Hadeeth 10: Restricting oneself to the Pleasant Halaal

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by Imâm an-Nawawî (d. 676 AH / 1299 CE)

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (radiAllaahu ‘anhu) who said: The Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

Allaah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allaah has commanded the Believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers. So the Almighty has said:

“O (you) Messengers! Eat of the Tayyibaat [all kinds of Halaal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds.” [23:51]

and the Almighty has said:

“O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you” [2:172]

Then he mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying “O Lord! O Lord!”, while his food is Haraam (unlawful), his drink is Haraam, his clothing is Haraam, and he has been nourished with Haraam, so how can [his supplication] be answered ?! [Narrated by Muslim.]

Explanation of Hadeeth 10

And this is one of those ahaadeeth upon which the Principles and Rulings of Islaam are built. And in it is encouragement towards spending upon that which is Halaal, and forbiddance from spending upon that which is other than that. And that what is eaten, and what is drunk and what is worn, and all such similar things should be purely Halaal, without any doubt in them. And that whosoever wishes to supplicate to Allaah should humble and submit himself before his Lord with that which is Halaal. And from the hadeeth we also understand that when the slave spends upon the good, Halaal things then these things purify him and bring him prosperity. And that delicious and tasty food which is not permissible to eat will instead be a source of evil and punishment, and the actions of the slave will then not be acceptable by Allaah.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement “Then he mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty …” then its meaning is best known by Allaah. But we know from other ahaadeeth that the supplication of the traveller is more readily acceptable to Allaah, and a ‘long journey’ could be from amongst the actions of worship, such as the Hajj or Jihaad or other than that from the pious actions. And even in this case his supplication is still not accepted because his food, drink and clothing are Haraam. So how about the case of the one who is travelling for some purpose of the dunyaa, or for oppressing the people, or those who are ignorant of the various types of worship and goodness.

And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: “who spreads out his hands to the sky” means that he raises his hands in supplication to Allaah ‘azza wa jall, while at the same time he is opposing His commands and is sinning. And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement: “so how can [his supplication] be answered ?!” and in another narration “so how can he be answered because of that ?!”, means that there cannot be an answer for the one who possesses such characteristics. Such a person cannot be amongst those whose supplication will be answered, unless Allaah the Almighty does so out of His infinite Grace and Kindness and Generosity, and Allaah knows best.

Summary

• That Allaah accepts only that which is good
• That every believer is obliged to do that which the Messengers were obliged to do (except what is specifically exempted)
• That every Muslim must eat only Halaal and must take great care that he has avoided eating whatever he knew to be Haraam or suspicious
• That performing righteous deeds is waajib for every one of us
• That frequently we turn to Allaah for help while we do not try to eat, drink, maintain ourselves and earn in a pure way
• That if we do not take care of the above then our prayers will not be effective
• That it is correct to raise ones hands while asking Allaah for something

Source: www.islaam.net

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