Explanation of the Hadith: When You See Obedience to Stinginess
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This person is asking, Shaykh. He says: What is the meaning of the hadith, or what is meant by its sense, "stinginess that is obeyed and a desire that is followed"? We would like to pause and reflect on this, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The origin of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saidSunan Abi Dawud 4341 The general public, and stinginess is excessive greed, greed for what is in the hands of people, while miserliness is greed for what is in a person's own hand, it is said. Both of them, stinginess and miserliness, are each blameworthy, and they are two blameworthy traits. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said [Al-Hashr 59:9] So if a person obeys stinginess and runs after it, he becomes preoccupied with his religion and gives up everything, even at the expense of his religion, in order to obtain the transient things of this world.
The second is a desire that is followed. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said[Al-Jathiyah 45:23]. Desire, may Allah protect us from it, does not destroy a person. So a person should not follow his desire, and do not follow desire lest it mislead you from the path of Allah. But he should follow the Book and the Sunnah. Even if that contradicts his desire, the good lies in that. As for following desire, the evil lies in it.
The third is that every person who has an opinion is pleased with his own opinion. Everyone is pleased with his own opinion and does not value the opinions of others or look into them, taking what is correct in them and leaving what is wrong in them. Rather, he follows his own head and considers his opinion to be the correct one, and the opinions of others to be all wrong. And this is a calamity. And this is the result of compounded ignorance.
That a person is ignorant and does not know that he is ignorant, does he have that he is aware and that he and that he, so therefore he does not pay attention to the opinions of others and correct them and look into them, for perhaps the truth is with someone else. But if he dismisses the opinions of others and takes his own opinion without scrutiny and without referring to the Book and the Sunnah, then he is misguided from the path of Allah, and do not follow desire lest it mislead you from the path of Allah, so he is misguided, may Allah protect us from it.
His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) "concern yourself with yourself" means that if these traits appear in the last of time, then concern yourself with yourself and do not look at people saying so-and-so does such-and-such and so-and-so says such-and-such. Do not look at the opinions of people, look at adhering to the Book and the Sunnah, for in them is safety, and do not look at what contradicts the Book and the Sunnah in the actions of people, for some people say people do such-and-such, all people are like this, I am just me, and so on, so he leaves acting upon the Book and the Sunnah and goes with what people are doing without referring to the Book and the Sunnah, so misguidance occurs. So the Muslim holds the reins of himself, and even if all people are misguided, he takes the path of truth for himself. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: "Say"[Al-Ma'idah 5:105]. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
This person is asking, Shaykh. He says: What is the meaning of the hadith, or what is meant by its sense, "stinginess that is obeyed and a desire that is followed"? We would like to pause and reflect on this, may Allah reward you?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. The origin of this hadith is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
But when you see niggardliness being obeyed, passion being followed, worldly interests being preferred, everyone being charmed with his opinion, then care for yourself, and leave alone
إذا رأيت شحا مطاعا وهوى متبعا وإعجاب كل ذي رأي برأيه فعليك بنفسك ودع عنكAnd whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.
وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَThe second is a desire that is followed. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said
Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge
أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَٰهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍThe third is that every person who has an opinion is pleased with his own opinion. Everyone is pleased with his own opinion and does not value the opinions of others or look into them, taking what is correct in them and leaving what is wrong in them. Rather, he follows his own head and considers his opinion to be the correct one, and the opinions of others to be all wrong. And this is a calamity. And this is the result of compounded ignorance.
That a person is ignorant and does not know that he is ignorant, does he have that he is aware and that he and that he, so therefore he does not pay attention to the opinions of others and correct them and look into them, for perhaps the truth is with someone else. But if he dismisses the opinions of others and takes his own opinion without scrutiny and without referring to the Book and the Sunnah, then he is misguided from the path of Allah, and do not follow desire lest it mislead you from the path of Allah, so he is misguided, may Allah protect us from it.
His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) "concern yourself with yourself" means that if these traits appear in the last of time, then concern yourself with yourself and do not look at people saying so-and-so does such-and-such and so-and-so says such-and-such. Do not look at the opinions of people, look at adhering to the Book and the Sunnah, for in them is safety, and do not look at what contradicts the Book and the Sunnah in the actions of people, for some people say people do such-and-such, all people are like this, I am just me, and so on, so he leaves acting upon the Book and the Sunnah and goes with what people are doing without referring to the Book and the Sunnah, so misguidance occurs. So the Muslim holds the reins of himself, and even if all people are misguided, he takes the path of truth for himself. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: "Say"
O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ لَا يَضُرُّكُم مَّن ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْThe presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 02/266 — archive.org (0:52)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.