How to Correct Someone Senior
Gentleness and compassion are more effective in correcting a person’s mistakes than rebuking and raising one’s voice, as the following incidents illustrate.
Once the grandsons of Nabi e, Hadrat Hasan and Hadrat Husain t, saw an old man performing wudhu at the banks of the Euphrates River. The man hastened through the wudhu and performed Salaah very hastily. In so doing, he omitted the Sunnah method of wudhu and Salāh. The young boys wanted to teach the old man the correct method, but they feared that he, being a senior, would be enraged if his error was pointed out by them.
They approached him and said: “We are young while you are an elderly man with plenty of experience. You know how to make wudhu and Salāh better than us. We would like to perform wudhu and Salāh in your presence and we would appreciate it if you would point out to us any errors which we may commit.” Thereafter, they proceeded to perform wudhu and Salāh according to the Sunnah method. When the old man saw this, he immediately repented from his wrong and corrected himself immediately.
