Chapter: The Disapproval of Calling Grapes al-karam

1740 – Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not call grapes al-karam, for al-karam (true nobility) is the Muslim.” Agreed upon; this is Muslim’s wording. In another narration it reads, “Al-karam is only the heart of the believer.” A further report collected by al-Bukhari and Muslim states: “People say ‘karam’; in fact, karam is only the heart of the believer.”

1741 – Waʾil ibn Hujr (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not say ‘karam’; rather, say ʿinab (grapes) and ḥubla (vine).” Related by Muslim. The word ḥubla is pronounced with a fatḥa on both the ḥāʾ and the bāʾ, though some render the bāʾ silent.

[Commentary]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—in his book Riyad al-Salihin says: “Chapter: The Disapproval of a man’s saying, ‘khubuthat nafsī.’ ‘Khubuthat nafsī’ means laqasat (my soul feels queasy), and laqasat means ghaṯiyat (I feel nauseated).” At times a person is overtaken by a sense of constriction—what people commonly call a “tightness”—so the world weighs upon him without his knowing the cause, and he says, “khubuthat nafsī.” Khubuthat means “it has become foul,” and this word