Chapter: "Encouraging the remembrance of death, shortening one's hopes, hastening in deeds, the virtue of a long life for one whose deeds are good, and the prohibition of wishing for death" Explanation of the hadith of 'Abd
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Indeed, all praise is for Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can mislead, and whomsoever He leaves to mislead, none can guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.
[Ali 'Imran 3:102] .
[An-Nisa 4:1] .
[Al-Ahzab 33:70-71].
As for what follows:
For the best of speech is the speech of Allah, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, every innovation is a religious innovation, every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:.
In another narration, he said: It was narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi, who said: It is a good, authentic hadith, and by Ibn Majah and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih.
This hadith is from the authentic hadiths of the book. 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar says::
The wall is the garden enclosed by a wall, so he is plastering this wall in this narration, cooperating with his mother.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning: it is weak.
.
In the other narration, he said: The khus: something resembling a hut or a small house.
:
In this hadith, as you see, the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) gently and softly encouraged the Muslims to keep them away from greed in this world and preoccupation with it over the Hereafter. You see here that 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him) is engaged in a very small and humble matter that we hardly give any weight to in this time. He is only plastering the wall with clay, not with cement, and not rebuilding the wall with reinforced concrete. So the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) says to him: meaning that a person's life in this world is short, and that he must spend this short time in the obedience of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His worship, and not be preoccupied with any of the matters of this world, however small and insignificant they may be.
I know that most of those who hear this hadith will be prompted to ask: How is this, when Islam is the religion of both this world and the Hereafter, and it commands attention to this world just as it commands attention to the Hereafter? Why do we hear in this hadith the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanting to turn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar away from repairing his khus or plastering the wall of his garden!
So we say: The intention of this hadith is not the prohibition of what 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar is doing, which is plastering. The intention is not the prohibition of that. Rather, the reality is that this hadith is a method of the Messenger (may the prayers and peace be upon him) in combining the two benefits. I do not say: between repelling harm and bringing benefit. Here, there is plastering of the wall, especially old walls that, if not plastered from the outside—and we are not familiar with such walls—those who are of my age are not far from such walls that were built with mud bricks, or the wall called "dak," which is poured as a single piece of red clay, piece by piece. Such a wall, usually, if not plastered from the outside, when the rains fall heavily, seeps between the mud bricks and the large "dak" next to it, which becomes a cause and reason for seepage and cracking between these bricks or these "daks," if that is the correct term. And there, plastering these bricks from the outside is almost a necessity in preserving this wealth, even if it is of little value, but preserving the effort that was exerted in erecting that wall or the other. This plastering preserves this time and that wealth.
So I say: The walls that were built at that time, and we still find in the Holy City, far from it, and in the villages we pass through, very humble houses, are walls standing on weak bricks. If they are not plastered, the witness is that the rains dissolve them, even if only once or twice, and everything is finished. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to understand from this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) wants to prohibit 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar from this plastering. He does not want that.
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتُن إلا وأنتم مسلمونO mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم الذي خلقكم من نفس واحدة وخلق منها زوجها وبثَّ منهما رجالاً كثيراً ونساءاً واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيباً(70) O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. (71) He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولاً سديداً يُصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزاً عظيماًAs for what follows:
For the best of speech is the speech of Allah, the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, every innovation is a religious innovation, every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) passed by me while I was plastering a wall for my garden, my mother and I. He said: "What is this, O 'Abd Allah?" I said: "O Messenger of Allah, it is weak, so we are repairing it." He said: "Matters are faster than that."
مرَّ بي النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وأنا أُطين حائطاً لي أنا وأُمي، فقال: ما هذا يا عبد الله ؟ فقلت يا رسول الله وهى فنحن نصلحه ، فقال : الأمرُ أسرع من ذلكIn another narration, he said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) passed by us while we were dealing with a khus of ours that was weak. He said: "What is this?" We said: "It is a khus of ours that is weak, so we are repairing it." He said: "I do not see matters as anything but faster than that."
مرَّ علينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله سلم ونحن نعالج خصاً لنا وهى ، فقال : ما هذا ؟ فقلنا خص لنا وهى فنحن نصلحه فقال ما أرى الأمر إلا أعجل من ذلكThis hadith is from the authentic hadiths of the book. 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar says:
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) passed by me while I was plastering a wall for my garden
مرَّ بيَ النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وأنا أُطين حائطاً ليThe wall is the garden enclosed by a wall, so he is plastering this wall in this narration, cooperating with his mother.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
What is this, O Abdullah? I said: O Messenger of Allah, it is
ما هذا يا عبد الله ؟ فقلت : يا رسول الله وهىSo we are repairing it. He said, peace and blessings be upon him: The matter is faster than that
فنحن نصلحه ، فقال عليه الصلاة والسلام : الأمرُ أسرع من ذلكIn the other narration, he said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, passed by us while we were working on a hut of ours
مرَّ علينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله سلم ونحن نعالج خُصاً لناWe were working on a hut of ours, and it was weak. He said: What is this? We said: It is a hut of ours, and it is weak, so we are repairing it. He said, peace and blessings be upon him: I do not see the matter as anything but more urgent than that
ونحن نعالج خصاً لنا وهى ، فقال ما هذا ؟ فقلنا : خُص لنا وهى فنحن نصلحه ، فقال عليه الصلاة والسلام : ما أرى الأمر إلا أعجل من ذلكIn this hadith, as you see, the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) gently and softly encouraged the Muslims to keep them away from greed in this world and preoccupation with it over the Hereafter. You see here that 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him) is engaged in a very small and humble matter that we hardly give any weight to in this time. He is only plastering the wall with clay, not with cement, and not rebuilding the wall with reinforced concrete. So the Messenger (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) says to him:
I do not see the matter as anything but more urgent than that
ما أرى إلا أن الأمر أعجل من ذلكI know that most of those who hear this hadith will be prompted to ask: How is this, when Islam is the religion of both this world and the Hereafter, and it commands attention to this world just as it commands attention to the Hereafter? Why do we hear in this hadith the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanting to turn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar away from repairing his khus or plastering the wall of his garden!
So we say: The intention of this hadith is not the prohibition of what 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar is doing, which is plastering. The intention is not the prohibition of that. Rather, the reality is that this hadith is a method of the Messenger (may the prayers and peace be upon him) in combining the two benefits. I do not say: between repelling harm and bringing benefit. Here, there is plastering of the wall, especially old walls that, if not plastered from the outside—and we are not familiar with such walls—those who are of my age are not far from such walls that were built with mud bricks, or the wall called "dak," which is poured as a single piece of red clay, piece by piece. Such a wall, usually, if not plastered from the outside, when the rains fall heavily, seeps between the mud bricks and the large "dak" next to it, which becomes a cause and reason for seepage and cracking between these bricks or these "daks," if that is the correct term. And there, plastering these bricks from the outside is almost a necessity in preserving this wealth, even if it is of little value, but preserving the effort that was exerted in erecting that wall or the other. This plastering preserves this time and that wealth.
So I say: The walls that were built at that time, and we still find in the Holy City, far from it, and in the villages we pass through, very humble houses, are walls standing on weak bricks. If they are not plastered, the witness is that the rains dissolve them, even if only once or twice, and everything is finished. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to understand from this hadith that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) wants to prohibit 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar from this plastering. He does not want that.