'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah reported that a man was praising another man
in the presence of Ibn 'Umar. Ibn 'Umar began to throw dust towards his
mouth. He said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said, 'When you see those who praise people, throw dust in their
faces.'"
Abu Ma'mar said, "A man began to praise one of the amirs. Al-Miqdad
began to throw dirt in his face and said, 'The Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded us to throw dust into the
faces of those who praise people.'"
Raja' said. "One day Mihjan and I went to the mosque of the people
of Basra. Burayda al-Aslami was sitting there by one of the mosque doors.
Inside the mosque there was a man called Sabka who used to make the prayers
long. We came to the mosque door which had a fringed woollen cloth over
it. Now Burayda was someone who made jokes. He said, 'Mihjan, don't you
pray as Sabka prays?' Mihjan did not answer and went back. Mihjan said,
'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once
took me by the hand and we went together to the top of Uhud. He looked
down on Madina and said, "Woe to a town whose people will abandon it when
it becomes very prosperous. Then the Dajjal will come to it and find two
angels at each of its gates, so he will not enter it." Then he went down
until we reached the mosque and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, saw a man praying, prostrating and bowing. The
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked me,
"Who is this?" and I began to praise him, saying, "Messenger of Allah,
this is so-and-so and so-and-so." "Stop!" he said, "Do not let him hear
or you will destroy him."'"
'A'isha said, "A man asked permission to come to the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Messenger of
Allah said, 'He is an evil son of his tribe.' When the man came in, the
Prophet was courteous and cheerful towards him. When that man left, another
man asked permission to come in. He said, 'He is an excellent son of his
tribe.' When he came in, he was not cheerful towards him as he had been
cheerful towards the other man. When he left, I said, 'Messenger of Allah,
you said what you said about so-and-so and yet you were courteous to him.
You said what you said about so-and-so and I did not see you do the same.'
He said, ''A'isha, the worst of people are those who are feared on account
of their bad language.'"
