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مسند الشهاب
Musnad Shihab
Hadiths 1 to 200
الْخَيْرُ عَادَةٌ، وَالشَّرُّ لَجَاجَةٌGoodness is a habit, and evil is obstinacy
Hadith 22
اُردوEn
22 - أَخْبَرَنَا هِبَةُ اللَّهِ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْحَسَنِ، ثنا عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْحُسَيْنِ بْنِ بُنْدَارٍ، أبنا أَبُو عَرُوبَةَ، ثنا عَمْرُو بْنُ عُثْمَانَ، ثنا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ مُسْلِمٍ، عَنْ مَرْوَانَ بْنِ جُنَاحٍ، عَنْ يُونُسَ بْنِ مَيْسَرَةَ بْنِ حَلْبَسٍ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنَ أَبِي سُفْيَانَ، يَقُولُ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «الْخَيْرُ عَادَةٌ، وَالشَّرُّ لَجَاجَةٌ»
Sayyiduna Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Goodness is a habit and guidance is a dispute."
Brief Explanation
Explanation – “Virtue is a habit”: This means that virtue is the natural habit of every human being. Every person desires to do virtuous and good deeds, to walk on the straight path, but environment, society, and satanic whispers become obstacles for him; thus, he is deprived of his natural habit of virtue.
“Evil is contention”: An act done contrary to nature is enmity, contention, and compulsion. This is why, when a person begins to commit a sin, a strange kind of inner conflict arises within him. The commanding self (nafs al-ammara) pulls him towards evil, while nature—which we call conscience—prevents him from evil. In any case, it is incumbent upon a person to adopt his natural habit of virtue and to keep himself safe from the unnatural habit of evil.
“Evil is contention”: An act done contrary to nature is enmity, contention, and compulsion. This is why, when a person begins to commit a sin, a strange kind of inner conflict arises within him. The commanding self (nafs al-ammara) pulls him towards evil, while nature—which we call conscience—prevents him from evil. In any case, it is incumbent upon a person to adopt his natural habit of virtue and to keep himself safe from the unnatural habit of evil.
