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The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ordered people to be gentle when calling them
The mercy of the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, reached the extent that he would prohibit calling a slave and slave girl by using the word ‘slave’ and ‘slave girl,’ and he replaced those two words with two words that are more gentle and kind, and they are ‘lad’ and ‘lass.’
Abu Hurayrah said:
“The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Let not one of you say, ‘my slave,’ because all of you are the slaves of Allah. Rather, let him say, ‘My lad.’ And let not the slave say, ‘My Lord,’ but he should say, ‘My master.’”
The wording that Al-Bukhaari (a scholar) reported reads:
“Let not one of you say, ‘Feed your lord,’ or ‘Pour water for your lord,’ or, ‘Give water to your lord,’ but he should say, ‘my master’ or ‘my guardian.’ Also, one of you should not say, ‘my slave,’ or ‘my slave girl,’ but rather should say, ‘my lad,’ ‘my lass,’ and ‘my boy.’”
Therefore, it is disliked for a master to say to his slave: ‘my slave,’ or ‘my slave girl, rather, should say, ‘my boy,’ or ‘my bondmaid, or ‘my lad, or ‘my lass’. This is because Allah is the One Who deserves the reality of servitude, and because it contains a certain glorification that would be unbefitting for a created being to use with regard to themselves.
