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Arba'un 15 — speak good or keep silent

الأربعون 15 — فليقل خيراً أو ليصمت

Abu Hurayra's hadith, the fifteenth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Bukhari (6018, 6475, 6136) and Muslim (74–76) through several routes from Abu Hurayra, some wordings running 'let him not harm his neighbour', others 'let him be generous in hosting his guest', others 'let him keep the ties of kin' in place of the neighbour, transmitted in meaning also from Abu Shurayh al-Khuza'i and reported from A'isha, Ibn Masud, Abdullah ibn Amr, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and Ibn Abbas; Ibn Rajab explains that the formula 'whoever believes in God and the Last Day' shows these traits are of the traits of iman and that deeds enter into iman, that the hadith commands the believer three things — speaking good or keeping silent, honouring the neighbour and withholding harm from him, and honouring the guest — the first belonging to God's rights and the latter two to His servants' rights together with refraining from harm, citing al-Tabarani's report of Aswad ibn Asram's counsel 'do not say with your tongue except what is good and do not extend your hand except to good' and the Musnad's report that the tongue's uprightness is of the traits of iman (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 314–342).

Depth

At a glance

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من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليقل خيراً أو ليصمت، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليكرم جاره، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليكرم ضيفه

Text: Tanzil Project,tanzil.net · verbatim and unchanged

Connections

Basis for
Prophetic adab (proper conduct)
Mentions
Abu Hurayra

People and things also explored

Ghadab (anger)Haya' (modesty and shame)Goodness of Islam — leaving what does not concern oneIman (faith)Husn al-khuluq (good character)Sabr (patience and steadfast endurance)The Conquest of KhaybarThe early Muslim community

Sources

  • Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 15 — speak good or keep silent”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-15/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.

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Related

Ghadab (anger)

The soul's agitation at offence or opposition, from which the sharia magnifies the call to guard; a man came to the Prophet saying 'counsel me' and he answered 'do not become angry', the man repeating his request several times and receiving the same answer — one route has 'teach me something and do not make it long that I may retain it', another 'point me to a deed that admits me to Paradise' — the answer one in every case; Ibn Rajab infers that repeating the answer to the renewed request shows anger to be the sum of evil and guarding against it the sum of good; Abu Amr ibn al-Salah reports from Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd that 'do not become angry' is one of the four hadiths from which all the conduct of goodness branches, and among the definitions of good character are Ahmad's 'that you not become angry or fierce' and Ishaq ibn Rahuya's 'a cheerful face and not becoming angry'.