Riyadh al-Salihin from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Chapter: The Urgency of Verifying What One Says and Relates.
Allah the Exalted says:
“(O man), follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge. Lo! the hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked.” (17:36)
And He the Exalted says:
“He uttereth no word but there is with him an observer ready.” (50:18)
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him,
that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"It is sufficient lying for a man to relate everything he hears."
Narrated by Muslim.
From the benefits of the hadith:
A severe warning against relating everything a person hears.
For one typically hears both truth and falsehood.
If he relates everything he hears,
he has lied by reporting what did not happen.
On the authority of Samurah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Whoever relates a hadith from me, knowing it to be a lie,
is one of the liars."
Narrated by Muslim.
From the benefits of the hadith:
The impermissibility of narrating hadiths based on the assumption that they are authentic.
The impermissibility of narrating fabricated hadiths attributed to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
On the authority of Asma’, may Allah be pleased with her,
that a woman said:
"O Messenger of Allah,
I have a co-wife (darrah).
Is there any sin upon me if I pretend to have received from my husband what he has not given me?"
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"The one who pretends to possess what they have not been given
is like one wearing two garments of falsehood."
Agreed upon.
"The one who pretends" (al-mutashabbi') is one who displays fullness while not being full.
Its meaning here is:
That one pretends to have attained a virtue that has not actually been attained.
"Wearing two garments of falsehood"
means garments of deceit.
This is one who deceives people
by dressing in the attire of the ascetic, the scholar, or the wealthy,
so that the pious may be deceived by him,
while he does not possess that quality.
Other interpretations have been given.
And Allah knows best.
Al-mutashabbi':
The one who adorns himself [falsely].
Darrah:
Meaning the husband's other wife.
Janah:
Meaning sin.
From the benefits of the hadith:
The impermissibility of a co-wife causing distress to her fellow co-wife.
The lie of the pretender is doubled,
because he lied about himself regarding what he did not receive,
and lied about others regarding what he was not given.
The impermissibility of worshippers dressing in the attire of others
if they do not possess those qualities at all.
Such as one who dresses in the attire of scholars or others.
The impermissibility of a woman causing discord between her husband and his other wife.
Chapter: Clarifying the Severity of the Prohibition of False Testimony.
Allah the Exalted says:
"And avoid the statement of falsehood."
And He the Exalted says:
“(O man), follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge. Lo! the hearing and the sight and the heart - of each of these it will be asked.” (17:36)
And He the Exalted says:
“He uttereth no word but there is with him an observer ready.” (50:18)
And He the Exalted says:
"Indeed, your Lord is in observation."
And He the Exalted says:
“And those who will not witness vanity, but when they pass near senseless play, pass by with dignity.” (25:72)
On the authority of Abu Bakrah, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Shall I not inform you of the greatest of the major sins?"
We said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah."
He said, "Associating partners with Allah,
and disobedience to parents."
He had been reclining, then he sat up
and said:
"And beware of false testimony."
He continued repeating it
until we said, "If only he would be silent."
Agreed upon.
Chapter: The Prohibition of Cursing a Specific Person or Animal.
On the authority of Abu Zayd,
Thabit ibn al-Dahhak al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him,
who was one of the people of the Pledge of Ridwan,
he said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Whoever swears an oath by a religion other than Islam, lying and intentionally,
is as he said.
Whoever kills himself with something will be punished with it on the Day of Resurrection.
And a man is not bound by a vow regarding what he does not own.
And cursing a believer is like killing him."
Agreed upon.
Millah:
Meaning religion and law.
From the benefits of the hadith:
It is forbidden to adopt a religion other than the religion of Islam.
Whoever intends any of that as a religious practice,
or venerates something while knowing and deeming it permissible,
is as he said,
and he will not return to Islam safely.
The hadith indicates the correspondence of otherworldly punishments
to worldly crimes.
It indicates that a person's crime against himself is like his crime against another,
because his soul is not absolutely his own property,
but rather it belongs to Allah.
So he may not dispose of it except in ways permitted to him.
A servant is not obligated to fulfill a vow regarding what he does not own.
The severity of the prohibition of Muslims cursing one another,
as it clarifies that the sin of cursing a Muslim
is equivalent to the sin of killing him.
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him,
that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"It is not fitting for a truthful person to be a frequent curser."
Narrated by Muslim.
From the benefits of the hadith:
A warning against cursing.
Because whoever adopts it as a habit does not possess beautiful qualities.
Because a curse is intended to mean exclusion from the mercy of Allah,
and praying for this is not among the morals of the believers.
A condemnation of those who curse frequently,
because it contradicts the perfection of faith and submission.
On the authority of Abu al-Darda’, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Those who curse frequently will not be intercessors or witnesses on the Day of Resurrection."
Narrated by Muslim.
From the benefits of the hadith:
A condemnation of those who curse frequently.
They will not intercede on the Day of Resurrection for their brothers,
when the believers intercede for their brothers.
Nor will their testimony be accepted on the Day of Resurrection against others.
The witness and the intercessor
must be upright, possessing nothing that undermines their integrity,
or weakness in religion,
or audacity against the servants of Allah.
The believer does not hasten the punishment of the one who disagrees with him,
nor does he cause him to despair of the mercy of Allah.
Rather, he is patient and seeks reward,
a key to mercy and a lock against evil.
On the authority of Samurah ibn Jundub, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Do not curse one another with the curse of Allah,
nor with His wrath,
nor with the Fire."
Narrated by Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi.
From the benefits of the hadith:
The prohibition of cursing one another with the curse of Allah.
It is not permissible to pray for anyone to be cast into the Fire,
because that is a prerogative of Allah's punishment.
It is not permissible to pray for the wrath of Allah.
A clarification of the extreme gravity of the curse and the wrath of Allah,
and the punishment of the Fire of Allah.
On the authority of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"The believer is not one who slanders, nor one who curses,
nor one who is obscene, nor one who is foul-mouthed."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi.
Al-ta'an (the slanderer):
Meaning one who attacks people's honor through defamation, backbiting, and the like.
Al-fahish (the obscene):
Meaning one who is obscene in his speech.
From the benefits of the hadith:
It is not among the qualities of a believer whose faith is sound
to attack the honor of Muslims.
It is not among the qualities of a believer to curse frequently.
It is not among the qualities of a believer to be obscene.
It is not among the qualities of a believer to be foul-mouthed.
The prohibition of slandering, cursing, obscenity, and foul language.
On the authority of Abu al-Darda’, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"When a servant curses something,
the curse ascends to the sky,
and the gates of the sky are closed against it.
Then it descends to the earth,
and its gates are closed against it.
Then it goes right and left,
and if it finds no place to enter,
it returns to the one who was cursed,
if he is deserving of it,
otherwise it returns to the one who uttered it."
Narrated by Abu Dawud.
Masaghan: meaning an entrance or a path.
From the benefits of the hadith:
A clarification of the gravity of the curse.
A clarification that the curse may return to its author in some instances.
Allah does not accept from His servants their cursing of one another.
On the authority of 'Imran ibn al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said:
While the Messenger of Allah was on one of his journeys,
and a woman from the Ansar was on a she-camel,
she became impatient and cursed it.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, heard that,
and said:
"Take what is on it and let it go,
for it is cursed."
'Imran said:
It is as if I see it now walking among the people,
and no one bothers it.
Narrated by Muslim.
Dajirat:
Meaning she became distressed by the difficulty of handling the she-camel.
Take what is on it:
Meaning remove the luggage and the saddle from it.
From the benefits of the hadith:
This indicates the permissibility of riding animals.
It is not permissible to curse animals.
It is not permissible to keep an animal that has been cursed.
On the authority of Abu Barzah,
Nadlah Ibn 'Ubayd al-Aslami, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
While a young woman was riding a she-camel carrying some of the people's belongings,
she caught sight of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The mountain path became narrow for them,
so she said,
"Hul!" (Move on!)
"O Allah, curse it!"
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,
"A she-camel upon which there is a curse shall not accompany us."
Narrated by Muslim.
As for his saying "Hul,"
it is a word used to urge on camels.
Know that the meaning of this hadith might seem problematic,
yet there is no problem in it.
Rather, the intent is to forbid that specific she-camel from accompanying them.
It does not contain a prohibition against selling, slaughtering, or riding it,
when not in the company of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Indeed, all of that, and other forms of usage,
are permissible with no restriction,
except for accompanying the Prophet, peace be upon him, with it.
Because all these actions were originally permissible,
and since some were restricted,
the rest remain as they were.
And Allah knows best.
Chapter: The Permissibility of Cursing Sinners in a General, Non-Specific Sense.
Allah the Exalted said:
“Who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning Allah? Such will be brought before their Lord, and the witnesses will say: These are they who lied concerning their Lord. Now the curse of Allah is upon wrong-doers,” (11:18)
And He the Exalted said:
"Then a herald will proclaim between them: 'The curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.'"
It is established in the Sahih
that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Allah has cursed the woman who adds hair extensions and the one who asks for them."
And that he said:
"Allah has cursed the consumer of usury."
And that he cursed the image-makers.
And that he said:
"Allah has cursed the one who alters the boundary markers of the land,"
meaning its borders.
And that he said:
"Allah has cursed the thief who steals an egg."
And that he said:
"Allah has cursed the one who curses his parents."
"And Allah has cursed the one who sacrifices to other than Allah."
And that he said:
"Whoever introduces an innovation therein or shelters an innovator,
upon him is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all of mankind."
And that he said:
"O Allah, curse Ri'l, Dhakwan, and 'Usayyah,
for they disobeyed Allah and His Messenger."
These are three Arab tribes.
And that he said:
"Allah has cursed the Jews,
for they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship."
And that he cursed men who imitate women,
and women who imitate men.
All of these narrations are in the Sahih collections.
Some are in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim,
and some are in one of them.
I only intended brevity by referring to them collectively.
I will mention most of them in their respective chapters in this book,
if Allah the Exalted wills.