hadith 8564–9729

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The likeness of one who is constant in prayer is that of a person who keeps knocking at a door; and whoever keeps knocking at a door, it is likely that it will be opened for him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "As long as you are in prayer, you are knocking at the door of the King (Allah); and whoever knocks often at the door of the King, it is likely that it will be opened for him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The superiority of night prayer over day prayer is like the superiority of secret charity over open charity."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The superiority of night prayer over day prayer is like the superiority of secret charity over open charity."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The chief of the months is Ramadan, and the chief of the days is Friday."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "On the Day when the earth will be changed into another earth, and the heavens as well, and they will all come forth before Allah, the One, the Irresistible" [Surah Ibrahim: 48]. Then he said: "A land will be brought as if it were an ingot of silver, upon which no blood has ever been shed and no sin has ever been committed; and the first matter to be judged between people will be (cases of) blood."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Awwah means one who is most compassionate."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Indeed, Ibrahim was tender-hearted (awwah) and forbearing" [Surah al-Tawbah: 114]: "Awwah means one who is most compassionate."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about awwah, and he said: "One who supplicates much."

Yusuf bin Sa'd (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to narrate hadith every day in the mosque, and on Thursdays the people of the countryside and villages would come to him. Once a blind man came and said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, what is awwah? He said: "One who is most compassionate." He asked: What is tabdhir (squandering)? He said: "What is spent without right." He asked: What is al-ma'un? He said: "That with which people help one another, meaning lending (utensils and the like)."

It is narrated from Yahya bin al-Jazzar (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man called Abu al-Ubaydayn - he was blind, and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to look after him - asked him about al-ma'un, and he said: "The axe and the bucket." - or he said: "The axe and the cooking pot." - And he asked him about tabdhir (squandering), and he said: "Spending wealth where it is not rightful." And he asked him about awwah, and he said: "One who is most compassionate."

It is narrated from Abu al-Ubaydayn al-Amiri (may Allah have mercy on him) - he was blind, and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to look after him - that he said to Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): If we do not ask you, whom shall we ask? At this Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) felt tenderness towards him. So he asked: What is awwah? He said: "One who is most compassionate." He asked: What is ummah? He said: "One who knows goodness." He asked: What is qanit? He said: "One who is obedient." He asked: What is al-ma'un? He said: "That with which people help one another." He asked: What is tabdhir (squandering)? He said: "Spending wealth without right."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about tabdhir (squandering), and he said: "Spending without right."

Abu al-Ubaydayn said: I asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) about the saying of Allah Almighty: "And do not squander wastefully" [Surah al-Isra: 26], and he said: "It is spending without right."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), used to say among ourselves that al-ma'un means the bucket, the cooking pot and the axe, which one cannot do without (which no one can manage without)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning "al-ma'un": "The axe, the cooking pot and the bucket."

Abu al-Mughirah said: Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And they withhold small kindnesses (al-ma'un)" [Surah al-Ma'un: 7]: "It means wealth whose due (zakah) is not paid." I said: But Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says that it means the things with which people help one another. He said: "That is exactly what I am telling you."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Every good deed is charity, and in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) we used to count al-ma'un as lending the bucket, the cooking pot and things like that."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "We used to count al-ma'un as the axe, the cooking pot and the bucket."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depth of the Fire" [Surah al-Nisa: 145]: "Coffins of iron that will be closed upon them."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Then there is a place of settlement and a place of deposit" [Surah al-An'am: 98]: "Mustaqarr (the place of settlement) means the mother's womb, and mustawda' (the place of deposit) means the land in which a person dies."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Its mustawda' (place of deposit) is in this world, and its mustaqarr (place of settlement) is in the womb."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And of the cattle are some for carrying burdens and some close to the ground (small)" [Surah al-An'am: 142]: "Hamulah means the camels that carry burdens, and farsh means the small animals."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Are they waiting for anything except that the angels should come to them, or your Lord should come, or some of the signs of your Lord should come? On the Day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before" [Surah al-An'am: 158]: "The rising of the sun together with the moon from the west, like two camels yoked together."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "On the Day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will benefit from its faith" [Surah al-An'am: 158]: "The rising of the sun from the west."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And do not squander wastefully" [Surah al-Isra: 26]: "It is spending without right."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "There is no sin upon them if they put aside their garments without displaying their adornment" [Surah al-Nur: 60]: "It means the outer cloak."

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We asked Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) about this verse: "And do not think of those who were killed in the way of Allah as dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision" [Surah Al Imran: 169]. He said: "The souls of the martyrs are with Allah like green birds; they have lamps hanging from the Throne, and they roam freely in Paradise wherever they wish." He said: "Then your Lord casts a glance at them and says: 'Do you desire anything, so that I may give you more?' They say: 'Our Lord, do we not roam freely in Paradise wherever we wish?'" He said: "Then He glances at them a second time and says: 'Do you desire anything, so that I may give you more?' They say: 'Our Lord, do we not roam freely in Paradise wherever we wish?' Then He glances at them a third time and says: 'Do you desire anything, so that I may give you more?' They say: 'Return our souls to our bodies, so that we may fight in Your way again and be martyred once more.'" He said: "So Allah remains silent."

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) about this verse: "And do not think of those who were killed in the way of Allah as dead; rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision" [Surah Al Imran: 169]. He said: "We too asked about it (he said:) The souls of the martyrs are like green birds," then he narrated the rest of the hadith like the narration of al-Thawri.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said about the third time: "(Allah) says: 'Do you desire anything, so that I may give you more?' They say: 'Convey our greetings of peace to our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and tell him that we are pleased (with Allah) and He is pleased with us.'"

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Whose fuel is people and stones" [Surah al-Baqarah: 24]: "Stones of sulphur, which Allah Almighty keeps with Him however and in whatever way He wills."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And say: Hittah (relieve us of our burdens)" [Surah al-Baqarah: 58]: "(Instead) they said: Hintah, a red grain with barley in it. And that is the saying of Allah Almighty: 'But those who did wrong changed the word to other than what had been said to them' [Surah al-Baqarah: 59]."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "So whoever hastens in two days, there is no sin upon him, and whoever delays, there is no sin upon him" [Surah al-Baqarah: 203]: "That is, he has been forgiven."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: These verses at the end of Surah al-Baqarah, "The Messenger has believed" [al-Baqarah: 285], were sent down from a treasure beneath the Throne.

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And whether you reveal what is in your hearts or conceal it" [Surah al-Baqarah: 284]: "It was abrogated by the verse after it: 'For it is what it has earned, and against it is what it has committed' [Surah al-Baqarah: 286]."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This path (sirat) is one that the devils attend; they say: 'O servants of Allah, this is the way!' (But) hold fast to the rope of Allah, for the Straight Path is the Book of Allah."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "And hold fast, all of you together, to the rope of Allah" [Surah Al Imran: 103]: "It means the Qur'an."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The rope of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, means the Jama'ah (the united community)."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Those who remember Allah standing, sitting and (lying) on their sides" [Surah Al Imran: 191]: "If you cannot pray standing, then pray sitting, and if you cannot do that either, then pray lying down."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In the Book of Allah there are two verses such that if a servant commits a sin, then recites them and asks Allah for forgiveness, Allah will surely forgive him: 'And those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who forgives sins except Allah?' [Surah Al Imran: 135], and His saying: 'And whoever does evil or wrongs himself, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful' [Surah al-Nisa: 110]."