Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-52a

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) quoted in the context of the hadiths in the chapter on the recommendation of giving good news and congratulating with goodness: "From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said:

We were seated around God's messenger, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and some others being with us, when God's messenger got up and left us. He delayed for some time, which made us fear that he might be attacked by some enemy when we were not with him; so being alarmed we got up. I was the first to be alarmed. I therefore went out to look for God's messenger and came to a garden belonging to the B. an-Najjar, a section of the Ansar, I went round it looking for a gate, but failed to find one. Seeing a rabi’ (i.e. a streamlet) flowing into the garden from a well outside, I drew myself together and went in to where God's messenger was. He said, “Is it Abu Huraira?" I replied, “Yes, messenger of God." He said, “What do you want?" I replied, “You were among us, but got up and went away and delayed for a time, so fearing that you might be attacked by some enemy when we were not with you, we became alarmed. I was the first to be alarmed, so when I came to this garden I drew myself together as a fox does; and these people are following me." Addressing me by name he gave me his sandals and said, “Take away these sandals of mine, and when you meet anyone outside this garden who testifies that there is no god but God, being assured of it in his heart, gladden him by announcing that he will go to paradise."

كنا قعودًا حول رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ومعنا أبو بكر وعمر رضي الله عنهما في نفر، فقام رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم من بين أظهرنا فأبطأ علينا وخشينا أن يقتطع دوننا وفزعنا فقمنا، فكنت أول من فزع فخرجت أبتغي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حتى أتيت حائطًا للأنصار لبني النجار، فدرت به هل أجد له بابًا فلم أجد، فإذا ربيع يدخل في جوف حائط من بئر خارجه، والربيع الجدول الصغير فاحتفرت فدخلت على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقال: أبو هريرة؟ فقلت: نعم يا رسول الله، قال: ما شأنك ، قلت: كنت بين أظهرنا فقمت فأبطأت علينا فخشينا أن تقتطع دوننا ففزعنا فكنت أول من فزع، فأتيت هذا الحائط فاحتفرت كما يحتفر الثعلب وهؤلاء الناس ورائي، قال: يا أبا هريرة؟ وأعطاني نعليه فقال: اذهب بنعلي هاتين فمن لقيت من وراء هذا الحائط يشهد أن لا إله إلا الله مستيقنًا بها قلبه فبشره بالجنة

Mishkat al-Masabih 39Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i)

And the hadith was mentioned in full, narrated by Muslim".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This hadith, which the author quoted in Riyad al-Salihin in the chapter on giving good news and congratulating with goodness, also contains good news. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was sitting with his Companions, a group of them, with Abu Bakr and 'Umar present. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) stood up and then delayed, so they feared that someone from among the people might have taken him away from them, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sought after by the hypocrites and by others among the enemies of the religion. So they stood up in alarm, and the first to be alarmed was Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), until he reached a wall belonging to the Banu al-Najjar. He kept going around it hoping to find a door, but he did not find one. Perhaps he was looking for an open door and did not find one, although it is known that walls have doors; they must have doors. But perhaps it was closed, so he found a fox hole, and a fox hole is an opening in the wall through which water flows. Abu Hurayrah crouched down and entered until he found the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). He said: He said: "Yes," so he gave him his sandals (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: We ask Allah to make us and you among them in life and at the time of death. Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) went out with the two sandals of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). It seems the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) gave him the sandals as a sign and mark that he was truthful, because this is a great good news: that whoever says "I testify that there is no god but Allah" with certainty in his heart will enter Paradise. Because the one who says this word with certainty in his heart must carry out the commands of Allah and avoid the prohibitions of Allah, because he says there is no true god but Allah. And if this is the meaning of the great word, then he must worship Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for the one who says it with his tongue but his heart is not certain of it, refuge with Allah, it will not benefit him. Here are the hypocrites who testify that there is no god but Allah, but they do not remember Allah except a little. They stand and pray, but prayer is heavy for them, and the heaviest is the 'Isha' and Fajr prayers. They come to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and say, "We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah," and they emphasize this. But Allah says: Their hearts were not certain of "There is no god but Allah" nor that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, it did not benefit them. But whoever is certain of it in his heart, this good news is for him. However, it is not possible for a person to say "I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" and abandon the obligatory acts forever. Therefore, this hadith is not evidence that one who abandons prayer does not become a disbeliever. No, there is no indication of that, because one who abandons prayer becomes a disbeliever, even if he says "I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," because he says it without certainty. How can he say it with certainty and abandon prayer, maintaining its abandonment, refuge with Allah? This is not possible. But whispers from Satan may come to the heart; whispers from Satan, serious whispers about Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And these whispers do not harm the believer in any way. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: And the meaning of this is that clear faith does not mean that whispers are clear faith, but whispers are a sign of pure faith. Because Satan comes to the pure, clear heart, free from doubt, and casts whispers upon it, hoping that it will doubt or that he will corrupt its faith. He comes to the heart, and if the person repels him and says, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan," "Allah is the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden," "Allah is the One, the Eternal, who has not begotten nor been begotten, and there is none comparable to Him," and turns away from these whispers, they will disappear from him. And Satan cannot come to a ruined heart to corrupt it, because a ruined heart is already ruined. It is mentioned that Ibn Mas'ud and Ibn 'Abbas came to him; people came to him saying, "The Jews say, 'We do not have whispers in prayer,' meaning we do not waver when we enter prayer, we never waver." So Ibn 'Abbas or Ibn Mas'ud said: "What would Satan do with a ruined heart?" This means that their hearts are ruined, and Satan does not come to ruined hearts to ruin them, because they are already ruined. Satan comes to sound, sincere hearts in order to cast upon them whispers and doubts. So leave these whispers and doubts, and turn to your Lord and say, "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan," "Allah is the One, the Eternal, who has not begotten nor been begotten, and there is none comparable to Him," the First, the Manifest, the Last, the Hidden, and that will be removed from you by the permission of Allah. So in this hadith is good news of goodness: that whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah with certainty in his heart, let him be given good news of Paradise. And Allah grants success.