Prophets Methods of Correcting Mistakes - Paying attention to things that are inherent in human nature

An example of this is the jealousy of women, especially m the case of co-wives, some of whom may make mistakes that, if they were made by anyone else under normal circumstances, would be treated quite differently. The Prophet (SAW) used to pay special attention to the issue of jealousy among his wives and the mistakes that were made by them as a result, and the patience, justice and fairness with which he handled the matter are plain to see. An example of this is the report narrated by Bnkhan in his Saheeh from Anas (RA), who said: “The Prophet (SAW) was with one of his wives when another of the Mothers of the Believers (Prophet’s wives) sent a big vessel full of food to him. The wife in whose house the Prophet (SAW) was struck the hand of the servant, and the vessel fell and broke into two pieces. The Prophet (SAW) picked up the pieces and put them together, then he gathered up the food that had been in the vessel and said, ‘Your mother is jealous.’ Then he asked the servant to wait and gave him a whole vessel belonging to the wife in whose house he was, and kept the broken vessel in the house of the one who had broken it”158

According to a report narrated by an-Nasa’i (Kitab 'hhmt an-Ntsa j. Umm Salamah brought some food in a vessel belonging to her to the Messenger of Allah and his Companions, then ‘A’ishah came wrapped in a garment, carrying a stone, which she threw and broke the vessel. The Prophet (SAW) put the two halves back together and said, “Eat, your mother is jealous” he said it twice, then he took ‘A’ishah’s vessel 

and sent it to Uinm Salamah, and gave Umm Salamah’s vessel to ‘A’ishah.

According to a report narrated by ad-Darimi (Kitab al- Buyoo Bab man kasara shay’an fa 'alayhi mithluhu) from Anas he said: “One of the wives of prophet (SAW)sent him a vessel in which was some thareed (a dish of sopped bread, meat and broth), when he was in the house of one of his other wives who struck the vessel and broke it. The Prophet (0J started to pick up the thareed and put it back into the broken vessel, saying, ‘Eat, your mother is jealous...’ ”

Women's jealousy is an inherent part of their nature that may cause them to do bad things and prevent them from seeing the consequences. It is said that when a woman is jealous, she cannot sec the bottom of a valley from its top.

Conclusion

Following this exploration of the Sunnah and the methods which the Prophet (*SAW) used in dealing with people’s mistakes, we should conclude by mentioning the following points:

—            Correcting mistakes is obligatory and very important. It is part of an-naseehah (giving sincere advice) and forbidding what is evil, but it should be remembered that Islam is not only about forbidding what is evil; we are also commanded to enjoin what is good.

—            Education and training are not merely the matter of correcting mistakes. They also involve teaching and showing the basic principles of religion and the rules of skaree ‘ak, and using various methods to establish these concepts firmly in people’s minds and hearts, by example, exhorting them, telling stories, or by discussing incidents, etc. From this, it is elear that some parents and teachers are falling short by confining their efforts only to addressing mistakes without paying due attention to teaching the basics or dealing with mistakes before they happen by instilling that which will protect people from committing mistakes in the first place, or at least reduce their impact.

—            It is clear from the incidents and stories mentioned above that the Prophet (SAW) used different approaches in dealing with different mistakes. This is because circumstances and personalities vary. Whoever understands this and wants to follow suit must compare the situation he is dealing with to these examples to find the one that most closely resembles it, so that he can determine the most appropriate approach to use.

We ask Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, to guide us and protect us, to make us openers of the doors of good and closers of those of evil, and to guide others through us, for He is the All-Hearing, the Ever-Near, Who answers prayers. He is the Best of supporters and the Best of helpers, and He is the Guide to the Straight Path. May Allah bless the unlettered Prophet (SAW), all his family and Companions and Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Remaining Calm When Dealing with People’s Mistakes

Being too harsh could make matters worse and do more harm than good. We can learn this from looking at how the Prophet (SAW) dealt with the mistake made by the bedouin who  urinated in the mosque, as was reported by Anas ibn Malik (RA), who said:

“Whilst we were in the mosque with the Messenger of Allah, a bedouin came and stood urinating m the mosque. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Stop it! Stop it!’ But the Messenger of Allah said, ‘Do not intercept him; leave him alone. ’ So they left him until he had finished urinating, then the Messenger of Allah called him and said to him, ‘In these mosques it is not right to do anything like urinating or defecating; they are only for remembering Allah, praying and reading the Qur’an,1 or words to that effect. Then he commanded a man who was there to bring a bucket of water and throw it over (the urine), and he did so.”

The principle which the Prophet (SAW) followed in dealing with this mistake was to treat the man gently, so as not to be harsh with him. Bukbari reported from Abu Hurayrah (RA):

“A bedouin urinated in the mosque, and the people got up to stop him out. The Messenger of Allah said to them, ‘Leave him alone, and throw a bucket of water over it. You have been sent to make things easy for people, not to make things hard.’”61

The Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them all) were very keen to denounce the bad thing they had seen and to keep their mosque clean and pure, as is indicated in the various reports of this hadith, which describe them as shouting at him, getting up to sort him out, rebuking him and hastening to deal with him, or telling him to “Stop it'”62

But the Prophet (SAW) was thinking of the likely consequences of the two options — stopping him or leaving him alone. If they tried to stop him, forcing a man to suppress his urination could do him harm, and if he was unable to stop but moved away because he was afraid of them, the impurity would be spread over a wider area of the mosque and on the man’s body and clothing. The Prophet (SAW) had the farsightedness to see that leaving the man alone until he had finished urinating was the lesser of the two evils, especially since the man had already started doing it, and it was a problem that they would be able to do something about by cleaning afterwards. So he told his Companions to leave him alone and not to interrupt him. He told them to leave him alone because this was in the better interests of all and would ward off a worse evil by putting up with the lesser evil.

It is also reported that the Prophet (SAW) asked the man the reason for his action. At-Tabarani reported in al-Mujam ai- Kabeer that Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) said:

“A bedouin came to the Prophet and pledged allegiance to him in the mosque. Then he went away and started to urinate. The people wanted to stop him, but the Prophet said, ‘Do not stop a man when he is urinating,’ Then he asked him, ‘Are you not a Muslim?’ He said, ‘Of course, yes.’ He said, ‘What made you urinate in our mosque?’ He said, ‘By the

One Who sent you with the truth, I thought it was just like any other place so I urinated in it.’ The Prophet called for a bucket of water and poured it over the urine ”63

This wise manner of dealing with the problem had a far- reaehing effect on the bedouin, as is clear from his reaction. Ibn Majah reported that Abu Hurayrah said:

“A bedouin entered the mosque where the Messenger of Allah was sitting, and said, ‘O' Allah, forgive me and Muhammad, and do not forgive anyone else.’

The Messenger of Allah smiled and said, ‘You are narrowing something vast.’ Then (the bedouin) went away to the furthest part of the mosque, opened his legs, and began to urinate. After he had learnt better, the bedouin said, ‘He got up, may my mother and my father be sacrificed for him, he did not rebuke me or insult me. He just said, ‘We do not urinate in this mosque; it was only built for the remembrance of Allah and for prayer.’ Then he called for a bucket of water and poured it over the urine.’”64

Ibn Hajar (RA)mentioned in his commentary a number of things we learn from the hadith about the bedouin, among which are the following:

—            We should be gentle when dealing with one who is ignorant and teach him what he needs to know without rebuking him, so long as he is not acting out of stubbornness, especially if he is one who needs to be won over.

—            Prophet (SAW)was kind and he dealt nicely with him.

—            The idea of taking precautions against impurity (najasah) was established well in the minds of the Sahabah, which is why they hastened to denounce it in the presence of the Prophet without first asking his permission. The idea of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil was also established well in their minds.

—            We should also hasten to remove anything objectionable when there is nothing to stop us from doing so, because when the man had finished urinating, the Prophet (SAW) issued instructions that the place should be cleaned with water.

Prophets Methods of Correcting Mistakes - Not hastening to tell someone he is wrong

Something happened to ‘Umar (RA) which he himself told about: “I heard Hisham ibn Hakeem ibn Hizam reciting Sooratal- Farqan during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah. I listened to his recitation, and he was reciting it differently to the way that the Messenger of Allah  used to recite it. I nearly interrupted his prayer, but I waited until he had said the salam, then I grabbed him by his cloak and said, ‘Who taught you to recite this Soorh I heard you reciting?’ He said, The Messenger of Allah taught me to recite it.’ I said, ‘You are lying! The Messenger of Allah taught me to recite it differently/ I took him to the Messenger of Allah and said, I heard him reciting So oral al- Furqan differently than the way you taught me to recite it ’ The Messenger of Allah  said,

‘Let him go. Recite, O’ Hisham.’ He recited it as I had heard him recite it. The Messenger of Allah said,

This is how it was revealed.’ Then he said, ‘Recite,

O' ‘Umar.’ So I recited it as he had taught me. The Messenger of Allah said, This is how it was revealed. This Qur’an was revealed with seven ways of recitation for ease, so recite it in the way that is easiest to you.’58

Among the educational methods we learn from this story are the following.

—            Telling each one to recite in front of the other and approving their recitation was more effective in confirming that both were correct and neither was wrong.

—            When the Prophet (SAW) told ‘ Umar to let go of Hisham. this was preparing both parties to listen in a calm manner. This was an indication that ‘Umar had been too hasty.

—            A person who is seeking knowledge should not be too hasty to condemn any opinion that differs from that with which he is familiar; he should first be sure of what he is saying, because that opinion may turn out to be a valid scholarly opinion.

Another relevant point is that one should not hasten to punish someone who makes a mistake, as we see in the following story.

An-Nasa’i reported from "Abbad ibn Sharhabeel who said:

“I came with my (paternal) uncles to Madeenah, and we entered one of the gardens of the city. I rubbed some of the wheat, and the owner of the garden came and took my cloak and hit me. I came to the Messenger of Allah asking for his help. He sent for that man and they brought him to the Prophet. He said to him, ‘What made you do that?’ He said, ‘O’ Messenger of Allah, he went into my garden and took some of my wheat and rubbed it.’ The Messenger of Allah said, ‘You did not teach him if it was the matter of him not knowing, and you did not feed him if it was the matter of him being hungry. Give him back his cloak.’ And the Messenger of Allah ordered that I should be given a wasq or half a wasq (measure of wheat).”59

From this story we learn that we should find out the circumstances of the one who is making a mistake or acting in an aggressive manner, so that we may know the right way to deal with him.

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We may also note that the Prophet (SAW) did not punish the owner of the garden, because he was in the right but he had handled the matter wrong. He pointed out to him that the way he had dealt with someone who did not know was inappropriate in such circumstances, then he taught, him how to handle the matter properly, and told him to give back the garment he had taken from the hungry man.

Prophets Methods of Correcting Mistakes - Guiding people to what will prevent them from making mistakes

Abu Umamah ibn Sahl ibu Haueef reported that his father told him that the Messenger of Allah went out, and they traveled with him in the direction of Makkah, until they reached the ravine of al-Khazzar near al-Juhfah. Sahl ibn Haneef did ghusl, and he was a white man with a handsome body and beautiful skin. 'Amir ibn Rabee‘ah, the brother of Banu ‘Adiyy ibn Ka‘b looked at him whilst he was doing ghusl and said, ‘I have never seen anything like what I have seen today, not even the skin of the virgin who is hidden away!’ (referring to the whiteness of Sahl’s skin). Sahl fell to the ground (he had an epileptic fit). The Messenger of Allah came and it was said to him, ‘Do you want to see Sahl? By Allah, he cannot raise his head or wake up.: He asked, ‘Whose fault is this?’ They said, 4 ‘Amir ibn Rabee‘ah looked at him.’ The Messenger of Allah called ‘Amir and rebuked him angrily, and said,

‘Why would any one of you kill his brother? If any one of you sees that his brother has something he likes, let him pray for blessing for him.’ Then he said to him, ‘Wash yourself to help him’. So he washed his race, his hands up to the elbows, his knees, the sides of his feet and inside his izar (lower garment) in a vessel. Then the Prophet said, Tour that water over him.’ So he poured the water over his head and back 

from behind, tilting the vessel, Sahl got up and went with the people and there was nothing wrong with

liim.”87

According to a report narrated by Malik (SAW) Muhammad ibn Abu Umamah ibn Sahl ihn Haneef said that he heard his father saying: “Abu Sahl ibn Haneef did ghusl in al-Khazzar and took oft' the garment he was wearing. ‘Amir ibn Rabee'ah was looking at him, and Sahl was a white man with a beautiful skin. ‘Amir ibn Rabee‘ah said to him, ‘I have never seen anything like what I have seen today, not even the skin of a virgin!’ Sahl fell down on the spot and became seriously ill. The Messenger of Allah  came and was told, ‘Sahl has fallen ill, and cannot go with you, O’ Messenger of Allah.’ Sahl told him what had happened with ‘Amir, and the Messenger of Allah said,

‘Why would any one of you kill his brother? You should have asked for blessing for him. The (evil) eye is real. Do wudoo’ to help him.’ So ‘Amir did wudoo and Sahl got up and went with the Messenger of Allah, and there was nothing wrong with him.’”88

What we learn from this story is:

—            The teacher [i.e.. the Prophet (SAW) got angry with the one who caused harm to his Muslim brother.

—            He explained the harmful effects of the mistake and that it could lead to death.

—            He pointed the way to that which would prevent harms befalling a Muslim.

 

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