Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 2 of Nawawi
Hadith number 2 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in faithful English translation.
Contents
Updated on 07 October 2026 at 4:51 AM
📖 38 min readThis hadith belongs to the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), the most studied hadith compilation in the world: foundations of faith, worship and character, all authentic narrations.
Muslim alone extracted it, to the exclusion of al-Bukhari, through the channel of Kahmas, from 'Abdallah ibn Burayda, from Yahya ibn Ya'mar: the first to speak of destiny in Basra was Ma'bad al-Djuhani; I set out with Humayd ibn 'Abd ar-Rahman al-Himyari on pilgrimage or umra; we said: if only we could meet one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to ask him about what these people say concerning destiny; fortune granted us 'Abdallah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with them) entering the mosque; my companion and I flanked him, one on his right, the other on his left, and I thought my companion would leave the speaking to me; I said: Abu 'Abd ar-Rahman, people have appeared among us who recite the Quran and seek knowledge, and they claim there is no destiny and that the affair is newly begun.
He said: when you meet those people, inform them that I am quit of them and they of me; by Him whom 'Abdallah ibn 'Umar swears by, if one of them had the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold and spent it, Allah would not accept it from him until he believes in destiny. Then he said: my father 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) told me: "We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)..." and he mentioned the hadith in full. Muslim also extracted it through other channels, some going back to 'Abdallah ibn Burayda, others to Yahya ibn Ya'mar, with some wordings containing additions and omissions. Ibn Hibban extracted it in his Sahih through the channel of Sulayman at-Taymi, from Yahya ibn Ya'mar.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained Islam as the outward works of the limbs, in word and deed: the first is the testimony that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, the work of the tongue; then establishing prayer, paying zakat, fasting Ramadan and performing pilgrimage to the House for whoever can find a way. These works divide into bodily work, like prayer and fasting, financial work, zakat, and what combines both, like pilgrimage for one far from Mecca. In Ibn Hibban's version are added: umra, the major ritual bath and completing the ablutions. This warns that all outward obligations enter the name of Islam; only the foundations of the works of Islam upon which it is built are mentioned here, as will be explained in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar: "Islam is built upon five." His words in some versions: "If I do that, am I a Muslim?
He said: Yes" indicate that whoever fulfils the five foundations becomes a Muslim in reality, whereas whoever acknowledges the two testimonies becomes a Muslim by legal ruling; having entered Islam, he is bound by the other characteristics of Islam, and if he abandons the testimonies he leaves Islam. His leaving Islam by abandoning prayer is a well-known divergence among the scholars, likewise for the other foundations, as we will mention in its place, Allah willing.
Among what shows that all outward works enter the name of Islam, the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe." In the two Sahihs, from 'Abdallah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), a man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): which Islam is best?
He said: "That you give food and spread salam upon whom you know and whom you do not know." In the Sahih of al-Hakim, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Islam has a light and milestones like the milestones of the road: worshipping Allah without associating anything with Him, establishing prayer, paying zakat, fasting Ramadan, enjoining good and forbidding evil, greeting the sons of Adam when you meet them, and greeting your family when you enter: whoever falls short of any of it has left a portion of Islam; and whoever abandons them all has cast Islam behind his back."
Ibn Mardawayh extracted it from the hadith of Abu ad-Darda: "Islam has a light and signs like the milestones of the road: its head and sum is the testimony that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, establishing prayer, zakat, completing the ablutions, judging by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, obeying those in command, your salam among yourselves, your salam to your families when you enter your homes, and your salam to the sons of Adam when you meet them"; its chain is weak, perhaps suspended.
Some reported it from Abu Ishaq, from al-Harith, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), extracted by Abu Ya'la and others; the suspended version from Hudhayfa is sounder, said ad-Daraqutni and others. His words "Islam is a portion" refer to the two testimonies, for they are the mark of Islam and by them a man becomes a Muslim.
Abandoning the forbidden things also enters the name of Islam: it is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Part of the excellence of a man's Islam is his leaving what does not concern him." This is also attested by what the Imam Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i extracted from the hadith of an-Nawwas ibn Sa'man (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah struck a parable: a straight path, on the two sides of the path two walls containing open doors, upon the doors lowered curtains, and at the gate of the path a caller saying: O people, enter the path all together and do not swerve; and a caller calling from above the path; whenever someone wants to open one of those doors, he says: woe to you, do not open it, for if you open it you enter it. The path is Islam, the two walls are the limits of Allah, the open doors are the prohibitions of Allah, the caller at the gate of the path is the Book of Allah, and the caller above is the warner of Allah in the heart of every Muslim." At-Tirmidhi added: "Allah calls to the abode of peace and guides whom He wills to a straight path."
In this parable struck by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Islam is the straight path which Allah commanded to hold to and forbade to overstep its limits; whoever commits any of the forbidden things has overstepped His limits.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained faith in this hadith as the inward beliefs: "That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the resurrection after death, and that you believe in destiny, its good and its evil." Allah mentioned faith in these five foundations in many places in His Book, such as: "The Messenger believed in what was sent down upon him from his Lord, as did the believers: all believed in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers; we distinguish none of His messengers", and: "Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the East or the West; righteousness is believing in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the prophets", and: "Who believe in the unseen, establish prayer and spend of what We have given them; and believe in what was sent down upon you and sent down before you, and have certainty of the hereafter."
Faith in the messengers entails faith in all they announced: the angels, the prophets, the Book, the resurrection, destiny and the rest of the detail they informed of, of the attributes of Allah and the attributes of the Last Day such as the balance, the bridge, Paradise and the Fire. Faith in destiny, its good and its evil, was included in faith; it is for this word that Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) related this hadith as an argument against those who denied destiny and claimed the affair is newly begun, meaning begun anew without a prior destiny from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; 'Abdallah ibn 'Umar was harsh toward them, declared himself quit of them and announced that their works are not accepted without faith in destiny.
Faith in destiny has two degrees. The first: believing that Allah, the Most High, knew in advance what His servants would do of good and evil, obedience and disobedience, before creating and producing them, who among them belongs to the people of Paradise and who to the people of the Fire, and that He prepared for both the reward and the punishment as wages for their deeds before creating them, that He wrote it with Him and counted it, and that the deeds of the servants run according to what preceded in His knowledge and His writing. The second: Allah created all the acts of His servants, disbelief and faith, obedience and disobedience, and willed them from them. This degree the people of the Sunnah and the community establish and the Qadarites deny; the first degree many Qadarites establish, and their extremists deny it, like Ma'bad al-Djuhani concerning whose statement Ibn 'Umar was questioned, and like 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd and others. Many imams of the early generation said: "Debate the Qadarites with knowledge: if they acknowledge it, they are confuted; if they deny it, they have disbelieved", meaning whoever denies the prior knowledge of the servants' acts, and that Allah divided them before creating them between fortunate and unfortunate...
As for whoever denies the prior knowledge, ash-Shafi'i and Ahmad explicitly declared his unbelief, as did other imams of Islam.
If it is said: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) distinguished in this hadith between Islam and faith, placing all works under Islam and not faith, whereas the known position of the early generation and the people of hadith is that faith is word, deed and intention, and all works enter the name of faith; ash-Shafi'i related on this the consensus of the companions, the successors and those after them whom they reached. The early generation strongly disapproved of whoever removes works from faith; among those who disapproved and held it an innovation: Sa'id ibn Jubayr, Maymun ibn Mihran, Qatada, Ayyub as-Sakhtiyani, an-Nakha'i, az-Zuhri, Yahya ibn Abi Kathir and others. Ath-Thawri said: it is an innovated opinion, we found the people upon other than it. Al-Awza'i said: The early forbears did not distinguish between faith and deed.
'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz wrote to the people of the metropolises: "Faith: obligations and laws; whoever fulfils them has fulfilled faith, and whoever does not fulfil them has not fulfilled faith"; al-Bukhari mentioned it. In the two Sahihs it is said: "The fornicator is not a believer while he fornicates, the drinker is not a believer while he drinks..." and the hadith of prohibition: whoever abandons prayer has disbelieved.
The entry of deeds into faith is attested by His word: "The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them, and who rely upon their Lord, who establish prayer and spend of what We have given them: those are the believers in truth; theirs are degrees with their Lord, forgiveness and generous provision." In the two Sahihs, from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them): the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to the delegation of 'Abd al-Qays: "I enjoin upon you four: faith in Allah alone. Do you know what faith in Allah is? The testimony that there is no deity except Allah, establishing prayer, paying zakat, fasting Ramadan, and giving the fifth of the spoils." And: "Faith has sixty-odd branches: modesty is a branch of faith."
The reconciliation of these texts with the hadith of Jibril's question (upon him be peace) about Islam and faith, and the Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) distinguishing between them, placing works under Islam and not faith, becomes clear through a principle: certain names encompass multiple senses when standing alone; when that name is joined to another, it designates part of them, and the name joined to it designates the rest. Such are the poor and the indigent: alone, each encompasses every needy person; joined, one designates one kind of needy and the other the rest. Thus with Islam and faith: alone, each encompasses the other; joined, one designates part of what it aimed at alone, and the other the rest. A group of imams made this explicit: Abu Bakr al-Isma'ili said in his epistle to the people of the mountain: many of the people of hadith...
Through this detail appears the real status of the question of Islam and faith: are they one thing or distinct? The people of the Sunnah and of hadith have diverged and composed many works on it: some claim the majority of the people of the Sunnah hold them to be one thing, among them Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi and Ibn 'Abd al-Barr; this is reported from Sufyan ath-Thawri through the channel of Ayyub ibn Suwayd ar-Ramli, who has weakness. Others relate from the people of the Sunnah the distinction between the two, among them Abu Bakr ibn as-Sam'ani and others; the distinction is related from many of the early generation: Qatada, Dawoud ibn Abi Hind, Abu Ja'far al-Baqir, az-Zuhri, Hammad ibn Zayd, Ibn Mahdi, Sharik, Ibn Abi Dhi'b and Ahmad.
The real status of their difference: faith is the heart's assent, its acknowledgment and its knowledge; Islam is the servant's submission to Allah, his humility and obedience to Him, which occurs through deed, and it is the religion: Allah named Islam religion in His Book, and in the hadith of Jibril the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) named Islam, faith and excellence religion. This also shows that each name, taken alone, encompasses the other, and they are distinguished only when joined: faith then means the genus of the heart's assent, and Islam the genus of deed. In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Islam is public and faith is in the heart."
That is why the verifiers among the scholars say: "Every believer is a Muslim": whoever realises faith, rooted in his heart, performs the works of Islam, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "In the body is a piece which, if sound, makes the whole body sound, and if corrupt, corrupts it all: the heart": the heart does not realise faith without the limbs rushing into the works of Islam.
Not every Muslim is a believer: faith may be weak, the heart not realising it fully despite the limbs working the works of Islam; he is then a Muslim without being a believer of complete faith, as Allah said: "The bedouins have said: we believe. Say: you do not believe; say rather: we have submitted, and faith has not yet entered your hearts." According to the better of the two explanations, they were not outright hypocrites, this being the view of Ibn 'Abbas and others: their faith was weak, attested by His word: "If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not defraud you of anything of your deeds; Allah is forgiving, merciful."
The people of the Sunnah diverged: is the one whose faith is deficient called a believer, or is he said to be a Muslim without being a believer? Two views, two narrations from Ahmad. As for the name of Islam, it does not fall by neglecting some of its obligations or violating some of its prohibitions; it falls only through what contradicts it entirely. Nothing is known in the authentic Sunnah of negating Islam from whoever neglects one of its obligations, just as faith is negated from whoever neglects one of its obligations, although unbelief has been applied to some forbidden acts, and hypocrisy likewise. The scholars diverged: is the committer of major sins called a disbeliever of lesser disbelief, or a hypocrite of lesser hypocrisy? I know of none of them who allowed negating the name of Islam from him.
When it is established that the name of Islam falls only through what contradicts it and exits the community, the name of Islam, absolute or accompanied by praise, encompasses all faith, assent and the rest, as previously in the hadith of 'Amr ibn 'Abasa. An-Nasa'i extracted from the hadith of 'Uqba ibn Malik: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent an expedition that fell upon a people; a man of them said: I am a Muslim; a man of the expedition killed him; the matter reached the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who spoke a harsh word about it; the man said: he only said it to escape death; the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah does not accept the deed of anyone before entry into Islam", and he ordered his blood-money paid.
In the Sunans of Ibn Majah, from 'Adiyy ibn Hatim: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to me: "O 'Adiyy, become Muslim and you will be safe. I said: what is Islam? He said: To testify that there is no deity except Allah, testify that I am the Messenger of Allah, and believe in all destinies, their good and their evil, their sweet and their bitter." An explicit text: faith in destiny belongs to Islam. The two testimonies are a characteristic of Islam without dispute, and what is meant is not their pronunciation without assent: assent therefore enters Islam. The Islam mentioned in "The religion with Allah is Islam" has been explained as faith in Allah and acceptance of His religion...
The faith of the veracious, whose hearts see the unseen until it becomes as if witnessed, with no room for doubt or uncertainty, is not the faith of whoever does not reach this degree: the assent established in hearts is graded; this is the correct view, the sounder of the two narrations from Abu 'Abdallah Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
When faith is negated of someone and Islam affirmed, like the bedouins of whom Allah informed: the rooting of faith in the heart is negated of them, and their participation in the outward works of Islam affirmed, with a portion of faith validating their work, without which they would not be Muslims. Faith was negated of them for lacking the taste of its realities and missing some obligations. Disbelief comprises a greater and a lesser: the greater exits the religion, the lesser does not, likewise hypocrisy; the greater exits, the lesser does not... It is related from Ibn Mas'ud: "Whoever dies loving the family of the Messenger of Allah..."
These questions, of Islam, faith, disbelief and hypocrisy, are momentous: Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, attached to these names felicity and misery, deserving Paradise and the Fire.
The divergence over their meanings was the first of this community: that of the Kharijites against the companions, who expelled disobedient monotheists from Islam altogether, ranked them under disbelief, treated them as disbelievers, and on that basis made lawful the blood and wealth of Muslims; then came the divergence of the Mu'tazilites and their thesis of the rank between two ranks, then that of the Murji'a saying the sinner is a believer of complete faith. The scholars, ancient and modern, have composed many works on these questions; among the imams of the early generation who wrote on faith: Imam Ahmad, Abu 'Ubayd al-Qassim ibn Sallam, Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba, Muhammad ibn Aslam at-Tusi.
In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad and an-Nasa'i, from Mu'awiya ibn Hudayda: "I said: O Messenger of Allah, by Him who sent you with the truth, with what did He send you? He said: With Islam. I said: what is Islam? He said: That you surrender your heart to Allah, the Most High, direct your face toward Allah, the Most High, pray the prescribed prayer and pay the obligatory zakat." In a version: "I said: what is the sign of Islam? He said: That you say: I have surrendered my face to Allah, that you free yourself, establish prayer and pay zakat; every Muslim is forbidden to every Muslim."
Such as His word: "The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned..." up to: "those are the believers in truth"; and: "Has the time not come for those who believe that their hearts humble themselves to Allah's remembrance and to the truth sent down?"; and His word to the bedouins: "Faith has not yet entered your hearts": He negated it of them despite outward submission, indicating that the inward deed, firm assent, enters faith.
Acceptance of Allah's lordship includes accepting worshipping Him alone without partner, accepting His management of the servant and His choice for him. Accepting Islam as religion includes preferring it over all religions; accepting Muhammad as messenger includes accepting everything he brought from Allah, and its acceptance through submission and openness, as Allah said: "No, by your Lord, they do not believe until they take you as judge of what disputes arise between them, then find within themselves no constraint from what you decreed, and submit fully." In the two Sahihs, from Anas, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Three things, whoever possesses them tastes the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger be dearer to him than all; that he love only for Allah's sake; and, having returned to disbelief as he was before, that he hate returning to it as he would hate being thrown into the Fire."
In the Musnad and elsewhere, from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever is pleased by his good deed and saddened by his evil deed is a believer." In the Musnad of Baqiyy ibn Makhlad, from a man who heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The purity of faith: if you do evil or wrong someone, your servant, your maidservant or anyone, you fast or give alms; and if you do well, you rejoice at it."
In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, from Abu Sa'id, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The believers in this world are of three kinds: those who believed in Allah and His Messenger without doubt, and strove with their wealth and selves in Allah's path; the one from whose wealth and self people are safe; and the one who, facing a coveted gain, leaves it for Allah, Mighty and Majestic."
In the Musnad, from 'Amr ibn 'Abasa: "I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is Islam? He said: Good speech and feeding food. I said: what is faith? He said: Patience and leniency. I said: which Islam is best? He said: The one from whose tongue and hand the Muslims are safe. I said: which faith is best? He said: Good character." Al-Hasan al-Basri explained patience and leniency: "Patience against Allah's prohibitions, leniency in fulfilling Allah's obligations." At-Tirmidhi and others, from 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The most complete of the believers in faith is the best of them in character."
Al-Bazzar extracted in his Musnad, from 'Abdallah ibn Mu'awiya al-Ghadiri, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Three things: whoever does them has tasted faith: worshipping Allah alone, testifying there is no deity except Allah; giving the zakat of his wealth, his soul consenting, every year", and the hadith continues; at the end a man said: and man's self-purification, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "That he know Allah is with him wherever he is." Abu Dawoud extracted the beginning without the end.
In the two Sahihs, from 'Abdallah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Modesty is a branch of faith."
Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah extracted, from al-'Irbad ibn Sariya (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The believer is like the docile camel: wherever it is tethered, it complies." And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: "The believers are brothers: so reconcile between your two brothers, and fear Allah, that you may be graced."
In the two Sahihs, from an-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The example of the believers in their mutual love, tenderness and mercy is that of the body: when one member suffers, the whole body responds with fever and sleeplessness." In a version of Muslim: "The believers are like a single man." And in another: "The Muslims are like a single man: if his eye suffers, all of him suffers; if his head suffers, all of him suffers."
In the Sunans of Abu Dawoud, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The believer is the mirror of the believer; the believer is the brother of the believer: he protects him from loss and guards him from behind."
In the two Sahihs, from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." In the Sahih of al-Bukhari, from Abu Shurayh al-Ka'bi: "By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! They said: who, O Messenger of Allah? He said: The one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm."
Al-Hakim extracted, from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them), from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour hungers."
Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi extracted, from Sahl ibn Mu'adh al-Djuhani, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever gives for Allah, withholds for Allah, loves for Allah and hates for Allah", Imam Ahmad adding: "and marries for Allah, has perfected his faith." In a version from Imam Ahmad, he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the best part of faith; he said: "That you love for Allah, hate for Allah, and engage your tongue in Allah's remembrance." He said: and what more, O Messenger of Allah? He said: "That you love for people what you love for yourself."
Imam Ahmad also extracted from the hadith of 'Amr ibn al-Djamuh: "The servant does not attain the purity of faith until he loves for Allah and hates for Allah; if he loves for Allah and hates for Allah, he has earned the alliance of Allah, the Most High." And from the hadith of al-Bara' ibn 'Azib (may Allah be pleased with him): "The firmest bonds of faith: loving for Allah and hating for Allah." Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "Love for Allah's good pleasure, hate for Allah's good pleasure, take allies for Allah and enemies for Allah: by this Allah's friendship is obtained, and none tastes faith, though abundant in prayer and fasting, who loves and hates by his passion."
Joined to Islam: "Yes: whoever surrenders his face to Allah while doing good: his reward is with his Lord, and no fear upon them nor do they grieve", and: "Whoever surrenders his face to Allah while doing good has grasped the firmest handhold."
Joined to taqwa: "Allah is with those who feared and those who do good." It may also come alone: "For those who did good is the fairest reward and an increase": it is authenticated in the Sahih of Muslim, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that the increase is the vision of the face of Allah, the Most High, in Paradise; this befits the wage of the people of excellence, for excellence is that the believer worship his Lord in this world in presence and watchfulness, as if he saw Him with his heart, beholding Him in his worship.
His words (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explaining excellence: "Worship Allah as if you see Him" indicate that the servant worships Allah, the Most High, with this quality: presence of His nearness and being between His hands as if he saw Him; this produces awe, fear, reverence and magnification, as in the version of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): "Fear Allah as if you see Him." It also produces sincerity in worship and the effort to beautify, perfect and complete it.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counselled this to a group of his companions. Ibrahim al-Hadjari related, from Abu al-Ahwas, from Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): "My beloved (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counselled me to fear Allah as if I saw Him: if I do not see Him, He sees me." From Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them): "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) took a part of my body and said: Worship Allah as if you see Him", extracted by an-Nasa'i. From the hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam, raised and suspended: "Be as if you see Allah, for if you do not see Him, He sees you." At-Tabarani extracted from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): "A man said: O Messenger of Allah, relate me a hadith concisely. He said: Pray the prayer of one departing: for if you do not see Him, He sees you." In the famous hadith of Haritha, related through detached and connected channels, the detached being sounder: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "How are you this morning, O Haritha?
He said: I rise a believer in truth. He said: Consider what you say, for every word has a reality. He said: O Messenger of Allah, my soul turned away from this world, I kept vigil at night and fasted by day, and as if I gazed upon the Throne of my Lord displayed, as if I saw the people of Paradise visiting one another and the people of the Fire tormenting one another. He said: You have known, so act." From the hadith of Abu Umama (may Allah be pleased with him): the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counselled a man: "Have toward Allah the modesty you would have toward two righteous men of your family who never leave you." From Mu'adh: when he sent him to Yemen: "Have toward Allah the modesty you would have toward a revered man of your family." Asked about uncovering one's nakedness in solitude, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah most deserves that one be modest before Him."
Abu ad-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) counselled a man: "Worship Allah as if you see Him." 'Urwa ibn az-Zubayr asked Ibn 'Umar for his daughter's hand during the circumambulation; he did not answer him; meeting him later, he apologised and said: "We were in the circumambulation, representing Allah between our eyes", extracted by Abu Nu'aym and others.
It has been said this is the justification of the first: the servant being commanded to watch Allah in worship and grasp His nearness as if he saw Him, this may weigh upon him; he is then helped by his faith that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sees him, penetrates his secret and his outward, his inner and his outer, nothing of his affair being hidden from Him. Once this station is realised, it becomes easy for him to move to the second: the constant fixing of the inner gaze upon the nearness of the Lord, until it becomes as if seeing Him. It is to these two stations that the sayings of the knowers allude.
One of the knowers among the early generation said: "Whoever works for Allah in contemplation is a knower; whoever works in the contemplation of Allah upon him is sincere", pointing to the two stations: the station of sincerity, whoever works representing that Allah sees him, penetrates him and is near him: this representation in his work prevents him from turning to other than Allah and aiming at another; and the station of contemplation, whoever works according to what appears to him of the Lord's watch and nearness, until it becomes as if seeing Him: he is among the highest of the knowers.
We have cited the hadith: "The best part of faith: knowing that Allah is with you wherever you are", and: "Man's self-purification? He said: Knowing that Allah is with him wherever he is."
At-Tabarani extracted, from Abu Umama, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Three will be under the shade of Allah, the Most High, on the Day of Resurrection, the day of no shade but His", and he mentioned: "the man who, wherever he turns, knows Allah is with him", and the hadith continues.
The Quran indicated this meaning in many places, such as: "When My servants ask you about Me: I am near, I answer the call of the caller when he calls upon Me", and: "He is with you wherever you are", and: "There is no secret conversation between three but He is their fourth, nor between five but He is their sixth, nor fewer nor more but He is with them wherever they are; then He will inform them, on the Day of Resurrection, of what they did", and: "We created man and We know what his soul whispers to him; We are nearer to him than his jugular vein."
The authentic hadiths inviting to represent this nearness in acts of worship: "When one of you stands to pray, he confides in his Lord, and his Lord is between him and the qibla." "Allah is before his face when he prays." "Allah, Mighty and Majestic, turns His face toward His servant's face in his prayer as long as he does not turn away." To those who raised their voices in remembrance: "You call upon neither one deaf nor absent; you call upon one Hearing, Near." "You are called upon, answered." Asked: which deed is best? the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Prayer at its time, filial devotion toward parents, and jihad in Allah's path." He commanded perfecting the ablutions and said: "None of you perfects his ablutions and says: I testify there is no deity except Allah... without the eight gates of Paradise being opened to him: let him enter by whichever he wills."
Whoever understands from any of these texts a likeness, an indwelling or a union has only been deceived by his ignorance and poor understanding of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and of His Messenger: Allah and His Messenger are quit of all that. Glory to Him who has no like, He the Hearing, the Seeing.
Bakr al-Muzani said: "Who is like you, son of Adam? You were left free between the prayer niche and the water: whenever you wish, you enter upon Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with no interpreter between you and Him."
Whoever attains to representing this in Allah's remembrance and worship finds intimacy with Allah and estrangement from His creatures, of necessity.
Thawr ibn Yazid said: "I read in certain books that 'Issa (upon him be peace) said: O company of apostles, speak much with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and little with people. They said: how speak much with Allah? He said: Be alone in His discourse, be alone in His invocation", extracted by Abu Nu'aym. He also extracted, through his chain, from Riyah: "We had a man who prayed every day and night a thousand rak'as, until he was crippled in his legs; he prayed seated a thousand rak'as every night; after the afternoon prayer he wrapped himself, faced the qibla and said: I marvel at creation: how does it find intimacy in other than You? I rather marvel: how are hearts illumined by the remembrance of other than You?" Abu Usama related: "I entered upon Muhammad ibn an-Nadr al-Harithi and saw him as if withdrawn; I said: you seem to dislike being visited? He said: yes. I said: and you do not feel lonely? He said: how should I feel lonely when He says: I am the companion of whoever remembers Me?" It was said to Malik ibn Mighwal, sitting alone in his house: do you not feel lonely? He said: does one feel lonely with Allah? Habib... and the transmissions of these people in this chapter are very long; what we have mentioned suffices, Allah willing.
Whoever meditates what we have indicated of this immense hadith knows that all sciences and knowledges revert to this hadith and fall under it, and that the sciences of the scholars of this community's groups do not go beyond this hadith and what it indicates, in general and in detail. The jurists speak of acts of worship, which are characteristics of Islam, adding the rules of wealth, wives and blood, all belonging to the science of Islam; much of Islam remains, of usages and morality, of which few speak, and they do not speak of the meaning of the two testimonies, which are the whole foundation of Islam. Those who speak of the foundations of religions speak of the two testimonies and of faith in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and destiny. Those who speak of knowledges and inward transactions speak of the station of excellence and of the inward works which also enter faith. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) embraced all these sciences in this hadith...
Remains the discourse on the mention of the Hour in the hadith. Jibril's words (upon him be peace): "Inform me about the Hour", the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The one asked knows no more than the asker": the knowledge of all creatures of the moment of the Hour is equal. This indicates that Allah, the Most High, kept its knowledge to Himself alone. Hence it has come that the scholar, when asked about what he does not know, should say: I do not know, without this diminishing him: it is of his scrupulousness and his religion, for above every knower is a knower.
In the hadith of Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "In five that none knows but Allah, the Most High", and he recited: "With Allah is the knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs; no soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die; Allah is knowing, informed." And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: "They ask you about the Hour: when is its anchoring? Say: its knowledge is with my Lord; none reveals it at its time but He; it weighs heavy in the heavens and the earth; it will not come upon you but suddenly. They ask you as if you were eager for it; say: its knowledge is with Allah, but most people do not know." In the Sahih of al-Bukhari, from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Among the keys of the unseen are the five that none knows but Allah", and he recited the verse. The keys are what opens the unseen: knowledge of these five.
His words: "Inform me about its signs" refer to its marks indicating its nearness, and they are of two kinds: the accomplished signs and the signs yet to come, as detailed in the hadiths of trials and the signs of the Hour: the slave who bears her mistress, the naked barefoot shepherds building... and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) cited the coming of the Antichrist and the great signs: the descent of 'Issa son of Maryam, the rising of the sun from its setting-place, the beast of the earth, and the rest of what is established; and complete knowledge belongs to Allah, the Most High.