The Book of Faith-09a

The reciter: Uthman ibn Abi Shaybah and Ishaq ibn Ibrahim both narrated to us from Jarir. Uthman said: Jarir narrated to us from al-A'mash from Abu Wa'il from Amr ibn Sharahbil, who said: Abdullah said, قال رجل : يا رسول الله، أي الذنب أكبر عند الله؟ قال: أن تدعو لله ندا وهو خلقك قال: ثم أي؟ قال: أن تقتل ولدك مخافة أن يطعم معك قال: ثم أي؟ قال: أن تزاني حليلة جارك فأنزل الله عز وجل تصديقها: والذين لا يدعون مع الله إلها آخر ولا يقتلون النفس التي حرم الله إلا بالحق، ولا يزنون ومن يفعل ذلك يلق أثاماً A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest in the sight of Allah?" He said: "That you invoke besides Allah a partner, while He is your Creator." He said: "Then what?" He said: "That you kill your child for fear that it will eat with you." He said: "Then what?" He said: "That you commit adultery with your neighbor's wife." Then Allah the Exalted revealed in confirmation of this: "And those who do not invoke besides Allah any other deity, nor kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right, nor commit adultery. And whoever does that will meet a great sin."

The Shaykh : This hadith is like the first one, but it explains the reason for the revelation of the verse: This does not contradict the first one due to the difference in wording. In the first one, it is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud who asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), while in the second one, it says "a man." It is not far-fetched that he used the name "a man" as a euphemism for himself, because he is a man among men. So it should not be said that the story is multiple, that Ibn Mas'ud asked, and another man asked. Rather, the man is Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. So when he says: perhaps he wants to conceal his name in this context, and by "the man" he means himself.