Abu Musa رضي الله عنه said,
"The Prophet
heard a man praising another man and saying good words about him while he was present with them. He said, 'You have destroyed *or broke the back of the man!'"
[Al- Bukhari & Muslim]
Also,
Abdur- Ra'hman bin Abi Bakrah رضي الله عنه said that a man was once mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of Allah
. Another man said good words of praise about him. The Messenger of Allah then said, what translated means, "Woe unto you! You have beheaded your friend. If one of you has to praise, let him say, 'I think this and that' (about the praised man), if he thinks that he deserves it, 'And his reckoning is with Allah سبحانه وتعالى,' and let him not ascribe purity (to anyone)."
[Al-Bukhari & Muslim]
Also,
Ibrahim At-Taymi rh.a said that his father rh.a said,
"We were sitting in the presence of Umar رضي الله عنه when a man praised another man to his face. Umar رضي الله عنه said, 'You 'Aqartahu (crippled him), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى do the same to you.'" Furthermore, Abu Ma'mar rh.a said that a man stood up and praised one of the leaders, then Al-Miqdad رضي الله عنه started throwing sand in his face, and saying, "The Messenger of Allah
ordered us to throw sand in the faces of the praisers."
[Muslim, At-Tirmithi, Abu Dawood & ibn Majah]
From these Hadiths and stories, we conclude that the Messenger of Allah
prohibited praising others, especially while they can hear their praise. This is because such praise may encourage the praised persons to overestimate themselves, especially if they were people of position or wealth. Also, such praise may lead the praised person to be arrogant, which may lead to laziness and a lower number of good deeds, for one will depend on what he heard of praise and ignore acquiring more good deeds.....subhan'Allah!!
may Allah سبحانه وتعالى indeed make us better than others think and imagine us to be..Aameen and may Allah سبحانه وتعالى protect us from pride....Aameeen!!
''for verily a soul with an atoms weight of pride will not enter Jannah''
