مختصر صحيح مسلم
Mukhtasar Muslim
Issues of Supplication
Supplicating by means of righteous deeds done for Allah.
Toggle above to switch between keyword search and direct hadith lookup
Hadith 1875
‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Three men were traveling when a severe rain overtook them, so they took shelter in a cave of a mountain. Meanwhile, a rock fell from the mountain and blocked the mouth of the cave. They said to one another: Think of your righteous deeds which you have done for Allah’s sake, and supplicate to Him by means of those deeds; perhaps Allah will remove this rock for you.
So one of them said: My parents were old and weak, and I had a wife and small children. I used to graze sheep and goats for them. When I would return in the evening after grazing, I would milk the animals and begin with my parents, giving them to drink before my children. One day, a tree took me far away (i.e., I found pasture very far), so I did not return home until evening, and I found my parents asleep. I milked as usual and stood by their heads with the milk. I disliked to wake them from their sleep, and I disliked to give my children before them. The children were crying at my feet out of hunger. So my and their condition remained like this until morning (i.e., I stood all night with the milk waiting for them to wake, and the children kept crying; neither did I drink nor did I give to the children). O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open a way through this rock so that we may see the sky. So Allah opened it a little, and they saw the sky through it.
The second said: O Allah! The matter is that I had a cousin whom I loved as a man loves a woman (i.e., I was extremely in love with her). I inclined towards her and desired her (i.e., intended to commit fornication). She refused and said: I will not agree unless you give me one hundred dinars. I strove and collected one hundred dinars and brought them to her. When I sat with her for the sexual act (i.e., with the intention of intercourse), she said: O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not break the seal unlawfully (i.e., do not take my virginity without marriage). So I got up from her. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open the cave a little more. Allah opened it a little more (i.e., the opening became larger).
The third said: O Allah! I hired a man for a faraq (a vessel that holds sixteen ratl of grain) of rice as wages. When he finished his work, he said: Give me my due. I placed the faraq of rice before him, but he did not take it. I sowed those grains (and there was blessing in it), until I gathered from that wealth cows, oxen, and their shepherds. Then that laborer came to me and said: Fear Allah and do not withhold my right. I said: Go and take the cows, oxen, and their shepherds. He said: Fear Allah (the Compeller) and do not mock me. I said: I am not mocking; take the cows, oxen, and the shepherds. So he took them. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open what remains. So Allah opened the remaining mouth of the cave (and they came out of the cave).
So one of them said: My parents were old and weak, and I had a wife and small children. I used to graze sheep and goats for them. When I would return in the evening after grazing, I would milk the animals and begin with my parents, giving them to drink before my children. One day, a tree took me far away (i.e., I found pasture very far), so I did not return home until evening, and I found my parents asleep. I milked as usual and stood by their heads with the milk. I disliked to wake them from their sleep, and I disliked to give my children before them. The children were crying at my feet out of hunger. So my and their condition remained like this until morning (i.e., I stood all night with the milk waiting for them to wake, and the children kept crying; neither did I drink nor did I give to the children). O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open a way through this rock so that we may see the sky. So Allah opened it a little, and they saw the sky through it.
The second said: O Allah! The matter is that I had a cousin whom I loved as a man loves a woman (i.e., I was extremely in love with her). I inclined towards her and desired her (i.e., intended to commit fornication). She refused and said: I will not agree unless you give me one hundred dinars. I strove and collected one hundred dinars and brought them to her. When I sat with her for the sexual act (i.e., with the intention of intercourse), she said: O servant of Allah! Fear Allah and do not break the seal unlawfully (i.e., do not take my virginity without marriage). So I got up from her. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open the cave a little more. Allah opened it a little more (i.e., the opening became larger).
The third said: O Allah! I hired a man for a faraq (a vessel that holds sixteen ratl of grain) of rice as wages. When he finished his work, he said: Give me my due. I placed the faraq of rice before him, but he did not take it. I sowed those grains (and there was blessing in it), until I gathered from that wealth cows, oxen, and their shepherds. Then that laborer came to me and said: Fear Allah and do not withhold my right. I said: Go and take the cows, oxen, and their shepherds. He said: Fear Allah (the Compeller) and do not mock me. I said: I am not mocking; take the cows, oxen, and the shepherds. So he took them. O Allah! If You know that I did this for Your pleasure, then open what remains. So Allah opened the remaining mouth of the cave (and they came out of the cave).
