The Book of Miscellany
كتاب المقدمات
Chapter 5: Watchfulness
One day, I was riding behind the Prophet (ﷺ) when he said, "O boy! I will instruct you in some matters. Be watchful of Allah (Commandments of Allah), He will preserve you. Safeguard His Rights, He will be ever with you. If you beg, beg of Him Alone; and if you need assistance, supplicate to Allah Alone for help. And remember that if all the people gather to benefit you, they will not be able to benefit you except that which Allah had foreordained (for you); and if all of them gather to do harm to you, they will not be able to afflict you with anything other than that which Allah had pre-destined against you. The pens had been lifted and the ink had dried up".[At- Tirmidhi, who categorized it as Hadith Hasan Sahih].
Chapter 6: Piety
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The life of the world is sweet and green. Allah makes you generations succeeding one another so that He may try you in respect of your actions. So beware of the beguilements of the world and those of women. The first trial of Banu Israel was through women".[Muslim].
"Allahumma inni as'alukal-huda wat- tuqa wal-'afafa wal-ghina (O Allah! I ask You for guidance, piety, chastity and self- sufficiency)".[Muslim].
Chapter 7: Firm Belief and Perfect Reliance on Allah
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
In another narration, Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) said: We accompanied Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) in the campaign of Dhat-ur-Riqa`. We left Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to take rest under a shady tree. One of the polytheists came to him. The sword of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was hanging on a tree. He drew it and said: "Are you afraid of me?'' Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "No". Then he said: "Who will then protect you from me?'' Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied, "Allah".
And in a narration of Abu Bakr Al-Isma`ili, the polytheist asked: "Who will protect you from me?'' Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied, "Allah.'' As soon as he said this, the sword fell down from his hand and Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) catching the sword, asked him, "Who will protect you from me.'' He said, "Please forgive me.'' Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "On condition you testify that there is none worthy of worship but Allah and that I am His Messenger.'' He said, "No, but I promise you that I shall not fight against you, nor shall I be with those who fight with you". The Prophet (ﷺ) let him go. He then went back to his companions and said: "I have come to you from one of the best of mankind".
Chapter 3: Patience and Perseverance
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "How wonderful is the case of a believer; there is good for him in everything and this applies only to a believer. If prosperity attends him, he expresses gratitude to Allah and that is good for him; and if adversity befalls him, he endures it patiently and that is better for him".[Muslim].
When the last illness of Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) made him unconscious, Fatimah (May Allah be pleased with her) exclaimed: "Ah, the distress of my dear father." He (ﷺ) said, "There will be no distress for your father after today". When he died she said: "My father, Allah has called you back and you have responded to His Call. O father! Garden of Firdaus is your abode. O father! We announce to Jibril your death." When he was buried, she said: "Are you satisfied now that you put earth over (the grave of) Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)?"[Al- Bukhari]
The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by a woman who was crying over a grave and said, "Fear Allah and be patient." She said, "Away from me! My calamity has not befallen you and you are not aware of it." The woman was later told that it was the Prophet (ﷺ) (who had advised her). She came to his door where she found no doorkeeper. She said, "(I am sorry) I did not know you." Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Patience is (becoming) only at the first (stroke) of grief".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "Allah, the Glorious and Exalted said: 'When I afflict my slave in his two dear things (i.e., his eyes), and he endures patiently, I shall compensate him for them with Jannah.".[Al-Bukhari].
"Never a believer is stricken with a discomfort, an illness, an anxiety, a grief or mental worry or even the pricking of a thorn but Allah will expiate his sins on account of his patience".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Let not one of you wish for death because of a misfortune which befalls him. If he cannot help doing so, he should say: 'O Allah, keep me alive as long as You know that life is better for me, and make me die when death is better for me".[Al- Bukhari and Muslim].
After the battle of Hunain, Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) favoured some people in the distribution of spoils (for consolation). He gave Al-Aqra' bin Habis and 'Uyainah bin Hisn a hundred camels each and showed favour also to some more honourable persons among the Arabs. Someone said: "This division is not based on justice and it was not intended to win the Pleasure of Allah." I said to myself: "By Allah! I will inform Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) of this." I went to him and informed him. His face became red and he said, "Who will do justice if Allah and His Messenger do not?" Then he said, "May Allah have mercy on (Prophet) Musa (Moses); he was caused more distress than this but he remained patient." Having heard this I said to myself: "I shall never convey anything of this kind to him in future".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "When Allah intends good for His slave, He punishes him in this world, but when He intends an evil for His slave, He does not hasten to take him to task but calls him to account on the Day of Resurrection."[At-Tirmidhi, who categorised it as Hadith Hasan].
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The one who suppresses anger and has the power to give effect to it, will be called out by Allah, the Exalted, to the forefront of the creatures on the Day of Resurrection and he will be asked to choose any of the virgins (Hur) of his liking".[Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi, who categorised it as Hadith Hasan].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "You will see after me favouritism and things which you will disapprove of." They submitted: "What do you order us to do (under such circumstances)?" He replied, "Discharge your obligations and ask your rights from Allah".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Chapter 4: Truthfulness
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Truth leads to piety and piety leads to Jannah. A man persists in speaking the truth till he is enrolled with Allah as a truthful. Falsehood leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire (Hell), and a person persists on telling lies until he is enrolled as a liar".'[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
"One of the earlier Prophets who was out on an expedition proclaimed among his people that no man should follow him who had married a woman with whom he wished to cohabit but had not yet done so, or who had built houses on which he had not yet put the roofs, or who had bought sheep or pregnant she-camels and was expecting them to produce young. He, then, went on the expedition and approached the town at the time of the 'Asr prayer or little before it. He then told the sun that both it and he were under command and prayed Allah to hold it back for them, so it was held back till Allah gave him victory. He collected the spoils and it (meaning fire) came to devour these, but did not. He said that among the people there was a man who stole from the booty. He told them that a man from every tribe must swear allegiance to him, and when a man's hand stuck to his, he said: "There is thief among you and every individual of your tribe must swear allegiance to me". (In course of swearing of allegiance,) hands of two or three persons stuck to his hand. He said: "The thief is among you". They brought him a head of gold like a cow's head and when he laid it down, the fire came and devoured the spoils. Spoils were not allowed to anyone before us, then Allah allowed spoils to us as He saw our weakness and incapacity and allowed them to us".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Both parties in a business transaction have a right to annul it so long as they have not separated; and if they tell the truth and make everything clear to each other (i.e., the seller and the buyer speak the truth, the seller with regard to what is purchased, and the buyer with regard to the money) they will be blessed in their transaction, but if they conceal anything and lie, the blessing on their transaction will be eliminated."[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Chapter 5: Watchfulness
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "A wise man is the one who calls himself to account (and refrains from doing evil deeds) and does noble deeds to benefit him after death; and the foolish person is the one who subdues himself to his temptations and desires and seeks from Allah the fulfillment of his vain desires".[At-Tirmidhi, who categorized it as Hadith Hasan].
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is from the excellence of (a believer's) Islam that he should shun that which is of no concern to him".[At-Tirmidhi].
Chapter 6: Piety
It was asked, "O Messenger of Allah! Who is the most honourable amongst mankind?" He (ﷺ) said, "The most honourable of them is one who is the most pious of them." They said, "We are not asking about this". He said, "Then, the most honourable of men was Yusuf (Joseph), the Prophet of Allah, the son of Allah's Prophet, who was the son of the Prophet of Allah, who was the son of the Khalil of Allah (i.e., Ibrahim (ﷺ))' They said, "We are not asking you about this." He enquired, "Are you then asking me about the classes of the Arabs? The best of them in the Pre- Islamic Period of Ignorance are the best of them in Islam, provided they comprehend the religious knowledge".[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].