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When one insults or denigrates such noble Companions, one is actually insulting the Prophet (peace be upon him) for taking such people as his comrades. Indeed, ibn Uthaimeen points out, one is actually insulting Allah when insulting the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It was Allah who chose those noble souls to be the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to be the people who would carry this religion, preserve the Quran and carry on the sunnah of the 1 This last aspect is greatly related to the culture in which one is living and such acts may change given different conditions over time. Some Muslims today still believe that it is not allowed to put the Quran on the ground or in any place below one's waist. Such opinions may have come from a time in which books were not of the same quality as today or the ground may not have been as clean as it is in most places today. Ibn Uthaimeen, for example, discussed the question of putting the Quran on a clean portion of ground and said there is no harm in doing so. He said that it is not an act of disrespect toward the Quran and if one is reading the Quran and needs to prostrate, he may put the Quran down and prostrate (ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 4, p. 472). Hadith #7: Tbe Religion is Naseehah Prophet (peace be upon him). Furthermore, when one denigrates the Companions and casts doubt on their piety, one is casting doubt on the religion itself since it was through these people, by the will of Allah, that the religion was spread and passed on to following generations. 1 Finally, making naseehah to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) includes loving those who follow, defend and strive to revive his sunnah. They are working for the sake of Allah in supporting the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), hence, there is no room for anyone to have hatred in their heart for them. It is this duty that led many of the early scholars to make statements like, "If you see someone who does not love Imam Malik or Abdullah ibn al-Mubaarak or al-Shabi or Ahmad, then you should know that such a person is a hypocrite or zindeeq (i.e., those people who entered Islam with the sole purpose of destroying Islam)," for they were scholars who did their best to defend the sunnah and transmit it accurately. The main reason they are hated by heretics and hypocrites is because of their efforts to defend and spread the sunnah. "to the Leaders of the Muslims" There are two kinds of "leaders" among Muslims, the first are the religious leaders or scholars while the second are the worldly leaders or rulers. The wording of this hadith implies both categories ofleaders. The importance of naseehah to those in authority can be found in other hadith. For example, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Verily, Allah is pleased with you for three matters and displeased with you concerning three maters. He is pleased with you for worshipping Him and not ascribing any partner to Him, for clinging to the cord of Allah and not dividing, and for being mutually sincere with those whom Allah has put in charge of your affairs . . . "2 1 Cf., ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh Riyaadh, vol. 4, pp. 474-475. 2 Recorded by Maalik, ibn Hibbaan and Ahmad. The chain is sahih and the same as that of Muslim. lbn Rajah (Jaami, vol. 1, p. 217), al-Albaani (sahih al-Jaami, vol. 1, p 385) and al­ Amaoot and Baajis (footnotes to ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 1, p. 217) all ascribe this hadith to Sahih Muslim. However, the hadith is found in Sahih Muslim but without the relevant portion, "and for being mutually sincere . . . " See the text of Muslim in al-Nawawi, Sharh sahih, (Daar al­ Marifah) vol. 12, pp. 236-237, al-Nawawi, Sharh sahih (Daar al-Fikr), vol. 12, p. 10, al­ Suyoot, al-Deebaaj, vol. 4, p. 317 or in al-Ubayy, vol. 5, p. 13. Furthermore, in their commentaries on this hadith in Sahih Muslim, al-Nawawi, al-Ubayy, al-Suyooti and al-Sanoosi all did not comment on those words of the hadith. This is an additional sign that those words did Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also said, 0U\ I ( 12, 31:,_' *.' JJ 14::.i1 , વ\ શIષ .. : , ॺॻ,•\;.._ 91;.: Hadith #7: The Religion is Naseehah evil, even if it is done publicly, as long as the goal is not to ridicule them but to correct their mistakes and stop their evil. 1 It is noted that when advising others, it is best to do it in private. If one does it publicly, sometimes it can be a case of belittling or insulting the other person. This is especially the case if one Muslim is trying to advise the other about some wrong the person is committing.