‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported:
I said to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): Sufficient for you that Safiyyah is such-and-such, —one of the narrators said: She meant "short"—so he said: "You have said a word that, if it were mixed with the water of the sea, it would taint it." She said: And I mimicked a person for him, and he said: "I would not like to mimic a person, even if I were given such-and-such."
Reported by Abu Dawud (No. 4875), At-Tirmidhi (No. 2503) and Ahmad (No. 23816, 23899, 24526).
‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) said to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): Sufficient for you that Safiyyah—meaning the Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her)—one of her physical defects was that she was short. So he replied: You have said a word that, if it were mixed with the water of the sea, would overwhelm, alter, and spoil it. She added: And I mimicked someone disparagingly. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said: I would not be pleased to speak of anyone's fault, nor to mimic his actions or words disparagingly, even if I were given a great deal of worldly wealth for it.
Lessons
Warning and deterring against backbiting.
Imitating others' appearances or actions in a way that belittles or demeans them is considered forbidden backbiting.
Describing others' physical flaws is a form of backbiting.
Al-Qādi said: "Mixing" means blending and altering by adding something else to it. The meaning here is that if this backbiting were something that could be mixed with the sea, it would change its state, despite the sea's vastness and abundance. So how much more would it affect a limited amount of deeds if mixed with them?
Clarifying some of the jealousy that can occur between wives.
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) did not approve of evil.
Pointing out the insignificance of worldly matters compared to the pleasure of Allah Almighty and avoiding His displeasure.
Islam is the religion of good morals, and it commands the protection of people's honor from being violated by words or actions, as such behavior breeds enmity and hatred among Muslims.
Explanation in Arabic
قالت أم المؤمنين عائشة رضي الله عنها للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: يكفيك من صفية -تعني أم المؤمنين رضي الله عنها- أن من عيوبها البدنية أنها قصيرة، فقال: لقد قلت كلمة لو خلطت بماء البحر لغلبته وغيرته وأفسدته، قالت: وفعلت مثل فعل إنسان تنقصًا له، فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: ما يسرني أن أتحدث بعيبه، أو أن أحاكيه وأفعل مثل فعله أو أقول مثل قوله على وجه التنقيص ولو أعطيت شيئًا كثيرًا من الدنيا على ذلك.
التحذير والترهيب من الغيبة.
تقليد الهيئات ومحاكاة الناس على سبيل التحقير والتنقيص من الغيبة المحرمة.
وصف العيوب البدنية جزء من الغيبة.
قال القاضي: المزج الخلط والتغيير بضم غيره إليه، والمعنى أن هذه الغيبة لو كانت مما يمزج بالبحر لغيرته عن حاله، مع كثرته وغزارته، فكيف بأعمال نزرة خلطت بها.
بيان شيء مما يحصل بين الزوجات من الغيرة.
عدم إقراره صلى الله عليه وسلم للمنكر.
تصغير شأن الدنيا وما فيها إذا قُورن برضا الله تعالى وعدم سخطه.
الإسلام دين الأخلاق الحسنة، وقد أمر بحفظ الأعراض من أن تنتهك بالقول أو الفعل؛ لأنه مما يورث العداوة والبغضاء بين المسلمين.
وعن عائشة رضي الله عنها: قالت قلت للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم حسبك من صفية كذا وكذا. قال بعض الرواة: تعني قصيرة، فقال: "لقد قلت كلمة لو مُزجت بماء البحر لمزجته!" قالت: وحكيت له إنسانًا فقال: “ما أحب أني…
