Umm ad-Darda’ (Allah be pleased with her) reported that a man came to her and said,

“A man has said bad things about you in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Malik.’ She said, “If we are suspected of something which we did not do, then how often have we been praised for something we did not have!”

Explanation: Hazrat Umm ad-Darda’ (Allah be pleased with her) has mentioned something very useful. That is, if someone says bad things about us and finds faults in us then we should tell our Nafs that if he has said something wrong about me then there are other things as well which are said wrong about me. That is, people have praised me for some knowledge or good deed or act of worship, and have said good things about me when in reality I do not possess many of those good things. If I can tolerate those praises which are based on incorrect assumptions then I should also tolerate the wrong things said about me which are based on incorrect assumptions. It is easy to explain to Nafs: Look! The one who has praised you, he has also lied. So you should tolerate this lie as well.

Source: Hadith # 420, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad by Imam Bukhari (rahimahullah) with Urdu translation and explanation by Maulana Muhammad Khalid Sahab Khangarhi

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