Question

Is this a Hadith?

من علامة الشقاوة نسيان عيوب النفس والتفرغ لعيوب الناس

Answer

This is not a Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). Rather, it is a paraphrase of a statement of Imam Ibn Qayyim Al Jawziyyah (rahimahullah).

Imam Ibn Qayyim (rahimahullah) writes under the chapter of the wisdom behind Allah’s laws:

“A person should avoid speaking about the faults of people and pondering over them, for it distracts him from thinking about his own faults. Glad tidings to the person whose own faults keep him occupied from the faults of others. Woe and destruction to the one who forgets his own faults and is preoccupied with the faults of others. This is one of the signs of wretchedness…”

(Mifathu Daris Sa’adah, vol. 2, pg. 817)

The words “Glad tidings to the person whose own faults keep him occupied from the faults of others” have been reported in a Hadith of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam). See here.

Also see here.

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best.

Answered by: Mawlana Suhail Motala

Approved by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

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التخريج من المصادر العربية:

مفتاح دار السعادة ومنشور ولاية العلم والإرادة: (٨١٧/٢)
فصل ومنها انه ويوجب له الامساك عن عيوب الناس والفكر فيها فإنه في شغل بعيب نفسه فطوبى لمن شغله عيبه عن عيوب الناس وويل لمن نسي عيبه وتفرغ لعيوب الناس هذا من علامة الشقاوة كما ان الاول من امارات السعادة.