I opt for this translation since it is an idiomatic expression



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Note added at 23 hrs (2008-03-01 20:48:12 GMT)
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In the name of Allah The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful
All praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds and peace and blessings be upon His Last Prophet, Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and his Companions, wives and household

Dear brother,

First of all, it should be known that I think well of all of my colleagues and expect them to do so. A part from KudoZ; when someone says the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said so and so, while the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not. What should you do? Surely, as a follower of this religion you would advise him bearing in my mind that it is a grave sin to lie against the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. If you know this fact and do not remind or advise that person, you commit a sin. If he does not know that is not a Hadeeth, he is not held accountable for his mistake but you will be. So, it is obligatory upon Muslims to remind, advise and correct each other. Do not forget that one of the three characteristics of this Ummah which are mentioned in Quran 3:110 is to forbid what is wrong. There are many Hadeeths in which the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, crystallized the religion in advice and ordered us to advise each other and be sincere to each other. If we are going to ignore our religious consonants due to KudoZ rules, then I am the first one to shun KudoZ.

Dear Khalid, suppose that I said, President so and so said, “We are going to lunch war against such and such country” or “Such and such country is our enemy…” etc. whether I said these words in KudoZ or in anywhere without verification, I will be held accountable for attributing words to someone who did not say or misinforming people. This is the case regarding the words of a president who may issue an announcement in the second day discarding what was attributed to him and who govern very limited number of people within a specific period. So, what the case should be regarding the words of the Noble Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, whose words, acts and tacit approvals are (Tashree‘) legislation for more than one billion and half Muslims in past, present and future.

It should be known that the Muslim Ummah is distinguished with ‘Ilm Naqdh Ar-Rijaal the knowledge of criticism of men (i.e. narrators). The early scholars did so fearing that one day comes and people say the prophet said so and so. Anyone who says so will be asked, “who told you and who told him” and so on until the end of the chain of transmitters. Then, such transmitters’ credibility will be tested one by one, according to their degree of trustworthiness the Hadeeth will be accepted or rejected.

In a nut shell, if we are going to pass any religious issue like this without any comment that means we approve and agree to it. Those who will come after us will visit these web pages and topics and may take its content for granted. Consequently, our religion will be distorted while we stand by gaining KudoZ and Browniz points; that is what I vehemently object.

Well, it is good act from you to avoid the controversial part, but the link directs us to the whole statement which is allegedly attributed to the Prophet. You should have not said that it is a part of a Hadeeth and just mentioned it as an idiomatic Arabic expression. As you said that it is one of the sayings of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in a Hadeeth; then, these words should be judged from two perspectives: religious and Kudozian ones.

Thanks a lot for your understanding.

Best Regards
Saleh A. Dardeer Al-Qammaari
Egypt