Chapter: "The Chapter of the One Who Wished to Be a Slave" Explanation of the Hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he said
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The Shaykh : The chapter one hundred and five.
"The Chapter of the One Who Wished to Be a Slave".
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it with his authentic chain of narration.
From Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 208.
This is in the same sense as the previous hadiths, but the point of it is the following statement of Abu Hurayrah. He said: "By the One in whose hand is the soul of Abu Hurayrah, were it not for jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother, I would have loved to be a slave". This is because, as we mentioned earlier, the salvation of the slave is tied to two obediences: obedience to his master and obedience to his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). So Abu Hurayrah wished to be a slave, but he could not do so because he has the obligations of jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj to the House of Allah, and fulfilling the obedience to his mother and being dutiful to her. In any case, this wish does not appear to be literal, because it is not permissible for a free person to enslave himself to another. However, his purpose in saying such a thing is to clarify that when this slave is tested by Allah the Exalted with slavery, he should not complain to his Lord because of it. Rather, he should take it as a means to draw him closer to his Lord and save him from His punishment. That is an easy path: to obey his master and his lord, and to worship his Lord until certainty comes to him. This is the intent of Abu Hurayrah in this statement.
The questioner: I did not understand the statement of Abu Hurayrah.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner: I did not understand his statement well: "Were it not for jihad, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother".
The Shaykh : I would have loved to be a slave.
The questioner: Yes, meaning these three things are not obligatory for a slave, such as Hajj, jihad, and being dutiful to the mother.
The Shaykh : The slave is owned by his master, so nothing is obligatory upon him at all, except if his master permits him.
"The Chapter of the One Who Wished to Be a Slave".
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated it with his authentic chain of narration.
From Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
When the Muslim slave performs the due of Allah and the due of his master, he will have two rewards.
العبد المسلم إذا أدى حق الله وحق سيده له أجرانThis is in the same sense as the previous hadiths, but the point of it is the following statement of Abu Hurayrah. He said: "By the One in whose hand is the soul of Abu Hurayrah, were it not for jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother, I would have loved to be a slave". This is because, as we mentioned earlier, the salvation of the slave is tied to two obediences: obedience to his master and obedience to his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). So Abu Hurayrah wished to be a slave, but he could not do so because he has the obligations of jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj to the House of Allah, and fulfilling the obedience to his mother and being dutiful to her. In any case, this wish does not appear to be literal, because it is not permissible for a free person to enslave himself to another. However, his purpose in saying such a thing is to clarify that when this slave is tested by Allah the Exalted with slavery, he should not complain to his Lord because of it. Rather, he should take it as a means to draw him closer to his Lord and save him from His punishment. That is an easy path: to obey his master and his lord, and to worship his Lord until certainty comes to him. This is the intent of Abu Hurayrah in this statement.
The questioner: I did not understand the statement of Abu Hurayrah.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner: I did not understand his statement well: "Were it not for jihad, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother".
The Shaykh : I would have loved to be a slave.
The questioner: Yes, meaning these three things are not obligatory for a slave, such as Hajj, jihad, and being dutiful to the mother.
The Shaykh : The slave is owned by his master, so nothing is obligatory upon him at all, except if his master permits him.