Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 36 of Nawawi
Hadith number 36 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in a faithful English translation.
Updated on 10 September 2026 at 2:45 AM
📖 43 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.
Some companions of al-A'mash added to the text of the hadith: "And whoever cancels the debt of a Muslim, Allah will erase his slip on the Day of Resurrection." And the two collections report it from the hadith of Ibn Umar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim: he neither wrongs him nor leaves him to ruin. Whoever fulfills the need of his brother, Allah fulfills his need. Whoever relieves a Muslim of a distress, Allah relieves him of a distress among the distresses of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever covers a Muslim, Allah will cover him on the Day of Resurrection." At-Tabarani reports from the hadith of Ka'b ibn Ujra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Whoever dispels from a believer a distress among his distresses, Allah dispels from him a distress among the distresses of the Day of Resurrection. Whoever covers the shame of a believer, Allah covers his shame. Whoever relieves a believer of a distress, Allah relieves him of his distress." And Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of Maslama ibn Makhled, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Whoever covers a Muslim in this world, Allah will cover him in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever rescues a distressed man, Allah will release him from a distress among the distresses of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever fulfills the need of his brother, Allah will fulfill his need."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever relieves a believer of a distress among the distresses of this world, Allah will relieve him of a distress among the distresses of the Day of Resurrection" comes down to this: the recompense is of the same kind as the deed. The texts have multiplied in this meaning, like his saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah shows mercy only to the merciful among His servants"; and his saying: "Allah torments those who torment people in this world." The kurbah is the great hardship that plunges its bearer into anguish; its relieving (tanfis) is to lighten it for him, a word taken from drawing breath when the choking is released, as if the anguish let him take a breath. The relief (tafrij) is greater still: it is to remove the distress from him until his anguish is dispelled, his worry and his grief gone.
Thus the recompense of the relieving is the relieving, and the recompense of the relief is the relief, as in the hadith of Ibn Umar. The two were joined in the hadith of Ka'b ibn Ujra. At-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, in raised form: "Any believer who feeds a believer when hungry, Allah will feed him on the Day of Resurrection from the fruits of Paradise; any believer who gives a believer to drink when thirsty, Allah will give him to drink on the Day of Resurrection from the sealed drink; and any believer who clothes a believer when naked, Allah will clothe him from the green garments of Paradise." Imam Ahmad reports it doubting its being raised; it has been said that the correct version is a Companion's statement. And Ibn Abi al-Dunya reports by his chain from Ibn Mas'ud: "The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection blinder than they ever were, hungrier than they ever were, thirstier than they ever were, more exhausted than they ever were. Whoever clothed for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, Allah will clothe him; whoever fed for Allah, Allah will feed him; whoever gave drink for Allah, Allah will give him drink; and whoever pardoned for Allah, Allah will pardon him." Al-Bayhaqi reports from the hadith of Anas, in raised form, that a man of Paradise will look, on the Day of Resurrection, at the people of the Fire, and a man of the Fire calls out to him: "O so-and-so! Do you know me?" He says: "No, by Allah, I do not know you. Who are you?" He says: "I am the one you passed by in the abode of this world, and you asked me for a drink of water, so I gave you drink." He says: "I have recognized you." He says: "Then intercede for me with your Lord on account of it." He asks Allah, the Most High, who says to him: "Intercede for him." He is commanded, and he is brought out of the Fire.
His saying: "a distress among the distresses of the Day of Resurrection," without saying "among the distresses of this world and the Hereafter," as he did for facilitation and covering. It has been said, to explain this, that the great distresses are the mighty hardships, and not everyone experiences them in this world, unlike indigence and the shames needing cover: hardly anyone in this world escapes that, even by the straitening of some essential need. And it has been said: the distresses of this world, compared to the distresses of the Hereafter, are nothing, so Allah has stored up the recompense of relieving distresses to relieve with it the distresses of the Hereafter.
[The proof of this]: The Prophet's saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) proves it: "Allah will gather the first and the last on a single plain; the caller will make them hear, the sight will reach them, and the sun will draw near to them, until the people are in worry and anguish they can neither bear nor endure. The people will say to one another: do you not see what has reached you? Will you not wait for someone to intercede for you with your Lord?" And he mentions the hadith of intercession. The two collections report it in meaning from the hadith of Abu Hurayra, and from the hadith of Aisha, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "You will be gathered barefoot, naked and uncircumcised." She said: I said: O Messenger of Allah! Will the men and the women look at one another? He said: "The matter is too great for them to be concerned with that." And the two report from the hadith of Ibn Umar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), concerning the word of the Most High:
"The Day mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds."
Al-Mutaffifin, 6
He said: one of them will stand in his sweat up to the middle of his ears.
And the two report from the hadith of Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "The people will sweat on the Day of Resurrection until their sweat sinks into the earth seventy cubits, and it will rise up to their ears." The wording is al-Bukhari's, and Muslim's wording: "The sweat will sink into the earth seventy cubits, and it will reach the mouths of the people, or their ears." Muslim reports from the hadith of Miqdad, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "The sun will draw near to the servants until it is a mile or two away; the sun will scorch them, and they will be in sweat according to the measure of their deeds: in some, it rises to the ankles; in others, to the knees; in others, to the waists; and in some, the sweat covers them entirely, up to the ears."
And Ibn Mas'ud said: "The whole earth, on the Day of Resurrection, will be fire, and Paradise behind it: its domes and palaces will be seen. The man will sweat until his sweat drips into the earth the measure of his stature, then it rises until it reaches his nose, according to what reached him of the reckoning." It was said: "What is that, O Abu Abd al-Rahman?" He said: "Among what the people will see being done to one another." And Abu Musa said: "On the Day of Resurrection the sun will be above the heads of the people, and their deeds will shade them or scorch them." And in the Musnad, from the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir, in raised form: "Every man will be in the shade of his charity until judgment is passed between the people."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And whoever grants ease to a man in hardship, Allah will grant him ease in this world and the Hereafter." This too indicates that hardship can occur in the Hereafter. Allah described the Day of Resurrection as a hard day, not easy upon the disbelievers: proof that He makes it easy for others. And He said:
"And it will be a day, upon the disbelievers, hard."
Al-Furqan, 26
The granting of ease to the man in hardship, in the matter of wealth, is by one of two things: either by granting him respite until ease, which is obligatory, as the Most High said:
"And if he is in hardship, then a respite until ease."
Al-Baqara, 280
or by cancelling it for him if he is in debt; otherwise by giving him what removes his hardship. Both have great merit.
[And its effects:] In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "A merchant used to lend to the people; when he saw a man in hardship, he would say to his servants: cancel his debt, that Allah may cancel our faults. And Allah cancelled for him." And in them, from Hudhayfa and Abu Mas'ud al-Ansari: they heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "A man died; he was asked: what did you used to do? He said: I used to trade with the people; I was lenient with the wealthy and easy with the man in hardship." And in a narration: "I used to look at the man in hardship and be easy on the coin," or he said "on the cash": so he was forgiven. Muslim reports it from the hadith of Abu Mas'ud, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And in his hadith: Allah says: "We are more entitled to that than he: cancel his debt." It is also reported from the hadith of Abu Qatada, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever wishes that Allah deliver him from the distresses of the Day of Resurrection, let him relieve a distressed man or cancel his debt." And from the hadith of Abu al-Yasar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever grants respite to a man in hardship or cancels his debt, Allah will shade him in His shade, on the day when there is no shade but His." And in the Musnad, from Ibn Umar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever wants his supplication to be answered and his distress removed, let him relieve a distressed man."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And whoever covers a Muslim, Allah will cover him in this world and the Hereafter": the texts have multiplied in this meaning.
Ibn Majah reports from the hadith of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Whoever covers the shame of his Muslim brother, Allah will cover his shame on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever exposes the shame of his Muslim brother, Allah will expose his shame until He disgraces him with it in his own house." Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of Uqba ibn Amir that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "Whoever covers, in this world, the shame of a believer, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will cover his shame on the Day of Resurrection." It is reported from some of the righteous predecessors that he said: "I came upon people who had no defects, yet mentioned the defects of people, so people mentioned their defects; and I came upon people who had defects yet refrained from the defects of people, so their defects were forgotten." Or as he said. This hadith is supported by the hadith of Abu Barza, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: "O company of people who believe with their tongues while faith has not entered their hearts: do not backbite the Muslims and do not pursue their shames; whoever pursues their shames, Allah will pursue his shame, and whoever Allah pursues his shame, He will disgrace him in his own house." Reported by Imam Ahmad and Abu Dawud. At-Tirmidhi reports its meaning from the hadith of Ibn Umar.
Know that people are of two kinds. The first: the covered man
The first: he who is covered, not known for any sin; when a slip or a stumble occurs from him, it is not permitted to expose it, tear it open or speak of it: that is forbidden backbiting. He is the one these texts concern; Allah the Most High says:
"Those who love that indecency spread among those who believed, for them is a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter."
An-Nur, 19
Meaning: the spreading of the indecency of the concealed believer, in what happened from him, or in what he is accused of while innocent of it, as in the story of the lie (al-ifk). Some righteous viziers said to one of those who enjoined good: "Strive to cover the disobedient, for the exposure of their sins is a blemish upon the people of Islam, and the first of matters is covering faults." If such a man comes repentant, regretful, confessing a legal punishment without explaining it, he is not questioned; rather he is ordered to return and conceal himself, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) ordered Ma'iz and the woman of Ghamid, and as the one who said "I have incurred a legal punishment, so carry it out on me" was not questioned. If such a man is seized for his offence, and it does not reach the ruler, intercession is made for him so that it does not reach the ruler. In this regard comes the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Overlook the slips of men of standing." Abu Dawud and an-Nasa'i report it from the hadith of Aisha.
The second: the one who proclaims his sins
The second: he who is notorious for sins, proclaiming them, heedless of what he commits and of what is said to him: this is the openly corrupt. Backbiting does not apply to him, as al-Hasan al-Basri and others stated. For such a one, there is no harm in seeking out his case so that the legal punishment may be executed upon him. Some of our scholars stated this explicitly, citing the Prophet's saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Go out, O Anis, concerning this man's wife: if she confesses, stone her." Such a one is not interceded for when seized, even if it does not reach the ruler; he is left until the punishment is carried out upon him, to curb his malice and deter his like. Malik said: "He who is known for evil or corruption, I do not like that anyone intercede for him; rather he is left until the legal punishment is carried out." Ibn al-Mundhir and others narrate it. Imam Ahmad disliked raising the sinners to the ruler in every case. He disliked it because they generally do not carry out the punishments properly, hence his saying: "If you know he will carry out the punishment, raise it to him." He then mentioned that they beat a man and he died, meaning: his killing was not lawful.
If one of those beaten the first time repents, it is better for him to repent between him and Allah, the Most High, and to conceal himself. As for the second beating: it has been said that it is likewise, and it has been said that rather it is better for him to come to the ruler and confess upon himself what entails the punishment, until he purifies him.
His saying: "Allah helps the servant as long as the servant helps his brother." And in the hadith of Ibn Umar: "And whoever is in the service of his brother's need, Allah is in the service of his need." The merit of fulfilling needs and striving in them has preceded in the commentary of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth hadiths. At-Tabarani reports from the hadith of Umar, in raised form: "The best of deeds: bringing joy to a believer: clothing his shame, filling his hunger, or fulfilling a need of his." Al-Hasan al-Basri sent men from among his companions to fulfill a need for a man, and said to them: "Pass by Thabit al-Bunani and take him with you." They came to Thabit, who said: "I am in devotional retreat." They returned to al-Hasan and informed him; he said: "Tell him: O bleary-eyed one! Do you not know that your walking to the need of your Muslim brother is better for you than a pilgrimage after a pilgrimage?" They returned to Thabit, who abandoned his retreat and went with them.
Imam Ahmad reports from the hadith of the daughter of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, who said: Khabbab went out on an expedition, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to look after us until he milked for us a goat into our bowl, until it filled and overflowed; when Khabbab arrived, he milked it, and its milk returned to what it was. And Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, used to milk for the quarter the sheep of his people; when he became caliph, a maidservant of theirs said: now he will not milk them. Abu Bakr said: "Indeed I will! And I hope that what I have entered upon will not change me from anything I used to do." Or as he said. The men used to do the milking because, among the Arabs, the women did not milk, and they considered it shameful; and when the men were away, the women needed someone to milk for them. It is reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he said to some people: "Do not give me the milk of a woman to drink." And Umar used to look after the widows: he would draw water for them by night. Talha saw him one night entering the house of a woman; Talha entered upon her by day: she was a blind, seated old woman. He asked her what the man did with her. She said: "He has been with me for such and such a time: he looks after me, he brings me what benefits me and removes harm from me." He said: "May your mother lose you, O Talha! The traces of Umar keep appearing."
And Abu Wail used to go around every day to the women of the quarter and their old ones, buying for them their needs and what served them. Mujahid said: I accompanied Ibn Umar on a journey to serve him, and he served me. Many of the righteous made it a condition upon their companions, on a journey, that they serve them. A man accompanied a people in jihad on condition that they serve him: whenever one of them wanted to wash his head or his garment, he said: this is from my condition, and he did it. When he died, they stripped him for washing and saw on his hand written: "of the people of Paradise." They looked: it was an inscription between the skin and the flesh.
In the two authentic collections, from Anas: "We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on a journey; among us were fasting men and non-fasting men. We encamped on a scorching hot day: the one with the most shade among us was the owner of a garment, and among us were those who shaded themselves from the sun with their hand. The fasting ones fell, and the non-fasting men rose: they pitched the tents and gave drink to the mounts. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: 'Today the non-fasting ones have taken the reward.'" And it is reported from a man of Aslam that food was brought to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on one of his journeys: he ate of it, his companions ate, and the man of Aslam withheld his hand. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to him: "What is the matter with you?" He said: I am fasting. He said: "What prompted you to do that?" He said: I have two sons, men who travel with me and serve me. He said: "They will always have the merit over you." And in the Mursal of Abu Dawud, from Abu Qulaba: people from the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrived praising the virtue of one of their companions: "We have never seen the like of so-and-so! Whenever we were traveling, he was reciting; whenever we encamped, he was praying." He said: "And who saw to his property? Who fed his camel or his mount?" They said: we did. He said: "Every one of you is better than he."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And whoever treads a path seeking knowledge thereby, Allah will make easy for him thereby a path to Paradise." Abu al-Darda also reports this meaning from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Treading a path in quest of knowledge includes treading the real path, which is walking on foot to the gatherings of the scholars, and it includes treading the spiritual paths leading to the acquisition of knowledge: memorizing it, reviewing it, studying it, writing it, understanding it, and the like of the spiritual paths by which one reaches knowledge.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise": it may be meant that Allah makes easy for him the knowledge he sought, that He smooths his path and makes it easy, for knowledge is a path leading to Paradise. Like the word of the Most High:
"We have made the Qur'an easy for remembrance: is there then any who will take heed?"
Al-Qamar, 17
Some of the predecessors used to say: "Is there any seeker of knowledge that we may aid?" It may also be meant that Allah makes easy for the seeker of knowledge, when he directs his path by the face of Allah, the Most High, intending to benefit by it and to act upon it, so that it becomes a cause of his guidance and of his entrance into Paradise. And Allah may make easy for the seeker of knowledge other sciences by which he benefits and which lead to Paradise, as it is said: whoever acts upon what he knows, Allah makes him inherit the knowledge of what he did not know; and as it is said: "The reward of a good deed is a good deed after it."
The word of the Most High proves it:
"Allah increases in guidance those who are guided."
Maryam, 76
and His word:
"And those who are guided, He increases them in guidance and grants them their piety."
Muhammad, 17
Into this may also enter the facilitation of the sensory path to Paradise on the Day of Resurrection, which is the Bridge (Sirat), and of the terrors before and after it: that will be made easy for the seeker of knowledge in return for his benefitting, for knowledge points to Allah by the nearest of paths to Him. Whoever treads its path without swerving from it arrives at Allah, the Most High, and at Paradise by the nearest and easiest of paths, and all the paths leading to Paradise are made easy for him, in this world and the Hereafter. There is no way to knowing Allah, to reaching His good pleasure, to winning His nearness and dwelling as His neighbor in the Hereafter, except by beneficial knowledge, by which Allah sent His messengers and sent down His books: it is the guide to Him, and by it one is guided through the darknesses of ignorance, doubts and misgivings. That is why Allah named His Book a light, for by it one is guided in the darknesses. Allah the Most High says:
"There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book, by which Allah guides to the ways of peace whoever follows His good pleasure, and brings them out of the darknesses into the light, by His permission, and guides them to a straight path."
Al-Ma'ida, 15-16
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) likened the bearers of the knowledge he brought to the stars by which one is guided in the darkness. In the Musnad, from Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The scholars on earth are like the stars in the sky: by them one is guided in the darknesses of land and sea; when the stars are extinguished, the guided ones are near to going astray." As long as knowledge remains on earth, the people are in guidance; and the persistence of knowledge is the persistence of its bearers. When its bearers and those who uphold it go, the people fall into misguidance, as in the two authentic collections, from Abd Allah ibn Amr, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the breasts of men, but He takes it away by taking away the scholars. When He leaves no scholar, the people take ignorant chiefs; they are asked, and they give verdicts without knowledge: they go astray and lead astray." The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned the day knowledge would be taken away, and it was said to him: how will knowledge go when we read the Qur'an and make our women and children read it? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The Torah and the Gospel are in the hands of the Jews and the Christians: what good do they do them?" Ubada ibn al-Samit was asked about this hadith and said: "If I wished, I would tell you the first knowledge to be lifted from the people: awe." Ubada said this because knowledge is of two kinds: the first is that whose fruit is in the heart of man: the knowledge of Allah, the Most High, His names, His attributes and His acts, which entails fear of Him, awe of Him, veneration of Him, humility before Him, love of Him, hope in Him, supplication of Him and trust in Him, and the like: this is the beneficial knowledge. As Ibn Mas'ud said: "Some people recite the Qur'an and it does not go beyond their collarbones; but when it settles in the heart and takes firm root there, it benefits."
And al-Hasan said: "Knowledge is of two kinds: knowledge upon the tongue, and that is the proof of Allah against the children of Adam; and knowledge in the heart, and that is the beneficial knowledge." And the second kind: the knowledge upon the tongue, which is the proof of Allah, as in the hadith: "The Qur'an is a proof for you or against you."
The first knowledge to be lifted is beneficial knowledge, the inward knowledge that mingles with the hearts and sets them right. The knowledge of the tongue remains, a proof against the people: they grow heedless of it and do not act upon what it requires, neither its bearers nor others. Then this knowledge goes with the going of its bearers, and nothing remains but the Qur'an in the codices, with no one knowing its meanings, its limits or its rulings. Then it will be carried off in the last days, until nothing of it remains in the codices or in the hearts at all. After that, the Hour will arise. As the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The Hour will not arise except upon the worst of the people." And he said: "The Hour will not arise while anyone on earth says: Allah, Allah."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And no people sit in a house among the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, but that serenity descends upon them, mercy envelops them, the angels surround them, and Allah mentions them among those with Him." This indicates the recommendation of sitting in the mosques for reciting the Qur'an and studying it. And if it is taken for learning the Qur'an and teaching it, there is no disagreement over its recommendation. In the Sahih of al-Bukhari, from Uthman, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The best of you is he who learns the Qur'an and teaches it." Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami said: "That is what seated me in this seat of mine": he taught the Qur'an in the time of Uthman ibn Affan until the time of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. And if it is taken for what is broader than that, it includes gathering in the mosques for studying the Qur'an absolutely.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would sometimes command one of them to recite the Qur'an so as to listen to his recitation, as he commanded Ibn Mas'ud to recite to him and said: "I love to hear it from someone other than myself." And Umar would command one to recite to him and to his companions while they listened: sometimes he commanded Abu Musa, sometimes Uqba ibn Amir. Ibn Abbas was asked: which deed is best? He said: the remembrance of Allah. It was said: and "no people sit in a house among the houses of Allah, handling the Book of Allah among themselves and studying it, but the angels overshadow them with their wings, and they are the guests of Allah as long as they are upon that, until they disperse to other talk"? He said: "It is reported in raised form, and the Companion's-statement version is more correct."
Yazid al-Raqashi reports from Anas that when they prayed the morning prayer, they would sit in circles, reciting the Qur'an, learning the religious obligations and the Sunna, and remembering Allah, the Most High. Atiyya reports from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "No people pray the morning prayer, then sit in their place of prayer handling the Book of Allah and studying it, but Allah appoints over them angels who seek forgiveness for them until they disperse into other talk." This indicates the recommendation of gathering after the morning prayer to study the Qur'an, but there is weakness in Atiyya. Harb al-Kirmani reports by his chain from al-Awza'i that he was asked about study after the dawn prayer, and said: Hassan ibn Atiyya informed me that the first to introduce it in the mosque of Damascus was Hisham ibn Isma'il al-Makhzumi, in the caliphate of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, and the people took to it. And by his chain, Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz and Ibrahim ibn Sulayman studied the Qur'an after the dawn prayer in Beirut, and al-Awza'i in the mosque, and no one changed that for them. Harb mentions that he saw the people of Damascus, Homs, Mecca and Basra gathering for the Qur'an after the dawn prayer; but the people of Syria recited the Qur'an all of them together, in one go, from a single sura, in raised voices; and the people of Mecca and Basra gathered: one of them would read ten verses while the people listened, then another ten, until they finished. Harb said: "All of that is good and fine." Malik disapproved of that to the people of Syria. Zayd ibn Ubayd al-Dimashqi said: Malik ibn Anas said to me: it has reached me that you sit in circles reading? I informed him of what our companions used to do, and Malik said: "Among us, in the time of the Emigrants and the Ansar, we did not know this." I said: is this not strange? He said: "And stranger: a man reads and the people gather around him?" He said: "This is contrary to our view." And Abu Mus'ab and Ishaq ibn Muhammad al-Farawi said: we heard Malik ibn Anas say: "Gathering in the morning after the dawn prayer to read the Qur'an is an innovation: neither the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) nor the scholars after them were upon this. When they prayed, each would withdraw alone, recite and remember Allah, the Most High, then disperse without speaking to one another, occupied with the remembrance of Allah. All of this is innovated." Ibn Wahb said: I heard Malik say: "Let not the reading in the mosque be from the affair of the people of old." And the first to introduce it in the mosque was al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. Malik said: "And I dislike that one read in the mosque from the codex." Abu Bakr al-Naysaburi reported all of this in his book on the merits of Malik, may Allah have mercy on him. The majority argued the recommendation of gathering to study the Qur'an, in general, with the hadiths indicating the recommendation of gathering for remembrance, and the Qur'an is the best kind of remembrance.
In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah has angels who roam the ways, seeking the people of remembrance. When they find a people remembering Allah, the Most High, they call one another: come to your need. They surround them with their wings up to the lowest heaven. Their Lord asks them, and He knows them best: what do My servants say? They say: they glorify You, magnify You, praise You and exalt You. He says: have they seen Me? They say: no, by Allah, they have not seen You. He says: how would it be if they saw Me? They say: had they seen You, they would worship You more intensely, exalt You more strongly and praise You more, and glorify You more often. He says: what do they ask of Me? They say: they ask You for Paradise. He says: and have they seen it? They say: no, by Allah, O Lord, they have not seen it. He says: how would it be if they saw it? They say: had they seen it, they would be more eager for it, more ardent in seeking it and more desirous of it. He says: from what do they seek refuge? They say: from the Fire. He says: have they seen it? They say: no, by Allah, O Lord, they have not seen it. He says: how would it be if they saw it? They say: had they seen it, they would flee from it more urgently and fear it more. Allah, the Most High, says: bear witness that I have forgiven them. One of the angels says: among them is so-and-so, who is not of them; he only came for a need. He says: they are seated ones: their companion is not wretched." In the Sahih of Muslim, from Mu'awiya: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came upon a circle of his companions and said: "What makes you sit?" They said: we sat to remember Allah and praise Him for guiding us to Islam and bestowing it upon us. He said: "By Allah, is that all that makes you sit?" They said: by Allah, we sit for nothing but that. He said: "I did not make you swear as an accusation against you, but Jibril came to me and informed me that Allah, the Most High, boasts of you to the angels." Al-Hakim reports from the hadith of Mu'awiya: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) one day; he entered the mosque and found people sitting in it. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: what makes you sit? They said: we prayed the prescribed prayer, then sat to study the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "When Allah is remembered, His mention grows." And in this meaning, other hadiths, many. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed that the reward of those who sit in a house of Allah studying the Book of Allah is four things:
The first: serenity descends upon them. In the two authentic collections, from al-Bara ibn Azib: a man was reciting Surat al-Kahf, and he had a horse tethered beside him by two shackles; a cloud enveloped him and began to circle and draw near, and his horse began to shy from it. When morning came, he went to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and mentioned it to him, and he said: "That was serenity descending for the Qur'an." And in them also, from Abu Sa'id: Usayd ibn Hudayr, one night, was reciting in his horse paddock when his horse shied; he recited, and it shied again; he recited, and it shied again. Usayd said: I feared it would trample Yahya, my son. I rose toward it, and it was something like a canopy above my head, in which were things like lamps; it ascended into the sky until I saw it no more. In the morning he went to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and mentioned it to him, and he said: "Those were the angels listening to you; had you kept reciting, the people would have seen them in the morning, they do not conceal themselves from them." The wording, in both, is Muslim's. Ibn al-Mubarak reports from Yahya ibn Ayyub, from Ubayd Allah ibn Zahr, from Sa'd ibn Mas'ud, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was in a sitting; he raised his gaze to the sky, then lowered it, then raised it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about that, and said: these people were remembering Allah, the Most High, meaning the people of the circle before him: serenity descended upon them, carried by the angels like a dome; when it drew near them, a man among them spoke a false word, and it was raised from them. And this hadith is mursal.
The second: the enveloping of mercy. Allah the Most High says:
"The mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good."
Al-A'raf, 56
Al-Hakim reports from the hadith of Salman that he was in a group remembering Allah, the Most High; the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by them and said: "What were you saying? I saw mercy descending upon you, and I wished to share it with you." Al-Bazzar reports from the hadith of Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah has caravans of angels who seek the circles of remembrance; when they come upon them, they surround them, then send their scout to the heaven, to the Lord of might, blessed and exalted. They say: our Lord! We came upon servants of Yours who proclaim Your bounties, recite Your Book, pray upon Your prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and ask You for their Hereafter and their world. Allah, blessed and exalted, says: envelop them in My mercy. They say: O Lord! Among them is so-and-so, a sinner, who only passed by. He says: envelop them in My mercy: they are seated ones, their companion is not wretched."
The third: the angels surround them, mentioned in these hadiths we have cited. In the preceding hadith of Abu Hurayra: "They surround them with their wings up to the lowest heaven." And in a narration of Imam Ahmad: "one upon another until they reach the Throne." Khalid ibn Ma'dan, raising the hadith: "Allah has angels in the air roaming between heaven and earth, seeking remembrance; when they hear a people remembering Allah, the Most High, they say: gently, may Allah increase you! They spread their wings around them until each of them ascends to the Throne." Al-Khallal reports it in Kitab al-Sunna.
The fourth: Allah mentions them among those with Him. In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: "I am as My servant thinks of Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in an assembly better than them." These four qualities belong to every gathering upon the remembrance of Allah, the Most High. As in the Sahih of Muslim, from Abu Hurayra and Abu Sa'id, each of them from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): the people of the remembrance of Allah, the Most High, have four things: serenity descends upon them, mercy envelops them, the angels surround them, and the Lord mentions them among those with Him. Allah, the Most High, said:
"So remember Me, I will remember you."
Al-Baqara, 152
Allah's mentioning of His servant is His praise of him in the highest assembly among His angels, His boasting of him and His making much of his mention. Al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: Allah mentions whoever mentions Him, increases [the reward of] the one who thanks Him, and punishes whoever denies Him. The Most High said:
"O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening. It is He who prays upon you, and His angels, to bring you out of the darknesses into the light."
Al-Ahzab, 41-42
Allah's prayer upon His servant is His praise of him among His angels and His making much of his mention: thus said Abu al-Aliya. Al-Bukhari mentions it in his Sahih. And a man said to Abu Umama: I saw in a dream as if the angels prayed upon you every time you entered, every time you went out, every time you stood, every time you sat. Abu Umama said: "And you, if you wished, the angels would pray upon you." Then he recited:
"O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance, and glorify Him morning and evening. It is He who prays upon you, and His angels, to bring you out of the darknesses into the light."
Al-Ahzab, 41-42
Al-Hakim reports it.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And he whose deeds lag behind, his lineage will not advance him." Its meaning: it is deeds that bring the servant to the ranks of the Hereafter, as the Most High said:
"For each there are ranks according to what they did."
Al-Ahqaf, 19
He whose deeds are slow to bring him to the high stations with Allah, his lineage will not bring him to those ranks, for Allah, the Most High, attached recompense to deeds, not to lineages, as the Most High said:
"Then, when the trumpet is blown, there will be no lineage between them that day, nor will they ask one another."
Al-Mu'minun, 101
Allah, the Most High, commanded hastening to His forgiveness and His mercy by deeds:
"And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the mindful: those who spend in ease and in hardship, who restrain anger and pardon the people; and Allah loves the doers of good."
Al Imran, 133-134
And the Most High said:
"Those who are in awe of their Lord with apprehension; those who believe in the signs of their Lord; those who associate nothing with their Lord; those who give what they give while their hearts tremble, for to their Lord they return: it is they who hasten in good deeds, and they are the foremost to them."
Al-Mu'minun, 57-61
Ibn Mas'ud said: "The Bridge will be laid across Hell, and the people will pass according to the measure of their deeds, in groups: the first like the flash of lightning, then like the passing of the wind, then like the passing of birds, then like the running of beasts, until a man passes at a run, and a man passes at a walk, until the last of them drags himself on his belly. He says: O Lord! Why have You delayed me? He says: 'I did not delay you; it was your deed that delayed you.'"
In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hurayra: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, when there was sent down:
"And warn your nearest kin."
Ash-Shu'ara, 214
"O people of Quraysh! Buy your souls from Allah: I avail you nothing against Allah. O sons of Abd al-Muttalib! I avail you nothing against Allah. O Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib! I avail you nothing against Allah. O Safiyya, aunt of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! I avail you nothing against Allah. O Fatima, daughter of Muhammad! Ask me what you will: I avail you nothing against Allah."
And in a narration outside the two authentic collections: "My allies are your pious. The people will come with deeds, and you will come with the world, carrying it upon your necks; you will say: O Muhammad! And I will say: I have delivered." Ibn Abi al-Dunya reports from the hadith of Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "My allies on the Day of Resurrection are your pious, even if a lineage be nearer than lineages. The people will come with deeds, and you will come with the world, carrying it upon your necks; you will say: O Muhammad! O Muhammad! And I will turn away from you, to this side and to that." Al-Bazzar reports from the hadith of Rifa'a ibn Rafi' that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to Umar: "Gather me your people," meaning Quraysh. He gathered them, and he said: "My allies among you are your pious. If you are those, then that; otherwise beware that the people do not come with deeds on the Day of Resurrection and you with burdens, and you be turned away." Al-Hakim reports it abridged and authenticated it. And in the Musnad, from Mu'adh ibn Jabal: when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent him to Yemen, he went out with him advising him, then turned and faced Medina and said: "The nearest of people to me are the pious of you, whoever they are and wherever they are." At-Tabarani reports it and adds: "These people of my house think they are the nearest of people to me, but it is not so: my allies are your pious, whoever they are and wherever they are." All of this is witnessed by what is in the two authentic collections, from Amr ibn al-As, that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "The family of so-and-so are not my allies; my ally is Allah and the righteous believers." This indicates that his alliance is not attained by lineage, however near, but by faith and righteous deed: whoever is most complete in faith and deed has the greatest alliance, whether he has near kin or not. In this meaning, some say: "By your life, man is only by his religion... So do not abandon piety relying on lineage: Islam raised Salman the Persian, and wretched polytheism brought down Abu Lahab."