Aslam

(2) Show The second harm at the time of praise is show, as love is expressed by praise but it may not be in mind and he may not believe in all he says. Thus he shows a show or hypocrisy.

(3) The praised man is praised without knowing whether he has that quality in him. It is reported that a certain man praised another before the Prophet. The Prophet then said to them : You have severed the neck of your brother. If he hears it, he will not get salvation. Then he said : If you are to praise a man, say 'I know him as such God knows whether he is pure or impure. I can't say in excess of what God knows of anybody' So it is danger to say that he is a pious man, he is God-fear, he is a pilanthropist. Once Hazrat Omar saw a man praising another. He asked the praiser :
Have you travelled with him ? He said : No. He asked him : Have you carried on business with him ? He said : No. He asked him :
Are you his neighbour morning and evening ? He said : No. He said : By God, I think you have not known him.

(4) The praised man may be an oppressor or a great sinner. To praise him in such circumstances is unlawful. The Prophet said :
When a great sinner is praised, God then becomes displeased.
Hazrat Hasan Basari said : He who wishes long life of an oppressor, disobeys God in His world. The praised man gets two harms by the praise. It gives pride in him and he feels self praise.
These two things are ruinous. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : One day Hazrat Omar was seated with a stick among the people, when a man Zarat-b-Munzer came there. One of those present said. This man is the chief of Rabiah tribe. Hazrat Omar and those around him heard it. When he came near Hazrat Omar, he was brandishing his stick over his head. At this the man said : O Commander of the Faithful, what sort of treatment is this ? He said : Have you not heard what that man said about you ? He said: Yes, I have heard it. Hazrat Omar said : I feared that praise

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124 The Book of Destructive evils Vol-III

may grow in you a sense of pride. For that I destroyed it by the show of strike by this stick.

(2) The second harm is that when a man praises another, the latter becomes pleased and finds solace and as such gives up self-improvement, as he understand that he has reached the limit of progress. He who understands that he has got faults, tries for improvement of his character. For this rason, the Prophet said :
You have severed his neck. If he possesses it, he will not get salvation. The Prophet said : If you praise a man in his face, think that you are passing sharp knife round his neck. The Prophet said : It is better to attack a man with sharp sword than to praise a man before his face. Hazrat Omar said : Praise is like murdered as the murdered person is saved from the responsibility of actions.
Praise grows idleness or self-praise and pride. Both are destructive like murder.