential cause of unity is disregarding & ignoring provocation and instigation]

Al-Hasan al Basri (رحمه الله) said,

ما استقصى كريم قط.

"A noble person never insists on exacting his full rights."

Amr ibn Uthman al-Makki ( رحمه الله) said,

"المروءة التغافل عن زلل الإخوان".

"True nobility is overlooking the faults of friends."

Al-Awza'i ( رحمه الله) said,

السلامة عشرة أجزاء؛ منها: تسعـة في التغافل.

"Well-being consists of ten parts; nine of them are in overlooking faults."

This is similarly reported from Imam Uthman ibn Zaidah, eliciting Imam Ahmad to respond,

العافية عشرة أجزاء كلها في التغافل

"Well-being consists of ten parts, all of them in overlooking faults."

Sufyan al-Thawri ( رحمه الله) said,

ما زال التغافل من فعل الكرام.

"Overlooking faults has always been the practice of the noble."

Al-A’mash ( رحمه الله) said,

: "التغافل يطفئ شرًا كثيرًا"

"Overlooking faults extinguishes much evil."

Al-Shafi’i ( رحمه الله) said,

"الكيّس العاقل هو الفطن المتغافل"

"The intelligent and wise person is the one who pretends not to notice."

The poet said:

ليس الغبي بسيد في قومه *** لكن سيد قومه المتغابي

"The fool is not the leader of his people, but the leader of his people is the one who pretends to be a fool."

Aktham ibn Saifi ( رحمه الله) said:

مَنْ شَدَّدَ نَفَّرَ، وَمَنْ تَرَاخَى تَأَلَّفَ، وَالشَّرَفُ فِي التَّغَافُلِ،

"Whoever is strict repels others, and whoever is lenient wins their affection. Nobility lies in overlooking faults."

He also said,

السَّخَاءُ حُسْنُ الْفَطِنَةِ وَاللُّؤْمُ سُـوءُ التَّغَافُـلِ.

"Generosity is good perception, and meanness is poor perception of what should be overlooked."

Salahuddin al-Ṣafadī said in his Lāmiyah poem:

واستشعرِ الحِلمَ في كلِّ الأمورِ ولا * * * تُسرع ببادرةٍ يوماً إلى رجلِ

Embrace wise-restraint in all matters,
And never hastily lash out at anyone.

وإنْ بُليتَ بشخصٍ لاَ خَلاقَ لهُ * * * فكُنْ كأنَّكَ لمْ تسمعْ ولمْ يَقُلِ

If you are afflicted with a person who lacks goodness,
Act as if you did not hear him and he did not speak.


Ibn al-Azraq said about kingly manners in "Bada'i' al-Silk fi Taba'i' al-Mulk":

إِن من السخاء وَالْكَرم ترك التجني وَترك الْبَحْث عَن بَاطِن الغيوب والإمساك عَن ذكر الْعُيُوب كَمَا أَن من تَمام الْفَضَائِل الصفح عَن التوبيخ وإكرام الْكَرِيم والبشر فِي اللِّقَاء ورد التَّحِيَّة والتغافل عَن خطأ الْجَاهِل، من شدد نفر وَمن ترَاخى تألف

"Generosity and nobility include refraining from seeking revenge, abstaining from probing into hidden matters, refraining from mentioning faults, and part of perfect virtues is forgiving reproach, honoring the noble, showing a cheerful countenance, reciprocating greetings, and overlooking the mistakes of the ignorant. Strictness repels people, and leniency wins their affection."