The Book of Faith

It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) that when this verse was revealed: " It is those who believe and confound not their belief with wrongdoing" (vi. 82), the Companions of the Messenger of Allah wore greatly perturbed. They said: Who amongst us (is so fortunate) that he does not wrong himself? Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) remarked: It does not mean that which you presume It implies that which Luqman said to his son: O my son, do not associate anything with Allah, for indeed it is the gravest wrongdoing (xxxi. 13).

This hadith is narrated by another chain of transmitters, (namely) lshaq b. Ibrahim. Ibn Idris says: My father transmitted it from Aban b. Taghlib who heard it from A'mash; then I heard it also from him (A'mash).

It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that when it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him): To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and whether you disclose that which is in your mind or conceal it, Allah will call you to account according to it. Then He forgives whom He pleases and chastises whom He Pleases; and Allah is over everything Potent" (ii. 284). the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) felt it hard and severe and they came to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and sat down on their knees and said: Messenger of Allah, we were assigned some duties which were within our power to perform, such as prayer, fasting, struggling (in the cause of Allah), charity. Then this (the above-mentioned) verse was revealed unto you and it is beyond our power to live up to it. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do you intend to say what the people of two books (Jews and Christians) said before you:" We hear and disobey"? You should rather say:" We hear and we obey, (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord! and unto Thee is the return." And they said:" We hear and we obey, (we seek) Thy forgiveness, Our Lord! and unto Thee is the return." When the people recited it and it smoothly flowed on their tongues, then Allah revealed immediately afterwards:" The Apostle believes in that which is sent down unto him from his Lord, and so do the believers. Each one believes in Allah and His Angels and His Books and His Apostles, saying: We differentiate not between any of His Apostles and they say: We hearken and we obey: (we seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord! and unto Thee is the return" (ii. 285). When they did that, Allah abrogated this (verse) and the Great, Majestic Allah revealed:" Allah burdens not a soul beyond its capacity. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns. Our Lord, punish us not if we forget or make a mistake." (The Prophet said: ) Yes, our Lord! do not lay on us a burden as Thou didst lay on those before us. (The Prophet said: ) Yes, our Lord, impose not on us (burdens) which we have not the strength to bear (The Prophet said: ) Yes, and pardon us and grant us protection! and have mercy on us. Thou art our Patron, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people" (ii. 286). He (the Lord) said: Yes.

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas: When this verse:" Whether you disclose that which is in your mind or conceal it, Allah will call you to account according to it" (ii 284), there entered in their minds something (of that fear) such as had never entered their hearts (before). The Apostle (may peace be upon him) observed: Say: We have heard and obeyed and submitted ourselves. He (the reporter) said: Allah instilled faith in their hearts and He revealed this verse:" Allah burdens not a soul beyond its capacity. It gets every good that it earns and it suffers every ill that it earns. Our Lord, call us not to account if we forget or make a mistake. He the (Lord) said: I indeed did it. Our Lord! do not lay on us a burden as Thou didst lay on those before us. He (our Lord) said: I indeed did it. And pardon us, have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector" (ii. 286). He said: I indeed did it.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: Verily Allah forgave my people the evil promptings which arise within their hearts as long as they did not speak about them or did not act upon them.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: Verily the Great and Mighty Allah forgave my people the evil promptings arising in their minds, but they neither talked about them nor acted upon them.

The same hadith has been narrated by Zuhair b. Harb, Waki, Ishaq b. Mansur, Husain b. 'Ali.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Great and the Glorious Lord said (to angels): Whenever My bondsman intends to corn it an evil, do not record it against him, but if he actually commits it, then write it as one evil. And when he intends to do good but does not do it, then take it down is one act of goodness, but if he does it, then write down ten good deeds (in his record).

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: Allah, the Great and Glorious, said: Whenever my bondsman intends to do good, but does not do it, I write one good act for him, but if he puts it into practice I wrote from ten to seven hundred good deeds in favour of him. When he intends to commit an evil, but does not actually do it, do not record it. But if he does it, I write only one evil.

Abu Huraira reported that Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), said: When it occurs to my bondsman that he should do a good deed but he actually does not do it, record one good to him, but if he puts it into practice, I make an entry of ten good acts in his favour. When it occurs to him to do evil, but he does not commit it, I forgive that. But if he commits it, I record one evil against his name. The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed. The angels said: That bondsman of Yours intends to commit evil. though His Lord is more Vigilant than he. Upon this He (the Lord) said: Watch him; if he commits (evil), write it against his name but if he refrains from doing it, write one good deed or him, for he desisted from doing it for My sake. The Messenger of Allah said: He who amongst you is good of faith, all his good acts are multiplied from ten to seven hundred times (and are recorded in his name) and all the evils that he commits are recorded as such (i, e. without increase) till he meets Allah.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: He who intended to do good, but did not do it, one good was recorded for him, and he who intended to do good and also did it, ten to seven hundred good deeds were recorded for him. And he who intended evil, but did not commit it, no entry was made against his name, but if he committed that, it was recorded.

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) transmitted it from the Blessed and Great Lord: Verily Allah recorded the good and the evil and then made it clear that he who intended good but did not do it, Allah recorded one complete good in his favour, but if he intended it and also did it, the Glorious and Great Allah recorded ten to seven hundred virtues and even more to his credit. But it he intended evil, but did not commit it, Allah wrote down full one good in his favour. If he intended that and also committed it, Allah made an entry of one evil against him.

This hadith has been narrated with another chain of transmitters with the addition of these words: Allah would even wipe out (the evil committed by a man) and Allah does not put to destruction anyone except he who is doomed to destruction.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that some people from amongst the Companions of the Apostle (may peace be upon him) came to him and said: Verily we perceive in our minds that which every one of us considers it too grave to express. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you really perceive it? They said: Yes. Upon this he remarked: That is the faith manifest.

The same hadith has been transmitted by Muhammad b. 'Amr, Abu Baker b. Ishaq, Abu'l-Jawwab, A'mash and Abu Huraira.

It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud that the Apostle (may peace be upon him) was asked about evil prompting, to which he replied: It is pure faith.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Men will continue to question one another till this is propounded: Allah created all things but who created Allah? He who found himself confronted with such a situation should say: I affirm my faith in Allah.

This hadith has been transmitted by Mahmud b. Ghailan by another chain of transmitters (and the words are): The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The Satan will come to everyone of you and say: Who created the heaven, who created the earth? (And the man) replies: It is Allah, Then the remaining part of the hadith was narrated as mentioned above and the words 'His prophets" were added to it.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah may peace be upon him) observed: The Satan comes to everyone. of you and says: Who created this and that? till he questions: Who created your Lord? When he comes to that, one should seek refuge in Allah and keep away (from such idle thoughts).

This hadith is transmitted by Urwa b. Zubair on the authority of Abu Huraira (and the words are): The Satan comes to the bondsman (of Allah) and says: Who created this and that? The remaining part of the hadith is the same.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: People will constantly ask you questions pertaining to knowledge till they would say: Allah created us, but who created Allah? he (the narrator) says: he (Abu Huraira) was (at the time of narrating this hadith) catching hold of the hand of a man and he said: Allah and the Messenger told the truth. Two persons have already put me this question, and this is the third one, or he said: One man has put me this question and he is the second one.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that he said: The people will constantly, and the rest of the hadith is the same as that transmitted by 'Abdul-Warith with the exception that there is no mention of the Apostle of Allah in that, but he observed at the end of the hadith: Allah and His Messenger told the truth.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to me: they (the people) till constantly ask you, Abu Huraira, (about different things pertaining to religion) the they would say: Well, there is Allah, but after all who created Allah? He (Abu Huraira) narrated: Once we were in the mosque that some of the Bedouins came there and said: Well, there is Allah, but who created Allah? He (the narrator) said: I took hold of the pebbles in my fist and flung at them and remarked: Stand up, stand up (go away) my friend (the Holy Prophet) told the truth.

Yazid b. al-Asamm said: I heard Abu Huraira saying that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: people will certainly ask you about everything till they will propound: Allah created every thing, but who created Allah?

Anas b. Malik transmitted it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) that the Great and Glorious Allah said: Verily your people would constantly question about this and that till they would say: Well, it is Allah Who created the creation, but who created Allah?

This hadith has been narrated by another chain of transmitters with the exception that Ishaq made no mention of this: Allah said: Verily your people.

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Umama that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: He who appropriated the right of a Muslim by (swearing a false) oath, Allah would make Hell-fire necessary for him and would declare Paradise forbidden for him. A person said to him: Messenger of Allah, even if it is something insignificant? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: (Yes) even if it is the twig of the arak tree.

This hadith has been transmitted by another chain of narrators: Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaiba, Ishaq b. Ibrahim, Harun b. Abdullah, Abi Usama, Walid b. Kathir, Muhammad b. Ka'b, his brother Abdullah b. Ka'b and Abi Usama.

It is narrated on the authority of Abdullah (b. Umar) that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: He who perjured with a view to appropriating the property of a Muslim, and he is in fact a liar and would meet Allah in a state that He would be angry with him. He (the narrator) said: There came Ash'ath b. Qais and said (to the people): What does Abu Abdur-Rahman (the Kunya of Abdullah b. Umar) narrate to you? They replied: So and so. Upon this he remarked: Abu Abdur-Rahman told the truth. This (command) has been revealed in my case. There was a piece of land in Yemen over which I and another person had a claim. I brought the dispute with him to the Apostle of Allah (to decide) He (the Holy Prophet) said: Can you produce an evidence (in your support)? I said: No. He (the Holy Prophet) observed: (Then the decision would be made) on his oath. I said: He would readily take an oath. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) remarked: He who perjured for appropriating the wealth of a Muslim, whereas he is a liar, would meet Allah while He would be angry with him. This verse was then revealed:" Verily those who barter Allah's covenant and their oaths at a small price..." (iii 77).

It is narrated on the authority of Abdullah that he heard the Prophet (may peace be upon him) saying: He who took an oath in order to entitle himself (to the possession) of a property, whereas he is a liar, would meet Allah in a state that He would be very much angry with him. Then the remaining part of the hadith was narrated as transmitted by A'mash but with the exception of these words: There was a dispute between me and another person in regard to a well. We referred this dispute to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). Upon this he remarked: Either (you should produce) two witnesses (to support your contention) or his oath (would be accepted as valid).