١١ - باب في المجاهدة

As for the hadiths: the first: On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah the Exalted has said: Whoever shows enmity to a friend (walī) of Mine, I have declared war upon him. My servant draws near to Me with nothing more beloved to Me than what I have made obligatory upon him; and My servant continues to draw near to Me with voluntary acts (nawāfil) until I love him. And when I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask of Me, I would surely give him; and were he to seek refuge in Me, I would surely grant him refuge.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī. “Ādhantuhu” means: I have informed him that I am at war with him. “Istaʿādhanī” is narrated both with a nūn and with a bāʾ.

The second: On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in what he relates from his Lord (Mighty and Majestic is He), who said: “When the servant draws near to Me a hand-span, I draw near to him an arm’s length; and when he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a fathom; and when he comes to Me walking, I come to him hastening.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

The third: On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “There are two blessings in which many people are cheated: good health and free time.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

The fourth: On the authority of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her): that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to stand [in prayer] at night until his feet became cracked. I said to him: “Why do you do this, O Messenger of Allah, when Allah has forgiven you your former and latter sins?” He said: “Should I not love to be a grateful servant?” Agreed upon; this is al-Bukhārī’s wording. The like of it is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from the narration of al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah.

The fifth: On the authority of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: When the [last] ten [nights] entered, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would spend the night in worship, awaken his family, strive hard, and tighten his waist-wrapper. Agreed upon. What is meant is the last ten [nights] of the month of Ramaḍān. “Al-miʾzar” means the waist-wrapper, and it is a figurative expression for keeping apart from women. It is also said that what is meant is his girding himself for worship; one says, “I tightened my waist-wrapper for this matter,” meaning: I rolled up my sleeves and devoted myself wholly to it.

The sixth: On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, though in each there is good. Be keen on what benefits you, seek help from Allah, and do not give up. And if something befalls you, do not say, 'Had I done such-and-such, it would have been so-and-so,' but rather say, 'It is the decree of Allah; and what He wills, He does,' for [the word] 'if only' opens the way to the work of Satan." Narrated by Muslim.

The seventh: On his authority [too] — that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The Fire is veiled by desires, and Paradise is veiled by hardships." Agreed upon. In a narration of Muslim there is "ḥuffat" (it is encircled) in place of "ḥujibat" (it is veiled), and it carries the same meaning: that is, between a person and it lies this veil, so when he does [what overcomes it] he enters it.

The eighth: On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allah Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Yamān (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: One night I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and he began [reciting] Sūrat al-Baqarah. I said [to myself], "He will bow at the hundredth verse," but he continued. So I said, "He will pray [the whole sūrah] in a single rakʿah," but he continued. So I said, "He will bow with it," but then he began Sūrat al-Nisāʾ and recited it, then he began Sūrat Āl ʿImrān and recited it — reciting unhurriedly: whenever he passed a verse containing glorification he glorified [Allah], whenever he passed a verse of asking he asked, and whenever he passed a verse of seeking refuge he sought refuge. Then he bowed and began to say, "Glory be to my Lord, the Magnificent," and his bowing was about the length of his standing. Then he said, "Allah hears whoever praises Him; our Lord, to You belongs [all] praise," then he stood long, close to [the length of] his bowing. Then he prostrated and said, "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High," and his prostration was close to [the length of] his standing. Narrated by Muslim.

The ninth: On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: One night I prayed with the Prophet ﷺ, and he prolonged the standing until I resolved upon an evil thing. It was said: "And what did you resolve upon?" He said: "I resolved to sit down and abandon him [i.e., to break off from following him in the prayer]." Agreed upon.

The tenth: On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: "Three things follow the deceased [to the grave]: his family, his wealth, and his deeds. Two return and one remains: his family and his wealth return, and his deeds remain." Agreed upon.

The eleventh: On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet ﷺ said: "Paradise is nearer to one of you than the strap of his sandal, and the Fire is likewise." Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

The twelfth: On the authority of Abū Firās Rabīʿah ibn Kaʿb al-Aslamī — the servant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and one of the People of the Bench (Ahl al-Ṣuffah), may Allah be pleased with him — who said: I used to spend the night with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I would bring him his water for ablution and whatever he needed. He said to me: "Ask me [for something]." I said: "I ask you for your companionship in Paradise." He said: "Or [do you ask] something other than that?" I said: "That is it." He said: "Then help me [to grant you that] regarding yourself by [making] abundant prostration." Narrated by Muslim.

The thirteenth: On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allah — and it is [also] said: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān — Thawbān, the freed servant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Take to abundant prostration, for you will not prostrate to Allah a single prostration except that, by it, Allah raises you a degree and removes from you a sin." Narrated by Muslim.

The fourteenth: On the authority of Abū Ṣafwān ʿAbd Allah ibn Busr al-Aslamī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The best of people is the one whose life is long and whose deeds are good." Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: "A good (ḥasan) hadith." [The name] "Busr" is [pronounced] with a ḍammah on the bāʾ and with the undotted sīn.

The fifteenth: On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: My uncle Anas ibn al-Naḍr (may Allah be pleased with him) was absent from the fighting at Badr, and he said: "O Messenger of Allah, I was absent from the first fighting in which you fought the polytheists; if Allah lets me witness fighting the polytheists [hereafter], Allah will surely see what I do." Then, when the day of Uḥud came and the Muslims gave way, he said: "O Allah, I excuse myself to You for what these [men] did" — meaning his companions — "and I disown before You what these [men] did" — meaning the polytheists. Then he advanced, and Saʿd ibn Muʿādh met him, so he said: "O Saʿd ibn Muʿādh — Paradise! By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, I smell its fragrance coming from beyond Uḥud." Saʿd said: "And I could not do, O Messenger of Allah, what he did!" Anas said: We found upon him some eighty-odd blows from a sword, or a stab from a spear, or a shot from an arrow; and we found him slain, the polytheists having mutilated him, so that no one recognised him except his sister, by his fingertips. Anas said: We used to think — or suppose — that this verse was revealed concerning him and those like him: "Among the believers are men who were true to what they pledged to Allah" [al-Aḥzāb: 23], to its end. Agreed upon. His words "layuriyanna Allāh" ("Allah will surely show") are narrated with a ḍammah on the yāʾ and a kasrah on the rāʾ, that is, "Allah will surely make that manifest to the people"; and it is [also] narrated with a fatḥah on both, and its meaning is evident. And Allah knows best.

The sixteenth: On the authority of Abū Masʿūd ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmr al-Anṣārī al-Badrī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: When the verse of charity was revealed, we used to carry loads on our backs [for a wage, to give in charity]. A man came and gave a great deal in charity, and they said: "He is showing off." Another man came and gave a single ṣāʿ, and they said: "Surely Allah has no need of this man's ṣāʿ!" So there was revealed: "Those who find fault with the believers who give charity voluntarily, and with those who find nothing [to give] but their utmost effort..." [al-Tawbah: 79]. Agreed upon; this is al-Bukhārī's wording. And [the word] "nuḥāmil" is [pronounced] with a ḍammah on the nūn and with the undotted ḥāʾ: that is, one of us would carry [a load] on his back for a wage and give it in charity.

The seventeenth: On the authority of Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Rabīʿah ibn Yazīd, from Abū Idrīs al-Khawlānī, from Abū Dharr Jundub ibn Junādah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet ﷺ, in what he relates from his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, that He said: "O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I will guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except whom I have fed, so seek food from Me and I will feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except whom I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I will clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek My forgiveness and I will forgive you. O My servants, you will never reach [the power] to harm Me so as to harm Me, nor will you reach [the power] to benefit Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, your humankind and your jinn, to be as God-fearing as the most God-fearing heart of any single man among you, that would not increase My dominion in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, your humankind and your jinn, to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any single man among you, that would not decrease My dominion in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, your humankind and your jinn, to stand upon a single plain and ask of Me, and I gave each person his request, that would not decrease what is with Me, save as a needle decreases [the sea] when it is dipped into it. O My servants, it is only your deeds that I record for you, then I repay you in full for them; so whoever finds good, let him praise Allah, and whoever finds otherwise, let him blame none but himself." Saʿīd said: Whenever Abū Idrīs related this hadith, he would kneel upon his knees. Narrated by Muslim. And we have related on the authority of the Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: There is no hadith for the people of al-Shām nobler than this hadith.