25. The Prophet’s Guidance in His Speech, Silence, Logic and Choice of Words227
* The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was the most eloquent among people and his words were the most pleasant, most fluent and most logical.

* He (Peace be upon him) was silent for long periods, not speaking without necessity. He did not speak about what did not concern him and only spoke when Allah's reward was expected thereby.

* He (Peace be upon him) spoke with concise, meaningful words. His words were descriptive yet few, neither too rapid not to be remembered nor too slow and interrupted by pauses.

* He (Peace be upon him) was selective in his speech and chose the best expressions for his people, and the farthest from rudeness and indecency.
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227 Zadul-Ma`ad (1/175, 2/320)
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* He (Peace be upon him) disliked the use of complimentary words for those undeserving of it and the use of harsh words for those undeserving of them. Thus, he prohibited saying to a hypocrite: "sayyid" (master) or referring to Abu Jahl as Abul-Hakam228 or calling any ruler "king of kings" or "Khalifah (successor) of Allah".

* He (Peace be upon him) directed anyone afflicted by Satan to say: "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah) rather than to curse, insult or supplicate against Satan.

* He (Peace be upon him) encouraged using good names and instructed. that when a messenger was sent to him, he should have a good name and good face. He would infer meanings from names and associate a name with its owner.

* He (Peace be upon him) said, “The most beloved names to Allah are: 'Abdullah' and 'Abdur-Rahman', the most truthful are 'Harith' and 'Hammam', and the ugliest are 'Harb' and 'Murrah'.”
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228 "Abu Jahl" (meaning Father of Ignorance) was a nickname given to Abul-Hakam, an uncle of the Prophet and archenemy of Islam.
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* He (Peace be upon him) changed the name 'Aasiyah' to 'Jamilah', and changed 'Asram' to 'Zur`ah’. When he came to Madinah while it was called 'Yathrib', he changed its name to 'Taybah'.

* He (Peace be upon him) gave a kunyah229 to his companions, sometimes to children and to some of his wives.

* He (Peace be upon him) would give a kunyah to those who had a child and to those who did not have one. And he said: "Name [yourselves or others] with my name, but do not use my kunyah."230

* He (Peace be upon him) told them not to use the name `atama (darkness) for `ishaa'. And he told them not to call grapes karm, saying, “Karm is the heart of a believer.”231
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229 The kunyah is a name of affection and honour among the Arabs, such as "Father of So and So" or "Mother of So and So".
230 Which was "Abul-Qasim."
231 Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
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* He (Peace be upon him) prohibited such sayings as: "It rained because of such and such star," or "Whatever Allah wills and you will," or to swear an oath by anything other than Allah. He also warned against excessive swearing of oaths, or to say such things as: "He is a Jew (or something else) if he does so and so." He prohibited a master to call his servant "my slave" and prohibited people from saying, "My soul has become evil" or cursing Satan, and from supplicating: “O Allah, forgive me if You will.”232

* He (Peace be upon him) prohibited insulting time, the wind, fever and the rooster. He also prohibited calling people to the way of the pre-Islamic period, such as fanatic tribalism.
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232 Because there is no unwillingness from Allah.
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