Sa'id bin Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail (RA) reported that Arwi (bint Uwais) disputed with him (in regard to a part of the land) of his hodse. He said: Leave it and take off your claim from it, for I heard Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: He who took a span of land without his right would be made to wear around his neck seven earths on the Day of Resurrection. He (Sa'id bin Zaid) said: O Allah, make her blind if she has told a lie and make her grave in her house. He (the narrator) said: I saw her blind groping (her way) by touching the walls and saying: The curse of Sa'id bin Zaid has hit me. And it so happened that as she was walking in her house, she passed by a well in her house and fell therein and that be- came her grave.
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: (1)
From this hadith, scholars have also deduced that the owner of a piece of land is also the owner of its lowest depths, and without his permission, no one else can derive benefit from its lower part. Furthermore, if any gas, oil, or minerals are extracted from his land, then he is entitled to benefit from them.
(2)
Sa‘id (radi Allahu anhu) had supplicated that she become blind, fall into the well of her house, and that it become her grave. Allah, the Exalted, accepted his supplication, and he was among the ten who were given glad tidings of Paradise (al-‘asharah al-mubashsharah).
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 4133
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
There are seven layers of the earth.
Whoever usurps even a span of land, it is as if he has usurped up to all seven layers.
Therefore, on the Day of Resurrection, the yoke of all of them will be placed around his neck.
In another narration, it is mentioned that he will be ordered to bring all that soil (from the seven layers).
Some have said that the meaning of placing the yoke is that he will be sunk into it up to the seven layers.
Some have deduced from the hadith that the earths are seven, just as the heavens are seven.
(Wahidi)
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 2452
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
➊
Imam Bukhari rahimahullah has interpreted from these ahadith the verse: ﴿وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ﴾ that just as there are seven heavens, there are also seven layers of the earth, and they are positioned one above the other like the heavens.
➋
The meaning of the third hadith is that in the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), people used to postpone the month of Muharram to Safar. The Noble Qur’an has referred to this act of theirs as "Nasi’" (postponement). They would advance or delay the months so that they could engage in war and looting during that month; thus, they would make Muharram into Safar. They would do this every year, continually transferring Muharram to another month, until eventually it would return to its designated time from which they had moved it forward.
In short, at the time of the Hajj of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the months had returned to the same order in which Allah Ta’ala had arranged them. And Hajj took place in Dhu al-Hijjah, which is its proper time, whereas the Hajj of Abu Bakr radi Allahu anhu before this had occurred in Dhu al-Qa’dah.
And Allah knows best. In summary, from the explicit text of the Qur’an, the existence of seven heavens and, similarly, seven earths is established. Whoever denies this is, in effect, denying the Qur’an. Now, to investigate the reality of the seven heavens and seven earths is beyond human capability.
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 3198
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: (1)
From this hadith, scholars have also deduced that the owner of a piece of land is also the owner of its lowest depths, and without his permission, no one else can derive benefit from its lower part. Furthermore, if any gas, oil, or minerals are extracted from his land, then he is entitled to benefit from them.
(2)
Sa‘id (radi Allahu anhu) had supplicated that she become blind, fall into the well of her house, and that it become her grave. Allah Ta‘ala accepted his supplication, and he was among the ten who were given glad tidings of Paradise (al-‘asharah al-mubashsharah).
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 4134
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary:
Vocabulary of the Hadith:
Iqtata‘a:
Seized by force,
Took possession unlawfully.
Benefits and Issues:
(1)
This hadith proves that there are seven earths,
and the mention of making them a collar is evidence that they are layered one above the other,
and the verse of the Noble Qur’an: ﴿وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِثْلَهُنَّ﴾ (“and of the earth, the like thereof”) indicates that the earths are as many (as the heavens),
and supports this,
but their form and nature have not been fully described in the Qur’an and Hadith,
the main purpose here is to warn and deter from oppression and transgression, that even minor acts of injustice can have extremely severe consequences.
(2)
In the explanation and interpretation of this hadith, the scholars have the following opinions:
(a)
The one who seizes land by force will be made responsible for bringing as much land as he usurped,
from all seven earths,
carrying it to the Plain of Resurrection,
but he will not be able to do this,
and this responsibility will become a collar around his neck.
(b)
That person will be held responsible for bringing that much land to the Plain of Resurrection,
and for this, his neck will be widened,
and that much soil will be made into a collar and placed around his neck.
(c)
That person will be sunk into the earth up to the seven earths,
and in this way, all the earth will become a collar around his neck,
(he will be commanded by Allah Ta‘ala to make that much land a collar around his neck,
but he will not be able to do this,
thus he will remain in continuous torment).
(ṭ)
The sin of this oppression
will be a collar around his neck,
he will not be able to free himself from it.
(Fath al-Bari,
vol. 5,
p. 130.
Darussalam)
This hadith proves
that ownership of land is possible,
and another person can seize it by force,
for which the punishment is extremely severe.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 4132