Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Book 14, Hadith 274
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ: مَا خُيِّرَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَيْنَ أَمْرَيْنِ إِلاَّ اخْتَارَ أَيْسَرَهُمَا، مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ إِثْمًا، فَإِذَا كَانَ إِثْمًا كَانَ أَبْعَدَ النَّاسِ مِنْهُ، وَمَا انْتَقَمَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لِنَفْسِهِ، إِلاَّ أَنْ تُنْتَهَكَ حُرْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالَى، فَيَنْتَقِمُ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِهَا.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Isma‘il narrated to us: Malik narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, from ‘Urwa, from ‘A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: ‘Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given a choice between two matters, he chose the easier of them, provided it was not sinful. If it was sinful, he was the furthest of people from it. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never took revenge for himself; but if a sanctity of Allah Most High was violated, he would exact retribution for Allah, Mighty and Majestic.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source speaks of Allah’s sanctity being violated and of taking retribution for Allah. The witness’s ‘respect’ and ‘take revenge’ are close paraphrases.