Guiding People to Prevent them from Making Mistakes

abu umaamah ibn sahl ibn haneef reported that his father told him that the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) went out, and they travelled with him in the direction of makkah, until they reached the ravine of al-khazzaar near al-juhfah. sahl ibn haneef did ghusl, and he was a white man with a handsome body and beautiful skin. ‘aamir ibn rabee’ah, the brother of banu ‘adiyy ibn ka’b looked at him whilst he was doing ghusl and said, ‘i have never seen anything like what i have seen today, not even the skin of the virgin who is hidden away!’ [referring to the whiteness of his skin]. sahl fell to the ground (he had an epileptic fit). the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) came and it was said to him,

‘do you want to see sahl? by allaah, he cannot raise his head or wake up.’ he asked, ‘whose fault is this?’ they said, ‘ ‘aamir ibn rabee’ah looked at him.’ the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) called ‘aamir and rebuked him angrily, and said, ‘why would any one of you kill his brother? if any one of you sees that his brother has something he likes, let him pray for blessing for him.’ then he said to him, ‘bathe yourself to help him’. so he washed his face, his hands up to the elbows, his knees, the sides of his feet and inside his izaar (lower garment) in a vessel. then the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said, ‘pour that water over him.’ so he poured the water over his head and back from behind, tilting the vessel, and sahl went with the people and there was nothing wrong with him.” (al-musnad, 3/486. al-haythami said, the men of ahmad are the men of saheeh. al-majma’, 5/107)

according to a report narrated by maalik (may allaah have mercy on him), muhammad ibn abi umaamah ibn sahl ibn haneef said that he heard his father saying: “abu sahl ibn haneef did ghusl in al-kharraar and took off the garment he was wearing. ‘aamir ibn rabee’ah was looking at him, and sahl was a white man with beautiful skin. ‘aamir ibn rabee’ah said to him, ‘i have never seen anything like what i have seen today, not even the skin of the virgin!’. sahl fell ill on the spot and became seriously ill. the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) came and was told, ‘sahl has fallen ill, and cannot go with you, o messenger of allaah.’ sahl told him what had happened with ‘aamir, and the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him) said,

‘why would any one of you kill his brother? you should have asked for blessing for him. the (evil) eye is real. do wudoo’ to help him.” so ‘aamir did wudoo’, and sahl went with the messenger of allaah (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him), and there was nothing wrong with him. (al-muwatta’, hadeeth no. 1972).

what we learn from this story is:

•          the teacher (i.e., the prophet (peace and blessings of allaah be upon him)) got angry with the one who caused harm to his muslim brother.

•          he explained the harmful effects of the mistake and that it could lead to death.

•          he pointed the way to that which would prevent harm befalling a muslim.