Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (64) | Chapter of Hope (4)

0:00 *Riyad al-Salihin* (The Meadows of the Righteous) from the words of the Master of the Messengers, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.

0:09 Chapter on Hope.

0:16 On the authority of Abu Najih 'Amr ibn 'Abasah al-Sulami, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

0:22 "During the pre-Islamic period of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), I used to consider people to be in manifest error,

0:28 and that they stood on nothing of truth while worshipping idols.

0:33 Then I heard of a man in Mecca who was delivering profound news, so I mounted my camel and journeyed to him.

0:40 There I found the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, living in hiding, while his people were brazen and insolent toward him.

0:48 I acted discreetly until I managed to enter his presence in Mecca, and I asked him: 'What are you?'

0:54 He replied: 'I am a Prophet.'

0:57 I asked: 'And what is a Prophet?'

0:59 He said: 'Allah has sent me as a Messenger.'

1:02 I asked: 'With what has He sent you?'

1:05 He replied: 'He has sent me to uphold the ties of kinship, to smash idols,

1:10 and to proclaim that Allah alone be worshipped, without associating anything with Him.'

1:14 I asked: 'And who is with you in this matter?'

1:18 He said: 'A free man and a slave.'

1:21 At that time, Abu Bakr and Bilal, may Allah be pleased with them, were with him.

1:26 I said: 'I am going to follow you.'

1:29 He replied: 'You will not be able to do so today.

1:34 Do you not see my vulnerable state and the hostile state of the people?

1:38 Rather, return to your family,

1:40 and when you hear that I have prevailed, then come to me.'

1:44 He said: 'So I went back to my family,

1:47 and later the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, arrived in Medina.

1:52 While I was still among my family,

1:54 I began actively seeking news

1:57 and inquiring of people after he arrived in Medina,

2:00 until a group of people from Medina arrived.

2:04 I asked them: 'What has this man who arrived in Medina done?'

2:09 They said: 'People are hastening to him in crowds;

2:13 his people intended to kill him,

2:15 but they were unable to do so.'

2:18 So I went to Medina and entered his presence.

2:21 I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, do you recognize me?'

2:25 He said: 'Yes, you are the one who met me in Mecca.'

2:30 He said: 'So I said: O Messenger of Allah,

2:34 teach me of what Allah has taught you and of which I am ignorant;

2:38 teach me about the prayer.'

2:40 He said: 'Perform the morning prayer,

2:43 then refrain from praying until the sun has risen to the height of a spear,

2:48 for it rises between the two horns of Satan,

2:53 and at that time the disbelievers prostrate to it.

2:56 Thereafter, pray as you wish, for the prayer is witnessed and attended by the angels,

3:01 until the shadow of a spear becomes at its shortest at midday.

3:04 Then refrain from praying,

3:06 for at that hour Hellfire is intensely stoked.

3:10 When the shadow begins to shift, pray,

3:13 for the prayer is witnessed and attended by the angels,

3:16 until you pray the 'Asr prayer.

3:18 Then refrain from praying until the sun has set,

3:22 for it sets between the two horns of Satan,

3:26 and at that time the disbelievers prostrate to it.'

3:29 He said: 'I then said: O Prophet of Allah,

3:33 tell me about the ablution (wudu).'

3:36 He said: 'No man among you brings his ablution water,

3:41 rinses his mouth, snuffs water into his nostrils, and blows it out,

3:44 but that the sins of his face, mouth, and nostrils fall away.

3:49 Then, when he washes his face as Allah commanded him,

3:53 the sins of his face drop from the tips of his beard along with the water.

3:59 Then he washes his arms up to the elbows,

4:02 and the sins of his hands drop from his fingertips along with the water.

4:07 Then he wipes his head,

4:09 and the sins of his head drop from the ends of his hair along with the water.

4:14 Then he washes his feet up to the ankles,

4:17 and the sins of his feet drop from his toes along with the water.

4:23 If he then stands up to pray, praises and extols Allah,

4:28 glorifies Him as He truly deserves,

4:31 and devotes his heart entirely to Allah Almighty,

4:34 he departs from his sins as pure as on the day his mother gave birth to him.'

4:40 'Amr ibn 'Abasah narrated this hadith to Abu Umamah,

4:45 the Companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

4:49 Abu Umamah said to him:

4:52 'O 'Amr ibn 'Abasah,

4:54 consider carefully what you are saying!

4:56 Is all this bestowed upon this man in a single setting?'

4:59 'Amr replied:

5:01 'O Abu Umamah,

5:03 my age has advanced, my bones have grown frail,

5:06 my appointed time draws near,

5:08 and I have no need to invent a lie against Allah Almighty,

5:12 nor against the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.

5:16 Had I not heard it from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

5:21 except once, twice, or thrice—

5:25 until he counted up to seven times—

5:28 I would never have narrated it,

5:30 but indeed I heard it even more times than that.'

5:34 Related by Muslim.

5:36 His phrase: 'brazen and insolent toward him' (*jura'a' 'alayhi qawmuh*),

5:39 means audacious, domineering, and lacking any awe of him.

5:43 This is the well-known transmission.

5:45 Al-Humaydi and others transmitted it as:

5:48 *hira'a' 'alayhi qawmuh*,

5:50 and he explained its meaning as:

5:52 enraged, filled with deep grief and anguish,

5:55 whose patience with him had completely run out,

5:57 to the point that it visibly took a toll on their physical bodies;

5:59 derived from their expression:

6:01 'his body withered away' (*hara jismuhu yahra*),

6:03 which applies when it emaciates due to pain, sorrow, or the like.

6:07 The correct reading, however, is with the letter *jim* (*jura'a'*).

6:10 His saying, peace be upon him:

6:13 'between the two horns of Satan',

6:15 means the two sides of his head.

6:17 The intent here is a metaphorical representation,

6:19 meaning that at that particular time,

6:22 Satan and his legions stir into action

6:24 and exercise their sway.

6:26 And his words: 'brings his ablution water',

6:29 mean that he prepares the water with which he will perform ablution.

6:33 And his words: 'the sins fall away' (*kharrot khataya*),

6:36 mean that they drop off.

6:38 Some narrated it as *jarat* with a *jim* ('flowed away'),

6:42 but the correct reading is with the *kha'* (*kharrot*),

6:44 which is the transmission of the vast majority.

6:46 And his words: 'and blows it out' (*yastanthir*),

6:49 mean that he expels the impurities inside his nose,

6:52 and the *nathrah* is the tip of the nose.

6:56 'In Jahiliyyah'

6:59 means the era prior to Islam;

7:01 they were named so because of their pervasive ignorance and foolishness.

7:04 'I acted discreetly' (*talattaftu*)

7:06 means I conducted myself with gentle caution.

7:08 'I follow you'

7:09 means openly professing Islam

7:11 and remaining with you in Mecca.

7:14 'Return to your family'

7:17 means remain steadfast upon your Islam

7:19 and reside among your family,

7:21 out of concern for his safety from the persecution of Quraysh.

7:23 'The height of a spear'

7:25 means its approximate measure in the sky.

7:27 'Witnessed'

7:29 means the angels are present at it

7:31 and bear witness to it on behalf of whoever performs it.

7:33 'Is stoked' (*tusjar*)

7:35 means it is flared up with fuel.

7:37 *Al-Fay'*

7:39 is the post-meridian shadow that shifts after midday.

7:41 Among the lessons of the hadith:

7:43 Any nation that deviates from the methodology of Allah

7:48 and follows the footsteps of Satan

7:51 stands upon nothing of true substance,

7:53 because it plunges headlong into the abysses of misguidance.

7:56 The people of Jahiliyyah corrupted the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him,

8:01 yet there remained a few individuals who firmly believed their people were astray,

8:05 adhered to what survived of the religion of Abraham, peace be upon him,

8:09 and were known as the Hunafa' (monotheists),

8:11 such as Quss ibn Sa'idah al-Iyadi

8:14 and Zayd ibn 'Amr ibn Nufayl.

8:18 When the callers to truth fear persecution

8:20 at the hands of the party of Satan,

8:23 and find themselves in a state of vulnerability,

8:25 it is permissible for them to keep their dawah discreet.

8:28 For this reason, the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, instructed

8:32 'Amr ibn 'Abasah, may Allah be pleased with him,

8:35 to return to his family while holding onto his Islam,

8:37 so as to stay among them out of fear of Quraysh's harm.

8:41 An illustration of the severe hardship the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, endured

8:47 from his people,

8:48 as they sought to bar people from the path of Allah.

8:51 The recommendation to ask the people of knowledge regarding the rulings of the religion.

8:55 An exposition of what Allah sent His Messengers with,

8:59 namely, the unified foundation of the faith:

9:01 that Allah alone be worshipped,

9:03 without associating any partner with Him,

9:05 and that false deities (taghut) be destroyed.

9:07 The obligation to demolish idols and crosses,

9:10 and to efface images.

9:12 A demonstration of the superior virtue of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

9:16 and Bilal ibn Rabah, may Allah be pleased with them both,

9:19 and that they were among the foremost early believers.

9:23 The recommendation to follow up on the news of the scholars,

9:26 inquiring into their well-being, and seeking reassurance about them.

9:30 The recommendation to hasten toward the community of Islam

9:33 once trials and tribulations have subsided.

9:36 Consequently, it is impermissible to increase the numbers of the disbelievers

9:40 by permanently residing in their midst.

9:43 An explanation of the times during which prayer is disliked:

9:48 at sunrise,

9:50 at midday zenith,

9:52 and at sunset.

9:54 The prohibition of imitating the disbelievers,

9:57 even if the one imitating does not intend to do so;

10:00 for the person praying at sunrise or sunset

10:04 does not intend to imitate the disbelievers,

10:07 yet despite this,

10:09 prayer at those specific times remains prohibited.

10:13 An exposition of the great virtue of ablution,

10:15 and that it expiates sins and wrongdoings,

10:18 and this applies to whoever performs ablution as commanded.

10:22 The permissibility of verifying a narrator's transmission without implying an accusation of dishonesty.

10:26 Whenever a Muslim's lifespan increases,

10:28 their hair grows white with old age,

10:30 and their bones become frail,

10:32 they ought to increase in excellence, hope,

10:35 and righteous deeds.

10:37 The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

10:42 are all upright and trustworthy.

10:45 On the authority of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him,

10:49 from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

10:52 who said:

10:54 "When Allah, Exalted is He, intends mercy for an Ummah,

10:57 He takes the soul of its Prophet before it,

11:00 making him a forerunner and an advance herald awaiting them.

11:04 But when He intends the destruction of an Ummah,

11:07 He punishes it while its Prophet is still alive,

11:10 destroying it as he looks on,

11:13 bringing solace to his eyes by its destruction

11:16 because they denied him and defied his command."

11:20 Related by Muslim.

11:22 "A forerunner" (farat)

11:24 means one who goes ahead and precedes them,

11:28 "awaiting them" means ahead of them.

11:31 "Destruction" (halakah)

11:33 means ruin and perdition.

11:35 "Solace to his eyes"

11:37 means that he finds relief and vindication in its destruction.

11:40 Among the benefits derived from the hadith:

11:44 Allah's immense mercy toward this Muhammadan Ummah—

11:47 may Allah increase it in honor—

11:50 for it is an Ummah granted mercy,

11:53 as its Prophet was taken before it.

11:56 So we ask Allah, Exalted is He, to make him for us

11:59 a forerunner and an advance herald when we meet him at the Basin.

12:02 Also, the profound care of the Prophets for their nations,

12:05 their deep concern for safeguarding them,

12:08 and rectifying their affairs.

12:11 Furthermore, the punishment and destruction of the disbelievers,

12:14 which brings solace and vindication to the Prophets and their followers.

12:17 Riyadh al-Salih—

12:20 Riyadh al-Salihin.

Riyadh Al-Salehin | Episode (64) | Chapter of Hope (4)

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