The congregation glared at me, and I blurted out, “May my mother be bereaved of me! Why are you all staring at me?” They began tapping their thighs with their hands, and when I realized they were urging me to keep silent, I held my peace. After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ completed the prayer—may my father and mother be ransomed for him—I have never seen a teacher, before or after him, who taught more gently. By Allah, he neither scolded me, nor struck me, nor reviled me. He simply said, “This prayer is not the place for any human speech; it is only for glorifying Allah, proclaiming His greatness, and reciting the Quran.”

(As we were informed—or as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ put it.) I then said, “Messenger of Allah, I have only recently left the age of ignorance, and Allah has now granted us Islam. Among us are men who still visit fortune-tellers.” He replied, “Do not go to them.” I said, “And some of us take omens.” He said, “That is something they find within their hearts; let it not deter them.” Narrated by Muslim.

[Explanation]
Imam al-Nawawi—may Allah have mercy on him—mentions in the chapter “Preaching, exercising moderation in it, and avoiding weariness and boredom for the listeners” that we have already discussed the verse he cited in this chapter: “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and good admonition, and debate with them in the manner that is best.” He then brings several hadiths, among them the report of ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir that the Prophet