Abu Dawud

Benefits and Issues:
In matters of religion and faith, one should continue to refer to various firmly grounded scholars in order to attain certainty of the truth (haqq al-yaqin).
There is great benefit in this, and the healing that is found in the blessed hadiths of the Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is found nowhere else.

Commentary:
(1)
This hadith clarifies the issue of predestination (qadar) that Allah, the Exalted, is the Sovereign of all dominion; therefore, every decision He makes regarding the creation is just.
In the Noble Qur’an, it is stated:
﴿لَا يُسْـَٔلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُم يُسْـَٔلونَ﴾ ( Al-Anbiya: 23)
“He cannot be questioned as to what He does, but they will be questioned (and held accountable).”
That is, it is not permissible to object to any act of Allah, because there is wisdom in every act of His, though it is not necessary that this wisdom be comprehensible to us or that it be explained to us.

(2)
Whatever calamity is destined to befall will certainly come to pass, even if a person, out of fear of it, abandons the path of righteousness and adopts a wrong course.
And whatever comfort and blessing is decreed in one’s fate will certainly be attained, even if prior to it there are only hardships and tribulations. Therefore, one should place trust (tawakkul) in Allah and remain hopeful of His mercy, and should not despair.
The Divine command is:
﴿إِنَّهُ لَا يَا۟يـَٔسُ مِنْ رَّ‌وْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكـفِر‌ونَ﴾ ( Yusuf: 87)
“None despairs of Allah’s mercy except the disbelieving people.”

(3)
The noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum) possessed deep and profound knowledge, due to which their faith was also complete and strong.
In the apparently difficult matter of predestination, they had such certainty and gnosis that they were endowed with the wealth of tranquility and were not afflicted by doubts or suspicions regarding it.

(4)
The noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum) respected one another and acknowledged each other’s knowledge.
The scholars of religion should also adopt this same attitude towards one another.

(5)
In order to attain peace of heart regarding an issue, it is permissible to ask more than one scholar about the matter.

(6)
The legal verdicts (fatawa) of the noble Companions (radi Allahu anhum) were derived from the Qur’an and Hadith; in fact, most of the time they would simply transmit the Prophetic statement, even if they did not explicitly state that it was a Prophetic statement.

(7)
Among the hadith scholars (muhaddithin), it is a principle that although the Companions (radi Allahu anhum) did not explicitly state that a hadith was marfu‘ (attributed directly to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), in this case Zayd ibn Thabit (radi Allahu anhu) clarified that these words proceeded from the blessed tongue of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

(8)
This issue of predestination (qadar) is among the fundamental matters of faith, and without belief in predestination, a person’s faith is not valid. Therefore, denial of predestination becomes a cause for the punishment of Hell.

Takhrij al-Hadith:
[سنن ابي داود 4699], [سنن ابن ماجه 77]

Verification of the Hadith:
Its chain is Hasan (good).
Imam Sufyan al-Thawri rahimahullah has explicitly stated hearing (sama’). [مسند أحمد 182/5 ح 21589]
And Ishaq ibn Sulayman al-Razi and others have corroborated him.
Ibn Hibban has declared this narration to be authentic. [الاحسان : 727، الموارد : 1817]
Abu Sinan Sa’id ibn Sinan al-Barjami al-Shaybani is Hasan al-Hadith; the majority of hadith scholars have considered him trustworthy and truthful.

Fiqh al-Hadith
➊ Without believing in predestination (qadar), there will be no salvation on the Day of Resurrection.
➋ It was the (consensual) belief of the noble Companions radi Allahu anhum that predestination is true.
➌ A person should remain continuously engaged in research, and whenever he finds evidence, he should hold firmly to it.
➍ After asking a scholar about an issue, it is permissible to ask another scholar as well.
➎ If some narrators report a marfu’ (Prophetic) hadith as mawquf (Companion’s statement), the marfu’ hadith does not become weak because of this.
➏ All the people of truth are united in matters of creed (‘aqidah); differences exist only in issues of ijtihad (independent reasoning).
➐ If the people of innovation (ahl al-bid’ah) try to cast doubts in someone’s mind due to their eloquence, one should refer to the scholars of truth.
➑ The understanding of the righteous predecessors (salaf salihin) is that torch by which a person remains safe from misguidance.
➒ It is not necessary for the scholars of truth to always mention evidence when stating every issue; however, when asked for evidence, they should not evade or engage in unnecessary debate, but must provide the evidence. And it is best that the issue is stated with its evidence, so that whoever lives, lives upon evidence, and whoever dies, dies upon evidence.
➓ In comparison to evidence, the statement of every person is rejected, no matter how great a mujtahid or imam he may be.
⓫ With Allah, the deeds of the people of innovation are not accepted, no matter how great those deeds may be.
⓬ Blind following (taqlid) is not permissible, and asking the scholars of truth about an issue is not taqlid.
⓭ Consensus (ijma’) is a legal proof in Shari’ah.
⓮ Hearts attain satisfaction and tranquility from the Qur’an and Hadith.
⓯ Any pain or happiness that befalls a servant is already written in predestination (qadar).