Hadith 28. Advice

It was narrated on the authority of Abu Najih al-Irbad bin Sariyah (radhiyaAllahu ‘anhu) who said: “The Messenger of Allah (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) delivered an admonition that made our hearts fearful and our eyes tearful. We said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is as if this were a farewell sermon, so advise us.” He said,

“I enjoin you to have Taqwa of Allah and that you listen and obey, even if a slave is made a ruler over you. He among you who lives long enough will see many differences. So for you is to observe my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly-principled and rightly-guided successors, holding on to it with your molar teeth. Beware of newly-introduced matters, for every innovation (bid’ah) is an misguidance.”

(Reported by Abu Dawud & Al-Tirmidhi, who says it is an authentic hadith)

Brief Commentary:

• This advice from the messenger (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam)  was from the last pieces of advice he gave, so he spoke of what he felt to be of utmost importance
• It lays down the foundation for happiness in this life and the next, which is by sticking to the Qur’an and Sunnah
• An admonition is different to a lecture, in that is contains more powerful words to encourage people to do good or discourage from doing bad. The Friday khutbah should be an admonition
• Features of the khutbah of the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam):
  • Short: We should feel more affected by the Qur’an than by the words of the khateeb
  • Used oratory skills in speech e.g. eloquence and rhyme
  • Used to give it from the heart
• When the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) used to give a khutbah, the companions were so still, that a bird can sit on them
• Ibn Rajab said regarding “I enjoin you to have Taqwa of Allah and that you listen and obey“, “These two words bring about the happiness of this life and the hereafter”
• Ibn Rajab said regarding “You listen and obey”, “In this is the happiness of this life, and the interests of the slaves in their lives are organised through it, and from it do they gain aid in manifesting their religion and obeying their Lord”
• By saying, “Even if a slave is made a ruler over you”, the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) is telling us to obey them even if they are not fulfilling the prerequisites of a ruler
• This hadith tells us that if we differ on a matter, we don’t look at the opinion of the current scholars, but that of the righteous predecessors
• Conditions of a Khalifah:
  • Muslim
  • Adult
  • Free
  • Male
  • Just
  • From Quraysh
  • Capable of doing ijtihad
  • Competent leader
• These conditions are what to look out for when deciding on a leader, but if one is chosen and he doesn’t fulfil all of them, we still obey
• By saying, “Holding on to it with your molar teeth”, this indicates it is very important and will be hard to hold on to
• By saying, “it”, this puts the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs with the Sunnah of the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam), and this indicates that it is the same Sunnah, so whatever they did was according to what they learnt from the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam)
• To increase our chances of being saved, we should:
  • Seek beneficial knowledge
  • Ask for guidance every moment of our lives
  • Try to sift out the deviant ideologies from the correct ones
  • Have a close relationship with the people of knowledge
• Whenever the scholars spoke of a permissible innovation, it was using the linguistic meaning of innovation, not the religious meaning, as there are no permissible innovations in the religion

Benefits and Action points:

• If you are delivering the Friday khutbah, then ensure it is short and the recitation is long and that it is more like an admonition than a lecture
• When attending the Friday khutbah, sit still and do not move or play with anything around you
• The prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) used to give admonitions so we need to emulate him in that
• It is recommended to admonish people and remind them. We can give them stories but that should not be the basis of our da’wah
• Understand that obeying the Muslim ruler in matters which are not forbidden, is a commandment from the prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) that must be adhered to
• If a matter is differed upon, then look at what the righteous predecessors agreed upon as that is the correct opinion
• To increase our chances of being saved, we should:
  • Seek beneficial knowledge
  • Ask for guidance every moment of our lives
  • Try to sift out the deviant ideologies from the correct ones
  • Have a close relationship with the people of knowledge
• Read over the commentary of hadith 5 to remind yourself of what an innovation is and how to spot it