1320 – ʿAʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stated, “Ill-omen is bad character.” Reported by Ahmad, and its chain of transmission is weak. (1)

• Degree of the ḥadith:
  Its isnād is weak.
  Al-ʿIraqi remarked: The ḥadith, “Ill-omen is bad character,” was transmitted by Ahmad from ʿAʾishah, and by Abū Dāwūd (5162) from Rāfiʿ ibn Makīth with the wording, “Bad character is an ill-omen.” Neither chain is sound, although the author merely said, “its chain is weak.”
  Rāfiʿ ibn Makīth was a Companion who witnessed al-Hudaybiyah and the Conquest, and he carried the banner.

• Vocabulary:
  – al-shuʾm (ill-omen): with ḍammah on the shīn and a silent hamzah that may be eased; it is the opposite of blessing and abundance.
  – suʾ al-khuluq (bad character): Khuluq (character) is a firmly rooted disposition of the soul from which actions issue easily and without deliberation. When those actions are evil, the person is said to have bad character.

• Points derived from the ḥadith:

  1. Good character is the hallmark of Allah’s select servants, of whom He said, “those who restrain their anger and pardon people” (Āl ʿImrān 134). It is the chief of virtuous traits and a sign of everlasting felicity. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Righteousness is good character” (Muslim 2553).