احثوا التراب في وجوه المداحين
(صحيح) … [ت] عن أبي هريرة [عد حل] عن ابن عمر. الصحيحة 912: حم, م, خد)
It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Throw dirt into the faces of those who praise!”
This hadith was narrated by at-Tirmidhi (2394) from the words of Abu Huraira; Ibn Hibban (5770), Ibn ‘Adi in al-Kamil and Abu Nu’aym in Khilyatul-awliya (6/127) according to Ibn’ Umar may Allah be pleased with them.
Sheikh al-Albani called the hadith authentic. See Sahih al-Jami ‘as-saghir (186), al-Silsilah al-sahiha (912).
See also hadith nos. 187, 569 and 7140.
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It is reported that Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “(Once) the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), who heard one person praise and exalt another, said:“ You have ruined this person (or:… broke the back of this man [1])! ”” al-Bukhari (2663), Muslim, (3001).
Imam al-Nawawi said:
– Know that sometimes a person is praised for his worthy qualities in person, and sometimes they do it in his absence. As for praise in the absence of the one who is being praised, it is not forbidden, except for such cases when the praising person speaks thoughtlessly and begins to lie. However, in such cases, lying, and not praise, is forbidden.
Praising someone, avoiding lies, is desirable when it will be beneficial and will not lead to anything bad, for example, if having learned about ones praise, a person will fall into temptation, or to other similar consequences.
As for cases when a person is praised in person, then there are hadiths indicating the permissibility and desirability of this, while other hadiths indicate the prohibition of such praise. Scholars have said that it is possible to combine these hadiths with each other [2] as follows: it should be considered that, if a person who is praised in person has perfect faith, deep knowledge, conviction and the necessary inner preparation that will allow him not to succumb to temptation, then praise is neither forbidden nor undesirable, if there is reason to fear that due to praise a person will fall into temptation, and it will turn his head, then it is highly undesirable to praise him in the face. See al-Azkar (p. 472).
[1] Thus, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) believed that praise would harm this person, lead him to vanity or pride, and ultimately destroy him.
[2] That is, to show that in fact they do not contradict each other.
Khadeeja