Sat 21 Sep 2019

Read by Abu Arwa Ali

Hadith 24

  • Abu Dharr Al-Ghifārī – may Allah be pleased with him -said: the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned from what he narrates from his Lord the Mighty and Sublime- that He said: “O my servants, I have restrained Myself from oppression, and have made it prohibited amongst you; so, do not oppress one another. O my servants, all of you lack guidance except whom I guide: so, seek guidance of me and I shall guide you. O my servants, you are all hungry except whom I feed; so, seek food of me and I shall feed you. O my servants, you are all naked except whom I clothe; seek clothing of me and I shall clothe you. O my servants, you err in the night and day, and I forgive all sins; so, seek forgiveness of me and I shall forgive you. O my servants, you all are incapable of bringing harm to Me such that you may harm Me and you are incapable of benefitting Me such that you may provide Me benefit. O my servants were the first of you and the last of you; the men of you and the jinn of you to be as the heart of the most pious one amongst you; that will not increase anything of My kingdom. O my servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the men of you and the jinn of you to be as the heart of the worst one amongst you; that will not reduce anything from My kingdom. O my servants were the first of you and the last of you; the men of you and the jinn of you to stand on a plain and you all supplicate to me and I grant everyone what he has asked; that will not reduce anything from what I have except what reduces from the sea if a needle is dipped in it. O my servants, it is but your actions; I keep record of them for you, and then, I will recompense you with it as is due. So, whoever finds good should give thanks and praise to Allah; and whoever finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself.” [Muslim]
  • The explanation of this hadith is split into  10 parts
  • In this Hadith Allah says “O My Servants” ten times
  • The significance of Allah addressing us as His slaves and how privileged we are to receive this

Part 1: Hadith Qudsi

  • What is a Hadith Qudsi?

Part 2: “O My slaves! Indeed I have forbidden oppression upon Myself, and I have made it forbidden amongst you, therefore do not oppress one another.”

  • What is dhulm (oppression), what does it mean?
  • Allah informs us in the Qur’an that He does not oppress:
    • “”Like the fate of the people of Nuh (Noah), and ‘Ad, and Thamud and those who came after them. And Allah wills no injustice for (His) slaves.” [Surah Ghaafir (The Forgiving) verse 31]
    • “Whosoever does righteous good deed it is for (the benefit of) his ownself, and whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself, and your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves.” [Surah Fusilat (They are Explained in Detail) verse 46]
    • “Truly! Allah wrongs not mankind in aught; but mankind wrong themselves.” [Surah Yunus (Jonah) verse 44]
    • “Surely! Allah wrongs not even of the weight of an atom (or a small ant), but if there is any good (done), He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward.” [Surah An-Nisaa (The Women) verse 40]
    • “And he who works deeds of righteousness, while he is a believer (in Islamic Monotheism) then he will have no fear of injustice, nor of any curtailment (of his reward).” [Surah Ta-Ha verse 112]
  • The negation of oppression from Allah and affirmation of Justice of Allah

Part 3: “O My slaves, all of you are astray except the one whom I have guided, therefore seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you”

  • Statement of Ibn Rajab Al Hanbali and the question he was asked about reconciling between narrations concerning the natural predisposition of mankind
  • The importance of seeking guidance from Allah and asking him to make our hearts firm upon his religion
  • Contemplating upon this
  • Why do we say “Guide us to the straight Path” in our prayer 17 times a day when we are already Muslims?
  • Guidance to Islam and Guidance towards the Sunnah and the correct path (indeed many people are guided towards Islam however they fall into the incorrect path by means of the groups of Innovations e.g. Sufism)

Part 4:”O My slaves, all of you are hungry except the one whom I have fed, therefore seek food from Me and I shall feed you. O My slaves, all of you are naked except the one whom I have clothed, therefore seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you”

  • These statements clarify the severe need of the slaves for their Lord for their sustenance, food, drink and clothing
  • Do not think that making a request is insignificant even for the smallest things, indeed we are in need of Allah for every single thing and he loves to be asked

Part 5: “O My slaves, indeed you commit mistakes (sins) by day and by night, and I forgive all sins, therefore seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you”

  • In this narration Allah has made it compulsory for us to ask Him to forgive us
  • No request is too big to ask of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa and no sin is too big to be forgiven by Allah
  • A person may ask “Why has Allah created us such that we sin if he is going to forgive is anyhow” ? Ibn Qayyim’s great statement on this
  • The Names of Allah are both Names as well as descriptions, e.g. The Most Merciful, The Oft-Forgiving etc
  • The effects of the Names of Allah
  • Allah loves to forgive

Q&A:

  • The definition of oppression and its opposite (Wisdom) and Justice
  • What if people use the fact that Allah loves to forgive, and they use this as an excuse to sin. What is the importance of sincerity and remorse when asking for forgiveness
  • Definition of Name vs Attribute
  • Question about Guidance, what if someone says “I am destined to be misguided” and they say they have no free will. How is the Pre-decree of Allah and our free will explained to Muslims and non-Muslims? We cannot comprehend Allah and His actions and how His Pre-Decree operates however this does not mean we cannot recognise and accept the reality that we do have the ability to exercise free will in our own actions