On Praising People

Bismillah

Brother Ahmad,

I am not quite sure whether there is meaning in a metaphorical sense. And i tend to believe that one has to look at the situation, or the setting of the situation. The act and the form of throwing dust could be assimilated with the act of spitting three times on your left upon having had a bad dream (form of spitting comprising mainly of air with little spittle)... where picking a handful of sand to blind someone in the cloud of dust may not be the way.

The key message here is the undesirability of praising in the face. The udesirability of creating discomfort by praising a genuinely humble person, or sowing a seed of arrogance and selfish pride in the mind of the weak.

Brother Israfil,

As far as Shia' notion of praising Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is concerned, i am not familiar and not very interested to know. It is impossible to be praising him in the face and as such the discussion becomes irrelevant. 

Sister Amna Ali,

It some of your examples, the distinction must be made between praising and thanking. Flattering or praising is not just to say something kind about a person. Flattering is to praise excessively especially from motives of self-interest. Praising is to glorify especially by the attribution of perfections.

It is not human nature to praise if humans do not make it as such. Some cultures encourage praising others, to boost self-confidence, even when there is nothing much in their doing that truly deserves praise.

In Islam praise is often associted with Allah, the Most High.  

In many instances we are taught to praise Allah and supplicate to Him in the place where our culture would encourage exalting of the person (when sneezing, when receiving favour from someone, help, support, charity etc.). We are not asked to come up with huge mockups of cheques to make sure the amount of contribution made is well captured well by the media... in fact, we are taught to do the opposite when performing charity, in a way that our left hand is not aware of what the right hand is doing.  

"If someone does you a favour and you say Jazzak Allahu Khairan (May Allah reward you with goodness) then you have indeed exelled in praising."  

As'Salamau Alaikum,

Besides for obvious reasons what is the difference between praise in absence and in person?

Bismillah

Assalamu'alaikum Bro Ahmad,

Thank for your comment. Indeed many of the ahadeeth do require further explanation, especially when they are bound to a specific setting or have chronological significance. "Cutting of the head" in the above narrations would be metaphorically synonymous with "making someone big-headed". Praise, when pronounced in the face and in the presence of others often tends to produce foundation for arrogance vanity and pride. And as we know, vanity ruins people. I thought this issue might be appropriate for discussion and taking a note of by the forum users especially when we are not able to know each other for real other than mere virtual.  

Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (PBUH) heard a person lauding another person or praising him too much. Thereupon he said, "You killed the man,'' or he said, "You ruined the man.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Mention of a man was made to the Prophet (PBUH) and someone praised him whereupon he (PBUH) said, "Woe be to you! You have broken the neck of your friend!'' He repeated this several times and added, "If one of you has to praise his friend at all, he should say: `I reckon him to be such and such and Allah knows him well', if you think him to be so-and-so, you will be accountable to Allah because no one can testify the purity of others against Allah.''
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary:  This hadith prohibits us from praising anyone in his face. If at all one has to praise someone, he should say that "In my opinion he is such and such,'' provided he really thinks as he says. The reason for this is that it is Allah Alone Who knows him thoroughly and none can claim to be innocent before Him.

Hammam bin Al- Harith (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: A person began to praise `Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him), and Al-Miqdad (May Allah be pleased with him) sat upon his knees and began to throw pebbles upon the flatterer's face. `Uthman (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "What is the matter with you?'' He said: "Verily, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, `When you see those who shower undue praises upon others throw dust upon their faces.'''
[Muslim].

Commentary:  The purpose of this hadith seems to be that one should neither pay serious attention to one who praises nor reward him for it. If one can throw grit in his face, that should also be done. One should at least avoid such persons who are in the habit of praising people unnecessarily.

Imam An-Nawawi has stated that these ahadith are in prohibition of praise while there are many in favour of it. `Ulama are of the opinion that the two points of view can be reconciled. If the one who is praised has perfect Faith and confidence and is endowed with the gift of knowledge by Allah and has control over his self and thereby he is not likely to go astray by praise, then praising him is neither unlawful nor disgusting. But if he is vulnerable to praise then praising him in his presence is abhorred. Ahadith in prohibition of praise support this point of view. While one of the ahadith, which are in favour of praise, relates to the occasion when the Prophet (May Allah be pleased with him) said to Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (May Allah be pleased with him): "I hope that you will also be among them,'' that is "You will be one of those who will be called from every gate of Jannah.'' (See, Sahih Al-Bukhari, Kitab Fada'il As-Sahabah). Another hadith on the issue relates to the event when the Prophet (PBUH) said to Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him): "You are not one of them.'' What it signified was that "You are not one of those who keep their trousers below their ankles out of sheer pride.'' (See, Sahih Al-Bukhari, Manaqib Abu Bakr). He said to `Umar (May Allah be pleased with him): "When Satan sees you going on some way, he leaves it and proceeds to some other direction.'' (Al-Bukhari, Manaqib `Umar).

In any case and seeking the firm side, making a supplication when we feel like praising someone (like a simple Jazak Allahu Khairan) will be much more effective and rewarding, insha Allah.

Hope this helps.

Wasalaam.