Toggle above to switch between keyword search and direct hadith lookup

Hadith 5159

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلَاءِ ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ . ح وحَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ الْمُثَنَّى ، قَالَ : حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ ، عَنْ الْأَعْمَشِ ، عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ التَّيْمِيِّ ،عَنْ أَبِيهِ ، عَنْ أَبِي مَسْعُودٍ الْأَنْصَارِيِّ ، قَالَ : " كُنْتُ أَضْرِبُ غُلَامًا لِي ، فَسَمِعْتُ مِنْ خَلْفِي صَوْتًا اعْلَمْ أَبَا مَسْعُودٍ ، قَالَ ابْنُ الْمُثَنَّى مَرَّتَيْنِ : لَلَّهُ أَقْدَرُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْكَ عَلَيْهِ , فَالْتَفَتُّ فَإِذَا هُوَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقُلْتُ : يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، هُوَ حُرٌّ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى ، قَالَ : أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ لَلَفَعَتْكَ النَّارُ أَوْ لَمَسَّتْكَ النَّارُ " .
Abu Masud al-Ansari said: when I was beating a servant of mine, I heard a voice behind me saying: know, Abu Masud-Ibn al-Muthanna said: “twice”-that Allah has more power over you than you have over him. I turned round and saw that it was that it was the prophet ﷺ. I said: Messenger of Allah! He is free for Allah’s sake. He said: If you had not done it, fire would have burned you or the fire would have touched you.
Hadith Reference سنن ابي داود / أبواب النوم / 5159
Hadith Grading الألبانی: صحيح  |  زبیر علی زئی: صحيح مسلم (1659)
Hadith Takhrij « صحیح مسلم/الأیمان 8 (1659)، سنن الترمذی/البر والصلة 30 (1948)، (تحفة الأشراف: 10009)، وقد أخرجہ: مسند احمد (4/120، 5/273، 274) (صحیح) »
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi
Benefits and Issues:

A person, while expressing his anger and power, should always remember that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, possesses greater power than him; therefore, he should always refrain from oppression, otherwise its consequence is the Fire.


This hadith expresses the virtue of Abu Mas'ud (radi Allahu anhu) in that he immediately rectified his mistake, and did so with a most virtuous deed.
Source: Sunan Abu Dawood – Commentary by Shaykh Umar Farooq Saeedi, Page: 5159
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: (1)
From these ahadith it is understood that after returning from a journey, one should present oneself at the House of Allah before going home, so that before meeting one’s family, one may present an offering of servitude before Allah, the Exalted.

(2)
If a person is the center of people’s devotion and love, and people are eager to meet and visit him, then he should, after performing the greeting of the mosque (tahiyyat al-masjid), sit in the mosque for a while so that people may easily attain the blessing of meeting him.

(3)
Therefore, the return home should be at a time known to the family and not cause them hardship or difficulty. For this reason, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would usually make his last stop near Madinah Tayyibah when returning from a journey, so that the people of Madinah would be informed that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would arrive the next morning. Then, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would depart early from that stop in the morning and reach Madinah Munawwarah at the time of forenoon (duha), and would first go to the mosque so that the family would know of his arrival.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 1659
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Explanation:
1:
It is not appropriate to be harsh with slaves and servants. In fact, in some narrations, there is a warning against undue harshness towards them or punishing them more than their crime warrants. In this hadith, one can also observe a glimpse of the rank of majesty and awe that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) held by Allah’s decree. Thus, upon the Prophet’s (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) warning, Abu Mas’ud not only refrained from beating that slave, but also pledged never to beat any slave again, and he remained steadfast upon this for the rest of his life.
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 1948