How a Muslim should praise another Muslim

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: ((إِذَا كَانَ أَحَدُكُم مَادِحاً صَاحِبَهُ لاَ مَحَالَةَ فَليَقُل: أَحسِبُ فُلاَناً وَاللَّهُ حَسِيبُهُ، وَلاَ أُزَكِّي عَلَى اللَّهِ أَحَداً، أَحسِبُهُ – إِن كَانَ يَعلَمُ ذَاكَ – كَذَا وَكَذَا)).

Approximate Arabic reading aid

Qāla an-nabiyyu ṣallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam: idhā kāna aḥadukum mādiḥan ṣāḥibahu lā maḥālata falyaqul: aḥsibu fulānan wallāhu ḥasībuhu, walā uzakkī 'alā allāhi aḥadan, aḥsibuhu – in kāna ya'lamu dhāka – kadhā wakadhā.

English meaning

He said: ‘If anyone of you is impelled to praise his brother, then he should say: ‘I deem so-and-so to be…and Allah is his reckoner…and I don’t praise anyone, putting it (i.e. my praising) forward, in front of Allah’s commendation, however I assume him so and so’…if he knows that of him.

Explanation (Tafseer)

This wording makes praise careful and humble. The speaker says only what they consider true about a person, while affirming that Allah is the person’s true reckoner. It avoids claiming certain purity for anyone before Allah and limits the description to qualities the speaker actually knows.

When to use

How a Muslim should praise another Muslim

Reference & source

Hisn al-Muslim 231

Open source