Benefits of the Hadith: (… and the most beloved of deeds to Allah is that which is done consistently …)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : And in his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Sahih Muslim 782a, the most beloved of deeds to Allah is every thing within its own category; otherwise, it is known that if a person persists in a voluntary act, it is not more beloved to Allah than an obligatory act, without doubt. But every deed, within its own category, if one persists in it, is better than what one does not persist in. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the Holy Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari 6502. This indicates that the category of obligatory acts is better than the category of voluntary acts.
And in the hadith is the affirmation of love for Allah, and that it varies according to the variation of deeds. For "most beloved" is a superlative name, and a superlative name indicates a preferred one and a less preferred one, which share in the original attribute, what? In the original description. So here, love is affirmed between the superior and the inferior, but the superior is better. From this is derived the affirmation of the love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and that it, what? Varies according to the deed. And this is the obligation of every Muslim: to affirm for Allah what He has affirmed for Himself, without distortion or denial of the divine attributes. And whoever says that his meaning by love is the reward has strayed far from the mark, and erred in the …, and became transgressing against the text from two angles: the first angle is invalidating what the text indicated, and the second is affirming a meaning the text did not indicate. So if one says the meaning of love is the reward or the desire for the reward, we say this is a transgression against the text from two angles: the first?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Invalidating what it indicated, and the second? Affirming a meaning it did not indicate, because there is a difference between love and the reward or the desire for the reward.
The acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously
إن أحب الأعمال إلى الله ما دووم عليهAnd the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined upon him
ما تقرّب إلي عبدي بشيء أحب إلي مما افترضته عليهAnd in the hadith is the affirmation of love for Allah, and that it varies according to the variation of deeds. For "most beloved" is a superlative name, and a superlative name indicates a preferred one and a less preferred one, which share in the original attribute, what? In the original description. So here, love is affirmed between the superior and the inferior, but the superior is better. From this is derived the affirmation of the love of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and that it, what? Varies according to the deed. And this is the obligation of every Muslim: to affirm for Allah what He has affirmed for Himself, without distortion or denial of the divine attributes. And whoever says that his meaning by love is the reward has strayed far from the mark, and erred in the …, and became transgressing against the text from two angles: the first angle is invalidating what the text indicated, and the second is affirming a meaning the text did not indicate. So if one says the meaning of love is the reward or the desire for the reward, we say this is a transgression against the text from two angles: the first?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Invalidating what it indicated, and the second? Affirming a meaning it did not indicate, because there is a difference between love and the reward or the desire for the reward.