Chapter One Hundred and Five. "The Chapter on the One Who Loves to Be a Slave."
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The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated with his authentic chain 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 by Abu Hurayrah. He said: "By the One in whose hand is the life of Abu Hurayrah, were it not for jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother, I would love to die a slave."
This is due to what we mentioned earlier, namely that the salvation of a 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 appears not to be literal; because it is not permissible for a free person to enslave himself to another. However, his purpose in such a statement is to clarify that when this slave is tested by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with slavery, he should not complain to his Lord because of it. Rather, he should take it as a means that brings him closer to his Lord and saves him from His punishment. And that path is easy: to obey his master 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 absolutely, except what his master permits him.
When the Muslim slave performs the due of Allah and the due of his master, he will have two rewards.
العَبدُ المُسلِمُ إِذَا أَدَّى حَقَّ اللَّهِ وَحَقَّ سَيِّدِهِ لَهُ أَجرَانِThis is in the same sense as the previous hadiths, but the point of it is the following statement by Abu Hurayrah. He said: "By the One in whose hand is the life of Abu Hurayrah, were it not for jihad in the cause of Allah, Hajj, and being dutiful to my mother, I would love to die a slave."
This is due to what we mentioned earlier, namely that the salvation of a 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 appears not to be literal; because it is not permissible for a free person to enslave himself to another. However, his purpose in such a statement is to clarify that when this slave is tested by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with slavery, he should not complain to his Lord because of it. Rather, he should take it as a means that brings him closer to his Lord and saves him from His punishment. And that path is easy: to obey his master 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 absolutely, except what his master permits him.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.