Holding Fast to the Qur'an and Sunnah
كتاب الاعتصام بالكتاب والسنة
Chapter 3: Following the Sunna of the Prophet (saws)
I came to `Aisha during the solar eclipse. The people were standing (offering prayer) and she too, was standing and offering prayer. I asked, "What is wrong with the people?" She pointed towards the sky with her hand and said, Subhan Allah!'' I asked her, "Is there a sign?" She nodded with her head meaning, yes. When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) finished (the prayer), he glorified and praised Allah and said, "There is not anything that I have not seen before but I have seen now at this place of mine, even Paradise and Hell. It has been revealed to me that you people will be put to trial nearly like the trial of Ad-Dajjal, in your graves. As for the true believer or a Muslim (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which of the two (words Asma' had said) he will say, 'Muhammad came with clear signs from Allah, and we responded to him (accepted his teachings) and believed (what he said)' It will be said (to him) 'Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with certainty.' As for a hypocrite or a doubtful person, (the sub-narrator is not sure as to which word Asma' said) he will say, 'I do not know, but I heard the people saying something and so I said the same.' "
Chapter 4: Asking too many questions and troubling with what does not concern one
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "People will not stop asking questions till they say, 'This is Allah, the Creator of everything, then who created Allah?' "
I was with the Prophet (ﷺ) at one of the farms of Medina while he was leaning on a date palm leaf-stalk. He passed by a group of Jews and some of them said to the other, Ask him (the Prophet) about the spirit. Some others said, "Do not ask him, lest he should tell you what you dislike" But they went up to him and said, "O Abal Qasim! Inform us bout the spirit." The Prophet (ﷺ) stood up for a while, waiting. I realized that he was being Divinely Inspired, so I kept away from him till the inspiration was over. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(O Muhammad) they ask you regarding the spirit, Say: The spirit its knowledge is with my Lord (i.e., nobody has its knowledge except Allah)" (17.85) (This is a miracle of the Qur'an that all the scientists up till now do not know about the spirit, i.e, how life comes to a body and how it goes away at its death) (See Hadith No. 245, Vol. 6)
Chapter 6: Going deeply into and arguing about knowledge, and exaggerating in religion, and inventing heresies
The Prophet (ﷺ) said (to his companions), "Do not fast Al-Wisal." They said, "But you fast Al-Wisail." He said, "I am not like you, for at night my Lord feeds me and makes me drink." But the people did not give up Al-Wisal, so the Prophet (ﷺ) fasted Al-Wisal with them for two days or two nights, and then they saw the crescent whereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If the crescent had delayed, I would have continued fasting (because of you)," as if he wanted to vanquish them completely (because they had refused to give up Al Wisal).
Chapter 7: The sin of giving refuge or helping a person innovating an heresy
I said to Anas, "Did Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) make Medina a sanctuary?" He replied, "Yes, (Medina is a sanctuary from such-and-such place to such-and-such place. It is forbidden to cut its trees, and whoever innovates an heresy in it or commits a sin therein, will incur the curse of Allah, the angels, and all the people." Then Musa bin Anas told me that Anas added, "..... or gives refuge to such an heretic or a sinner..."
Chapter 8: Judging made on the basis of opinion or Qiyas
I asked Abu Wail, "Did you witness the battle of Siffin between `Ali and Muawiya?" He said, "Yes," and added, "Then I heard Sahl bin Hunaif saying, 'O people! Blame your personal opinions in your religion. No doubt, I remember myself on the day of Abi Jandal; if I had the power to refuse the order of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), I would have refused it. We have never put our swords on our shoulders to get involved in a situation that might have been horrible for us, but those swords brought us to victory and peace, except this present situation.' " Abu Wail said, "I witnessed the battle of Siffin, and how nasty Siffin was!"
Chapter 11: “A group of my followers will remain victorious in their struggle in the cause of the Truth.”
I heard Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan delivering a sermon. He said, "I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "If Allah wants to do a favor to somebody, He bestows on him, the gift of understanding the Qur'an and Sunna. I am but a distributor, and Allah is the Giver. The state of this nation will remain good till the Hour is established, or till Allah's Order comes."
Chapter 14: Exerting oneself to find out the proper legal verdict which is in harmony with what Allah has revealed
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Do not wish to be like anybody except in two cases: The case of a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and that of a man whom Allah has given religious wisdom (i.e., Qur'an and Sunna) and he gives his verdicts according to it and teaches it." (to others i.e., religious knowledge of Qur'an and Sunna (Prophet's Traditions)). "
`Umar bin Al-Khattab asked (the people) about the Imlas of a woman, i.e., a woman who has an abortion because of having been beaten on her `Abdomen, saying, "Who among you has heard anything about it from the Prophet?" I said, "I did.'' He said, "What is that?" I said, "I heard the Prophet saying, "Its Diya (blood money) is either a male or a female slave.' " `Umar said, "Do not leave till you present witness in support of your statement." So I went out, and found Muhammad bin Maslama. I brought him, and he bore witness with me that he had heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, "Its Diya (blood money) is either a male slave or a female slave."
Chapter 16: The sin of the person who invites others to an evil deed or establishes a bad tradition
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "None is killed unjustly, but the first son of Adam will have a part of its burden." Sufyan said, "..a part of its blood because he was the first to establish the tradition of murdering"
Chapter 17: The religious learned men should not differ
A bedouin gave the Pledge of allegiance for embracing Islam to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ), and then he got an attack of fever in Medina and came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ): and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Cancel my pledge." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) refused to do so. The bedouin came to him again and said, "Cancel my pledge," but he refused again, and then again, the bedouin came to him and said, "Cancel my pledge," and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) refused. The bedouin finally went away, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Medina is like a pair of bellows (furnace), it expels its impurities while it brightens and clears its good.'
The Jews brought a man and a woman who had committed illegal sexual intercourse, to the Prophet (ﷺ) and the Prophet (ﷺ) ordered them to be stoned to death, and they were stoned to death near the mosque where the biers used to be placed.
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That he heard `Umar speaking while standing on the pulpit of the Prophet (ﷺ) in the morning (following the death of the Prophet), when the people had sworn allegiance to Abu Bakr. He said the Tashah-hud before Abu Bakr, and said, "Amma Ba'du (then after) Allah has chosen for his Apostle what is with Him (Paradise) rather than what is with you (the world). This is that Book (Qur'an) with which Allah guided your Apostle, so stick to it, for then you will be guided on the right path as Allah guided His Apostle with it."
The Prophet (ﷺ) embraced me and said, "O Allah! Teach him (the knowledge of) the Book (Qur'an)."
Chapter 3: Following the Sunna of the Prophet (saws)
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "All my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse." They said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Who will refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)."
Some angels came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was sleeping. Some of them said, "He is sleeping." Others said, "His eyes are sleeping but his heart is awake." Then they said, "There is an example for this companion of yours." One of them said, "Then set forth an example for him." Some of them said, "He is sleeping." The others said, "His eyes are sleeping but his heart is awake." Then they said, "His example is that of a man who has built a house and then offered therein a banquet and sent an inviter (messenger) to invite the people. So whoever accepted the invitation of the inviter, entered the house and ate of the banquet, and whoever did not accept the invitation of the inviter, did not enter the house, nor did he eat of the banquet." Then the angels said, "Interpret this example to him so that he may understand it." Some of them said, "He is sleeping.'' The others said, "His eyes are sleeping but his heart is awake." And then they said, "The houses stands for Paradise and the call maker is Muhammad; and whoever obeys Muhammad, obeys Allah; and whoever disobeys Muhammad, disobeys Allah. Muhammad separated the people (i.e., through his message, the good is distinguished from the bad, and the believers from the disbelievers).
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Leave me as I leave you, for the people who were before you were ruined because of their questions and their differences over their prophets. So, if I forbid you to do something, then keep away from it. And if I order you to do something, then do of it as much as you can."
Chapter 4: Asking too many questions and troubling with what does not concern one
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The most sinful person among the Muslims is the one who asked about something which had not been prohibited, but was prohibited because of his asking."
(The clerk of Al-Mughira) Muawiya wrote to Al-Mughira 'Write to me what you have heard from Allah's Messenger (ﷺ).' So he (Al-Mughira) wrote to him: Allah's Prophet used to say at the end of each prayer: "La ilaha illalla-h wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul Mulku, wa lahul Hamdu wa hula ala kulli shai'in qadir. 'Allahumma la mani' a lima a'taita, wala mu'tiya lima mana'ta, wala yanfa'u dhuljadd minkal-jadd." He also wrote to him that the Prophet (ﷺ) used to forbid (1) Qil and Qal (idle useless talk or that you talk too much about others), (2) Asking too many questions (in disputed Religious matters); (3) And wasting one's wealth by extravagance; (4) and to be undutiful to one's mother (5) and to bury the daughters alive (6) and to prevent your favors (benevolence to others (i.e. not to pay the rights of others (7) And asking others for something (except when it is unavoidable).
The Prophet (ﷺ) came out after the sun had declined and offered the Zuhr prayer (in congregation). After finishing it with Taslim, he stood on the pulpit and mentioned the Hour and mentioned there would happen great events before it. Then he said, "Whoever wants to ask me any question, may do so, for by Allah, you will not ask me about anything but I will inform you of its answer as long as I am at this place of mine." On this, the Ansar wept violently, and Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) kept on saying, "Ask Me! " Then a man got up and asked, ''Where will my entrance be, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "(You will go to) the Fire." Then `Abdullah bin Hudhaifa got up and asked, "Who is my father, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "Your father is Hudhaifa." The Prophet (ﷺ) then kept on saying (angrily), "Ask me! Ask me!" `Umar then knelt on his knees and said, "We have accepted Allah as our Lord and Islam as our religion and Muhammad as an Apostle." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) became quiet when `Umar said that. Then Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, Paradise and Hell were displayed before me across this wall while I was praying, and I never saw such good and evil as I have seen today."