hadith 8564–9729

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these obligatory prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for they are among the ways of guidance, and Allah has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance. By my life, I do not think there is anyone among you who has not taken a place of prayer in his house; and if you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known and well-recognised. And I have seen a man being brought along, supported between two men, until he was made to stand in the row. There is no man who purifies himself and does so well, then takes a step towards one of the mosques, except that Allah records for him a good deed for it, raises him by a degree for it and removes a sin from him for it, so much so that we used to walk with short, close steps."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah as a Muslim servant, let him guard these five prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for they are among the ways of guidance, and Allah has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance. By my life, if all of you were to pray in your houses as this one prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known. I have seen a man being made to walk, supported between two men, until he was brought and made to stand in the row. And there is no Muslim servant who performs ablution and does it well, then sets out for a congregational mosque and prays in it, but that every time he takes a step, Allah raises him by a degree for it or removes a sin from him for it, so much so that we used to walk with short, close steps." And this wording is that of Hajjaj's narration.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them in congregation, for they are among the ways of guidance, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has made these very ways of guidance obligatory for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And if you too were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. I saw a man being brought, supported between two men, until he was brought and made to stand in the row. And there came upon us a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known, and we used to walk with short, close steps."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these obligatory prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. And if you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. There came upon us a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was evident, and I have seen a man walking, supported between two men, until he would stand in the row."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these obligatory prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. By my life, if you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. There came upon us a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known. I have seen a man walking, supported between two men, until he was brought and made to stand in the row. And there is no man who purifies himself and does it well, then sets out for one of the mosques and prays in it, but that every time he takes a step, Allah records for him a good deed for it, raises him by a degree and removes a sin from him, so much so that we used to walk with short, close steps."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these obligatory prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. By my life, if you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known."

A similar hadith is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has prescribed for His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. If you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays in his house, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandoned the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you would go astray. There is no man who purifies himself and does it well, then sets out for one of these mosques, but that Allah records for him a good deed for every step he takes, raises him by a degree and removes an evil deed from him. I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known, and a man would be made to walk, supported between two men, until he was brought and made to stand in the row."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. I think that every one of you has a place of prayer in which he prays, yet if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. And there is no Muslim servant who performs ablution and does it well, then walks to the prayer, but that Allah records for him a good deed for every step, raises him by a degree and removes a sin from him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these five prayers at the time the call (adhan) is made for them, for they are among the ways of guidance." Then he mentioned the rest of the hadith like the hadith of al-Mas'udi.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these five prayers at the time the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. Each one of you has a place of prayer in his house, and if you abandon your (actual) mosques, you will abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah tomorrow as a Muslim, let him guard these obligatory prayers where the call (adhan) is made for them, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has prescribed for your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) these very ways of guidance, and they are among the ways of guidance. And if you were to pray in your houses as this one who stays behind prays, you would abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the Sunnah of your Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the congregation except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known. And I have seen a man from among us being made to walk, supported between two men, and brought to stand in the row. And there is no Muslim servant who performs ablution in his house and does it well, then walks to a mosque and reaches it, but that every time he lifts one foot and puts down the other, Allah records for him ten good deeds for it, wipes away ten of his sins and raises him by ten degrees, so much so that we used to walk with short, close steps."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the prayer except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known, or a sick person; and even the sick person would come to the prayer walking, supported between two men."
And he said: "Indeed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us the ways of guidance, and among the ways of guidance is to pray in the mosque in which the call (adhan) is made."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I have seen us at a time when no one stayed away from the prayer except a hypocrite whose hypocrisy was known; and even the sick person would come to the prayer walking, supported between two men."
Then he said: "Indeed the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us the ways of guidance, and among the ways of guidance is to pray in the mosque in which the call (adhan) is made."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Hold firmly to praying the five prayers in the mosque, for this is the way of guidance and the Sunnah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Whoever would be pleased to meet Allah as a Muslim servant, let him pray the prayers right where the call (adhan) is made for them, for this is the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And if every man were to pray in his house, you would abandon the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and if you abandon the way of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), you will go astray. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, the prayer would not be started until the rows were straightened, or when our rows were straightened; whereas today the prayer is not started but (meanwhile) someone calls out: 'O girl, bring the water for ablution,' and rolls up his sleeves. And when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, we used to say that when a man performs ablution in his house and then goes out to the prayer, every foot he lifts raises him a degree, and every time he puts down the other foot, Allah removes a sin from him because of it; so we used to walk with short, close steps."

Amr bin Maymun said: I sat in the gathering of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), I think he said for a year, and during that time we did not hear him narrate a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), except that one day while he was talking, it came onto his tongue: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," and distress overcame him until I saw the sweat dripping from him. He said: "If Allah wills, it is either a little more than this, or close to this, or a little less than this."

Abu Amr al-Shaybani said: I used to sit with Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) for a year, and he would never say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And whenever he did say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, trembling would come over him, and he would say: "Like this, or something similar, or close to this, or whatever Allah wills."

Abu Ubaydah said: A whole year would pass over Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he would not narrate from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then one day he narrated a hadith while we were with him, and said: "Like this, or close to this."

Amr bin Maymun said: I sat in the gathering of Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) for a year, and I did not hear him narrate from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then one day he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," then his face changed, then he said: "Like this, or a little more than this, or a little less than this."

Amr bin Maymun said: I accompanied Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) for eighteen months, and I heard him narrate only a single hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he broke into a sweat. Then he said: "This, or something like it, or something resembling it."

Amr bin Maymun said: No Thursday evening passed me by without my coming to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and I never heard him say: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), until one evening he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," then he lowered his head, then raised his head, and I saw that the buttons of his shirt were undone, the veins of his neck had swollen and his eyes had filled with tears. Then he said: "Or a little more than that, or a little less than that, or close to that, or something like that."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," then his face changed, then he said: "Something like this, or close to this."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) one day, then said: "Something like this, or resembling it." After that he was never again seen narrating a hadith.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," then trembling came over him, then he said: "Like this, or something like this."

Alqamah said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to stand up (and address the people) every Thursday evening, and I never heard him on any of those evenings, except once, say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said." The narrator said: I looked at him, and he was leaning on a staff, and I saw that the staff was shaking.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith one day; he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," and his clothes began to tremble. Then he said: "This, or something like it, or something resembling it."

Whenever Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), his colour would change and he would become altered, and he would say: "This, or close to this."

Al-Sha'bi's paternal uncle said: I sat in the gathering of Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and I heard him narrate only one hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which he narrated; then he trembled like a palm branch, then he said: "This, or something like it."

Al-Sha'bi's paternal uncle, Qays bin Abd, said: I sat in the gathering of Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) for a year, and I never heard him narrate any hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) except once, and I saw him tremble like a palm branch. Then he said: "Close to this, or like this."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) would go a year without saying: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And whenever he did say: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, trembling would come over him and his face would change, and then he would say: "Like this, or like this, or like this."

Amir narrated, and he also mentioned Qays: Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) would narrate for a whole month without saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). And whenever he said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," he would add: "This, or something like it, or close to it," while he was trembling.

Abu al-Za'ra' said: Al-Musayyib bin Najabah came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: I have left some people in the mosque who are saying: Whoever glorifies Allah so many times will have such-and-such a reward. He said: O Alqamah, get up. When he saw them, he said: O Alqamah, keep the people's eyes off me. Then when he heard what they were saying, he said: "You are clinging to the tail of misguidance; or are you better guided than the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)?"

Qays bin Abi Hazim said: A storyteller was mentioned to Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who would sit at night and say to the people: Say such-and-such. He said: "When you see him, inform me." The narrator said: So they came and informed him, and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) came with his face covered and said: "Whoever knows me knows me, and whoever does not know me, I am Abdullah bin Mas'ud. Do you consider that you are better guided than Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions? Or else you are clinging to the tail of misguidance."

News reached Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that some people sat from Maghrib until Isha glorifying Allah and saying: Say such-and-such, and say such-and-such. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When they sit, inform me." So when they sat, people came to him, and he set off and went and sat among them, wearing a burnus (a hooded cloak) on his head. They became occupied with their glorification, so Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) removed the burnus from his head and said: "I am Abdullah bin Mas'ud." The people fell silent, and he said: "You have introduced a dark innovation (bid'ah); or have you surpassed the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in knowledge?" At that, a man from Banu Tamim said: We have neither introduced a dark innovation nor surpassed the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in knowledge. Amr bin Utbah bin Farqad said: O Ibn Mas'ud, I seek Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him in repentance. Then he ordered them to disperse. The narrator said: And Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) saw two circles in the mosque of Kufah, so he stood by them and said: "Which of you was formed before the other?" One of them said: We were. So he said to the other circle: "Get up and go over to them." Thus he made them into a single circle.

Abu al-Bakhtari said, or perhaps Amir narrated it, that Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the mosque and saw two circles. He said to the boy: Go and see whether these people sat first or those. He went, came back and said: These people sat first. So he said: "One speaker is enough for the mosque; those before you were destroyed only through rivalry with one another."

A man around whom people would gather was mentioned to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and the narrator mentioned a hadith like the hadith of Abu Nu'aym.

Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Amr bin Utbah bin Farqad al-Sulami and Mu'addad, together with some of their companions, took a place of prayer in which they would glorify Allah (tasbih) so many times between Maghrib and Isha, and declare His oneness (tahlil) and praise Him (tahmid) so many times. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was informed of this, and he said to the one who informed him: "When they sit, inform me." So when they sat, he was informed, and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) came wearing a burnus (a hooded cloak) until he came to them, and he removed the burnus from his head, then said: "I am the son of Umm Abd. By Allah, you have introduced a dark innovation (bid'ah), or you have surpassed the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in knowledge." At that, Mu'addad, who was an eloquent man, said: By Allah, we have neither introduced a dark innovation nor surpassed the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If you follow those Companions, they have already gone far ahead of you; and if you turn aside to the right and the left, you will have strayed into far-off misguidance."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not weary people (with preaching and admonition), lest they grow weary of remembrance (dhikr) itself."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by a man who was admonishing some people, and he said: "O admonisher, do not make the people despair of Allah's mercy."