Collected chapters on whose testimony is accepted and whose is not among free, adult, sane Muslims

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "We know of no one among people, except very few, who has pure obedience and decency without mixing them with any sin or abandonment of decency; nor is there anyone who has pure sin and abandonment of decency without any mixture of obedience and decency."
The Shaykh (Imam al-Bayhaqi) (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "It is just as Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When this verse was revealed: "Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing" [Surah al-An'am: 82], the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) asked: "Which of us does not mix his faith with wrongdoing?" Then this verse was revealed: "Do not associate partners with Allah; indeed, associating partners with Allah is a great wrong." [Surah Luqman: 13]

Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him): When this verse was revealed: "Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing" [Surah al-An'am: 82], it weighed heavily upon the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and they said: Which of us does not wrong himself? So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is not as you think; it is only as Luqman said to his son: 'Do not associate partners with Allah; indeed, associating partners with Allah is a great wrong.' [Surah Luqman: 13]"

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "'Allahumma in taghfir taghfir jamma, wa ayyu 'abdin laka la alamma' (O Allah, if You forgive, then forgive all; and which servant of Yours has not committed a sin?)"

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said concerning this statement of Allah Almighty: "Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, except minor faults" [Surah al-Najm: 32]: That is, a man repents after committing an evil deed. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, if You forgive, then forgive Your servants all their sins; and which servant of Yours is there from whom no sin occurs?"

Mujahid (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said regarding this verse, "except minor faults" [Surah al-Najm: 32]: It is the man who falls into sin and then abandons it. Have you not heard the words of the poet? "If You forgive them, then forgive all their sins; which servant of Yours is not a sinner?"

Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I have not seen anything more resembling "lamam" (minor faults) than what Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah has decreed for the son of Adam his share of adultery, which he will inevitably attain. The adultery of the eyes is looking, the adultery of the tongue is speaking, the adultery of the soul is wishing and desiring, and the private part confirms it or denies it."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no servant from whom a sin has not issued or who has not intended a sin, except Yahya bin Zakariyya; he neither erred nor intended a sin."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There is no human being" and then he mentioned the same meaning.
Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If obedience and muru'ah (decency) prevail in a man's outward conduct, his testimony will be accepted. If his outward conduct is disobedient and contrary to muru'ah, his testimony will be rejected.

Abu al-Abbas bin Surayj (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about the description of the upright person, and he said that he should be free, Muslim, sane and adult, should not commit a major sin, should not persist in a minor sin, and should not abandon muru'ah (decency) in his usual conduct.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the major sins, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Associating partners with Allah, disobeying parents, killing, and giving false testimony," or he said: "false speech."

Ubayd bin Umayr (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from his father (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I was with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) during the Farewell Hajj, and I heard him (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Those who pray are the friends of Allah. Beware! Whoever completes the obligatory prayer, regarding it as a right that Allah has over him, pays the obligatory zakah, fasts Ramadan and avoids the major sins," whereupon a man asked: O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! What are the major sins? He said: "The major sins are nine: 1. the greatest of them is associating partners with Allah, 2. killing a believing soul, 3. consuming usury (riba), consuming the wealth of the orphan, slandering a chaste woman, fleeing from the battle, disobeying parents, magic, and treating the sanctity of the House of Allah as lawful. Whoever meets Allah free of them will be with me in a Paradise whose door-leaves are of gold."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A person is not a believer while he commits adultery, a person is not a believer while he drinks wine, a person is not a believer while he steals, and when he plunders while people raise their eyes toward him, he is not a believer."
(b) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) the like of the hadith of Abu Bakr bin Abd al-Rahman, but it does not mention plunder.
(c) Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) states that after that, repentance will be offered.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned it with this addition, but did not mention plunder.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with them both) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the other Muslims are safe, and the emigrant (muhajir) is the one who refrains from what Allah has forbidden."

Abu al-Zubayr heard Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) saying that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the other Muslims are safe."

Ishaq bin Sa'id bin Amr bin Sa'id bin al-As (may Allah have mercy on him) said: My father narrated to me from his father, who said: I was with Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). He called for water for ablution and said: I was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a Muslim servant performs ablution well and attends an obligatory prayer, then performs its bowing and prostration well too, then if he avoids the major sins, his minor sins are forgiven; and this is so for all time." [Sahih. Muslim]

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The five prayers, and the interval from one Friday to the next, are an expiation for sins, as long as he keeps away from the major sins."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The five prayers, the time from one Friday to the next, and from one Ramadan to the next, are an expiation for sins when the major sins are avoided."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id and Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them both) both narrate from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) sat on the pulpit and then said: "By the One in whose Hand is my soul!" He said it three times and then fell silent, and every man among us bowed his head weeping, grieved at the oath of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever, as a servant, performs the five prayers, fasts Ramadan and avoids the seven major sins, the gates of Paradise will be opened for him." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "If you keep away from the major sins which you are forbidden, We will wipe out your misdeeds" [Surah al-Nisa: 31].
In these reports the severity of the major sins and the expiation of the minor sins are stated. Some have distinguished between them in that they do not accept the testimony of one who commits a major sin, whereas the testimony of one who commits a minor sin is accepted.
These hadiths also state that when minor sins become many, they reach the level of a major sin.

Ghaylan (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: You do many deeds that are finer than a hair in your eyes, whereas in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) we used to count them among the things that destroy.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of trivial deeds, for if they accumulate upon a man, they will destroy him." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave a parable for them: "Like a people who are in a barren desert, and the time for the people's cooking comes; so the people begin to bring one stick at a time, until they have gathered many sticks; then they light a fire, and it burns whatever is thrown into it."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a servant commits a sin, a black spot is placed on his heart. If he repents, abandons the sin and seeks forgiveness, the spot is wiped clean. If he sins again, the heart becomes covered with rust." Allah has mentioned this in His Book: "By no means! Rather, their hearts have become rusted because of what they used to earn" [Surah al-Mutaffifin: 14].
The Shaykh said: This is a rebuke for those who persist in sins, who do not repent and seek forgiveness, and who do not resolve in their hearts to give up the sin.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When a servant commits a sin and says: 'Ay Rabbi ighfir li' (O my Lord, forgive me), Allah says: My servant knows that he has a Lord who forgives sins and who can also hold him to account. Then Allah forgives him. Then after some time he sins again, and sometimes he commits several more sins, and then says: 'Ay Rabbi ighfir li' (O Allah, I have committed another sin, so forgive me), and Allah says: My servant knows that Allah will forgive him and can also hold him to account; and Allah forgives him. Then he waits for a while, then commits a sin, then says: 'Ay Rabbi ighfir li' (O Allah, forgive me my sin), and Allah says: My servant knows that Allah will forgive him and can also hold him to account. Then Allah says: 'Ghafartu li-'abdi falya'mal ma sha'a' (I have forgiven My servant, so let him do whatever he wishes)."

Abu Nusayrah narrates from a freed slave of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever seeks forgiveness has not persisted (in sin), even if he returns to it seventy times in a day."

Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, the Lord of Might, stretches out His Hand at night so that the one who sinned during the day may repent, and stretches out His Hand during the day so that the one who sinned at night may repent, until the sun rises from the west."

Harith bin Suwayd said: We came to Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and he narrated two hadiths to us: one he narrated as marfu' from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the other from himself. He said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah is more delighted with the repentance of His servant than a man who was on a journey through the wilderness, in a place of destruction. His mount carried his food and drink. He dismounted to stay there, and after resting he woke up to find his mount gone. He searched for it but could not find it. Thirst afflicted him. He said: I will go back to the place where my mount was, until death comes to me. He came to that place and fell asleep. When he woke up, his mount was there, and his food and drink too." Then Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: When a believing servant sees his sin, he imagines himself beneath a mountain, fearing it may fall on him, while the sinner regards his sin like a fly on his nose, which he brushes away with his hand.
The Shaykh said: Delight (farah) is attributed to Allah, and what is meant by it is Allah's pleasure and acceptance, as in: "Each faction is pleased with what it has" [Surah al-Mu'minun: 53]. Whoever goes off, leaving Dar al-Salam (the abode of peace), and becomes engrossed in sins, it rests with Allah's will whether He forgives him or punishes him.

Zayd bin Wahb said that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), who was at al-Rabadhah, narrated: I was walking with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the rocky land of Madinah in the evening. We came in front of Mount Uhud. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Dharr! I would not like this Uhud to be turned into gold for me and a single night to pass while I still have a dinar of it, except a dinar I keep aside for a debt, unless I distribute it among the servants of Allah like this and like this." And he gestured with his hand, then said: "O Abu Dharr!" He said: O Messenger of Allah! Here I am, at your service. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware! Those who have the most (wealth) will be the ones with the least (reward), except the one who spends like this, like this and like this." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr! Stay in your place until I come back to you." And he (peace and blessings be upon him) went on and disappeared from my sight. I heard a sound and feared that something had befallen the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I wanted to go to him (peace and blessings be upon him), but I remembered what he (peace and blessings be upon him) had said: "Abu Dharr! Stay in your place." I said: O Messenger of Allah! I heard a sound and feared that something had befallen you. Then I remembered your words, so I stayed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That was Jibril; he informed me that whoever of my Ummah dies without associating anything with Allah will enter Paradise." I said: Even if he committed adultery and theft? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Even if he committed adultery and theft."

This is another chain of the previous hadith.
Al-Bukhari said: The hadith of Abu Salih from Abu al-Darda' is mursal, and the correct one is the hadith of Abu Dharr.

Zayd bin Wahb narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Jibril came to me and gave me the glad tidings that whoever of my Ummah dies without having associated partners (with Allah) will enter Paradise." Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: Even if he committed theft and adultery? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Even if he committed adultery and theft."

Zayd bin Wahb narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): I went out one night and suddenly saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) walking, with no one accompanying him (peace and blessings be upon him). He mentioned the hadith. He said: When he (peace and blessings be upon him) came back, I could not restrain myself and said: "O Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! May Allah make me your ransom, with whom were you (peace and blessings be upon him) speaking in the rocky land of Madinah? I did not see anything coming toward you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That was Jibril, who had come. He said: Give glad tidings to your Ummah that whoever dies without associating partners (with Allah) will enter Paradise. I said: O Jibril! Even if he committed theft and adultery? He said: Yes! Even if he committed adultery and theft. I said: Even if he committed adultery and theft? Even if he is an adulterer, a thief and a drinker of wine."

Ma'rur bin Suwayd narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I know the last person to enter Paradise and also the last to come out of Hell. A man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said: Present his minor sins to him, and do not present the major ones. So his minor sins will be presented to him, and it will be said: Did you do such and such on such and such a day? He will admit it, not daring to deny it, while fearing that his major sins will be presented. Then it will be said to him: For every evil deed you will receive a good deed. Then he will say: O Allah! I did many deeds that I do not see here." (Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:) I saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing until his (peace and blessings be upon him) molar teeth became visible.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Ka'b al-Ahbar that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Every prophet has one supplication that is answered, and every prophet hastened his supplication. But I have kept my supplication for my Ummah for the Day of Resurrection; on the Day of Resurrection it will reach whoever died without associating partners (with Allah)." Ka'b said to Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him): Did you hear this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Yes.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My intercession is for those of my Ummah who commit major sins."

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Every prophet has a supplication which he made for his Ummah, and I have kept mine hidden away as intercession for my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection."

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the same from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), with these two ears of mine, say: "Allah Almighty will bring a people out of Hell and admit them into Paradise."

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) states that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A people will come out of Hell because of intercession, and they will grow (in such a way) as cucumbers grow." Amr was asked: What is "al-tha'arir"? He said: Cucumbers.
(b) Hammad said: I said to Amr: O Abu Muhammad, did you hear Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) say: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Allah Almighty will bring a people out of Hell by intercession"? He said: Yes.
(c) Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) cited as evidence this saying of Allah Almighty: "It may be that your Lord will raise you to a praised station (al-Maqam al-Mahmud)" [Surah al-Isra: 79], and he said: It is the praised station of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), through which Allah brings out whomever He brings out.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the people of Paradise have entered Paradise and the people of Hell have entered Hell, Allah Almighty will say: Bring out of Hell whoever has even a speck of faith in his heart. They will be brought out, having been burnt and turned into charcoal. They will be cast into 'Nahr al-Hayah' (the River of Life), and they will grow just as a seed grows after a flood. Do you not see that it comes out wrapped in yellow?"
The Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said: This intercession will be for the one who did not commit shirk.