Hadith 6-15: Ethics and Character

The second group of hadiths in Al-Nawawi's collection moves from the foundational definitions of the first five into the domain of ethics, character, and the practical boundaries of lawful conduct. These hadiths address how a Muslim should relate to others, how to navigate moral uncertainty, and what the inner dispositions of a believer should look like.

Hadith 6, from Abu Abdullah an-Nu'man ibn Bashir in the Sahihayn, establishes a physiological metaphor for moral health: 'There is in the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound. If it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily it is the heart.' This hadith positions the heart as the seat of moral life and the determinant of all outward conduct. It has been foundational for Islamic spirituality's emphasis on the purification of the heart (tazkiyat an-nafs) as the precondition for righteous action.

Hadith 7, from Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Mas'ud in both major collections, identifies the Prophet as an obligation-bringer whose prohibitions must be taken equally seriously as his commands: 'Leave what I forbid you, and do of what I command you what you are able.' This hadith grounds the Sunnah's prohibitions with the same authority as its positive injunctions and warns against the human tendency to be more casual about avoidance than about performance.

Hadiths 8 and 9 address two closely related principles. Hadith 8, from Ibn Umar, instructs a believer to 'be in this world as though you are a stranger or a traveler passing through' — a complete statement of the Islamic orientation toward worldly life as a temporary passage rather than a permanent home. Hadith 9, from Abu Hurairah in al-Bukhari and Muslim, records the Prophet's instruction: 'Whatever I have forbidden you, avoid; and whatever I have commanded you, do of it what you can. Those before you were destroyed by their excessive questioning and their differing with their prophets.' Together these two hadiths encourage simplicity, obedience, and the avoidance of unnecessary complication in religious life.

Hadith 10, from Abu Hurairah in Muslim, defines the minimal standard of Islam: 'Part of the excellence of a person's Islam is leaving what does not concern him.' This brief statement has generated extensive commentary on the Islamic ethics of focus — the principle that a believer's time, speech, and concern should be oriented toward what is genuinely one's responsibility and not scattered across matters that are none of one's business.

Hadiths 11 through 13 address the core social ethics of Islamic life. Hadith 11, from al-Hasan ibn Ali in Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, captures the Prophet's teaching to 'leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt.' Hadith 12, from Abu Hurairah in Muslim, states one of the most universally quoted principles of Islamic ethics: 'None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.' Hadith 13, from Ibn Abbas in al-Bukhari and Muslim, contains the Prophet's comprehensive ethical instruction: 'Do not harm, and do not reciprocate harm.'

Hadiths 14 and 15 address the permissibility of legal blood, the sanctity of Muslim brotherhood, and the question of following the consensus of the scholarly community. Together this second group of hadiths sketches the outlines of Islamic character: a believer who is internally focused on the heart's health, externally careful about harm to others, humble about his own knowledge, and deeply concerned with living for what matters eternally.