Explanation of the Hadith of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)

The Shaykh: " 'Abdullah ibn Rabi'ah said: We were sitting with 'Abdullah - and he is Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) - when they mentioned a man and spoke of his character." The phrase "spoke of his character" means his stinginess and miserliness.
"So 'Abdullah said: Do you think that if you cut off his head, you would be able to put it back? They said: No. He said: And his hand?" Meaning, even if you cut off his hand.
They said: No. He said: And his leg? They said: No. He said: Then you are not able to change his character until you change his creation. This is the story of the hadith, did you see? "Then you are not able to change his character until you change his creation."
Then Ibn Mas'ud provides evidence for this by saying: "Indeed, the drop of sperm remains in the womb for forty nights, then it becomes a clot of blood, then it becomes a leech, then it becomes a lump of flesh, then Allah sends an angel to write down his provision, his character, and whether he is wretched or happy." This is the hadith.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: ... And therefore, before we heard you recite the hadith, we gave you a gentle warning first that this is a mawquf hadith, and secondly, there is something in it which I will now begin to explain, if Allah wills. The first important thing I want to clarify is that Ibn Mas'ud narrated the hadith, specifically the final part of the hadith, which is: "Indeed, the drop of sperm remains in the womb for forty nights," etc. Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated this hadith from Ibn Mas'ud in their Sahihs with this meaning, starting from the drop of sperm, because there is a long, well-known hadith in "Al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah": the rest of the hadith, then Allah sends an angel: to write down his provision, here what did he say: and his character. In the authentic hadith in al-Bukhari and Muslim: . So the hadith is marfu', and understand what marfu' means, so we do not lengthen the phrase. So the hadith is attributed to the Messenger - peace be upon him - : , whereas here it is mawquf from the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, what did he say? . When the hadith comes from the Messenger of Allah - may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him - then at that time it is obligatory for us to verify the saying of our Lord - Blessed and Exalted is He - : So the hadith came that Allah - Mighty and Majestic - when the stages of the drop of sperm in the womb of the woman are completed and nothing remains but the blowing of the spirit into it, Allah sends an angel and commands him to blow the spirit into it and to write down his provision and his lifespan. Here what did he say? "His character." The hadith came from the Messenger, so we believed and submitted, we submitted. But Ibn Mas'ud says from his own saying, meaning from his ijtihad and understanding, not from the Messenger - peace be upon him -. The Messenger said , here he says from his own source and "his character." So here we say this is the opinion of Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him - and it may be correct and it may be incorrect. But if it were raised to the Prophet - peace be upon him - then this hesitation is not permissible to come from a Muslim, rather we submit and believe with firm belief. This is the first observation we make on this mawquf hadith. The second observation, which is very important from the Islamic and educational perspective, is that Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him - from the beginning to the end of his statement implies to us that one whose nature is miserliness does not review his mind and will not say "I will change my character." Do not strive to correct his character at all. Why? Because he gave a clear example: if you cut off his head, no; his hand, no; his leg, no. So likewise his character, this is his character - Mighty and Majestic is He. The answer: if the matter were as this mawquf hadith from Ibn Mas'ud implies, the Shari'ahs would be invalidated, the laws would be invalidated, the science of education would be invalidated, and the science of psychology would be invalidated. Why? Because we see children from the softness of their nails differing from child to child; one we see as brave and one we see as cowardly, one we see as generous and one we see as stingy and miserly. So do we leave him as we found him? No. Why? We find that the Islamic Shari'ah was established on the basis of treating the soul, correcting it, and purifying it. Our Lord - Mighty and Majestic - says: , What does it mean? Has succeeded the one who purified the soul that Allah purified? No, so that would be a tautology. Has succeeded the one who purified, who purified the soul that commands evil, as came in the story of Yusuf: If the soul is by its nature commanding evil, then it is obligatory for the owner of this soul, He - the Exalted - said: ; So if the soul, whose nature is that it commands evil, has no benefit from treating it and striving to correct and purify it, why does our Lord - Mighty and Majestic - say: ? And why do all the hadiths we have heard, many of which revolve around the purification of the soul and the field of its correction and purification, if the soul cannot be corrected and if the nature of the crooked soul is this example given by Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him -? A person whose head we cut off, there is no possibility of his head returning. So this contradicts entirely the principles and rules of the Shari'ah and many of its branches.