42. The Sunnah
٤٢۔ كتاب السنة
The Prophet ﷺ said: Beware! I have been given the Qur'an and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Qur'an; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to confederate, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you If anyone comes to some people, they must entertain him, but if they do not, he has a right to mulct them to an amount equivalent to his entertainment.
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَنَّهُ قَالَ أَلاَ إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ أَلاَ يُوشِكُ رَجُلٌ شَبْعَانُ عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَقُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ فَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَلاَلٍ فَأَحِلُّوهُ وَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَرَامٍ فَحَرِّمُوهُ أَلاَ لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ لَحْمُ الْحِمَارِ الأَهْلِيِّ وَلاَ كُلُّ ذِي نَابٍ مِنَ السَّبُعِ وَلاَ لُقَطَةُ مُعَاهِدٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ عَنْهَا صَاحِبُهَا وَمَنْ نَزَلَ بِقَوْمٍ فَعَلَيْهِمْ أَنْ يَقْرُوهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَقْرُوهُ فَلَهُ أَنْ يُعْقِبَهُمْ بِمِثْلِ قِرَاهُ
The Prophet ﷺ said: Let me not find one of you reclining on his couch when he hears something regarding me which I have commanded or forbidden and saying: We do not know. What we found in Allah's Book we have followed.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ لاَ أُلْفِيَنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ مُتَّكِئًا عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَأْتِيهِ الأَمْرُ مِنْ أَمْرِي مِمَّا أَمَرْتُ بِهِ أَوْ نَهَيْتُ عَنْهُ فَيَقُولُ لاَ نَدْرِي مَا وَجَدْنَا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ اتَّبَعْنَاهُ
If any one introduces into this affair of ours anything which does not belong to it, it is rejected. Ibn ʿIsa said: The Prophet ﷺ said: If anyone practices any action in a way other than our practice, it is rejected.
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَنْ أَحْدَثَ فِي أَمْرِنَا هَذَا مَا لَيْسَ فِيهِ فَهُوَ رَدٌّ قَالَ ابْنُ عِيسَى قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ مَنْ صَنَعَ أَمْرًا عَلَى غَيْرِ أَمْرِنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ
Importance of holding on to the Sunnah and those of the Rightly Guided caliphs
We came to al-Irbad b. Sariyah – one of those concerning whom the verse was revealed: “Nor ˹is there blame˺ upon those who, when they came to you for you to mount them, you said, 'I can find nothing to carry you upon.'” – We greeted ˹him˺ and said, “We have come to you as visitors, to inquire after you, and to seek knowledge.”
al-Irbad said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer one day, then turned to us and gave us an eloquent admonition that caused the eyes to shed tears and the hearts to tremble. Someone said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this is the admonition of one bidding farewell; so what do you enjoin upon us?”
He said: “I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey, even if ˹you are led by˺ an Abyssinian slave. For whoever among you lives after me will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided and directed caliphs. Hold on to it, and bite onto it with your molar teeth. And beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.”
أَتَيْنَا الْعِرْبَاضَ بْنَ سَارِيَةَ وَهُوَ مِمَّنْ نَزَلَ فِيهِ { وَلاَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ إِذَا مَا أَتَوْكَ لِتَحْمِلَهُمْ قُلْتَ لاَ أَجِدُ مَا أَحْمِلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ } فَسَلَّمْنَا، وَقُلْنَا أَتَيْنَاكَ زَائِرِينَ وَعَائِدِينَ وَمُقْتَبِسِينَ،
فَقَالَ الْعِرْبَاضُ: صَلَّى بِنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ ثُمَّ أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْنَا، فَوَعَظَنَا مَوْعِظَةً بَلِيغَةً ذَرَفَتْ مِنْهَا الْعُيُونُ وَوَجِلَتْ مِنْهَا الْقُلُوبُ، فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَأَنَّ هَذِهِ مَوْعِظَةُ مُوَدِّعٍ فَمَاذَا تَعْهَدُ إِلَيْنَا؟
فَقَالَ: «أُوصِيكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَإِنْ عَبْدًا حَبَشِيًّا، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ يَعِشْ مِنْكُمْ بَعْدِي فَسَيَرَى اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيرًا، فَعَلَيْكُمْ بِسُنَّتِي وَسُنَّةِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الْمَهْدِيِّينَ الرَّاشِدِينَ، تَمَسَّكُوا بِهَا، وَعَضُّوا عَلَيْهَا بِالنَّوَاجِذِ، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحْدَثَاتِ الأُمُورِ، فَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلاَلَةٌ».
"Beware! The extremists perished," saying it three times.
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ أَلاَ هَلَكَ الْمُتَنَطِّعُونَ ثَلاَثَ مَرَّاتٍ