فَلَا تُزَكُّوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡۖ هُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَنِ ٱتَّقَىٰٓ
Ascribe not purity to yourselves. He knows best him who has Taqwa (Piety).
Forbidding one from ascribing purity and praising himself and thinking highly of his actions, Allah said in another Ayah,
﴿ أَلَمۡ تَرَ إِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ يُزَكُّونَ أَنفُسَہُمۚ بَلِ ٱللَّهُ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَآءُ وَلَا يُظۡلَمُونَ فَتِيلاً ﴾
Have you not seen those who claim purity for themselves? Nay – but Allah purifies whom He pleases, and they will not be dealt with injustice even equal to the extent of a Fatila (A scalish thread in the long slit of a date-stone) ( Surah Nisa 4:49)
In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that Muhammad bin `Amr bin `Ata said, “I called my daughter, Barrah (the pious one), and Zaynab bint Abu Salamah said to me, `The Messenger of Allah forbade using this name. I was originally called Barrah and he said,
« لَا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ، إِنَّ اللهَ أَعْلَمُ بِأَهْلِ الْبِرِّ مِنْكُم »
(Do not ascribe purity to yourselves; Allah knows best who the pious people among you are)’ They said, `What should we call her’ He said,
« سَمُّوهَا زَيْنَب »
(Call her Zaynab.)” Imam Ahmad recorded a Hadith from `Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Bakrah, from his father who said, “A man praised another man before the Prophet. The Messenger of Allah said,
« وَيْلَكَ قَطَعْتَ عُنُقَ صَاحِبِكَ مرارًا إِذَا كَانَ أَحَدُكُمْ مَادِحًا صَاحِبَهُ لَا مَحَالَةَ، فَلْيَقُلْ: أَحْسِبُ فُلَانًا وَاللهُ حَسِيبُهُ، وَلَا أُزَكِّي عَلَى اللهِ أَحَدًا، أَحْسِبُهُ كَذَا وَكَذَا، إِنْ كَانَ يَعْلَمُ ذلِك »
(Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your friend! (He repeated this) If one of you must praise a friend of his, let him say, “I think that so-and-so is this and that; Allah knows best about him and I will never purify anyone before Allah,” if he knows his friend to be as he is describing him.)” Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah collected this Hadith. Imam Ahmad recorded that Hammam bin Al-Harith said, “A man came before `Uthman bin `Affan and praised him. Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad started throwing sand in the face of that man, saying, `The Messenger of Allah ordered us to throw sand in their faces when we see those who praise.”’ Muslim and Abu Dawud also collected this Hadith.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir Surah Najm Ayah 32
((There are those that ascribe themselves to fanatical groups who praise one another and fall into the same trial of self-praise. They praise individuals from their own group, then ascribe themselves to the group, consequently praising themselves albeit indirectly.
May Allah save us from the tricks of the Shaytaan and his allies.))
Compilers Note
Ahlul-Hadith 