Opening chapters

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A slave girl of Madīnah would take hold of the hand of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and would take him wherever she wished.

Al-Aswad ibn Yazīd reported: I asked ‘Ā’ishah about what the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) used to do at his home. She said: He used to serve his family. But when the time for prayer came, he would go out to the prayer.

Abu Rifā‘ah Tamīm ibn Usayd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) while he was giving a sermon, and I said: "O Messenger of Allah, a stranger (meaning himself) has come to inquire about his religion. He is quite ignorant about his religion." So the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) interrupted his sermon and came to me. A chair was brought for him and he sat on it and started teaching me of what Allah has taught him. Then he resumed his sermon and completed it.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah did not send a prophet except that he tended sheep." His Companions said: "And you?" He said: "Yes, I used to tend sheep for the people of Makkah in return for some Qirāts."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If I am invited to a meal of a sheep's trotter or arm, I would accept the invitation, and if an arm or trotter were gifted to me, I would accept the gift."

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Al-‘Adbā', the Prophet's she-camel, was never outrun, or could hardly be outrun. It so happened that a Bedouin came riding atop a young camel of his, and it outran Al-‘Adbā'. This incident was so hard upon the Muslims, until he (the Prophet) came to know it and so he said: "It is the law of Allah that nothing rises high of the worldly life except that He brings it down."

‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Anyone has an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter Paradise." A man said:" What if one likes his clothes and shoes to look good?" He said: "Verily, Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. Arrogance is to reject the truth and look down on people."

Salamah ibn al-Akwa‘ (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man ate with his left hand in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), whereupon he said: "Eat with your right hand." The man said: I cannot do that. Thereupon, he said: "May you not be able to do that." It was only arrogance that prevented him. He said: He could not raise it up to his mouth afterward.

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection, there will be three categories of people whom Allah will not speak to, purify, or look at, and they will receive a painful punishment. These are: an aged man who commits adultery, a king who often lies, and a destitute person who is arrogant.”

As-Sa‘b ibn Jaththāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I gave the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) a zebra as a gift, but he returned it to me. When he saw my face (being sad) he said: "We only refused it because we are in a state of Ihrām."

An-Nawwās ibn Sim‘ān al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) about righteousness and sinfulness, and he said, "Righteousness is good morals, and sinfulness is what your heart is not at ease with, and you hate that people know about it."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was neither obscene, nor would he use obscene language, and he used to say: "Verily, the best of you are those who have the best manners."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the foremost deed that leads people to Paradise, and he replied: "Fear of Allah and good character." Then, he was asked about the most things that lead people into Hellfire, and he said: "The tongue and the private parts."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The most perfect believer in terms of his faith is the one who has the most excellent manners, and the best of you are those who are best to their womenfolk."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Verily, a believer can attain, by his good manners, the rank of one who fasts and prays often."

Abu Umāmah al-Bāhili (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I guarantee a house on the outskirts of Paradise for the one who refrains from arguing even if he is right, and a house in the middle of Paradise for the one who refrains from lying even if he is joking, and a house in the highest part of Paradise for the one who perfects his manners."

‘Ā’ishah, the Mother of the believers (may Allah be pleased with her) and wife of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O ‘Ā’ishah, indeed, Allah is gentle and He loves gentleness, and He gives for gentleness what He does not give for violence and what He does not give for anything else."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet's wife, reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Verily, lenience is not found in anything but it adorns it, and it is not removed from anything but it makes it defective."

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Make matters easy and do not make them difficult, and give people glad tidings and do not drive them away."

Jarīr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He who is deprived of gentleness is deprived of goodness."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Advise me." He said: "Do not get angry." He repeated that several times, and every time, he would say: "Do not get angry."

Abu Ya‘la Shaddād ibn Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "Indeed, Allah has enjoined Ihsān (kindness/excellence) in all things. So, when you kill, kill with kindness; and when you slaughter, slaughter with kindness. Let one of you sharpen his blade and spare the animal he slaughters suffering."

‘Ā’ishah, Mother of the Believers, (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) was never given a choice between two things except that he would choose the easier of the two unless it were a sin. If it were a sin, he would be the farthest of people from it. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) never took revenge for himself, but when the prohibitions of Allah were violated, he would take revenge for the sake of Allah.

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I not inform of whom Hellfire is forbidden for? Or he is forbidden for Hellfire? It is forbidden for someone who is accessible, lenient, tender, and easy to get along with."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: I asked the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him): "Have you ever experienced a day harder than the day of (the battle of) Uhud?" He replied: "Indeed, I have suffered a lot at the hands of your people (i.e., the disbelievers from of the Quraysh Tribe), the harshest of which was what they did to me on the Day of Al-‘Aqabah when I went to Ibn ‘Abd Yalīl ibn ‘Abd Kulāl with the purpose of inviting him to Islam, but he made no response (to my call). So I departed with deep distress (to the point that I did not know where I was going). I did not recover until I arrived at Qarn Ath-Tha‘ālib. There, I raised my head and saw a cloud shading me. I looked and, lo and behold, I saw in it Jibrīl (peace be upon him) who called me and said: Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, heard what your people said to you and the response they gave you. He has sent to you the angel in charge of mountains to order him to do whatever you wish concerning them. Then the angel of the mountains called me, greeted me and said: O Muhammad, Allah has listened to what your people had said to you. I am the angel of mountains, and my Lord has sent me to you so that you may give me your orders concerning them. If you wish I would bring together the Akhshabayn (two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the outskirts of Makkah) to crush them in between."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) never struck anything with his hand, neither a woman nor a servant, except when he was fighting in the cause of Allah. He would never avenge himself concerning anything that was done to him except if the limits of Allah, the Almighty, were transgressed. Then (in that case) he would seek revenge for the sake of Allah, the Almighty.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I was walking with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and he was wearing a Najrāni cloak with a thick hem. A Bedouin approached him and pulled him violently by his cloak. I looked at the neck of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon) [and saw that] it was chaffed by his hard tug. The Bedouin then said: "O Muhammad, give me some of Allah's wealth that you have with you." The Prophet turned to him, laughed, and ordered that he be given something.

Abu ‘Abdur-Rahmān ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "It is as though I am looking at Allah's Messenger as he tells the story of one of the prophets (peace be upon them) as his people struck him and caused him to bleed, and he wiped the blood from his face, saying: 'Allah, forgive my people for they do not know.'"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The strong man is not the one who can overpower others; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when he is angry."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man said: O Messenger of Allah, I have relatives with whom I maintain kinship ties, but they sever them with me; I treat them kindly, but they mistreat me; I tolerate them, but they are intolerant with me. He said: "If you are as you say, then it is as if you are feeding them hot ashes, and you will continue to have a supporter against them from Allah as long as you continue to do this."

Abu Mas‘ūd al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man said: "O Messenger of Allah, I would almost fail to attend the prayer because so-and-so prolongs it when he leads us." I never saw the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) more angry in giving admonition than he was on that day. He said: "O people, you cause aversion to others. Whoever leads people in prayer should make it brief, for among them are the sick, the weak, and those with needs to be fulfilled."

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Quraysh were greatly concerned about the case of the Makhzūmi woman who had committed theft. They wondered who should intercede for her with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him). Some said: "Only Usāmah ibn Zayd, the Prophet’s beloved one, would dare do so." As Usāmah spoke to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) about this issue, he said to him: "Do you intercede regarding one of the punishments prescribed by Allah?" Then, he got up and addressed the people, saying: "The people before you were ruined because if a noble person among them committed theft, they would leave him unpunished, but if a weak person among them committed theft, they would inflict the legal punishment on him. By Allah! Were Fātimah, the daughter of Muhammad, to commit theft, I would cut off her hand." Another wording reads: "She was a woman who used to borrow things from people and deny having taken them. So, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) ordered that her hand should be cut off.”

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw mucus in the prayer's direction. That was difficult for him to bear, and the feeling was even reflected in his face. Therefore, he stood up and scratched the mucus with his hand and said: "When one of you stands to pray, he is privately conversing with his Lord, or his Lord is between him and the prayer direction. So let no one of you spit in the direction of prayer, but only to his left or under his feet." Then he took a corner of his garment, spat into it, folded it up, and said: "Or he should do like this."

Abu Hāzim reported: I accompanied Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) for five years, and I heard him narrate from the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), who said: "The Children of Israel were ruled by the prophets; whenever a prophet passed away, another would succeed him. Verily, there will be no prophet after me, but there will be many caliphs." They said: What do you command us to do? He said: "Fulfill the pledge of allegiance to the first, then the next. Give them their due rights, for Allah will ask them about what He entrusted to them."

‘Ā'idh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) visited ‘Ubaydullāh ibn Ziyād and said: "O son, I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'The worst of shepherds is the harsh one', so beware of being one of them." Thereupon, Ibn Ziyād said to him: "Sit down, for you are from the chaff of the Muhammad's Companions." ‘Ā'idh said: "Was there chaff among them? Chaff only appeared after them and in other than them."

Abu Maryam al-Azdi reported: When I went to see Mu‘āwiyah, he said: "How good your visit is to us, O father of so-and-so." (This is an idiom used by the Arabs on such occasions). I said: "I will tell you a Hadīth that I heard. I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'If Allah, the Exalted, puts someone in the position of authority over the affairs of Muslims and he secludes himself, not meeting their needs, deficiencies, and poverty, Allah will keep Himself away from him, not fulfilling his needs, deficiencies, and poverty.'" He said: “He appointed a man to meet people’s needs.”

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are seven whom Allah Almighty will shade in His Shade on a Day when there will be no shade but His Shade: a just ruler; a young man who grew up in the worship of Allah; a man whose heart is attached to mosques; two men who love each other for the sake of Allah so they meet and depart from each other for His sake; a man whom a woman of status and beauty invites, but he says: Indeed, I fear Allah; a man who gives charity and conceals it, so his left does not know what his right gave; and a man who remembers Allah in solitude, so his eyes overflow with tears."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those who act justly will be with Allah on pulpits of light at the right Hand of the Most Compassionate, Exalted be He, and both His Hands are right. They are those who are just in their judgment and towards their people and what is under their charge."

Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “A Muslim person must listen and obey concerning what he likes and hates, unless he is ordered to commit a sin. If he is ordered to commit a sin, then he should neither listen nor obey.”

Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Listen and obey, even if an Abyssinian slave, whose head is like a raisin, was appointed a ruler over you.”

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is obligatory upon you to listen and obey (the ruler) in times of your ease and of your difficulty, whether you feel energetically stimulated or you feel compelled, and even when someone else is given undue preference over you."

Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We were on a journey with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and we halted at some place to rest. Some of us began to mend their tents; others began to compete with one another in shooting; and others began to graze their beasts. An announcer of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) announced that we should gather for prayer. So we gathered around the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He said: "It was the duty of every prophet before me to guide his people to what he knew was good for them and warn them against what he knew was bad for them. The safety of this Ummah of yours lies in its early generations, whereas its late generations will be afflicted with trials and with things that you would reject. There will be tremendous trials, one after the other, each making the previous one dwindle into significance. When they are afflicted with a trial, the believer will say: 'This is going to bring about my destruction.' When it is over, they will be afflicted with another trial and the believer will say: 'This surely is going to be my end.' Anyone wishes to be saved from the Hellfire and be admitted to Paradise should die while having belief in Allah and the Last Day, and should treat people as he wishes to be treated by them. Anyone pledges allegiance to a ruler, giving him the grasp of his hand and sincerity of his heart, he should obey him to the best of his capacity. If another man comes forward disputing his authority, then you should behead the latter."

Wā’il al-Hadrami reported: Salamah ibn Yazīd al-Ju‘fi (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him), saying: O Prophet of Allah, what if we are governed by rulers who seek their rights from us and deny us our rights, what do you command us to do? He turned away from him. Then he asked him, and he turned away from him. Then he asked him for the second or third time, so Al-Ash‘ath ibn Qays pulled him, and he said: "Listen and obey, for they are only responsible for their duty, and you are responsible for your duty."

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There will be selfishness and other matters that you will disapprove of after me." They asked: What do you order us to do (in such circumstances), O Messenger of Allah? He said: '"Fulfill your duty (towards the ruler), and ask Allah for your rights."

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah; and whoever obeys the leader has obeyed me, and whoever disobeys the leader has disobeyed me."

‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn Samurah, do not ask for a position of authority, for if you were granted such authority upon your request, you would be left (to manage it) unaided. However, if you were granted such authority without requesting it, you would be provided with aid (to manage it). If you ever make an oath but then found a better alternative, expiate your oath and go for the better alternative."

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr, I see that you are weak and I love for you what I love for myself. Do not rule over two persons and do not manage an orphan's property."

Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, will you not appoint me to (an official position)?" He patted me on my shoulder with his hand and said: "O Abu Dharr, you are weak and it is a trust. It will be a cause of disgrace and remorse on the Day of Resurrection, except for the one who takes it up with a full sense of responsibility and fulfills what is entrusted to him."

Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with both of them) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah never sent any prophet nor did He invest anyone with authority except that he has two entourages: one entourage enjoins him to do good and encourages him to carry it out; another entourage enjoins him to do evil and incites him to carry it out. Saved is the one whom Allah protects.''

‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If Allah wills to do good to a ruler, He appoints for him a truthful adviser, who will remind him if he forgets and help him if he remembers. And if Allah wills otherwise for him, He appoints for him a bad adviser who will not remind him if he forgets, nor will he help him if he remembers."

Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I and two of my paternal cousins entered upon the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). One of them said: "O Messenger of Allah, appoint us rulers over some of what Allah, the Almighty, has entrusted you with." The other said the same. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah! We do not entrust this post to anyone who seeks it or is keen to attain it.’"