Miscellaneous by Al-Albani-243

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says regarding the eighteenth hadith: "It was narrated from Mu'adh that he said: I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, give me advice.' He said: Al-Tabarani narrated it with a good chain, except that there is a break in the chain between Abu Salama and Mu'adh.
This hadith does not contradict our grading of it as hasan, despite the break in its chain mentioned by the author (may Allah have mercy on him), because we mean that it is hasan due to other supporting evidence, like the previous hadith in the last lesson from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Here, Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) asked his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to give him advice, so his advice to him included his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the highest rank that a servant can attain in remembering Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and fearing Him, remembering Allah and watching Him such that he is always aware that He is seeing him, because nothing is hidden from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) on earth or in the heavens. This hadith, or this part of this hadith, is famous with a more authentic chain than this one in the established hadith in the two Sahihs from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, and in Sahih Muslim alone from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, that famous hadith of Jibril (peace be upon him) when he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a man whom none of the Companions recognized, even though he did not have the marks of travel, for he was wearing white clothes and was not disheveled or dusty, but they said that none of us recognized him either. So he combined strange, contradictory descriptions, because if he were a stranger, the marks of travel such as dust and dishevelment would have appeared on him, and if he were a resident, the Companions would have known him. So he was a stranger. The point is that in the hadith, which is long and we have mentioned it more than once, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about ihsan (excellence in worship), he said: Ihsan is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, and if you are not seeing Him, then He is seeing you. This is the highest rank of the ranks of a Muslim's worship of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). So in that hadith, the first question of that stranger, who is Jibril as we mentioned based on the end of the hadith,
asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about Islam, and Islam is practicing Islam outwardly, but this Islam does not benefit its owner unless it is accompanied by faith. And when I and others say that it does not benefit its owner unless it is accompanied by faith, we mean the benefit in the Hereafter, that is, that he is saved by his Islam which is accompanied by faith. So he does not benefit from Islam except when it is accompanied by faith. But if it is not accompanied by faith, does his Islam benefit him in any way? The answer is that in this world, it may benefit him. This type is considered a hypocrite in the language of the Shari'ah, because he displays Islam but conceals disbelief, because his faith was not accompanied by his Islam. So what does he benefit? That he is saved in his person and his wealth, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic, mass-transmitted hadith: So this is what they benefited from, if faith was not accompanied by their Islam: Do you think they said it with their tongues and faith did not enter their hearts, or did they say it believing in it in their hearts? Their reckoning in that is with Allah, but since they have spoken the word of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), the ruling mentioned in the hadith was established for them by his saying: So the first rank in the religion is Islam, and it may benefit its owner in this world and not benefit him in the Hereafter. As for the one who benefits from his Islam in the Hereafter, it is when it is accompanied by the second rank mentioned in the hadith of Jibril when he asked him, "What is faith?" He said: and so on.