Benefits of the Hadith: (… Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to make a mat into a partition at night and pray behind it, and spread it out by day and sit on it)
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The Shaykh : This contains evidence that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not take much in the way of furnishings. He had a mat which he would make into a partition at night, meaning he would make it like a room and pray behind it, and by day he would sit on it. So the people gathered and began to assemble, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) feared for them hardship and boredom, so he said to them: Sahih al-Bukhari 5861 and do not burden yourselves. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to stand in prayer at night until his feet would swell and crack, and whoever prayed with him would be exhausted. So he did not want the Ummah to do what would be difficult for them, even in the future. A person may have determination, strength, and energy in righteous work, but if he does it, he will eventually be unable to keep up with it. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged people to plan for the future and adopt a deed that they are able to do what? To be able to persist in it. For this reason he said: Sahih al-Bukhari 5861 Many people have energy: energy in their ambition and energy in their body, then the energy of their ambition weakens and the energy of their body weakens, and they wish they had not bound themselves to anything. Among those who did this was 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with them both), for he committed to fasting one day and breaking the fast the next, but when he grew old he said: "I wish I had accepted the dispensation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)" and he began to fast fifteen consecutive days and break the fast for fifteen consecutive days.
And in his saying:Sunan Ibn Majah 4241Hasan (Darussalam) there is a problem in that its apparent meaning is affirming boredom for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Boredom is a term for a person's inability to resist a task, a person's inability to resist; he cannot resist the work even if there is strength in his body, but he grows bored.
So do we say that the boredom of Allah, if the hadith indicates it, is in this sense? No, because this is a deficiency, and Allah is free from deficiency. Rather, if it is correct that the hadith indicates the affirmation of boredom for Allah, it is a boredom befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and that when a person grows bored of obedience, Allah the Exalted grows bored of its reward and His turning toward him, even though He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is not affected by the boredom that affects the created.
Some scholars say that this does not indicate that Allah grows bored, because Allah said:Sunan Ibn Majah 4241Hasan (Darussalam) So if you grow bored, it does not follow that Allah grows bored. Just as if I said to a person: I will not stand up until you stand up, the prohibited thing is my standing up before your standing up, but it does not follow from your standing up that I must stand up. So it is prohibited that Allah grows bored before they grow bored, but it does not follow that if they grow bored, Allah grows bored. This is undoubtedly a possibility, but it is far from the apparent meaning of the text.
And the safest thing to say about it is to say that if it indicates that Allah grows bored, it is a boredom befitting His majesty and greatness, and it does not resemble the boredom of the created, which is based on weakness and inability to resist. Yes.
And in this hadith is evidence for affirming the love of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for deeds, and that is the case, for some deeds are more beloved to Allah than others, and the texts on this are numerous, just as some workers are also more beloved to Allah than others.
And if this attribute of preference is affirmed, namely "most beloved," it indicates the affirmation of it without the attribute, namely absolute love. This is the position of the people of the Sunnah and the community; they say that Allah the Exalted loves and loves. The people of innovation differed on this and said that Allah the Exalted does not love and does not love either; what loves is His reward, and His love is His rewarding. But this statement is denounced because it is contrary to the apparent meaning of the text and contrary to what the Companions and the Tabi'un agreed upon, and because love, which I mean, is by the dictate of the fitrah, for a person loves whoever does good to him, and the greatest of those who do good to you and the most is Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He is Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And for this reason it came in the athar: So the love of Allah the Exalted is a fitrah matter that cannot be denied.
And it is amazing that they say that love is the desire for reward. Well, they flee from affirming love, thinking that it necessitates likeness because the created has love. It is said: The created also has desire, so if you affirm desire, you have fallen into likeness according to your rule.
If they say that Allah has a desire that does not resemble the desire of the created, we say: Now you have judged yourselves. Say to them: He has a love that does not resemble the love of the created, and you are at ease. If they interpret it as reward, they say: Then we have deviated from desire; we interpret it as reward, and reward is a distinct, separate thing. We say to them: Did this reward occur by the will of Allah or not? If they say without the will of Allah, it becomes a serious matter, but they do not say that; they say by the will of Allah. So we say: It follows from the affirmation of love the affirmation of will, and you say a will that does not resemble the will of the created, so say a love that does not resemble the love of the created.
And this is general for every innovator; every innovator, it follows for him in what he affirms the like of what follows for him in what he fled from, with an increase of distortion, meaning with an increase of distortion. Something they have made a consistent rule for all the attributes that the people of innovation deny: that it follows for them in what they affirmed the like of what follows for them in what they denied and fled from, with an increase of distortion and speaking about Allah without knowledge. Yes.
The questioner : ... likeness ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.
Do only those good deeds which you can do
خذوا من الأعمال ما تطيقونthe best deeds to Allah are the incessant ones though they were few
أحب الأعمال إلى الله مادام وإن قلAnd in his saying:
for Allah does not get tired (of giving reward) but you get tired.
فإن الله لا يمل حتى تملواSo do we say that the boredom of Allah, if the hadith indicates it, is in this sense? No, because this is a deficiency, and Allah is free from deficiency. Rather, if it is correct that the hadith indicates the affirmation of boredom for Allah, it is a boredom befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and that when a person grows bored of obedience, Allah the Exalted grows bored of its reward and His turning toward him, even though He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is not affected by the boredom that affects the created.
Some scholars say that this does not indicate that Allah grows bored, because Allah said:
does not get tired (of giving reward) but you get tired
لا يمل حتى تملواAnd the safest thing to say about it is to say that if it indicates that Allah grows bored, it is a boredom befitting His majesty and greatness, and it does not resemble the boredom of the created, which is based on weakness and inability to resist. Yes.
And in this hadith is evidence for affirming the love of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for deeds, and that is the case, for some deeds are more beloved to Allah than others, and the texts on this are numerous, just as some workers are also more beloved to Allah than others.
And if this attribute of preference is affirmed, namely "most beloved," it indicates the affirmation of it without the attribute, namely absolute love. This is the position of the people of the Sunnah and the community; they say that Allah the Exalted loves and loves. The people of innovation differed on this and said that Allah the Exalted does not love and does not love either; what loves is His reward, and His love is His rewarding. But this statement is denounced because it is contrary to the apparent meaning of the text and contrary to what the Companions and the Tabi'un agreed upon, and because love, which I mean, is by the dictate of the fitrah, for a person loves whoever does good to him, and the greatest of those who do good to you and the most is Allah (Mighty and Majestic), He is Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And for this reason it came in the athar:
Love Allah for what He provides you of blessings
أحبوا الله بما يغذوكم به من النعمAnd it is amazing that they say that love is the desire for reward. Well, they flee from affirming love, thinking that it necessitates likeness because the created has love. It is said: The created also has desire, so if you affirm desire, you have fallen into likeness according to your rule.
If they say that Allah has a desire that does not resemble the desire of the created, we say: Now you have judged yourselves. Say to them: He has a love that does not resemble the love of the created, and you are at ease. If they interpret it as reward, they say: Then we have deviated from desire; we interpret it as reward, and reward is a distinct, separate thing. We say to them: Did this reward occur by the will of Allah or not? If they say without the will of Allah, it becomes a serious matter, but they do not say that; they say by the will of Allah. So we say: It follows from the affirmation of love the affirmation of will, and you say a will that does not resemble the will of the created, so say a love that does not resemble the love of the created.
And this is general for every innovator; every innovator, it follows for him in what he affirms the like of what follows for him in what he fled from, with an increase of distortion, meaning with an increase of distortion. Something they have made a consistent rule for all the attributes that the people of innovation deny: that it follows for them in what they affirmed the like of what follows for them in what they denied and fled from, with an increase of distortion and speaking about Allah without knowledge. Yes.
The questioner : ... likeness ... .
The Shaykh : Yes.