Some hadith contain warnings that are deliberately severe. Their purpose is not to make us despair, but to make us stop treating destructive behaviour as small.
One such narration is the hadith of Abu Dharr in Sahih Muslim 106. The Prophet ﷺ warned of three people to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, will not look at them, will not purify them, and for whom there is a painful punishment.
The older version of this page previously mixed this narration with other major sins. This article now sticks to the three categories actually named in this specific hadith.
What does Sahih Muslim 106 say?
The narration names three categories: al-musbil, the one who reminds people of gifts or favours in a hurtful way, and the seller who promotes merchandise through a false oath.
This is a strong warning. It should make us reflect on clothing and pride, the ethics of giving, and honesty in business. At the same time, each issue should be understood through the wider body of Islamic texts rather than a single translated line taken in isolation.
1. Al-musbil: letting the garment hang below the ankles
The Arabic term used in the narration is al-musbil. There are several hadith on garments below the ankles, including narrations that explicitly mention pride and arrogance. Scholars have discussed how these texts relate to one another and whether the ruling differs according to intention and circumstance.
For that reason, this page should not be used as a substitute for a detailed fiqh ruling. If you need a personal legal answer, ask a qualified scholar who can explain the evidence and the relevant school of law.
The spiritual point that should not be lost is the danger of arrogance. Clothing can become a way of displaying status, superiority or contempt. Islam repeatedly attacks pride because it corrupts the heart long before anyone else can see it.
2. Reminding people of what you have given them
The second person is someone who gives, then uses the gift as leverage. They keep reminding the recipient: “Remember what I did for you,” “You owe me,” or “After everything I gave you.”
That behaviour can turn charity into humiliation. The Qur’an warns believers not to invalidate charity through reminders of generosity and hurtful words (Qur’an 2:264). Giving for Allah’s sake should protect a person’s dignity, not become a tool for controlling them.
This applies beyond formal charity. It can happen between relatives, spouses, friends or colleagues. A favour is not truly generous if we repeatedly weaponise it later.
3. Selling goods through a false oath
The third warning concerns a seller who uses a false oath to move merchandise. In modern language, this is not just “bad sales technique.” It is lying, commercial manipulation and misuse of Allah’s name at the same time.
The principle reaches far beyond a market stall. It includes exaggerating a product’s condition, inventing scarcity, hiding faults, making false guarantees, fabricating reviews or swearing that a claim is true when you know it is not.
For Muslims working in ecommerce, marketing, retail or sales, this part of the hadith is especially relevant. A conversion is not worth compromising truthfulness.
Why is the warning so severe?
All three behaviours can contain a form of contempt for other people: arrogance in appearance, humiliation after giving, or deception for profit. They also involve ordinary daily situations where a person may easily convince themselves that the behaviour is harmless.
Severe warnings in the Sunnah wake us up to sins that can become normalised. They are not permission to declare specific individuals doomed. Judgement belongs to Allah, repentance remains open while a person is alive, and people may have circumstances we do not know.
What was wrong with the older version of this article?
The old page listed disobedience to parents as one of the three categories in this particular narration. Disobedience to parents is indeed a major sin and is addressed elsewhere in Qur’an and Sunnah, but it is not one of the three categories named in Sahih Muslim 106.
Keeping references accurate matters. A reminder can be emotionally powerful and still be wrong if the source is misquoted. That is exactly why Muslims Life is moving older articles away from loose internet summaries and towards source-checked explanations.
How to apply this hadith today
- Check your intention around status. Ask whether clothing, possessions or presentation are feeding arrogance.
- Give without humiliating. If you help someone, do not repeatedly use that help to win arguments or demand loyalty.
- Audit your selling language. Remove claims you cannot prove, including inflated guarantees and false urgency.
- Take Allah’s name seriously. Do not use religious language to make an ordinary claim sound more convincing.
- Correct old misinformation. If you shared the wrong wording of a hadith, correcting it is better than defending a mistake.
A warning should lead to tawbah, not hopelessness
If you recognise yourself in one of these behaviours, the response is not “there is no hope for me.” The response is repentance, correction and restitution where another person’s rights were involved.
Our guide to tawbah explains the basic steps. Where dishonesty or harm involved another person, sincere repentance may also require putting the situation right.
Three self-audit questions from this hadith
Do I use status to make other people feel smaller?
Pride does not always announce itself. It can appear in how we dress, speak, display purchases or expect treatment because of money, family, job title or religious knowledge. The hadith should push us towards humility rather than towards policing strangers.
Do my gifts come with invisible conditions?
If somebody feels that accepting your help means they can never disagree with you again, the gift has become relational debt. A cleaner form of generosity gives because it is right, not because it purchases permanent influence.
Would I say the same thing in a sale if Allah’s name was not involved?
False oaths are an obvious form of dishonesty, but the underlying commercial lesson is wider. Ask whether product photos, descriptions, guarantees and urgency claims would still feel truthful if a customer challenged every line. Muslims should be known for transparent dealing, not clever ways of staying technically within the wording.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the three people in Sahih Muslim 106?
The narration names al-musbil, the person who reminds others of gifts or favours in a hurtful way, and a seller who uses a false oath to promote goods.
Does this hadith mean every person with trousers below the ankle has the same ruling?
The wider hadith literature includes texts about garments and pride, and scholars discuss how those narrations fit together. A detailed personal ruling should be taken from a qualified scholar.
Why was disobedience to parents removed from this article?
Because it is not one of the three categories named in Sahih Muslim 106. It is a serious sin addressed in other texts, but it should not be inserted into this particular narration.
References
- Sahih Muslim 106
- Qur’an 2:264
