by Dr. Ali Shehata
A Sampling of the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad …
On God’s Immense Mercy and Forgiveness
1. Anas reported: The Messenger of God said, "God, the Exalted, has said, `O son of Adam, no matter what sins you have committed, I will forgive you as long as you pray to Me and hope for My forgiveness. O son of Adam, I do not care if your sins are so many that they reach the sky, for if you would then ask for My forgiveness, I would surely forgive you. O son of Adam, if you come to Me with an earth-load of sins and meet Me associating no partners with Me, I would match your sins with an equal amount of forgiveness.''' [Tirmidhi]
2. Abu Hurairah reported: I heard the Messenger of God saying, “When God completed the creation, he wrote in His book with him upon His Throne: `Verily, My Mercy prevails over My Wrath.’” [Bukhari and Muslim]
3. Abu Hurairah reported: I heard the Messenger of God say, “God has one hundred portions of mercy, of which He sent down one between the jinn, mankind, the animals and the insects, by means of which they are compassionate and merciful to one another, and by means of which wild animals are kind to their offspring. And God has kept back ninety-nine portions of mercy with which to be merciful to His slaves of the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
4. Ibn `Umar reported: I heard the Messenger of God saying, “A believer will be brought close to his Lord on the Day of Resurrection and enveloping him in His Mercy, He will make him confess his sins by saying, `Do you remember (doing) this sin and that sin?' He will reply, `My Lord, I remember.' Then He will say, `I covered it up for you in the life of world, and I forgive it for you today.' Then the record of his good deeds will be handed to him.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
5. Ibn `Abbas said: The Messenger of God said, "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if you do not commit sins, God would replace you with a people who would commit sins and seek forgiveness from God; and God will certainly forgive them.'' [Muslim]
On the Relationship between Faith and Brotherhood
6. Anas ibn Malik reports that the Prophet said, “No one amongst you truly believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself. [Muslim]
On the Prohibition against Oppression
7. Jabir bin `Abdullah reported: Messenger of God said, "Beware of injustice, for oppression will be layers of darkness on the Day of Resurrection, and beware of stinginess because it doomed those who were before you. It incited them to shed blood and treat the unlawful as lawful.'' [Muslim]
On Kindness, Love and Obedience to Parents
8. Abu Hurairah reported: The Prophet said, "May he be disgraced! May he be disgraced! May he be disgraced, the one whose parents, one or both, attain old age during his lifetime and he does not enter Paradise (by being dutiful to them)." [Muslim]
On Having Good Expectations from God
9. Jabir bin `Abdullah reported: I heard the Prophet saying three days before his death, "Let none of you die unless he has good expectations from God." [Muslim]
On the Excellence of Setting Slaves Free
10. Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of God said, "Whoever sets free a believing slave, God will deliver from the fire of Hell every limb of his body in return for every limb of the slave's body ....'' [Bukhari and Muslim]
On the Excellence of Knowledge
11. Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of God said, "God makes the way to Paradise easy for the one who treads a path in search of knowledge.'' [Muslim]
On the Different Forms of Jihad
12. The Prophet Muhammad said, “The most excellent type of Jihad is speaking the truth in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.” [Abu Dawud, Tirmithi and Ibn Majah]
13. The Prophet Muhammad said, “The most excellent type of Jihad is for someone to battle against their own self and its desires.” [Saheeh al-Jaam’i]
On those who will be Shaded in the Shade of God
14. It was reported from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said, “There are seven whom God will shade with His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His (on the Day of Judgment): 1) the just ruler; 2) a young person who grew up worshipping their Lord; 3) a person whose heart is attached to the mosque; 4) two people who love one another for the sake of God and meet and part on that basis; 5) a man who is called by a woman of high status and beauty and yet resists her seductions while saying, ‘I fear God’; 6) the one who gives in charity and conceals it to such an extent that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives; 7) and those who remember God when alone to such an extent that their eyes well up with tears.” [Bukhari and Muslim and others]
On the Reward of those who Lose a Child
15. Abu Sinan said, “I buried my son Sinan and Abu Talhah al-Khawlaani was sitting at the graveside. When I wanted to leave, he took my hand and said, ‘Shall I not give you some glad tidings, O Abu Sinan?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Al-Dahhaak ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Arzab narrated to me from Abu Moosa al-Ash’ari that the Messenger of God said, ‘When someone’s child dies, God says to His angels, ‘You have taken the child of My slave.’ They say, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘You have taken the apple of his eye.’ They say, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘What did My slave say?’ They say, ‘He praised you and said ‘Innaa lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon (To God we belong and unto Him is our return).’ God says, ‘Then build for My slave a house in Paradise and call it the house of praise.’” [Tirmidhi]
On Bearing Trials with Patience
16. The Messenger of God said, “The greatest reward comes with the greatest trial. When God loves a people He tests them. Whoever accepts that wins His pleasure, but whoever is discontent with that earns His wrath.” [Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah]
On Lenience in Judgment
17. Narrated ‘Aisha, The Messenger of God said, “Indeed, it is better for the leader to make a mistake forgiving the criminal than it is for him to make a mistake punishing the innocent.” [Tirmithi]
On Kindness to Animals
18. Abu Hurairah reported, Messenger of God said, "While a man was walking on his way, he became extremely thirsty. He found a well and went down into it to drink water. Upon leaving it, he saw a dog which was panting out of thirst. His tongue was lolling out and he was licking moist earth due to his extreme thirst. The man thought to himself, 'This dog is extremely thirsty as I was.' So he descended back into the well, filled up his leather sock with water, and holding it in his teeth, climbed up and quenched the thirst of the dog. God was pleased by this man’s action and forgave him his sins." The Companions then asked the Prophet, "Shall we be rewarded for showing kindness to the animals also?'' He said, "A reward is given in connection with kindness to every living thing." [Bukhari and Muslim]
On the Punishment Associated with Cruelty to Animals
19. Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar: God's Messenger said, "A woman entered the Hell Fire because of a cat which she had [locked in her home], neither giving it food, nor setting it free to eat from the vermin of the earth." [Bukhari]
As a brief commentary to
these last two hadith narrations that are concerned with kindness to animals,
God has said about the Prophet in the Quran:
And we have only sent you [Muhammad] as a Mercy to the Universe {22:107}
This verse should be remembered when examining the multitude of hadith wherein the Prophet commands respect and kindness to humans (both Muslim and non-Muslim), animals, and even the environment, for undoubtedly where it not for the sending of Muhammad, much of the world would have suffered greatly from the greed and carelessness sometimes inherent in humanity.
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