Kitābu Al-Jāmi’i from the Book: Bulūghu Al-Marām by Ibn Hajar 05

*Shar’h Session*
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين
والعاقبة للمتقين
ولا عدوان إلا على الظالمين
والصلاة والسلام على من بعث رحمة للعالمين
وعلى آله وصحبه وأهل بيته الطاهرين
ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين

Assalāmu alaykum Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh
Alhamdulillāh Awwalan Wa Ākhiran
Honored brothers and sisters you are welcome to this evening’s Session of the Shar’h
We stopped at the second Hadīth
In this Hadīth the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – presented to us the right attitude to display in our every day life
“From Abū Hurayrah – radiyallāhu ‘anhu – who said the Messenger of Allāh – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:

وعن أبي هريرية رضي الله عنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم (انظروا إلى من هو أسفل منكم، ولا تنظروا إلى من هو فوقكم، فهو أجدر أن لا تزدروا نعمة الله عليكم)

“Look toward those who are below you (in means and wealth) and do not look toward those who are above you (in means and wealth). For that is better in making you not belittle the Bounty of Allāh upon you.”

“This Hadīth is an encompassing of all the kinds of good”
It is to look unto the many bounties that Allāh has given you and not to the things He has not given you
This helps you to remember His many favours on you, to thank Him for them and to use them to show gratitude to Him.
And it is the attitude of contentment and satisfaction

For this reason, Imām Ibn Jarīr At-Tabarī – rahimahullāh – said:
And Allāh has warned and made it Harām for us to look unto the bounties that He has given others, to envy them and to show discontent by virtue of that.
Therefore the right attitude is contentment and what aids in contentment is to look at the bounties that Allāh has given you that He has not given to others
He said:

لَا تَمُدَّنَّ عَيْنَيْكَ إِلَى مَا مَتَّعْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَاخْفِضْ جَنَاحَكَ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“Do not extend your eyes to what we have given them of wives and the things of this world that we may test them thereby. And grieve not over them and lower your wings of humility to the Believers.”

Imām Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalānī – rahimahullāh – said:
But looking unto what He has given others and has not given to you of His bounties is not the right attitude for it leads to discontentment, lack of gratitude and lack of patience and Īmān in the Justice of Allāh

We ask Allāh to make us of the Contented, āmīn

*The Third Hadīth*

وَعَنْ اَلنَوَّاسِ بْنِ سَمْعَانَ – رضي الله عنه – قَالَ: سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- عَنْ اَلْبِرِّ وَالإثْمِ؟ فَقَالَ: «اَلْبِرُّ: حُسْنُ اَلْخُلُقِ، وَالإثْمُ: مَا حَاكَ فِي صَدْرِكَ، وَكَرِهْتَ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ اَلنَّاسُ» أَخْرَجَهُ مُسْلِمٌ

“And from An-Nawwās Ibn Sam’ān – radiyallāhu ‘anhu – he said: I asked the Messenger of Allāh – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – about Piety and Sins. He said: “Piety is Excellent Character and Sin is that which puts your heart in unrest and you dislike that people should be aware of.”
Recorded by Muslim

As for the An-Nawwās Ibn Sam’ān – radiyallāhu ‘anhu, he is the Illustrious Companion An-Nawwās Ibn Sam’ān Ibn Khalid Ibn ‘Abdillah Ibn Abī Bakr Ibn Kilāb
He was a Kilābī who settled in Shām
He passed away 50 years after the Hijrah – radiyallāhu ‘anhu
He is said to have said:
“I stayed with the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – for an entire year in Madīnah where nothing prevented me from leaving him except for questions I love to ask”
He was known to be of those who loved Ilm and loved to ask the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – questions
This was the hallmark of the Companions of Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – for they yearned to know and would always ask the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – and others Companions who were more learned
So in this Hadīth he asked about Al-Birr (Piety) and Al-Ithm (Sins) because they were the continuous state of man
Of the benefits we derive in this Hadīth is the importance of asking questions and learning

For whatever a person does it is either he earns rewards by it which is a form of piety or he earns sins by it which is the opposing side of Piety
This is because in the Hadith, the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – had said:
إنما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق
“I have not been sent except to perfect the Noble Characters”
And the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – told him here that Piety was Excellent Character
This is a very important Precept in the Dīn                                                                                                                    There is therefore no excellent Character except that Islām has come with and encouraged it
The Message of Islām is excellence of Characters and the perfection of the Universal Virtues
And there is no bad character that Islām has not warned against
In the Hadīth recorded by Imām Ahmad – rahimahullāh – the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:
إن الرجل ليدرك بحسن خلقه درجة الصائم القائم
“Indeed a Man will attain by virtue of his Excellent Characters the status attained by the one who fasts and prays (at night)”
And in the Hadīth of Imām At-Tirmidhī and Hākim An-Naysabūrī – Rahimahumullāh the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said:
” أكثر ما يدخل الناس الجنة، تقوى اللّه وحسن الخلق “
Do not get influenced by the evils in our society and become as dubious as the people arround
Where then are our excellent Characters O Honored brothers and sisters
.It is authentic what was recorded by Imām Ahmad, At-Tirmidhī and Ibn Hibbān from the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – that he said:

إن أقربكم مني مجلساً يوم القيامة أحسنكم أخلاقاً

“Indeed the closest among you to me in sitting on the Day of Qiyāmah are the beat of you in Character”

Recall that our Role Model is the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – and stick to His guidance ..so that you may be close to him on the Day of Qiyāmah

Do not emulate the Kuffar who lack any moral origins that control their deeds                                                       “What will mostly admit people into Jannah is Taqwah of Allāh and Excellent Character”. May Allāh grant us excellent Characters and make us of the elect, āmīn

And he said:
And you dislike that people should be aware of it
Then he – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – mentioned that “Sins are those things that put your conscience at unrest
Yes it is true, listen to your conscience in your day to day activities
The heart free of blemishes seeks to hide its wrongs from people and seek to conceal it.
This is because Allāh has guided man also through his conscience and the Pure heart which has not been blemished by continuous sins and the doing of evil will surely caution its possessor whenever he transgresses the limits of Allāh
Imām An-Nawawī – rahimahullāh – said in his Sharh of this Hadith in his Commentary on Sahih Muslim:
“This is because the natural tendency of the human soul is to want its good be seem by others. If therefore it dislikes that people should see a deed of his, it therefore means that it is other than what he draws close to Allāh with…”
May Allāh grant us Īmān, understaning, piety and safety from blemishes

Taqabbalallāhu Minnā Waminkum, āmīn
And may Allah accept our fast āmīn
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran