Muslim

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues:
(1)
In the aforementioned hadith of Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself had given the command to convey this glad tidings. However, when Umar radi Allahu anhu presented before him the negative aspect of this, and the Prophet considered it to be against the public interest, he accepted Umar’s opinion. From this, the principle is derived that if a senior person—even if he is Allah’s Prophet or Messenger—expresses his opinion in a matter, and a person of insight perceives a harmful aspect in it, then he should not hesitate to present his opinion and advice with respect and etiquette. And the senior should reflect upon that opinion or advice; if the other’s opinion is better and in accordance with wisdom and benefit, then he should accept it and not hesitate in the least to retract his own opinion. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) changed his opinion after Umar radi Allahu anhu’s suggestion.

(2)
As long as Mu’adh radi Allahu anhu was alive, there was no likelihood of this hadith being lost. When he was about to die, he feared the concealment of knowledge (kitman al-‘ilm), which is a major sin. And the prohibition of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was for a reason of benefit and wisdom: that people might rely on it and become lax in striving and action. However, when the propagation of the religion became widespread, and by the time of his (the Prophet’s) passing, the religion and Shari’ah had been completed, and within the people, the religion had become firmly established and the zeal for action had become strong, and there was no longer any fear of negligence in action and striving, then Mu’adh radi Allahu anhu narrated this hadith at the time of his death. Because the prohibition was not for the purpose of making it unlawful (tahrim), otherwise a person of knowledge and virtue like Mu’adh would not have feared the concealment of knowledge. And the reality is that the sincere affirmation of the testimony of faith (kalimat al-shahadah) from the depths of the heart compels a person to complete adherence to the religion, as a result of which a person is saved from Hellfire.

Lexical Explanation:
«رَدِیْف» One who sits behind any rider.
«تَاَثُّمًا» With the intention of avoiding sin.

Understanding of the Hadith:
From this, it is understood that when conveying any important matter of the religion, the listeners should be made thoroughly attentive, just as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam called out to Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu three times to draw his attention. It is also understood that the general public should not be told only glad tidings, because as a result, there is a fear that they may become lazy and negligent in their actions.

Hadith Commentary:
1.
The purpose of Imam Bukhari rahimahullah is that, at the time of teaching and preaching, wisdom demands that full consideration be given to the intellectual level of the listeners; not every matter is suitable to be stated in a public gathering. Some matters are such that certain individuals can understand them, while those same matters are above the intellectual level of others. Doing so results in two harms:
(1)
The loss of knowledge. (2)
The risk of denial and rejection.
It is the habit of the ignorant that whatever they do not understand, they deny, and consider the speaker to be a liar.
To reject the speaker is, in effect, to reject Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
In this way, a person's faith is also put at risk.
This is the very meaning of the statement of Ali radi Allahu anhu.
Similarly, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radi Allahu anhu said that whenever you say something to a people that is beyond their understanding, it will become a source of tribulation for some of them.
(Sahih Muslim, al-Muqaddimah (14))
2.
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah, contrary to his usual method of compilation, first presented the statement of Ali radi Allahu anhu and then provided the chain of narration.
The commentators of Bukhari have mentioned several explanations for this:
(1)
This is a stylistic variation by Imam Bukhari rahimahullah.
2.
The chain became available later.
3.
He did this to distinguish between the hadith of the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the reports of the Companions, i.e., for the hadith of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he brings the chain first and the text after, and for the reports of the Companions, he brings the chains after.
But this rule is not observed everywhere; rather, he does so in some places.
('Umdat al-Qari: 2/290)
The first and second answers are more likely.
And Allah knows best.
(3)
In the hadith, it is stated that whoever bears witness to the Oneness of Allah and the Messengership in such a way that the heart sincerely acknowledges it along with the tongue, Allah will make the Fire forbidden for him.
There is an objection to this, as it is known from numerous narrations that sinful believers will enter the Fire, so what is the meaning of this hadith? The following are the answers to this objection:
(1)
This glad tidings is for those who, along with bearing witness to faith, also performed righteous deeds. Thus, in Tirmidhi, along with the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage are also mentioned.
(2)
This glad tidings is for those who, at the last moment, bore witness to the testimony of faith and then death came to them; in such a case, their bad deeds were forgiven through repentance, and then they did not get the opportunity (to sin again) as death overtook them.
(3)
What is meant is a specific Fire, i.e., the Fire that has been prepared for the punishment of the disbelievers, and from which, after falling into it, there is no opportunity to come out again.
For such a person, entry into Paradise is impossible.
As for the Fire that is for purifying the believers from sins so that they become worthy of entering Paradise, that is a different Fire.
The Fire mentioned in the hadith refers to the Fire prepared for the disbelievers.
(4)
By this prohibition is meant permanent prohibition, i.e., such a person will not remain in the Fire forever; he may enter it for some days.
(5)
The hadith mentions one effect of the testimony of faith, but for this effect, there are some conditions and impediments.
If the conditions are fulfilled and there are no obstacles, then the testimony of faith will certainly show its effect.
On the contrary, if the conditions are not observed or obstacles arise, then this effect of the testimony of faith may be weakened or nullified.
4.
From the conduct of Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu, it is known that the prohibitive commands of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam are of two types: (1)
Prohibition of forbiddance (nahi tahrim) (2)
Prohibition of disapproval (nahi tanzih).
Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu interpreted this prohibition as one of disapproval; if it had been a prohibition of forbiddance, Mu'adh would not have conveyed it at all.
Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari radi Allahu anhu narrates that he was informed of this impression of Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu by a person who was present at the time of his death.
(Fath al-Bari: 1/300)
By the way, let the people of "Tadabbur" (reflection) also be heard; they say:
As for the point that Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu mentioned this matter near his death to avoid the sin of concealing knowledge, this is the narrator's own impression.
Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu, in accordance with the command of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, did not make this matter public, but he would have narrated it among the people of knowledge.
How could Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu keep such a great matter secret?
(Tadabbur Hadith: 1/229)
That is, Islahi Sahib considers it necessary to insert his own analogy and impression everywhere:
﴿إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌ﴾ (Indeed, this is a strange thing.)

Explanation:
And due to their misunderstanding, they will become negligent in performing righteous deeds. The fundamental principle for salvation in the Hereafter is the declaration of the doctrine of Tawhid (monotheism) and Risalah (Prophethood), which was the purpose of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to convey. Righteous deeds are necessarily connected to these, through which the correctness of this doctrine is proven. That is why, in some narrations, while describing the kalimah of Tawhid—La ilaha illallah—as the key to Paradise, it has also been stipulated that the key must have teeth. In the same way, righteous deeds are the teeth of this key. It is impossible to open a lock with a key that has no teeth; similarly, the claim of faith and entry into Paradise without righteous deeds is impossible. After this, Allah is the One who forgives every slip.

Hadith Commentary:
And due to their misunderstanding, they will become negligent in performing righteous deeds.

The primary objective of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was to explain the fundamental principles of salvation in the Hereafter, namely the belief in the Oneness of Allah (tawhid) and Messengership (risalah), which are necessarily connected to righteous deeds (a'mal salihah).

It is through these deeds that the correctness of this belief is proven.

For this reason, in some narrations, the statement of tawhid—La ilaha illallah—is described as the key to Paradise, and it is also stipulated that the key must have teeth.

In the same way, righteous deeds are the teeth of this key.

It is impossible to open a lock with a key that has no teeth; similarly, the claim of faith and entry into Paradise without righteous deeds is impossible. After this, Allah is the One who forgives every slip.

Hadith Commentary:
1.
Anas radi Allahu anhu did not mention the name of the person who informed him of this incident.
Similarly, in the narration of Jabir bin Abdullah radi Allahu anhu, the name of this person is also not specified, because Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu narrated this hadith at the time of his death while he was in Syria.
Both Anas radi Allahu anhu and Jabir radi Allahu anhu resided in Madinah Munawwarah; these two companions were not present with Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu at the time of his death.
It is likely that Amr bin Maymun or Abdur Rahman bin Samurah radi Allahu anhu informed them, because the former was present there at the time of death, and the latter also narrates this report from Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu.
(Fath al-Bari: 1/300)
Amr bin Maymun also transmits this narration from Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Jihad, Hadith: 2856)
2.
In this hadith, only tawhid (monotheism) is mentioned.
Perhaps the narrator omitted the mention of the Messengerhood of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
The Murji’ah present this narration to support their position that after faith, no statement or action is required, whereas its meaning is that if someone, at the last moment, sincerely says (la ilaha illallah),
he will certainly enter Paradise,
and the Fire will be forbidden for him.
This is also the purport of the famous Hadith of the Card (Hadith al-Bitaqah).
Or its meaning is as Wahb bin Munabbih explained, that the statement of tawhid (la ilaha illallah)
is the key to Paradise, but every key has ridges with which the lock is opened.
Without the ridges, the lock cannot be opened.
For the statement of tawhid, righteous deeds are the ridges.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Jana'iz, Bab 1)
The matter of giving glad tidings is also narrated from Abu Hurairah radi Allahu anhu, whom Umar radi Allahu anhu forbade from doing so.
(Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman, Hadith: 147)

Takhrij al-Hadith:
[صحیح بخاری 128],
[صحیح مسلم 148]

Fiqh al-Hadith
➊ Sayyiduna Mu'adh ibn Jabal radi Allahu anhu narrated this hadith at the time of his death out of fear of sin. It is mentioned in the hadith that:
The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:
«من كتم علماً تلجم بلجام من نار يوم القيامة»
"Whoever conceals knowledge, a bridle of fire will be placed on him on the Day of Resurrection." [صحيح ابن حبان، الاحسان : 95، الموارد : 95]
The scholars (ulama) have written in the explanation of this hadith that Sayyiduna Mu'adh radi Allahu anhu narrated this hadith in front of a few select individuals, and the prohibition in the hadith is regarding narrating it in front of the general public, or that the prohibition is not one of absolute unlawfulness (tahrimi) but rather of undesirability (tanzihi). «والله اعلم»
➋ From this hadith it is understood that verbal affirmation of «لا اله الا الله» and «محمد رسول الله» is not sufficient; rather, affirmation with heartfelt conviction and acting upon it is also necessary.
➌ Narrating the Prophetic hadiths is part of religion and faith.
➍ In order to convey an important matter, it is Sunnah to draw the listeners’ full attention, so that they may listen with complete focus and concentration.