The Book of Miscellany
كتاب المقدمات
Chapter 40: Prohibition of Disobeying Parents and severance of Relations
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forbidden you: disobedience to your mothers, to withhold (what you should give), or demand (what you do not deserve), and to bury your daughters alive. And Allah dislikes idle talk, to ask too many questions (for things which will be of no benefit to one), and to waste your wealth".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Chapter 41: Excellence in doing Good to the Friends of Parents and other Relatives
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The finest act of goodness is that a person should treat kindly the loved ones of his father".
'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) met a bedouin on his way to Makkah, he greeted him, offered him to mount the donkey he was riding and gave him the turban he was wearing on his head. Ibn Dinar said to him: "May Allah make you pious! Bedouins can be satisfied with anything you give them (i.e., what you have given the bedouin is too much). Upon this, 'Abdullah bin 'Umar said, the father of this man was one of 'Umar's friends whom he loved best, and I heard Messenger of Allah saying, "The finest act of goodness is the good treatment of someone whom one's father loves".Another narration goes: When 'Abdullah bin 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) set out to Makkah, he kept a donkey with him to ride when he would get tired from the riding of the camel, and had a turban which he tied round his head. One day, as he was riding the donkey, a bedouin happened to pass by him. He ('Abdullah bin 'Umar) said, "Aren't you so-and-so?" The bedouin said, "Yes". He ('Abdullah bin 'Umar) gave him his donkey and his turban and said, "Ride this donkey, and tie this turban round your head". Some of his companions said, "May Allah forgive you, you gave to this bedouin the donkey which you enjoyed to ride for change, and the turban which you tied round your head".'Abdullah bin 'Umar said,"I heard Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, 'The finest act of goodness is the kind treatment of a person to the loved ones of his father after his death,' and the father of this person was a friend of 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him).[Muslim].
We were sitting with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when a man of Banu Salamah came to him and asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Is there any obedience to parents left that I can show to them after their death?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Yes, to pray for them, to supplicate for their forgiveness, to fulfill their promises after their death, to maintain the ties of kinship which cannot be maintained except through them, and honour their friends."[Abu Dawud].
I never felt jealous of any of the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) as much as I did of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her), although I have never seen her, but the Prophet (ﷺ) used to mention her very often. Whenever he slaughtered a sheep, he would cut it into pieces and send them to the women friends of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her). When I sometimes said to him: "You treat Khadijah in such a way as if there is no woman on earth except her". He (ﷺ) would say, "Khadijah was such and such (commending her and speaking well of her), and I had children from her".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].Another narration is: And if he (ﷺ) slaughtered a sheep, he would send meat to the friends of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her) as a present as much as would suffice them.Another narration is: When a sheep was slaughtered, he (ﷺ) would say, "Send this meat to Khadijah's friends." Once, Halah bint Khuwailid (May Allah be pleased with her), sister of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her), sought permission of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to enter. He recognized and recalled to his mind the manner of Khadijah (May Allah be pleased with her) and was deeply moved. He said, "O Allah, she must be Halah bint Khuwailid".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
I set out along with Jarir bin 'Abdullah Al-Bajali (May Allah be pleased with him) on a journey and he served me. I said to him: "Don't do that." Thereupon, he said, "I have seen the Ansar doing this with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and I swore by Allah, whenever I accompany anyone of the Ansar, I would serve him".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Chapter 42: Showing reverence to the Family of Allah's Messenger (pbuh)
I went along with Husain bin Sabrah and 'Amr bin Muslim to Zaid bin Arqam (May Allah be pleased with them) and, as we sat by his side, Husain said to him, "Zaid, you acquired great merits, you saw Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), listened to him talking, fought by his side in (different) battles, and offered Salat (prayer) behind him. Zaid, you have indeed earned great merits. Could you narrate to us what you heard from Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?" Zaid said, "By Allah! I have grown old and have almost spent up my age and I have forgotten some of the things which I remembered in connection with Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), so accept what I narrate to you, do not compel me to narrate what I fail to narrate". He then said, "One day Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stood up to deliver a Khutbah at a watering place known as Khumm between Makkah and Al-Madinah. He praised Allah, extolled Him, and exhorted (us) and said, 'Amma Ba'du. O people, I am a human being. I am about to receive a messenger (the angel of death) from my Rubb and I will respond to Allah's Call, but I am leaving with you two weighty things: the first is the Book of Allah, in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the Book of Allah and adhere to it.' He exhorted (us to hold fast) to the Book of Allah and then said, 'The second is the members of my household, I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family. I remind you (to be kind) to the members of my family. Husain said to Zaid, "Who are the members of his household, O Zaid? Aren't his wives the members of his family?" Thereupon Zaid said, "His wives are the members of his family. (But here) the members of his family are those for whom Zakat is forbidden". He asked, "Who are they?" Zaid said, "Ali and the offspring of 'Ali, 'Aqil and the offspring of 'Aqil and the offspring of Ja'far and the offspring of 'Abbas." Husain asked, "For all of them the acceptance of Zakat is forbidden?" Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him) said, "Yes".[Muslim].Another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "I am leaving behind me two weighty things. One of them is the Book of Allah; that is the strong rope of Allah. Whosoever holds firmly to it, will be the guided, and whosoever leaves it goes astray".
Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) said: "Show reverence to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) by honouring the members of his family."[Al- Bukhari].
Chapter 43: Revering the Scholars and Elders, Preferring them to others and raising their Status
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The person who is best versed in the recitation of the Book of Allah, should lead the prayer; but if all those present are equally versed in it, then the one who has most knowledge of the Sunnah; if they are equal in that respect too, then the one who has emigrated (to Al-Madinah) first, if they are equal in this respect also, then the oldest of them. No man should lead another in prayer where the latter has authority, or sit in his house, without his permission".[Muslim].In another narration in Muslim: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "One who is senior most in accepting Islam, should lead the Salat (prayer)".Yet another narration is: Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A man who is well versed in the Book of Allah and can recite it better, should lead the Salat (prayer); if (all those present) are equal in this respect, then the man who is senior most in respect of emigration, if they are equal in that respect too, then the oldest of them should lead the prayer".[Muslim].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would place his hands upon our shoulders when we would form rows for As-Salat (the prayer) and say, "Stand in straight rows and do not differ among yourselves, or else your hearts will differ due to disaccord. Let those be nearest to me who are mature and endowed with understanding (of the religion), then those who are nearest to them in these respects and then those who are nearest to them".[Muslim].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Let those be nearest to me in Salat (prayer) who are mature and possess (religious) knowledge, then those who are nearest to them in these respects". He repeated this three times and then added, "Beware of indulging in the loose talks of the markets (when you are in the mosque)".[Muslim].
'Abdullah bin Sahl and Muhaiyisah bin Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with them) went to Khaibar during the period of the truce (after its conquest) and they separated to perform their duties. When Muhaiyisah returned to `Abdullah bin Sahl, he found him murdered, drenched in his blood. So he buried him and returned to Al-Madinah. Then `Abdur-Rahman bin Sahl, Huwaiyisah and Muhaiyisah, the two sons of Mas`ud went to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and spoke about the case of their (murdered) friend. `Abdur-Rahman, who was the youngest of them all, started talking. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Let those older than you speak first." So he stopped talking and the (other two) spoke about the case of their (murdered) friend. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Will you take an oath whereby you will have the right to receive the blood money of your murdered man?" And mentioned the rest of the Hadith. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
After the battle of Uhud, the Prophet (ﷺ) arranged the burial of two of the martyrs in one grave. In each case he would ask, "Which one of them had learnt more Qur'an by heart?" Whichever was thus pointed out to him, was placed by him first in the Lahd.[Al- Bukhari].
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "It was shown to me in my dream that I was cleaning my teeth with a Miswak and two men came to me, one being older than the other. I gave the Miswak to the younger one, but I was asked to give it to the older, which I did".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is out of reverence to Allah in respecting an aged Muslim, and the one who commits the Qur'an to memory and does not exaggerate pronouncing its letters nor forgets it after memorizing, and to respect the just ruler".[Abu Dawud, who classified it as Hadith Hasan].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the honour due to our elders".[At- Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud, who both classified it as Hadith Sahih].
A begger asked 'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) for charity and she gave him a piece of bread. Thereafter, one well-dressed person asked her for charity and she invited him to sit down and served him food. When she was asked about the reason for the difference in treatment, she said: "Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) instructed us: 'Treat people according to their status".[Abu Dawud].
'Uyainah bin Hisn came to Al-Madinah and stayed with his nephew Al-Hurr bin Qais who was among those who were close to 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) and had access to his council. The scholarly persons, whether they were old or young, had the privilege of joining his council and he used to consult them. 'Uyainah said to Al-Hurr: "My dear nephew, you have an access to the Leader of the Believers. Will you obtain permission for me to sit with him?" Al-Hurr asked 'Umar and he accorded permission. When 'Uyainah came into the presence of 'Umar, he addressed him thus: "O son of Al-Khattab, you neither bestow much on us nor deal with us justly." 'Umar (May Allah be pleased with him) got angry and was about to beat him when Al-Hurr said: "O Leader of the Believers, Allah has said to his Prophet (ﷺ): 'Show forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish (i.e., don't punish them), [i.e., 'Uyainah] (7:199). This is one of the ignorant ones." By Allah! When al-Hurr recited this, 'Umar became quite motionless in his seat. He always adhered strictly to the Book of Allah.[Al-Bukhari]
I was a boy during the lifetime of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and used to commit to my memory what he said, but I do not narrate what I preserved because there were among us people who were older than me.[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If a young man honours an older person on account of his age, Allah appoints someone to show reverence to him in his old age"[At-Tirmidhi, who classified it as Hadith Gharib].