hadith 8564–9729

Abu al-Ahwas narrates: Asma' bin Kharijah vied in boasting with a man and said: "I am the son of noble elders." At this Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "That is Yusuf, son of Ya'qub, son of Ishaq, the sacrifice of Allah, son of Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah (peace be upon them)."

Abu al-Ahwas narrates: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) making this supplication: "O Allah, I ask You by Your abundant blessing which You have bestowed upon me, by the trial with which You have tried me, and by the favour which You have granted me, that You admit me into Paradise. O Allah, admit me into Paradise by Your favour, Your grace and Your mercy."

Al-Aswad bin Yazid (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Sayyiduna Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse: "Except one who has taken a covenant with the Most Merciful" [Surah Maryam: 87]. He said: "Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection: 'Whoever has a covenant with Me, let him stand.'" The people said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman, teach us." He said: "Say: 'O Allah, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, I make this covenant with You in this worldly life: that if You entrust me to myself, it will bring me near to evil and take me far from good, and I trust in nothing but Your mercy. So make it a promise for me with You, which You will fulfil for me on the Day of Resurrection; indeed You do not break Your promise.'" The narrator says: Zakariyya Abu Yahya, narrating from al-Qasim, added to it: "fearful, seeking protection, seeking forgiveness, turning to You in longing."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Judge people by their friends."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O people, a time has passed over us when we did not give judgements, nor were we in that position, and (now) Allah has brought us to the state that you see. So whoever of you has to give a judgement after today, let him judge in it according to the Book of Allah. If a matter comes to him that is not in the Book of Allah, let him judge according to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) judged. If a matter comes to him that is neither in the Book of Allah nor has the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) judged on it, let him judge according to what the righteous judged. And if a matter comes to him that is neither in the Book of Allah, nor has the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) judged on it, nor have the righteous judged on it, let him exercise his own reasoning (ijtihad). And let none of you say: 'I am afraid,' or 'My opinion is,' for the lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters. So leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When a matter comes before you which must be decided, look at what is in the Book of Allah and judge by it. If you are unable, look at what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) decided. If you are still unable, look at what the righteous decided. If you are still unable, exercise your own reasoning (ijtihad) and spare no effort. And if you are still unable, admit it and do not feel ashamed."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Reward is not recorded for illness; reward lies only in deeds. But Allah expiates sins through that illness."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever gives people a ruling on every matter they ask him about is insane."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever gives people a ruling on everything they ask is insane." - These are the words of Sulayman bin Harb, and al-Hawdi in his narration reported the words: "on everything about which they seek a ruling."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "How excellent a gathering is the gathering in which wisdom is spread."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Learn the science of fara'id (the law of inheritance), for soon a time will come when a man will be in need of knowledge he used to know, or he will be left among a people who do not know it."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The fear of Allah is sufficient as knowledge, and being deluded about Allah is sufficient as ignorance."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When someone is made a ruler, he has two circles among those close to him: a circle that commands him to obey Allah, and a circle that commands him to disobey, and he is counted with whichever of the two he obeys."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not hasten to praise people, nor to blame them, for it may be that today you see something in your brother that pleases you, yet that very thing displeases you tomorrow; and it may be that today you see something in him that displeases you, yet that same thing pleases you tomorrow. People find fault with one another, whereas Allah forgives sins only on the Day of Resurrection. And on the day His servant meets Him, Allah is more merciful to him than a mother who spreads a bed on the ground for her child, then feels it with her hand so that if there is a thorn, it pricks her before him, and if there is a sting, she feels it herself before him."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I think that a man forgets the knowledge he knows because of the sin that he commits."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let none of you say: 'O Allah, I seek refuge in You from trial (fitnah),' for there is none of you who is not wrapped in some trial. Rather, whoever seeks refuge, let him seek refuge from its hardships, for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: 'Your wealth and your children are only a trial' [al-Taghabun: 15]."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Let none of you say: 'I am a sarurah (one who abstains from marriage for life),' for a Muslim is not like that. And let none of you say: 'I am a pilgrim (hajji),' for the pilgrim is only the one in the state of ihram. Rather, let him say: 'I intend to go to Makkah.'"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "There is no prescribed punishment (hadd) except in two (matters): a man whose descent from his father is denied, or one who accuses a chaste woman of fornication."

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: "There is no prescribed punishment (hadd) except in two (matters): accusing a chaste woman, or a man's descent from his father being denied."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "There is no prescribed punishment (hadd) except in two (matters)." Then he mentioned something similar.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Repentance remains open to the son of Adam, if he accepts it, until one of three things happens: until the sun rises from its place of setting, or the Beast (of the earth) emerges, or Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) come out."

It was said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Allah Almighty mentions prayer frequently in the Qur'an: 'Those who are constant in their prayers' [Surah al-Ma'arij: 23], 'And those who guard their prayers' [Surah al-Ma'arij: 34]." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is about observing the prayer times." The people said: "O Abu Abd al-Rahman, we used to think that it meant not abandoning prayer." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Abandoning it is disbelief (kufr)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever abandons prayer has committed disbelief (kufr)."

It was said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Allah Almighty mentions prayer frequently: 'Those who are constant in their prayers' [Surah al-Ma'arij: 23], 'And those who guard their prayers' [Surah al-Ma'arij: 34]." Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is about the prayer times." We said: "We used to think that it meant not abandoning prayer." He said: "Abandoning it is disbelief (kufr)."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever does not pray has no religion."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Whoever does not pray has no religion."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) went out for the Fajr prayer and saw that some people had turned their backs towards the qiblah of the mosque, so he said: "Move back like this, away from the faces of the angels."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) saw that some people had leaned their backs against the qiblah between the adhan and the iqamah of Fajr, so he said: "Do not come between the angels and their prayer."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) came at the time of Fajr, and some people had leaned their backs against the qiblah, so he said: "Move back from the qiblah; do not come between the angels and the qiblah, for this is the prayer of the angels."

A hadith like it is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) (as it has passed in the narration of al-Thawri and Ma'mar).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Avert the punishments of flogging and execution from the servants of Allah as far as you are able."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Two months can also be 59 days."

Al-Qasim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) (bin Mas'ud) arrived (in Kufah) when Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) had already built the palace, and he had built a mosque among the date-sellers (in their quarter) and used to go out to it for the prayers. When Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) became the overseer of the treasury (Bayt al-Mal), (someone) tunnelled into the treasury (dug through it to steal), and he caught the man. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) (about it), and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote back: "Do not cut off his hand; move the mosque, and place the treasury on the side facing the qiblah, for there will always be someone in the mosque praying." So Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) moved it and marked out this site. The palace that Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) had built was uneven (raised), and yet the imam used to stand on it, so Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered it to be demolished until the imam's place became level with the people.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) lent some money to some of his maternal relatives from Banu Sa'd. When their stipends came out, they chose (some of) their (ordinary) property for him (to repay the loan). When it was brought to him, Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is better than the money of ours that we gave you; so gather your stipends and give us from a suitable portion of them."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By the One besides whom there is no god! "Allah Almighty divided this fay' (spoils gained without fighting) through the tongue of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) before Persia and Rome were conquered."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Four things have been settled: creation, character (disposition and habits), provision, and the appointed time of death."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Four things have been settled: creation, character, provision, and the appointed time of death. None of us earns (more) in place of another (that is, provision is fixed for each person)."
And he said: "Charity takes effect, whether it has been taken into possession or not."

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) had a Christian scribe. Once Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) entered the palace and the Christian went back, so Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a greeting of salam after him.

Some polytheists were walking with Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him); when he reached the door of the palace, he greeted them with salam.