بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله ، وبعد
By: Shaikh Sa`eed Ibn `Alee Ibn Wahf al-Qahtaanee رحمه الله
The Merits Of Dhikr (Remembering Allaah) (Part 6):
2- The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِخَيْرِ أَعْمَالِكُمْ، وَأَزْكَاهَا
عِنْدَ مَلِيكِكُمْ، وَأَرْفَعِهَا فِي دَرَجَاتِكُمْ وَخَيْرٌ
لَكُمْ مِنْ إِنْفَاقِ الذَّهَبِ وَالوَرِقِ، وَخَيْرٌ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْ تَلْقَوْا
عَدُوَّكُمْ فَتَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَهُمْ وَيَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَكُمْ؟ قَالُوا: بَلَى.
قَالَ: ذِكْرُ
اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
❝Should I not inform you of the best of your deed, and the purest of them with your Master, and the highest of them in your ranks, and what is better for you than spending gold and silver, and better for you than meeting your enemy, and you striking their necks, and they strike your necks?❞ They said: “Of course.” He ﷺ said: ❝The remembrance of Allaah تعالى.❞ [Then] Mu`aadh Ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه said: ❝There is nothing that brings one more salvation from the punishment of Allaah than the remembrance of Allaah.❞ [1]
Explanation:
First: The wordings of the Hadeeth:
(Hadeeth #4) The wording as reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhee: On the authority of Abu al-Dardaa’ رضي الله عنه: [2] the Prophet ﷺ said: ❝Should I not inform you of the best of your deeds, and the purest of them with your Master, that exalt you to the high ranks, and what is better for you than spending gold and silver, and better for you than meeting your enemy, and you striking their necks and they strike your necks?❞ They said: “Of course.” He ﷺ said, ❝The remembrance of Allaah تعالى.❞ Mu’adah Ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه [3] said: “There is nothing that brings more salvation from the punishment of Allaah than the remembrance of Allaah.” [4]
(Hadeeth #4) The wording as reported in Sunan Ibn Maajah: On the authority of Abu al-Dardaa’ رضي الله عنه: the Prophet ﷺ said: ❝Shall I not inform you of the best of your deeds, the most pleasing to your Sovereign, those that (help) raise your ranks the most, that are better than your gold and silver, or meeting you enemy (in battle), and you strike their necks and they strike your necks?❞ They said: “What is that, O Messenger of Allaah?” He ﷺsaid: ❝The remembrance of Allaah (Dhikr).❞ Mu’adah Ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه said: “There is no deed that a person does that brings him more salvation from the punishment of Allaah عز وجل than the remembrance of Allaah” [5]
Second: Explanation of selected words from the Ahaadeeth:
1. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “ألا” (indeed, should I not), is an expression to grab attention, to alert, to warn; as if the one who is speaking is trying to alert the one being addressed about an important matter, with clear proof. [6]
2. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “أُنَبِّئُكُمْ”, from the word al-Naba’ “النبأ” meaning: news, intel, information. And the significance of this news is that it is from the Prophet ﷺ who has received the information from Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. [7]
3. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “بِخَيْرِ”, the word Khair (good) is here with the meaning of Akhyar (أخير) or Afdhal (أفضل), [8] meaning: “the best”, because the words Khair (good) and Sharr (bad) are used in the position of best (or worst) when deciding or preferring to do something. [9]
4. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
“وَأَزْكَاهَا”,
meaning: “purer”, from the word “الزكاة” (to purify). Allaah تعالى
said:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ
{Indeed whosoever purifies himself (by avoiding polytheism (Shirk) and accepting Islaamic Monotheism) shall achieve success} [10] [11]
5. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
“مَلِيكِكُمْ”,
the word, “المليك”
is from the Beautiful Names of Allaah. Allaah تعالى
said:
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَنَهَرٍ * فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ
مُّقْتَدِرٍ
{Verily, the Muttaqoon (pious), will be in the midst of Gardens and Rivers (Paradise), in a seat of truth (i.e. Paradise), near the Omnipotent King (Allaah)} [12]
Similarly, the Names “المالك” (Owner) and “الملك” (King) are from the Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes of Allaah جل وعلى. [13]
6. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “وَأَرْفَعِهَا فِي دَرَجَاتِكُمْ”, from the word “رفع”, meaning: to raise. Al-San`aanee رحمه الله said: “وَأَرْفَعِهَا” meaning that which will raise your status the most. [14] And Al-Zarqaanee رحمه الله said: “دَرَجَاتِكُمْ”, meaning: your ranks in the Jannah (Paradise). [15]
7. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
“وَخَيْرٌ
لَكُمْ مِنْ إِنْفَاقِ الذَّهَبِ وَالوَرِقِ”, meaning: spending
in the way of Allaah عز وجل. The word: “وَالوَرِقِ”
meaning: silver, as Allaah تعالى mentions:
فَابْعَثُوا أَحَدَكُم بِوَرِقِكُمْ هَٰذِهِ إِلَى
الْمَدِينَةِ
{So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the town} [16]
Al-Baghawee رحمه الله said: “وَالوَرِقِ” means silver, irrespective of whether it is minted (into a coin) or not. [17]
8. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “وَخَيْرٌ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْ تَلْقَوْا عَدُوَّكُمْ”, meaning your enemies from amongst the Kuffaar (non-believers) in Jihaad. [18]
9. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “فَتَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَهُمْ وَيَضْرِبُوا أَعْنَاقَكُمْ”, meaning: either they kill you or you kill them, whether with a sword or something else. [19]
10. Their saying: “قَالُوا”, referring to the Companions رضي الله عنهم who were present in the gathering.
11. Their saying: “بَلَى”, meaning: please do inform us.
12. The statement of the Prophet ﷺ:
“ذِكْرُ
اللَّهِ”, (remembrance of Allaah!), because all the acts of worship,
from spending in the way of Allaah to fighting the enemies, are all means of
attaining nearness to Allaah تعالى, but the ultimate
purpose is the remembrance of Allaah, the head of the matters is the statement:
لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا
اللَّهُ (None
has the right to be worshiped except Allaah), and it is the word of Allaah -
the uppermost, [20] and the crux of the matter around which revolves the whole
religion of Islaam, and it is the foundation over which the pillars of Islaam
are built, and it is the highest branch of Faith. [21] [22]
Third: Lessons learned from this Hadeeth:
The Hadeeth informs us of the virtues and merits of the remembrance of Allaah عز وجل, and that it is the purest and the most pleasing of deeds to Allaah, and that which helps in raising your ranks the most, for it is far better than spending gold and silver, or any other form of wealth in the way of Allaah. Rather, it is better than Jihaad and striking the necks of the enemies of Allaah. Rather, it is better than martyrdom in the way of Allaah, because of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: ❝and they strike your necks❞. And this remembrance, it is that in which a person says with his tongue while the heart is in compliance with that, and this is what pushes one towards steadfastness upon the Sharee`ah. And no doubt that this should be accompanied with Ikhlaas (sincerity), and upon the teachings and ways of the Messenger of Allaah ﷺ. And it is well known that the Ahaadeeth that mention the best deeds vary, [23] and the people of knowledge have tried to explain it from various perspective, one of them being that the difference (in response of the Prophet ﷺ) depended on the situation of the one being addressed. And Allaah knows best. [24]
Footnotes:
[1] Sunan al-Tirmidhee
(3377) and Sunan Ibn Maajah (3790), and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh
al-Albaanee. Also reported by Imaam Maalik in his “Muwatta”.
[2] Abu al-Dardaa
رضي الله عنه, his name is, `Uwaimir Ibn Zaid Ibn `Umar,
and it also said that his name is `Uwaimir Ibn `Aamir al-Ansaaree al-Khzrajee.
He was a role model, a judge for the people of Damascus, and their chief
reciter (i.e. people learned the recitation of the Qur’aan from him). He was
one of the four who gathered the Qur’aan in the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. [See Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (5004)]*.
One of the best things he said is: “Whoever increases in the remembrance of
death, his envy (and jealousy) will decrease, and his joy (and attachment to
the worمdly life) will decrease.” [Musannaf Ibn
Abee Shaybah (34583) and others]. He died in the year 32H, before the
assassination of `Uthmaan Ibn `Affaan رضي الله عنه.
*Narrated Anas رضي الله عنه:
“When the Prophet ﷺ died, none had
collected the Qur’aan but four persons; Abu Al-Dardaa’. Mu`aadh Ibn Jabal, Zaid
Ibn Thaabit, and Abu Zaid. We were the inheritor (of Abu Zaid) as he had no
offspring.” [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (5004)]
[3] Mu`aadh Ibn Jabal رضي الله عنه, he is Abu `Abdul Rahmaan al-Ansaaree
al-Madanee. He embraced Islaam when he was only 18 years old, and he witnessed
the pledge at al-`Aqabah, and he participated in the battle of Badr and all the
other military expeditions with the Prophet ﷺ.
He is one of the four about whom the Prophet ﷺ
said: ❝Learn
the recitation of Qur’aan from (any of these) four poeple: “Ibn Mas`ood,
Saalim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhaifah, Ubai Ibn Ka`b and Mu`aadh Ibn Jabal.❞ [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (3758, 3760,
3806) and Saheeh Muslim (2464)] He was firmly grounded in knowledge and
understanding of the Deen, the Prophet ﷺ
said about him: ❝Mu`aadh
Ibn Jabal will be gathered on the Day of Judgment ahead of the scholars by a
long distance.❞ In another
narration, it is: ❝He
will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection as a leader of scholars.❞ [See al-Saheehah 1090]. The Prophet ﷺ also said: ❝What an excellent man is Mu`aadh
Ibn Jabal.❞ [al-Adab
al-Mufrad (337) and Sunan al-Tirmidhee (3795) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh
al-Albaanee] The Prophet ﷺ also said: ❝…the most knowledgeable of them
concerning the lawful and the unlawful is Mu`aadh Ibn Jabal.❞ [Sunan al-Tirmidhee (3790, 3791) and Sunan
Ibn Maajah (154) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee. See al-Saheehah
(1224)] He died during the plague of Amwas, in the year 18H, at the age of 33
years.
[4] Sunan al-Tirmidhee
(3377) and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee
[5] Sunan Ibn Maajah (3790),
and graded as “Saheeh” by Shaikh al-Albaanee
[6] Al-`Ilm
al-Hayyab fee Sharh Kalim al-Tayyib of al-`Ainee (1/52)
[7] Al-`Ilm al-Hayyab fee
Sharh Kalim al-Tayyib of al-`Ainee (1/52)
[8] Sharh al-Zarqaanee
`alaa al-Muwatta (2/36)
[9] Al-`Ilm
al-Hayyab fee Sharh Kalim al-Tayyib of al-`Ainee (1/52)
[10] Surah al-A`laa (87):14
[11] Al-`Ilm al-Hayyab fee
Sharh Kalim al-Tayyib of al-`Ainee (1/52)
[12] Surah al-Qamar (54):54-55
[13] Al-`Ilm al-Hayyab fee
Sharh Kalim al-Tayyib of al-`Ainee (1/52)
[14] Al-Tanweer Sharh
al-Jaami` al-Sagheer (4/381)
[15] Sharh al-Zarqaanee
`alaa al-Muwatta (2/36)
[16] Surah al-Kahf (18):19
[17] Tafseer
al-Baghawee (5/160)
[18] See Faidh al-Qadeer
(3/115)
[19] Faidh al-Qadeer (3/115)
[20] Surah al-Tawbah (9):
40
[21] The Prophet ﷺ said: ❝Imaan
(Faith) has over seventy branches - or over sixty branches - the uppermost of
which is the declaration: “None has the right to be worshiped but Allaah”; and
the humblest of which is the removal of what is harmful from the path, and
modesty is a branch of Imaan.❞ [Saheeh Muslim
(35)]
[22] Sharh al-Zarqaanee
`alaa al-Muwatta (2/36-37)
[23] There are Ahaadeeth
that mention different deeds to be more virtuous than the others at different
situations. Example: When the Prophet ﷺ
was asked: “Which (attribute) of Islaam is more excellent (or who is a better
Miuslim)?” To which he ﷺ replied:
❝One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue
and hands.❞ [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (11) and Saheeh Muslim (42)]. And on another
occasion he ﷺ was
asked: “Which of the merits (is superior) in Islaam (or what qualities of Islaam
are the best)?” And he ﷺ replied:
❝To feed (the poor) and greet those whom you know and
those whom you do not Know.❞ [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (12) and Saheeh Muslim
(39)]
[24] Sharh Hisn al-Muslim
by Usaamah `Abdul Fattaah (1/18)
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