Study of 40 Ahadeeth an-Nawawee

Archived under Knowledge .

The following are notes that I made during my study classes of An-Nawawee's 40 ahaadeeth. Unfortunatley, we only got to number 3 as the brother teaching us had to leave; may Allaah reward him greatly, ameen.

Hadeeth Three:

On the authority of Aboo 'Abd ar-Rahmaan 'Abdullah, the son of 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with them both) who said: "I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace be upon him) saying:

Related by Bukhaaree and Muslim.

[Important] In some translations, the shahaada is translated to mean: 'There is not god but Allaah', however, this is incorrect as it implies that all the things in this world which people take as an ilaah is Allaah when in fact it should be that no god [i.e. even the false deities] is worthy of worship but Allaah.

Re-cap of last lesson:

>> The shahaada is split into two parts:

1. Negation - comes first because it emphasises the fact that the none deserves to be worshipped but Allaah and to also purify the heart of all beliefs in any false deities.
2. Affirmation - comes second to fill the heart with the belief in the Oneness of Allaah after purification of all false deities.

>> Testifying that the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wasallam) is the Messenger implies that we accept everything from his Sunnah.

Homework (from last lesson):

1. Lessons to derive from salaah
2. Ankaboot: 45 - benefits and implications of salaah

Ankaboot: 45 - "Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book, and perform salaah, verily salaah prevents from Fahshaa and Munkar and the remembering of Allaah is greatest indeed. And Allaah knows what you do."

>> Prayer includes remembering Allaah, which is a high objective; Ar-Ra'd:28 "...verily, in the remembrance of Allaah do the hearts find peace..."
- the comparison of one who remembers Allaah and one who does not remember Allaah, is that of a living creature to a dead. - Bukhaaree; narrated by Abu Musa.
>>Takes one away from evil deeds - if one has committed evil before the salaah, he then has the opportunity to make tawbah and may ultimately (if sincere) be prevented from committing the sins again.

>> Abu Al-Aliyah said, prayer has three attributes… it should be/ have:
1. Ikhlaas (sincerely for Allaah) - makes a person do good deeds.
2. Khawf (fear of Allaah) - prevents him from doing evil deeds.
3. Dhikr (remembrance of Allaah) - Dhikr is the Qur`aan which contains Allaah commands and prohibitions, therefore, praying regularly allows one to give up evil.

>> Ibn Qayyim likened the one who enters into the prayer to one who enters into a King. He is distressed and in need of the King's help and favour. He strives to get to the door of the King and just as he is about to enter, he gets distracted - this is the state of one who enters into prayer. If one truly believes that Allaah is the greatest (i.e. by saying 'Allaahu Akbar'), nothing should distract him from trying to seek closeness to Him.

This week:

When we enter prayer, what state should his heart be in?

1. Fear [of Allaah] - Khawf
2. Hope [for Allaah’s Mercy] - Raja`
3. Love [of Allaah] - Hubb

We can make a parable to a married couple who are in love with one another - when one is away, the other thinks of him constantly and longs for the moment when they'll be together again. This should be the state of a believer when he is out of salaah; he should be longing the moment that he'll be in the presence of Allaah once again. Nothing is more important to him except for the joy of being in the company of his beloved [Allaah]. Having said this, if a person is in this state of longing outside of salaah, he'll not even think about sinning.

How do we achieve the above mentioned state?

1. Knowledge - knowing Allaah’s Names and Attributes.
"Those who have knowledge are those who fear Allaah most." - Faatir (35): 28

2. Striving in that which is good - i.e. obeying His commands and abstaining from His prohibitions.

3. Obligatory & Voluntary deeds - "My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him." - Hadeeth Qudsi, 25.

4. Looking to Allaah’s Favours - everything we seek if a blessing from Allaah.