Maulana Ataullah Sajid
Benefits and Issues:
➊
The mentioned narration has been declared weak in chain (sanadan da'if) by our esteemed researcher.
However, other scholars have declared it authentic (sahih).
And their opinion appears to be closer to correctness.
For details, see: (Al-Mawsu‘ah al-Hadithiyyah, Musnad al-Imam Ahmad: 44/261; Al-Irwa’: 7/238; Sunan Ibn Majah by Dr. Bashar ‘Awwad, Hadith: 1625)
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The advice that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave in the final moments of his life pertains to both the rights of Allah and the rights of the servants.
Both these aspects hold utmost importance in Islam.
➌
Among the rights of Allah, prayer (salah) holds the greatest importance.
It is the act that has been made the distinguishing mark between a Muslim and a disbeliever.
And its abandonment has been declared as disbelief (kufr) and polytheism (shirk).
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: (Indeed, between a man and between shirk and kufr is the abandonment of prayer.)
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, Chapter: The Application of the Term Kufr to One Who Abandons Prayer, Hadith: 82)
“Indeed, between a person and shirk and kufr is the matter of abandoning prayer.”
That is, abandoning prayer brings one close to disbelief.
➍
Among the rights of the servants, the mention of slaves was made because slaves were the oppressed class of society, whom Islam elevated by granting them many rights.
They were declared to be the brothers of their masters.
The Prophetic instruction (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is:
Your servants are your brothers.
If someone’s brother is under his authority, then he should feed him from what he himself eats and clothe him with what he himself wears. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman, Chapter: Sins from the Affairs of Jahiliyyah, Hadith: 30)
Although today’s personal servants and tenant farmers of landowners are not, in the legal or customary sense, slaves, yet, due to circumstances, they are compelled to endure the hardships of their masters.
In view of this, the advice of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) can also be understood to apply to them.
Source: Commentary on Sunan Ibn Mājah by Mawlānā ‘Atā’ullāh Sājid, Page: 1625