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What is the remedy for extreme weakness in the face of praise and the inability to control oneself when exposed to it, and is a person blameworthy if he rebukes someone who praises him—even if that person holds a high position, such as parents, a manager, or a teacher—despite sometimes feeling ashamed of doing so?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Praise harms the praised, especially if it is about a religious matter and the praised becomes conceited. For this reason, Islamic law forbade praising someone who is feared to be affected by it. If praise is unavoidable, the praiser should say: "I reckon so-and-so to be such, if he considers himself so, and I do not sanctify anyone before Allah." As for a praiser who is one of the parents, it is not permissible to scold or rebuke them; rather, they must be addressed with kind words. As for others, they should be addressed gently and kindly, but if they do not stop praising except by being forbidden, then there is no harm in that. Praise causes arrogance, self-admiration, and sluggishness for the praised, and he must guard against this by knowing himself and contemplating the danger of the ending and the subtleties of showing off. He must also show his dislike of praise.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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