Islamic Manners: The Art of Listening

[Muslimah_*]

Islamic Manners: The Art of Listening
Shaykh Abdul Fattah Abu Ghudda
http://islaam.com//Article.aspx?id=592

If a person starts telling you, whether in private or public, something that you already knew very well, you should pretend as if you do not know it. Do not rush to reveal your knowledge or to interfere with the speech. Instead, show your attention and concentration. The honorable tab'i Imam Ata ibn Abi Rabah said: "A young man would tell me something that I may have heard before he was born. Nevertheless, I would listen to him as if I had never heard it before."

Khalid ibn Safwan al-Tamimi, who frequented the courts of two Khalifahs: Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and Hisham ibn Abdul Malik, said: "If a person tells you something you have heard before, or news that you already learned, do not interrupt him to exhibit your knowledge to those present. This is rude and ill mannered." The honorable Imam Abdullah ibn Wahab al-Qurashi al-Masri, a companion of Imam Malik, Al-Laith ibn Sad and Al-Thawri, said: "Sometimes a person would tell me a story that I have heard before his parents had wed. Yet, I listened as if I have never heard it before." Ibrahim ibn al-Junaid said: "A wise man said to his son: 'Learn the art of listening as you learn the art of speaking.'" Listening well means maintaining eye contact, allowing the speaker to finish the spech, and restraining your urge to interrupt his speech. Al-Hafiz al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said in a poem:


Never interrupt a talk
Though you know it inside out

[Al Baitel 'ateeq]

Good post masha-Allah.

I know i have a habit of interrupting when ppl speak so i do try and refrain from doing so. I know it's rude and doesn't show much patience

[Majestic_Islam]

Assalaamu 'alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abul Ghuddah Allah Yarhamu has a book entitled: Islamic Manners which we went over with my teacher once.

An excellent book for one who wishes to know the Islamic Adab and tarbiyyah - etiquettes.

Fi Amanillah

Abu Khadijah

[Muslim..Priincess]

i think this is one hard skill-that people have to learn.

it's not that easy,no.

khair,

may we all learn islamic adaab.

[RED ROSE]

ALLAH akbaar this is exactly what muslims must need.
so they can be example for others.

[Rachael]

Does it apply to people that keep telling the same stories over and over LOL - it drives me nuts!

[Majestic_Islam]

Rachael, I understand where you are coming from. In Islam, the default station is to be silent when not required to talk - as it is actually considered worship (but at the same token, when required to talk - you can't keep silent such as in defending someone's honour or stopping gossip mongers from their filth etc).

They say silence is golden in the English language, well in Islam, it's more than just gold, it is earning the currency for the hereafter infact.

Regards

[RED ROSE]

there must be something wrong with them if they keep telling the story 100 times
LOooooL
but i gusse if i know them very well i wold tell them you've said this story million times.so plz
LOL