Explanation of the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "Do not hate one another, do not compete with one another, and be the servants of Allah as brothers."

The Shaykh : Then the author narrated in this chapter another hadith from Abu Hurayrah with his authentic chain of narration from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who said: . This is the third hadith; it appeared in the first hadith, where the first hadith said: . Here it was narrated in a shortened form, but it came with a new word, where he said: . What is the meaning of ? "Do not compete" is on the same pattern as "do not hate." We said in explaining "do not hate" that it means do not engage in the causes of hatred. Similarly, his saying (peace be upon him): means do not engage in the causes of competition. Competition is essentially the desire for a thing, the love of it, and the attempt to be exclusive with it. This precious thing—this person wants to be exclusive with this precious, beautiful thing, such as wealth, or generosity, or something similar, and that person wants the same. So this competition leads to envy, and this is what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) indicated in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, where he informed that his Ummah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the last of time will fall into this prohibited competition. He said (peace and blessings be upon him): . So this hadith in Sahih Muslim is like an explanation of his saying in this hadith: , meaning do not let each of you try to be exclusive with a precious thing and distinguish himself by it over others, for that will lead you to envy one another, and that will lead you to hate one another, and all of that will lead you to become divided. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded you to be brothers in Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as He said: .