Hadeeth class file dated October 13 2013- teacher Reda

PROPHETIC SAYING TWENTY-TWO

Abu 'Abdullah bin Jahir bin 'Abdullah Al-Ansary (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), ‘If I perform the

obligatory prayers, observe the fast during (the month of Ramadan, make lawful

what is made lawful (by Allah), (i.e. do it believing in it) make unlawful what is

made unlawful (by Allah) (i.e. avoid it), and do nothing more than that, will I enter

Paradise?" He (the Prophet) said, "Yes." (Recorded by Muslim)

Occasion of the Prophetic Saying

An-Nu'man bin Qawqal, who was the man who came to ask the Prophet (peace be

upon him), might have been confused by many supererogatory practices and

voluntary acts of worship, so he wanted to settle the matter and know the main

conditions that would enable him to enter Paradise, before learning about the

voluntary deeds that would raise his rank there.

An-Nu‘man participated in the great Battle of Badr and died as a martyr in the Banttle of Uhud. On that day, he said, "Iswear by Allah! (I wish) that before the sun of this day sets, I will walk on the green (grass) of Paradise with my lameness! The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, 'An-Nu'man trusted Allah and found what he was looking for, for I saw him walking on the green (grass) of Paradise without a limp.”

Imam Nawawi said that the meaning of “treat the forbidden as prohibited” is to avoid the forbidden, and the meaning of to “treat the lawful as permissible” is to perform them believing that they are permissible.

Ibn Rajab gave two other interpretations:

“To treat the lawful as permissible” – to believe that it is permissible; “To treat the forbidden as prohibited” – to believe that it is prohibited and to avoid it.

“To treat the lawful as permissible” – to perform it. “Lawful” here means what is not prohibited, which includes obligatory, preferable and allowed).

One thing that we notice about the Prophetic Saying is that Pilgrimage and Alms giving are not mentioned even though they make up the five Pillars of Islam. According to some scholars, the person who asked the question passed away (in the Battle of Uhud) before pilgrimage was made an obligation. As for alms giving, it is possible that it also was not yet made an obligation; alternatively, the person questioning was not a person of wealth and therefore was not required to pay alms giving. This Prophetic Saying indicates that the one who fulfils the obligations and avoids the prohibitions will enter Paradise. This meaning has been emphasized in a number of other Prophetic Sayings.

This Prophetic Saying emphasizes surrendering to the Will of Allah the Exalted– to accept as permissible what Allah has permitted and to accept as forbidden what Allah has prohibited. This also emphasizes Islam itself because Islam means to ‘fully surrender to the Will of Allah and to accept everything that has been commanded by Allah’.
In our contemporary times, there arise the issue of Muslims not fully adhering to the Islamic traditions, i.e. Allah’s commandments. If this is because they are new Muslims or that they live in areas where there is a lack of knowledge or poor dissemination of information (e.g. there are no scholars to advise them), then this lack of adherence is excusable. However, if a Muslim chooses to intentionally ignore or reject the obligations and prohibitions set by Allah without good reasons, then he may be in danger of losing his Islamic entity or identity.

These obligatory acts mentioned in the Prophetic Saying that will lead a person to Paradise require strong belief in Allah, commitment and continuous efforts. Only then will it be an easy task to achieve.

This Prophetic Saying implies that preferable deeds are not necessary for one to be able to enter Paradise. What counts or what matters is fulfilling the obligatory acts. However, we are encouraged to perform preferable deeds according to our capacity and whenever possible.

The significance of performing preferable acts is that it will lead us in getting closer to Allah the Exalted. In addition, preferable deeds compensate for our shortcomings in performing the obligatory acts.

Lessons Deduced

Juristic lessons:

1. Omitting the performance of the supererogatory acts of prayer and fasting is`

permissible and the one who does this will not be punished, as long as

they are not omitted out of disdain.

2. It is not permissible for someone who has not fulfilled the obligatory acts to

occupy himself with the performance of the supererogatory acts. He has to

begin with discharging his obligation for any missed prayers, apart from the

voluntary ones such as the Witr (the Odd Prayer), the two 'id Prayers, the

two Rak'ahs of greeting the Mosque, and the ones before the Dawn Prayer, and the other supererogatory acts with which one accustoms oneself to observe.

Creedal Lessons:

The knowledge of the unseen is among the qualities of Allah, the Exalted

and Ever-Majestic and no one knows about it, except Him. When the

Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) answered the man’s question,

*Shall I enter Paradise!" and said, "Yes," he was just acting as messenger of

Allah when he answered him, Allah says, which means, '(He Alone) the All-Knower of the unseen, and He reveals His unseen to none Except to a Messenger (from mankind) whom He has chosen (He informs him of the unseen as much as He likes).' (Al-Jinn, 72: 26-27)



As Allah made Paradise unlawful to the disbelievers, He made it unlawful

for the believers to dwell in Hellfire forever. His justice assures that those

who obeyed Him and were faithful will enter Paradise with His Will.

Anyone who argued and was stubborn about the legality of something that

Allah made lawful or about the illegality of something made unlawful by

Allah in a verse from the Quran or in the Sunnah, he takes himself out of

the circle of faith, even if he makes lawful what is lawful and makes

unlawful what is unlawful by following his traditions and customs.

Behavioral Lessons:

Anyone who is busy observing the supererogatory acts instead of doing the

obligatory acts is one of the vain people and whoever is busy observing the

obligatory acts instead of doing the supererogatory ones is among the

equitable people. There are some people who worship Allah because they are afraid of His Punishment; some seek His Reward; and others worship Allah because they love Him, want to be near Him, and because all acts of worship and

submission are due to Him. The last is the highest rank and it cannot be

attained, except by the elite whose souls have been purified, whose morals

have been elevated, and whose manners have been reformed.

legal Lessons:

l- The statement 'make unlawful what is made unlawful by Allah' does not

mean that he made the lawful and unlawful according to his own opinions,

but he did so according to the Islamic law. Woe to anyone who

makes himself a legislator, not a bearer of information, and makes unlawful

what he sees or thinks to be so or makes lawful what he wishes.

By doing so, he is claiming to have a characteristic of divinity, even if he does not

declare it as Pharaoh did when he said to his nation, as Allah says, which means, 'Pharaoh said, 'I show you only that which I see (correct)."‘ (Ghfir, 40: 29)

And He says, which means, 'Pharaoh said, “You believed in him before I gave you leave." (Ash-Shu’ara', 26: 49) His people followed his orders blindly, were carried away behind him, and worshipped him even though they did not say it openly.

2. Although Pilgrimage and giving alms are two essential pillars among the live pillars of Islam, there is no mention of them in this Prophetic Saying. This is because they are not essential for entering Paradise for one who is not capable of performing them or who does not have the minimum requirement needed for them.

The wars against apostasy led by the first caliph Abu Bakr As-Siddiq were

proof of this. Islamic legislation is based upon the physical ability of the

individual, in a way that cares for his physical and psychological ability as

well as his financial capability; this applies only to the commandments.



Lessons for Da‘wah (the Call to Islam)

One of the best methods of Da`wah requires that a caller does not talk too much

about the supererogatory acts at the beginning of his Call, as some in his audience

may become busy with such acts and neglect the obligatory ones. Others may be

concerned about such deeds being a burden on them and may stop observing other

Islamic rulings. The Prophet (peace be upon him) gives us the best example in this

field. During his thirteen year stay in Mecca he did his best to destroy atheism and

establish monotheism, i.e. the belief that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad

is His Messenger. He did that before he enjoined the observation of the last or the

performance of pilgrimage on them, in spite of the nearness of the Ka‘bah to them.



Prophetic Saying in Practice

Despite the fact that most of the time, the callers to Islam want to guide this nation,

they instead do it harm by their methods. They live with the reality of the Muslim

nation today and witness all the hardships afflicting it; they see its enemies` swords

injuring it and causing it to bleed; and they witness the loss of its dignity and the

violation of its sanctities. Most of its lands are moaning for help against colonization and its food, clothes, and medicines are still under the control of its enemies who gives these things in return for the most precious things this nation owns. If one day it will pay all that it owes them, they will say triumphantly, "You lost it all by yourself." Witnessing all of these conditions, we find the callers arguing about issues like the raising hands with every Takbir (when saying, "Allahu`akbar (Allah is Great) during the prayer, pulling the hands on top of each another after missing from Ruku' (bowing in the prayer) or keeping them by one's sides, the thickness of beards, and the wearing of cologne! These callers wander distractedly in a valley, while the Islamic nation is in another valley.

Conclusion

This Prophetic Saying shows a significant characteristic of Islam that it is a religion based on ease. There is a minimum requirement to be fulfilled by everyone, which is practicing obligations and avoiding prohibitions. By fulfilling this minimum requirement a person deserves to enter Paradise. Preferable acts are encouraged, based on one’s capacity and ability.