General Behavior (Kitab Al-Adab)

Narrated Usamah ibn Akhdari: A man called Asram was among those who came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: What is your name? He replied: Asram. He said: No, you are Zur'ah.

Narrated Hani ibn Yazid: When Hani went with his people in a deputation to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he heard them calling him by his kunyah (surname), AbulHakam. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called him and said: Allah is the judge (al-Hakam), and to Him judgment belongs. Why are you given the kunyah AbulHakam? He replied: When my people disagree about a matter, they come to me, and I decide between them, and both parties are satisfied with my decision. He said: How good this is! What children have you? He replied: I have Shurayh, Muslim and Abdullah. He asked; Who is the oldest of them? I replied: Shurayh. He said: Then you are AbuShurayh.Abu Dawud said: This is Shuraib who broke the chain, and who entered Tustar.Abu Dawud said: I have been told that Shuraib broke the gate of Tustar, and he entered it through tunnel.

Sa'id b. Musayyab told that his father said on the authority of his grandfather (Hazn): The Prophet (ﷺ) asked: What is your name? He replied: Hazn (rugged). He said: You are Sahl (smooth). He said: No, smooth is trodden upon and disgraced. Sa'id said: I then thought that ruggedness would remain among us after it. AbuDawud said: The Prophet (ﷺ) changed the names al-'As, Aziz, Atalah, Shaytan, al-Hakam, Ghurab, Hubab, and Shihab and called him Hisham. He changed the name Harb (war) and called him Silm (peace). He changed the name al-Munba'ith (one who lies) and called him al-Mudtaji' (one who stands up). He changed the name of a land Afrah (barren) and called it Khadrah (green). He changed the name Shi'b ad-Dalalah (the mountain path of a stray), the name of a mountain path and called it Shi'b al-Huda (mountain path of guidance). He changed the name Banu az-Zinyah (children of fornication) and called them Banu ar-Rushdah (children of those who are on the right path), and changed the name Banu Mughwiyah (children of a woman who allures and goes astray), and called them Banu Rushdah (children of a woman who is on the right path). AbuDawud said: I omitted the chains of these for the sake of brevity.

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab: Masruq said: I met Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) who said: Who are you? I replied: Masruq ibn al-Ajda'. Umar then said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: al-Ajda' (mutilated) is a devil.

Samurah b. Jundub reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying: Do not call your servant Yasar (wealth), Rabah (profit), Nijih(prosperous) and Aflah (successful), for you may ask; Is he there? And someone says: No. Samurah said: These are four (names), so do not attribute more to me.

Samurah said: The Aposlte of Allah (May peace be upon him) forbade giving four names to our slaves : Aflah (successful), Yasar (wealth), Naf(beneficial) and Rabah (profit).

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If I survive (God willing), I shall forbid my people to give the names Nafi' (beneficial), Aflah (successful) and Barakah (blessing). Al-A'mash said: I do not know whether he mentioned Nafi' or not. When a man comes and asks: Is there Barakah (blessing)? The people say: No.Abu Dawud said: A similar tradition has been transmitted by Abu al-Zubair on the authority of Jabir from the Prophet (ﷺ) through a different chain of narrators. This version has no mention of Barakah.

Abu Hurairah reported the prophet (May peace be upon him) as saying : The vilest names in Allah’s sight on the Day of resurrection will be that of a man called Malik al-Amlak.Abu Dawud said: This tradition has also been transmitted by Shu'aib b. Abi Hamzah from Abi al-Zinad through different chain of narrators. This version has the words "akhna' ismin" (most obscene name) instead of "akhna ismin" (the vilest name).

Narrated AbuJubayrah ibn ad-Dahhak: This verse was revealed about us, the Banu Salimah: "Nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames: ill-seeming is a name connoting wickedness (to be used of one) after he has believed." He said: When the apostle of Allah (ﷺ) came to us, every one of us had two or three names. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to say: O so and so! But they would say: Keep silence, Messenger of Allah! He becomes angry by this name. So this verse was revealed: "Nor call each other by (offensive) nicknames."

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab: Zayd ibn Aslam quoted his father as saying: Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) struck one of his sons who was given the kunyah AbuIsa, and al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah had the kunyah AbuIsa. Umar said to him: Is it not sufficient for you that you are called by the kunyah AbuAbdullah? He replied: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave me this kunyah. Thereupon he said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was forgiven all his sins, past and those followed. But we are among the people similar to us. Henceforth he was called by the kunyah AbuAbdullah until he died.

Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him: My sonny.Abu Dawud said: I heard Yahya b. Ma'in praising the transmitter Muhammad b. Mahbub, and he said: He transmitted a large number of traditions.

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying: Call yourselves by my name, but do not use my KUNYAH (surname).Abu Dawud said : Abu Salih has transmitted it in a similar way from Abu Hurairah, and similar are the traditions of Abu Sufyan from Jabir, of Salim b. Abl al-Ja’d from Jabir, of Sulaiman al-Yashkuri from Jabir, and of Ibn al-Munkadir from Jabir and similar others and Anas b. Malik.

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: If anyone is called by my name, he must not be given my kunyah (surname), and if anyone uses my kunyah (surname), he must not be called by my name.Abu Dawud said: Ibn 'Ajlan transmitted it to the same effect from his father on the authority if Abu Hurairah. It has also been transmitted by Abu Zar'ah from Abu Hurairah in two different versions. And similar is the version of 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi 'Amrah from Abu Hurairah. This version is disputed: Al-Thawri and Ibn Juraij transmitted it according to the version of Abu al-Zubair; and Ma'qil b. 'Ubaid Allah transmitted it according to the version of Ibn Sirin. It is again dispted on Musa b. Yasar from Abu Hurariah, transmitting it in two versions: Hammad b. Khalid and Ibn Abi Fudaik varied in their versions.

Muhammad b. al-Hanafiyyah quoted 'Ali as saying: I said: Messenger of Allah! tell me if a son is born to me after your death, may I give him your name and your kunyah? He replied: Yes. The transmitter Abu Bakr did not mention the words "I said". Instead, he said: 'Ali said to the Prophet (ﷺ).

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: Messenger of Allah! I have given birth to a boy, and call him Muhammad and AbulQasim as kunyah (surname), but I have been told that you disapproved of that. He replied: What is it which has made my name lawful and my kunyah unlawful, or what is it which has made my kunyah unlawful and my name lawful?

Anas b. Malik said : The Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) used to come to visit us. I had a younger brother who was called Abu ‘Umair by Kunyah (surname). He had a sparrow with which he played, but it died. So one day the prophet (May peace be upon him) came to see him and saw him grieved. He asked: What is the matter with him? The people replied: His sparrow has died. He then said: Abu ‘Umair! What has happened to the little sparrow?

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Aisha said: Messenger of Allah! All my fellow-wives have kunyahs? He said: Give yourself the kunyah by Abdullah, your son - that is to say, her nephew (her sister's son). Musaddad said: Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr. She was called by the kunyah Umm Abdullah.Abu Dawud said: Qurran b. Tammam and Ma'mar all have transmitted it from Hisham in a similar manner. It has also been transmitted by Abu Usamah from Hisham, from 'Abbad b. Hamzah. Similarly, Hammad b. Salamah and Maslamah b. Qa'nab have narrated it from Hisham, like the tradition transmitted by Abu Usamah.

Narrated Sufyan ibn Asid al-Hadrami: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: It is great treachery that you should tell your brother something and have him believe you when you are lying.

Abu Mas’ud asked Abu ‘Abu Allah, or Abu Abd Allah asked Abu Mas’ud; what did you hear the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say about za’ama (they alleged, asserted, or it is said). He replied : I heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say: it is a bad riding-beast for a man (to say) za’ama (they asserted).Abu DAwud said : This Abu ‘Abd Allah is Hudhaifah.

Zaid b. Arqam said that the Prophet (May peace be upon him) addressed them, saying : To proceed (amma ba’d)

Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying : None of you should Call (grapes) karm, for the karm is a Muslim man, but call (grapes) garden of grapes (hada’iq al-a’nab).

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: None of you must say: "My slave" (abdi) and "My slave-woman" (amati), and a slave must not say: "My lord" (rabbi or rabbati). The master (of a slave) should say: "My young man" (fataya) and "My young woman" (fatati), and a slave should say "My master" (sayyidi) and "My mistress" (sayyidati), for you are all (Allah's slave and the Lord is Allah, Most High.

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by Abu Hurairah through a different chain of narrators. This version does not mention the Prophet (May peace be upon him) i.e, it does not go back to him. It has : He must say: “My master” (sayyidi) and “My patron” (mawlaya).

Narrated Buraydah ibn al-Hasib: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not call a hypocrite sayyid (master), for if he is a sayyid, you will displease your Lord, Most High.

Abu Umamah b. Sahl b. Hunaif quoted his father as saying : None of you must say Khabuthat nafsi (My heart is heaving), but one should say Laqisat nafsi (My heart is being annoyed).

‘A’ishah reported the Prophet (May peace be upon him) as saying: None of you should say Ja’shat nafsi (My heart is being agitated), but one should say Laqisat nafsi (My heart is being annoyed).

Narrated Hudhayfah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: Do not say: "What Allah wills and so and so wills," but say: "What Allah wills and afterwards so and so wills.

‘Adl b. Hatim said: A speaker gave sermon before the prophet (May peace be upon him). He said : he who obeys Allah and his Prophet will follow the right course, and he who disobeys them. He (The prophet) said: get up; he said: go away, a bad speaker you are.

Abu al-Malih reported on the authority of a man : I was riding on a mount behind the prophet (May peace be upon him). It stumbled. Thereupon I said: May the devil perish! He said: do not say; may the devil perish! For you say that, he will swell so much so that he will be like a house, and say: by my power. But say: in the name of Allah; for when you say that, he will diminish so much so that he will be like a fly.

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: When you hear....(Musa's version has): When a man says people have perished, he is the one who has suffered that fate most.Abu Dawud said: Malik said: If he says that out of sadness for the decadence of religion which he sees among the people, I do not think there is any harm in that. If he says that out of self-conceit and servility of the people, it is an abominable act which has been prohibited.