hadith 8564–9729

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whomever Allah intends good for, He grants him understanding of the religion."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever wants the Hereafter harms his worldly life, and whoever wants the world harms his Hereafter." And he commanded people to let what is perishing suffer loss for the sake of what is lasting.

The narrator said: I was at a place called Sharaf when Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) came and stayed with us. My family sent me to him with some things. Our servants, who were with the camels at a distance of four days' journey, came with a bird, so I took it to him. When I brought it to him, he asked me: "Where did you bring this bird to me from?" I said: Our servants, who were with the camels at a distance of four nights' journey, brought it. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I wish I had stayed in the very place where this was hunted, not speaking a word to any human being, nor anyone speaking to me, until I joined Allah."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, for every living soul death is better. If he is righteous, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'And what is with Allah is better for the righteous' [Al Imran: 198]; and if he is wicked, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'And let not those who disbelieve ever think that the respite We give them is good for them; We only give them respite so that they may increase in sin' [Al Imran: 178]."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O people, learn; and whoever acquires knowledge, let him also act upon it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "A people will come who will drink in knowledge deeply."

The narrator said: One day people asked Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) a great many questions, so he said to al-Harith bin Qays: "O Harith bin Qays, what do you think these people want by what they are asking about?" He said: So that they may learn it and then leave it. He said: "You have spoken the truth, by the One besides whom there is no deity."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let me not find any one of you lying like a corpse through the night in sleep and running about restlessly in the chase of the world by day."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let none of you place his religion in blind imitation of another man, so that if he believes, this one believes, and if he disbelieves, this one disbelieves. If you must follow someone, then follow those who have died, for the living person is never safe from falling into trial."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let none of you be an 'imma'ah'." People said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, what is an imma'ah? He said: "The one who says: I am simply with the people; if they are guided, I will be guided, and if they go astray, I will go astray. Indeed, let each of you firmly resolve within himself that if people disbelieve, he will not disbelieve."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In the Days of Ignorance we used to call a person an 'imma'ah' who would go to a meal without being invited. Indeed, the imma'ah among you is the one who loads his religion onto the backs of others."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "In the Days of Ignorance we used to call a person an 'imma'ah' who, when a man was invited to a meal, would follow him along; and in the present age it is the one who carries his religion along behind people. And we used to call magic 'adah', and in the present age it is idle gossip (qil wa qal)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You pray more and fight in jihad more than the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), yet they were better than you." People said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, how is that? He said: "They were more detached from the world and more eager for the Hereafter."

A hadith like the narration of Za'idah 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: "Follow, and do not innovate, for you have been given what suffices you in the religion; every innovation is misguidance."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection the whole earth will be fire, and Paradise will be beyond it; people will see its youthful maidens and its cups. By the One in whose hand is the soul of Abdullah, a man will be so drenched in sweat that it will flow over the earth to the depth of his height, then it will rise until it reaches his nose, while the reckoning will not even have touched him yet." People said: Why will that be? He said: "Because of what he sees people facing."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By the One besides whom there is no deity, no servant thinks well of Allah except that Allah grants him what he expects, because all good is in His hand."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said to his wife: "Is today better, or yesterday?" She said: I do not know. He said: "But I know: yesterday was better than today, and today is better than tomorrow, and so it will continue until the Hour is established."

Sayyiduna Abu Juhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One day Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) came out to us in a dejected state, so we asked: What is the matter with you? He said: "The clear part of the world has gone and only the murky dregs remain; so in these times death is a gift for every Muslim."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The clear part of the world has gone and only the murky dregs remain; so in these times death is a gift for every Muslim."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The world is like a thaghab." We asked: What is a thaghab? He said: "A pool whose clear water has gone and only its murky dregs remain; so death is a gift for every believer."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection, when the people who were afflicted see the reward, they will wish that their skins had been cut with scissors."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When the people who were afflicted see the reward, they will wish that their bodies had been cut with scissors."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection, because of the length of that day, the disbeliever will be bridled by his own sweat, until he says: My Lord, give me relief, even if it is by sending me to the Fire."

Abu Ubaydah narrates from his father, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: "When any of you wishes to ask Allah for something, let him first praise and extol Allah as He deserves, then send blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and then ask after that, for this is more likely to have his supplication answered."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When a man mounts a riding animal and does not mention the name of Allah, Satan rides behind him and says to him: Sing. And if he cannot sing, he says to him: Indulge in wishful longings."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The devil of a believer meets the devil of a disbeliever, and the devil of the believer appears pale, dust-covered and emaciated. The devil of the disbeliever says: What is the matter with you? Woe to you, you are ruined. The devil of the believer says: No, by Allah, I cannot get anything from him: when he eats he mentions the name of Allah, when he drinks he mentions the name of Allah, and when he enters his house he mentions the name of Allah. The other says: But I eat from his food, drink from his drink and sleep on his bed. So the devil of the disbeliever is plump and well-fed, and the devil of the believer is emaciated."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The major sins are: associating partners with Allah, despairing of Allah's mercy, losing hope in Allah's mercy, and feeling secure from the plan of Allah."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The greatest of the major sins are: associating partners with Allah, feeling secure from the plan of Allah, losing hope in Allah's mercy, and despairing of Allah's mercy."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The greatest of the major sins are: associating partners with Allah, despairing of Allah's mercy, losing hope in Allah's mercy, and feeling secure from the plan of Allah."

It is narrated about Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that a son of his came to him wearing a silk shirt, and the boy was delighted with his shirt. When he came near Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him), he tore it, then said: "Go to your mother and tell her to dress you in a shirt other than this."

Abd al-Rahman bin Yazid said: We were with Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) when a son of his came wearing a silk shirt, so he asked: "Who dressed you in this?" He said: My mother. The narrator said: So he tore it and said: "Tell your mother to dress you in a shirt other than this."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "A man will never find the taste of faith until he believes in divine decree (qadar) and knows that he will die and that he will be raised again."

Al-Harith said: I saw Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) moistening the tip of his finger in his mouth, then saying: "By Allah, a servant will never taste the taste of faith until he believes in divine decree (qadar) and knows that he will die and then be raised again after death."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Three things, whoever has them will find through them the sweetness of faith: giving up disputing even when in the right, giving up lying in jest, and knowing that what has befallen him was never going to miss him, and what has missed him was never going to befall him."

Shaqiq narrates: We were with Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) on a journey when we met a caravan. We asked: "Who are you people?" They said: "We are the believers." Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Did they also say: 'We are the people of Paradise'?"

Alqamah narrates: A man said in the presence of Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): "I am a believer." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Then also say that you are in Paradise. Rather, we say: We believe in Allah, His angels and His messengers."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting in a circle after the Fajr prayer, and he said: "I adjure by Allah that whoever severs the ties of kinship should get up and leave us, for we wish to supplicate to our Lord, and the gates of heaven are closed to the one who severs the ties of kinship."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When a man of the Children of Israel committed a sin, in the morning he would find written on his door: 'You committed such and such a sin, and its expiation is such and such a deed.' Perhaps it weighed heavily on him that (people) would come to know of it." Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I would not like Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to have given us that method in place of this verse: 'And whoever does evil or wrongs himself, then seeks forgiveness from Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful' [Surah al-Nisa: 110]."

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man passed by another man who was in prostration, and he stepped on his neck. The man said: "Do you step on my neck while I am in prostration? By Allah, Allah will never forgive you!" Then Allah said: "Do you swear an oath against Me? Indeed, I have forgiven him."