Hadith 7. Naseeha

On the authority of Abi Ruqayyah Tamim ibn Aws ad-Dariyy (ra) that verily the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The religion is naseeha (good advice)”. The people said: “To whom?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “To Allah and to His book and to His Messenger and to the leaders of the Muslims and to the common folk of Muslims.

 

[Reported by Muslim]

 

 

Brief Commentary:

 

 

  • Scholars say this hadith is comprehensive and encompasses the whole religion, just like the hadith of Jibreel (Hadith 2).
  • Some scholars say that if we lost all the rulings of Islam, this hadith would suffice us for a quarter of them due to the many rulings that can be derived from it
  • Ibn Al-Atheer said, “Naseeha is a word which is used to describe a sentence, and that sentence is, ‘Wanting good for the thing you are giving naseeha to’, so it is impossible to explain naseeha in one word”
  • The linguistic meaning of Naseeha is:
    • To purify
    • To gather that which is dispersed
  • We can summarise Naseeha to mean “Wanting good for someone with a sincere heart which is free from any defects/deficiencies and wanting all good for that particular person.
  • Naseeha is one of the great and noble qualities of the prophets (peace be upon them)
  • The companions asked “To whom?” which shows their eagerness to implement the knowledge they learn
  • Naseeha to Allah involves:
    • Purifying our hearts for Allah, which is done by fulfilling His rights to the best way possible, and with ihsan
    • Striving hard in worship, and doing more Sunnah actions
    • Cleaning our minds and thoughts from deviant ideologies
    •  Being sincere in our worship. We love for His sake and hate for His sake
    • Glorifying Allah and His laws and recognising His blessings over us
  • Naseeha to His book involves:
    • Believing in the entire Qur’an and acting upon it
    • Having great love and glorification for it
    • Striving hard to understand it, contemplate over its meanings, and adorn ourselves with the manners it teaches us
    • Be pure when holding it
    • Ensure we read our daily portion of the Qur’an
  • Naseeha to His Messenger (peace be upon him) involves:
    • Believing in him and putting his statement above any other human
    • Having eagerness to know more about him, and study his seerah like we study the Qur’an (This is what the previous generations used to do)
    • Follow his Sunnah
    • Trying to learn more about his manners and emulating them
    • Loving what he loves and hating what he hates
  • Naseeha to the leaders of the Muslims involves:
    • Wanting good for them and for Allah to guide them to the truth
    • Making du’aa for them and wanting the ummah to be united under them
    • Advising them personally and not publicly, and remembering the statement of the scholars, “However you are is however your rulers will be”
    • Showing love and respect for the scholars and not searching for their mistakes and having trust in them. (The scholars are also incorporated in the category “leaders of the Muslims)
  • Naseeha to the common folk of the Muslims involves:
    • Loving for them what we love for ourselves and hating for them what we hate for ourselves
    • Respecting their elders and showing mercy to their youngsters
    • Being happy when they are happy and sad when they are sad
    • Carrying no envy for them in our hearts and wishing good for them

 

 

  • Benefits and action points to take from the hadith:
    • We need to be eager to seek more knowledge and implement what we learn, just as the sahabah were
    • Giving/Having naseeha is an integral part of Islam
    • Study more about Allah
    • Never look down upon or belittle a ruling that has been decided by Allah
    • Never abandon the Qur’an. In the tafsir of [Al-Furqan:30], ibn Kathir said abandoning the Qur’an can be by:
      • Not listening to it
      • Not reading it
      • Not acting upon it
      • Not believing in ALL of its rulings
      • Not contemplating upon its meanings
      • Leaving it for something else e.g. poetry, music etc
    • Never look down upon or belittle a ruling that has been decided by Allah
    • Study the seerah of the prophet (peace be upon him)
    • Send salutations on the prophet (peace be upon him) whenever he is mentioned
    • Improve on our attitude towards our scholars
    • Abu Bakr didn’t supersede everyone by his actions, but because of his love for Allah, and his naseeha to His creation
    • Implement all of what the naseeha to Allah, His book, His Messenger (peace be upon him), the leaders of the Muslims and the common folk of Muslims involves

 

 

10 thoughts on “Hadith 7. Naseeha

  1. This hadith’s is guiding the all Muslim to understand Islam is a good advice and a massive means to avoid shirk and to summit your self to him and the follows the all practice of the prophet saw then leader’s the should did good justice to their follows according to the acts of the prophet

  2. Alhamdulillah robbil aalameen
    I found this site very useful and resourceful.
    May Allah bless the owner of this site grant them their heart desires and may Allak make us inmate of jannah….

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