Helping a Muslim to Correct his Mistake

abu hurayrah (may allaah be pleased with him) said:

“whilst we were sitting with the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him), a man came to him and said, ‘o messenger of allaah, i am doomed!’ he said, ‘what is the matter with you?’ he said, ‘i had intercourse with my wife whilst i was fasting.’ the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said, ‘are you able to set a slave free?’ he said, ‘no.’ he asked, ‘can you fast for two consecutive months?’ he said, ‘no.’ he said, ‘can you feed sixty poor persons?’ he said, ‘no.’ the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said nothing more about the matter for a while, and whilst we were sitting there like that, the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) was brought a large vessel full of dates. he said, ‘where is the one who was asking just now?’ the man said, ‘here i am.’ he said, ‘take this and give it in charity.’ the man said, ‘o messenger of allaah, is there anyone poorer between al-harratayn [i.e., in madeenah] than my family?’ the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) smiled so broadly that his eyeteeth could be seen, then he said, ‘feed it to your family.’” (reported by al-bukhaari, no. 1936).

according to a report narrated by ahmad from ‘aa`ishah (may allaah be pleased with her), whilst the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) was sitting in the shade of a large tree, a man came to him and said,

“i am burnt, o messenger of allaah!” he said, “what is the matter with you?” he said, “i had intercourse with my wife whilst i was fasting.” ‘aa`ishah  said: this was in ramadaan. the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said to him, “sit down.” so he sat down at the edge of the group of people. then a man brought a donkey on which was a vessel of dates, and said, “this is my sadaqah (charity), o messenger of allaah.” the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said, “where is the burnt one who was here just now?” the man said, “here i am, o messenger of allaah.” he said, “take this and give it in charity.” he said, “to whom should i give it except myself? by the one who sent you with the truth, i do not have anything for myself and my children.” he said, “then take it,” so he took it. (al-musnad, 6/276)