Encyclopedia of Prophetic Hadiths

"When Allah created Paradise and Hellfire, He sent Jibrīl (Gabriel) (peace be upon him) to Paradise, saying: 'Look at it and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.' So, he looked at it, returned, and said: 'By Your Honor, no one will hear of it except that he will enter it.' Then, He gave the order for it to be surrounded with hardships. He said: 'Return to it and look at it, and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.' So, he returned to it and found it surrounded with hardships. He said: 'By Your Honor, I fear that no one will enter it.' He said: 'Go to Hellfire and look at it and at what I have prepared in it for its inhabitants.' So, he looked at it and found that its parts are piling up one over another. Then, he returned and said: 'By Your Honor, none will enter it.' He gave the order for it to be surrounded with desires. Then, He said: 'Return and look at it.' He looked at it and found it surrounded with desires. He returned and said: 'By Your Honor, I fear that no one will be saved from it except that he will enter it.'"

"Whoever swears by the Amānah (trust) is not one of us."

One day, the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) gave us an eloquent admonition that caused hearts to become afraid and eyes to shed tears. Someone then said: O Messenger of Allah, this is the admonition of someone who will soon part; so, advise us. He said: "I advise you to fear Allah and to hear and obey, even if an Abyssinian slave. You will see after me great discord. So, hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided Caliphs. Bite onto it with the molar teeth. Beware of newly invented matters (in religion), for every newly invented matter is misguidance."

I used to write down everything I heard from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) in order to memorize it. The Quraysh prohibited me, saying: "Do you write down everything that you hear from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) while the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) is a human being who speaks in anger and pleasure?" So, I stopped writing and mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). Thereupon, he pointed his finger to his mouth and said: "Write down; for by the One in Whose Hand my soul is, nothing comes out of it except the truth."

I set out with the delegation of Banu ‘Āmir to meet the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). We said: You are our master. He said: "The Master is Allah." We said: And the best of us in superiority and the greatest among us in bounty. He said: "Say what you have to say, or part of what you have to say, but do not let the devil deviate you (in praising me)."

When the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) entered the mosque, he would say: "a‘ūdhu billāhi al-‘azhīm wa biwajhihi al-karīm wa sultānihi al-qadīm min ash-shaytān ar-rajīm" (I seek refuge in Allah, the Majestic, and in His noble Countenance, and in His eternal dominion, from the accursed devil) He said: "Is that all?" I said: 'Yes.' He said: "And when he says that, the devil says: "He is protected from me for the rest of the day."

A man came to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, one of us may have such thoughts - referring to it indirectly - that he would prefer to turn into charcoal rather than speak about them." Thereupon, he said: "Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest; praise be to Allah Who reduced his plotting to whispering."

"Lo! Soon a Hadīth from me will be conveyed to a man, while he is reclining on his couch, and he says: ‘Between us and you is Allah’s Book. So, whatever we find in it that is lawful, we consider lawful, and whatever we find in it that is unlawful, we consider unlawful.’ Indeed, whatever the Messenger of Allah made unlawful, it is the same as what Allah made unlawful."