—everything would be easy, yet he keeps stalling—then it is imperative to report the matter to his superior so that the required action is taken.

The conclusion drawn from this hadith is that sincere advice is obligatory and that matters must be presented exactly as they are. To meet someone with a smiling face and, once he turns his back, to turn away and speak ill of him is forbidden and is a mark of hypocrisy.

A still more specific example is this: a man approaches another and says, “Mā shāʾ Allāh, you are such a fine, kind, and generous person,” praising him with words that fill the belly while concealing hatred in his heart; his real intention is to extract whatever he can from him. Some people are that devious: they take what the other possesses, and the unsuspecting man—whose heart is sound—may listen to the flatterer, thinking he is a sincere adviser. Then, once he leaves—Allah’s refuge is sought—he heaps the measure back upside-down, maligning the man’s reputation, cursing him, and saying, “He is negligent; he has no religion.”

A Muslim, therefore, must fear his Lord, avoid flattery, lying, and deceit, and be forthright so that Allah may set things right through him. Allah alone grants success.

1619 – Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sufyān, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever makes his deeds heard of, Allah will make his disgrace heard of; and whoever shows off, Allah will expose him.” Agreed upon. Muslim also related it through a narration of Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both.

The verb samiʿa is pronounced with a doubled mīm and means to publicize one’s deed out of ostentation. “Allah will make his disgrace heard of” means He will expose him on the Day of Resurrection, and “whoever shows off” refers to anyone who parades his deeds before people.