hadith 8564–9729

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "And let them not display their adornment except what appears of it" [Surah al-Nur: 31]: "Adornment means earrings, armlets, anklets and necklaces."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "And let them not display their adornment" [Surah al-Nur: 31]: "Adornment means bracelets, armlets, anklets, 'al-adab' (an unclear word, probably a copyist's error), earrings and necklaces; and what appears of it means the (outer) garments and the cloak."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "So they put their hands into their mouths" [Surah Ibrahim: 9]: "That is, they bit them (with their teeth)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "So they put their hands into their mouths" [Surah Ibrahim: 9]: "That is, they bit their fingers in rage."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "And there is none of you but will come to it" [Surah Maryam: 71]: "It means the Bridge (al-Sirat)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "The Fire will scorch their faces, and they will be grim-faced therein" [Surah al-Mu'minun: 104]: "Have you not seen scorched heads, how their teeth become exposed and their lips shrink back?"

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked about this verse: "What they withheld will be made a collar around their necks on the Day of Resurrection" [Surah Al Imran: 180], and he said: "He will be collared with a bald serpent that will keep pecking at his head."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever has wealth and does not pay its zakah, a bald serpent will be put around his neck as a collar on the Day of Resurrection; it will peck at his head and say: 'I am your wealth that you used to withhold.'" (Concerning this, Allah Almighty said:) "What they withheld will be made a collar around their necks on the Day of Resurrection" [Surah Al Imran: 180].

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "What they withheld will be made a collar around their necks on the Day of Resurrection" [Surah Al Imran: 180]: "His wealth will come as a great serpent that will peck at his head and say: 'I am your wealth that you withheld.' Then he will be collared with it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said, regarding the saying of Allah Almighty: "What they withheld will be made a collar around their necks on the Day of Resurrection" [Surah Al Imran: 180]: "A bald serpent will be put around his neck as a collar, with two marks at its mouth; it will peck at his head, and he will say: 'What do you want with me?' It will say: 'I am your wealth that you withheld.'"

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: We asked Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) about the saying of Allah Almighty: "What they withheld will be made a collar around their necks on the Day of Resurrection" [Surah Al Imran: 180], and he said: "It will be a serpent that keeps biting at his jaw."

Abu Ubaydah bin Abdullah bin Mas'ud said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to pray Maghrib when the edge of the sun had set, then he would swear that this is the time about which Allah Almighty said: "Establish the prayer at the decline of the sun" [Surah al-Isra: 78].

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The decline of the sun is its setting. When the sun set, the Arabs would say: 'The sun has declined, barah (that is, it has disappeared).'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Its decline is its setting."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The decline of the sun is its setting."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) led the Maghrib prayer, and when he finished the prayer we began looking around. So he said: "What is the matter with you that you are looking around?" We said: We think the sun is still up. So he said: "By the One besides whom there is no god! This is the time of this prayer." Then he recited this verse: "Establish the prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night" [Surah al-Isra: 78], "This is the decline of the sun, and this is the darkness of the night."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid said: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) led a prayer one day, and a man began looking to see whether the sun had set. So Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Why are you looking at this? By the One besides whom there is no god! This is the time of this prayer. Allah Almighty says: 'Establish the prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night' [Surah al-Isra: 78]. This is the decline of the sun, and this is the darkness of the night."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid narrated: We were with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and when he said the salam (ending the prayer), he said: "By the One besides whom there is no god! This is the time of the sun's decline (duluk), and at this very time the time of this prayer has begun."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid narrated: We were with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and when the sun set he said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no god, this is the time of the sun's decline, and at this very time the time of this prayer has begun."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The decline of the sun means its setting."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The decline of the sun refers to the time when it sets."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said (in explaining the decline of the sun): "Its setting."

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) used to say: "Of the angels of Allah, the guard of the night and the guard of the day meet each other at the break of dawn; and if you wish, recite this verse: 'And (observe) the recitation of Fajr; indeed, the recitation of Fajr is witnessed (by the angels)' [Surah al-Isra: 78]."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid narrated: We were with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) on the road to Makkah, and when the sun set he said: "This is the darkness of the night (ghasaq al-layl)." Then the adhan was called, then he said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no god, this is the time of this prayer."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Until the darkness of the night (ghasaq al-layl)" [Surah al-Isra: 78]: "It refers to the Isha prayer."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "(Ghasaq al-layl refers to) the Isha prayer."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning the saying of Allah Almighty: "Then indeed, for him will be a straitened life" [Surah Ta Ha: 124]: "It refers to the punishment of the grave."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "When I narrate a hadith to you, I also bring you its confirmation from the Book of Allah. When a Muslim servant says: Alhamdulillah, Subhan Allah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu akbar and Tabarak Allah, an angel takes hold of them, places them under his wing and ascends with them. He does not pass by any gathering of angels except that they seek forgiveness for the one who said them, until he brings them before the Most Merciful, the Exalted." Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "To Him ascends the good word, and righteous deeds raise it" [Surah Fatir: 10].

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When I narrate a hadith to you, I also bring its confirmation. When a Muslim servant dies, he is made to sit up in his grave and is asked: Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Prophet? Then Allah makes him firm, and he says: My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). So his grave is made wide and spacious for him." Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "Allah keeps firm those who believe with the firm word in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, and Allah sends the wrongdoers astray" [Surah Ibrahim: 27].

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When we narrate a hadith to you, we bring its confirmation before you from the Book of Allah: The sperm-drop remains in the womb for forty days, then it remains a clinging clot ('alaqah) for forty days, then it remains a lump of flesh (mudghah) for forty days. Then, when Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, intends to create the creation, an angel descends and he is told: Write. He says: O my Lord, what shall I write? It is said: Write whether he is wretched or fortunate, male or female, what his provision is, what his trace (deeds) is, and what his lifespan will be. Then Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, reveals to him whatever He wills, and the angel writes (it all) down." Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "Indeed, We created man from a mingled sperm-drop, testing him" [Surah al-Insan: 2], and Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Amshaj (mingled) refers to the veins."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "But you prefer the life of this world" [Surah al-A'la: 16], then said: "Do you know with what the life of this world began? And for what reason was this world preferred? This world was given to us quickly, we were given its pleasure and its splendour, and the Hereafter was hidden from us and kept far away, so we accepted what comes quickly (this world) and abandoned what comes later (the Hereafter)."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid narrates: I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) erasing the Mu'awwidhatayn (Surah al-Falaq and Surah al-Nas) (from his mushaf), and he was saying: "Why do you add to it what is not in it?"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to erase the Mu'awwidhatayn from his mushaf and would say: "Beware! They have mixed into it what is not in it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to erase the Mu'awwidhatayn from the mushaf and would say: "These two are not from the Book of Allah."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Do not mix into the Qur'an what is not in it. These are only two Mu'awwidhat with which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to seek refuge: 'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the daybreak' (Surah al-Falaq) and 'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind' (Surah al-Nas)." And Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to erase them from the mushaf.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) used to erase the Mu'awwidhatayn from the masahif and would say: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) only commanded that refuge be sought with them, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not used to recite them."

Tariq bin Shihab narrates that a man met a person afflicted with khanazir (scrofula, a disease of swollen glands), and he said (to the sick man): Had a pledge not been taken from me (not to reveal its cure), I would have told you. This reached Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), so he met him and said: "Tell it." He said: A pledge has been taken from me that I will not tell it to anyone. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "He ought not to have taken that pledge from you. Make expiation for your oath and tell it." He said: Go to the urine of camels that eat arak (the toothbrush tree), cook it until it thickens, then drink it; and take the leaves of the arak, pound them and sprinkle them over it. (The narrator) said: He did so and was cured.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Those who have the right to the water have authority over those at its upper part."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Keep your sons regular in prayer, and accustom them to goodness, for goodness too is a habit."