1) The daa'ee must evaluate himself fairly and acknowledge both his strengths and weaknesses, rather than portray himself as more knowledgeable than he truly is. 2) One should not consider themselves independent of Islamic scholars, and must take knowledge and advice from them. 3) Recriminating others too harshly could cause them to become defensive or turn to less knowledgeable people, and may damage relationships that are important to maintain. It is best to avoid reviving past issues.

1. Zaad Ad-Daa'iyah Ilallaah
by The Noble Scholar Muhammad Ibn Saalih Ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullaah)
No Copyright. For the sake of Allah and Da’wah to His Deen. Copy or use as you like. The translator does appreciate credit where it is due.
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The daa’ee must evaluate himself properly perhaps just as much if not more than he has do assess
anyone else. He must be fair and just in his assessments of both. Each person has their own strengths and
weakness and certainly they should not put themselves in positions they do not belong or make themselves
out to be more than they are. It is not false modesty to not allow oneself to be called a shaykh or a scholar
when they truly are not. These terms are too lightly used and can be very misleading.

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In these times where one’s words are often recorded and in the age of the Internet, what you say or write,
or what is said or written about you may take on a life of its own that you never intended. Things you may
have long forgotten about or even backed away from may still be in circulation and current in the minds of
those who listen or read. Ever more reason for pause.

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A key point here is that one should not consider themselves independent of the scholars of Islam and
knowledge and advice must be taken from them as this is their place as inheritors of the Prophet
(sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam).

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This is another reason not to always completely remonstrate the person who is indeed wrong or mistaken
as it could aid the Shaytaan against him and cause them to be defensive and even turn towards others who

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share his error. Also the person you may degrade too much may be a person you need to approach and
make amends with in the future but due to your actions or words you may not be able to.

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If one goes too far in their recriminations they may cause irreparable harm not only to the
person whose name or reputation they have attacked, but indeed to his own reputation and
image and that of Islam. It could be that person has repented or corrected themselves and is
respected by many. Whereas if others continue to mention that which has long passed due to
continually reviving the issue, it will make them seem petty and mean spirited. Bad words tend to
linger and are less easily forgotten than good ones and certainly no one would like to be spoken
badly of or labeled for something they may or may not have erred in long ago. This type of thing
often leads to recriminations and tick for tack fighting which is very wrong among Muslims. An
important issue here too is that one should be sure that the matter was in fact made clear to the
other Muslim especially. Some may think they have made something clear but due to their bad
manner and not properly implementing other matters as mentioned earlier, they may have
actually made things worse.