Giving Advice (Nasihah)

Giving Advice (Naṣīḥah)
Delivered by Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq on Friday 26th February 2021 at Al Kawthar Academy, Leicester

We are often presented with the opportunity to give advice to others. How and when we give this advice is vital as it may be considered unsolicited by the receiving party. This topic falls under the wider meaning of “al-dīn al-naṣīḥah”.

Two types of advice to others are identified: solicited and unsolicited. Regarding the first type, it is deemed an obligation to respond to a request for advice without wriggling out of it. Aḥādīth that enumerate the rights of a Muslim over another are quoted for this reason and expounded on. The exception on giving advice is when the person fears insincerity or lack of wisdom in his advice, in which case it is better to decline.

The importance of sincerity is even more emphasized for unsolicited advice. Positive examples of unsolicited advice are mentioned to be that of the prophets of Allah and Jarīr ibn Abdullah r.a. The importance of advising with knowledge and softness as well as being respectful of other opinions is mentioned.

Below are some of the timecodes and topics for this talk:

0:00 – Intro: Giving Advice
5:30 – Solicited advice
9:30 – Instruction to give advice
14:27 – Avoiding the responsibility of giving advice
17:56 – Sincerity in giving advice
20:57 – Qualities of one giving advice
26:45 – Unsolicited advice
30:13 – Jarīr ibn Abdullah r.a. giving unsolicited advice
39:30 – Importance of knowledge when giving advice
50:30 – Manner of giving advice

FREE audio download available on SoundCloud

View Also

al-Bukhari Completion Ceremony 2022

al-Bukhārī Completion Ceremony 2022 Final speech delivered by Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq on Friday 30th …