On the authority of Abi al-Abbas Abdillah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who said: “One day I was riding (In the narration found in the musnad of Ahmad, it makes clear that he was riding behind the Prophet [peace be upon him] on the same animal) behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he said to me, “O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]. Be mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah. If you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the nation were to gather to benefit you with something, they would not be able to benefit you except with what Allah has already recorded for you. If they were to gather to harm you with something, they would not be able to harm you except with what Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried”.
Recorded by at-Tirmidhi who said: “It is a hasan sahih hadith”.
In a narration other than that of at-Tirmidhee, it states:
“Be mindful of Allah, you will find him in front of you. Know Allah during times of prosperity, He will know you in times of adversity. Know that what has passed you by was never to befall you. And [know that] what has befallen you was never to have passed you by. And know that victory accompanies perseverance, relief accompanies affliction and ease accompanies hardship”
Brief Commentary:
- In the phrase where the prophet (peace be upon him) says, “know that if the nation were to gather to benefit you….”, we understand why we do the aforementioned actions of du’aa and seeking help, as this statement affirms that everything is due to Allah’s will so we should always turn to him
- This statement gives the reasons why we must turn to Allah for anything and everything
- If we worship Allah without realising why we do so (which is derived from this part of the hadith) then we have missed out on a great deal of tawheed, the heart of tawheed
- The phrase “The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried” is in reference to the sacred tablet, as nothing written on that will change, and thus it is a reaffirmation of Allah’s Divine will and brings more peace and tranquillity for a believer that everything that has happened is from Allah
- We will only know Allah very well if we get to know Him, ask for his Help, or observe Him in times of ease
- Many people collapse when trialled because they only try to know Allah under times of difficulty
- The times of difficulty are incomparable to the time of ease in terms of how often we experience them so how can we only try to know Allah in these short periods and expect to be steadfast and firm in our religion?
- There are two levels to “Know Allah”:
- Basic level: He is our Lord, He created us, etc
- Advanced level (being referred to in this hadith): This includes:
- Complete inclination of your heart towards Him
- Peace and tranquillity when remembering Him
- Being shy from Him
- Having veneration for Him
- Being fearful of Him
- There are two levels to “He will know you”:
- Basic level: Allah knows everything about us, what we think or feel, etc
- Advanced level: This is when Allah loves us and includes:
- Bringing us closer to Him
- Answering our du’aas
- Helping us in times of difficulty
- Points mentioned in hadith 38 which will be discussed in the future insha’Allah
- It is by achieving the advanced level of “knowing” Allah that we receive the advanced level of “He will know you”
- A very weak state for a Muslim is to only ask Allah when he needs His help but not acknowledging Him by thanking Him, loving Him, praying to him, etc. How does he then expect Allah to love him?
- When the prophet Yunus (alayhi assalam) was in the stomach of the whale, Allah saved him and stated the reason for saving him is that he observed Allah in times of ease as mentioned in {Al-Saffaat:143-144}
- When Fir’aun (the pharaoh) called upon Allah when he was about to drown, Allah did not help him and stated the reason for not helping him is that he is asking for help now when he was previously a sinner and corruptor as mentioned in [Yunus:90-91}
Benefits and Action points to take from this part of the hadith:
- Belief in Divine will give someone peace and tranquillity as whatever Allah has decreed is eventually good for the believer
- We must know why we worship Allah and why we turn to Him, and that is because He is the one who created us and who can bring good or repel harm
- We must always be content with whatever happens as we know that it has already been decreed to happen by Allah and that everything is eventually good for a believer
- We must turn to Allah and observe Him in times of ease
- We must try to attain the advanced level of “knowing” Allah, which can be done by:
- Pondering on how His names and attributes relate to us
- Reading what He says about Himself in the Qur’an
- Knowing how He interacts with us
- Knowing how He helps us e.g. by reading stories of the past
- Looking at the world around us and how Allah made it
- Constantly asking Him for whatever we need, no matter how small it is
- Acknowledge Allah’s help and blessings over us
Hadith Commentary 
Allahu Akhbar…..may u be bless for unveiling the bitter truth….. Allah’s rewards for the team.