One Mistake Does Not Erase a Lifetime of Good

Occasion: A khatira delivered after Isha prayer, on September 9, 2026.Source: Transcript of a recorded khatira by Dr. Ahmed AbouSeif, watch the original video on YouTube

Tonight, God willing, we speak about one of the stars among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. It is reported from him that his Companions are like the stars in the sky: whomever you take as your guide, you will be guided through him.^[1]

But the Companion of tonight made a big mistake. A very big one. Had that mistake been carried through to its end, it could have destroyed the whole community.

Before the conquest of Mecca, one of the Companions sent a short message to the Quraysh, warning them that the Prophet ﷺ was coming. Shame on anyone who does such a thing, we might say. So what was his name? Do you remember? Sadly, this is the only thing we remember about this man, and almost nobody remembers anything else about him.

What we forget about him

He was one of the Muhajirun: people who left their homes, their children, their memories, their families, everything, for the sake of God, glorified is He. He was not even Qurayshi by birth; he had come and settled among them. Yet he left everything behind and went to Medina with the Muhajirun.

Do you remember how God classified the believing community into three kinds? The first are the Muhajirun, who left everything. The second are the Ansar, who received them with generosity and gave them everything. And the third are those who came afterwards, who say: our Lord, forgive us and forgive our brothers who preceded us in faith.^[2] God spoke about the Muhajirun at the very beginning of that description, and this man was one of those people.

Imagine how much the Prophet ﷺ trusted him. He trusted him with a secret message to carry to the ruler of Egypt of that time. He was the one holding the Prophet's secret letter. And hardly anyone knows that he was also among the bravest in battle.^[3]

So what do we remember of him? That he betrayed the Muslim community and sent a message to the Quraysh.

We do exactly this to one another

That is exactly what we do with our friends, our family members, our spouses. We remember the one mistake and forget all the good they did before. "How could you do such a thing? I never expected it from someone like you."

It would have been very easy for the Prophet ﷺ to cast him out: get away from me. The mistake was serious enough that revelation came down to the Prophet ﷺ because of it, guidance from the sky to teach us what we must do. All of that happened because of one Companion's action.

Think of the consequence. If one soldier in an army betrayed it, what would the sentence be? It would be a single word, with no negotiation. Had the Prophet ﷺ done that to him, no one would have objected.

But he did the opposite. When people began to talk about the man, the Prophet ﷺ stopped the whole community from speaking against him. Nobody was to say a word against him. The man had been at Badr, and, as it has come to us, God forgave those who took part in Badr, whatever they may do afterwards; he is forgiven.^[4] Glory be to God. One mistake is not supposed to destroy all the deeds that came before it.

Examples from our own lives

Picture someone coming to me and saying: I want to divorce this woman. Fine; nothing wrong with asking, but explain to me, gently, what the reason is. "She did this, and this, and this." Very well: she did one, two, three, let us say ten things. And how long have you been together? "Twenty-seven years." Seriously? Twenty-seven years, and you remember ten things she did, and you come now to divorce her over them?

Or two close friends who go together, live together, eat together, travel together. Then something happens: a misunderstanding, a mistake, a wrong thought. Think of our own culture: when we go somewhere, we fight over which of us will pay on behalf of the others. And all of that is forgotten. We forget the very word "forgiveness" because of one thing that happened.

The man in our story did damage to the community, and whatever the Prophet ﷺ might have done to him at that moment, nobody would have contested it. Instead, he protected him from the entire community and asked people to hold their tongues.

What we take from it

First: whatever you do, do it for the sake of God, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and for no one else. People forget what you have done, and they will come to reproach you over nothing, unless you make them a means of drawing nearer to God.

Second: once you have a good man at your side, do not let him go. When you have good material, do not let it leave your sight. Sometimes I own a garment that is good fabric but irritates me, even teases me, and still, because it is good material, I keep wearing it and show it off. I do not let it go because the fabric is good. So what about the good material in people?

Look at the good in the people around you, and weigh them with God's eyes, not your own. I am speaking to myself as well: do not be moody when you look at people. "I don't like that fellow, because of his color, so I will close the door on him." What did the man do? Be fair with people, and be good first with God, then with them.

Do not forget that whoever lives around you is part of God's creation. Nobody comes to stand next to you in prayer by himself. God guided him to that place and guided you to stand beside him; He placed you close together on purpose. The reason is in the hands of God, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

If you have a wife, keep her close; if she is a good woman, you have no need to let her go anywhere else. If you have good children, raise them with better ways and better character, and spend on them as much as you can: not for the people's sake, but for God's sake.