The Difference Between Advising & Shaming

Description

He beautifully illustrates the difference betweeen advising that is encouraged, and shaming that is not permitted. The difference between sincere advising and shaming Ibn Rajab al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, in his monograph al-Farq bain al-Naseehah w’al-Ta’eer, devotes one section to the topic of “On the Difference between advising about one’s short-comings in order to return from that, and rebuking and scolding for one’s sins.” It reads as follows: And from this is that one would tell a man something that he disliked to his face, and if that was with the purpose of sincerely advising him, then that is good. And one of the Salaf said to his brother, “Do not advise me until you can say something to my face which I dislike. “And the salaf disliked to command good and forbid evil in this way [i.e. with shaming and re-probation], and they loved to be discrete about what went on between the enjoiner of good and the one being enjoined, for verily this is one of the signs of sincere advising.