Explanation of Riyad al-Salihin-58b

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) kissed al-Hasan ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both). Al-Aqra' ibn Habis said: "I have ten children, and I have never kissed any of them." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

He who does not show tenderness will not be shown tenderness.

من لا يرحم لا يرحم

Sunan Abi Dawud 5218Sahih (Al-Albani)

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This hadith was mentioned by al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in connection with embracing and kissing, and the like. This includes kissing young children out of mercy, compassion, kindness, and affection. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) kissed al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Hasan is the son of Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), meaning that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was his maternal grandfather. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) loved al-Hasan and loved al-Husayn, and he said: But al-Hasan is better than al-Husayn. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: And when 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was martyred by the Khariji who killed him, al-Hasan, his eldest and best son, assumed the caliphate after him. However, when he saw that contesting the caliphate with Mu'awiyah would result in the shedding of blood, killing, and great harm, he (may Allah be pleased with him) relinquished the caliphate to Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan completely, in order to avert fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) and to reconcile the ummah (the Muslim community). So Allah made peace between the ummah through him, and this became a great virtue for him, as he relinquished what he was more entitled to in favor of Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) to avert fitnah. One day, while he was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and al-Aqra' ibn Habis, one of the nobles of Banu Tamim, was present, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) kissed al-Hasan. This man, who was harsh in nature, seemed to be surprised, meaning, how do you kiss this child? So he said: "I have ten children, and I have never kissed any of them". The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Meaning, he who does not show mercy to people, Allah will not show him mercy, and may Allah protect us from that, nor will he be granted success in showing mercy. This indicates the permissibility of kissing young children out of mercy and compassion, whether they are your own children, your sons' children, your daughters' children, or those of strangers. This is because it necessitates that you have mercy in your heart for the young. The more a person is merciful to the servants of Allah, the closer he is to the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah the Exalted forgave a prostitute, a woman who committed zina (unlawful sexual intercourse), when she showed mercy to a dog. The dog was eating the dry earth from thirst; it was thirsty, digging up the dry earth, which was moist, and licking it to get some water. So she came and took her sandal, meaning her slipper, and fetched water and gave it to the dog, and Allah forgave her, even though she had only shown mercy to a dog. But if Allah places mercy in a person's heart for these weak ones, that is a sign that he will be shown mercy, by the permission of Allah the Exalted. We ask Allah to show mercy to us and to you. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This indicates that it is recommended (mustahabb) for a person to make his heart soft, compassionate, and merciful, contrary to what some harsh people do. Indeed, if a boy enters upon them while they are in the coffee shop, they scold and rebuke him, saying, "Go back, go back, do not come to the men, do not come." This is a mistake. Show mercy to the boys and let them come. If they misbehave, teach them proper conduct. But to drive them away is a mistake. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), who was the best of people in character and the most noble in conduct, came one day while he was prostrating in prayer, leading the people. Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Talib came and rode on his back while he was prostrating, as boys do, riding on one person, meaning they make him their camel. He delayed in his prostration, and it seemed the Companions were surprised why he was delayed. So he said: Meaning: He made me his mount. This is from mercy. On another day, Ummamah, the daughter of Zaynab, and Zaynab was the daughter of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), was a small child. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) took her out to the mosque. He went forward to lead the people in prayer while carrying this little girl. When he prostrated, he put her on the ground, and when he stood up, he carried her. All this was out of mercy and affection for her. Otherwise, he could have said to 'Aishah or one of his other wives, "Take the girl." But out of mercy, perhaps she had become attached to her grandfather, who is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he wanted to please her. So he brought her and led the people in prayer while carrying her. On one day, he was delivering the khutbah (the sermon) to the people, and al-Hasan and al-Husayn were wearing two garments, which were perhaps new. They were long, so they were walking and stumbling. So he came down from the minbar (the pulpit) and carried them in front of him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: صدق الله إنما أموالكم وأولادكم فتنة True is Allah, for indeed your wealth and your children are a trial And he said that he saw these two boys stumbling, meaning he was not pleased until he came down and carried them. The important point is that what is recommended (mustahabb) for us is to accustom ourselves to showing mercy to boys and to showing mercy to everyone who deserves mercy, such as orphans, the poor, the disabled, and others. And we should place mercy in our hearts so that this becomes a cause for Allah's mercy upon us, because we too are in need of Allah's mercy. Our mercy toward the servants of Allah is a cause for Allah's mercy toward us. We ask Allah to encompass us and you with His mercy.