«وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لاَ تَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى تُؤْمِنُوا»، بِمِثْلِ حَدِيثِ أَبِي مُعَاوِيَةَ وَوَكِيعٍ.
Text Explanation
4. The Prophet makes clear that mutual love among believers is essential for true belief. This means that belief is not complete and cannot attain to perfection without love being the main characteristic of the Muslim community. The Prophet tells us: ‘You shall not be admitted into Heaven unless you truly believe’. This should be taken as meaning exactly what it says. None shall be admitted into Heaven except the one who is a believer at the time of death. Yet a person who may not fully be a believer may be admitted into Heaven, provided he or she has the essence of faith at heart. This is what appears to be meant in this hadith. Shaykh Abu [Amr said: ‘Your faith is not complete unless you love one another, and you shall not enter Heaven when its people enter if you are not thus’. What he said is possible, but God knows best.
The Prophet emphatically urges Muslims to spread the greeting of peace, assalam [alaykum, among them, greeting everyone whether one knows them or not, as mentioned in another hadith. The greeting of peace is the key to the generation of love and friendship, and when it is spread within the community it strengthens their mutual friendship, as they raise their slogan that distinguishes them from all other communities. Furthermore, this greeting provides self-training, as it requires them to show humility in their dealings with others; but at the same time, they continue to respect the sanctities of Islam and Muslims. In his Sahih, al-Bukhari relates a hadith attributed to [Ammar ibn Yasir: ‘Whoever combines three qualities has complete faith: to be fair against oneself, to offer the greeting of peace to all, and give in charity even when one’s means are tight’. Other Hadith scholars relate this statement attributing it directly to the Prophet. It should be clear that ‘offering the greeting of peace to all’, ‘to those one knows and those one does not know’, and ‘spreading the greeting of peace’ all mean the same. Moreover, it implies putting an end to social estrangement, boycott, strained relations and hatred, which is something the Prophet described as erasing everything, including faith. When someone spreads the greeting of peace, he does so for God’s sake. He does not limit it to his friends, relatives and people he favours, but God knows best.
i.Related by Ibn Majah, 68.
CHAPTER 24
RELIGION IS SINCERITY
[99–95]. (Dar al-Salam 0098) Muhammad ibn [Abbad al-Makki narrated: Sufyan narrated, saying: ‘I said to Suhayl: “[Amr narrated from al-Qa[qa[; from your father,” hoping that he would give me a chain of transmission that is one narrator shorter. He said: “I heard it from the person who reported it to my father. He was a friend of his living in Syria”.’ Then Sufyan narrated from Suhayl; from [Ata’ ibn Yazid; from Tamim al-Dari that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Religion is sincerity’.i We asked: ‘To whom?’ He said: ‘To God, His Book, His Messenger, to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk’.
حَـدَّثَنَا مُـحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبَّـادٍ الْـمَكِّيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُـفْيَانُ، قَـالَ: قُلْتُ لِسُهَيْلٍ إِنَّ عَمْـرا حَدَّثَنَا عَنِ الْقَعْقَاعِ، عَنْ أَبِيكَ، قَالَ وَرَجَوْتُ أَنْ يُسْقِطَ عَنِّي رَجُـلاً. قَـالَ: فَقَـالَ سَمِعْتُـهُ مِنَ الَّذِي سَـمِعَهُ مِنْهُ أَبِي. كَانَ صَدِيقًا لَـهُ بِالشَّـامِ. ثُمَّ حَـدَّثَنَا سُـفْيَانُ عَنْ سُهَيْلٍ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ عَنْ تَمِيمٍ الدَّارِيِّ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَـلَّمَ قَـالَ: «الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَـةُ» قُلْنَا: لِـمَنْ؟ قَـالَ: «للهِ، وَلِكِتَابِهِ، وَلِرَسُولِهِ، وَلأَئِمَّةِ الْـمُسْلِمِينَ، وَعَامَّتِهِمْ».
[000–96]. (Dar al-Salam 0099) Muhammad ibn Hatim narrated to me: Ibn Mahdi narrated; Sufyan narrated; from Suhayl ibn Abi Salih; from [Ata’ ibn Yazid al-Laythi; from Tamim al-Dari; from the Prophet (peace be upon him): the same hadith.5
حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَاتِمٍ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ مَهْدِيٍّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ سُهَيْلِ بْنِ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ اللَّيْثِيِّ، عَنْ تَمِيمٍ الدَّارِيِّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: بِمِثْلِهِ.
[000–000]. (Dar al-Salam 0100) Umayyah ibn Bistam narrated to me: Yazid (meaning Ibn Zuray[) narrated; Rawh (who is Ibn al-Qasim) narrated; Suhayl narrated; from [Ata’ ibn Yazid. He heard it as he reported it to Abu Salih from Tamim al-Dari; from God’s Messenger (peace be upon him): the same hadith.
وَحَدَّثَنِي أُمَيَّةُ بْنُ بِسْطَامَ، حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ - يَعْنِي ابْنَ زُرَيْعٍ - حَدَّثَنَا رَوْحٌ، - وَهُوَ ابْنُ الْقَاسِمِ - حَدَّثَنَا سُهَيْلٌ، عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَزِيدَ، سَمِعَهُ وَهُوَ يُحَدِّثُ أَبَا صَالِحٍ عَنْ تَمِيمٍ الدَّارِيِّ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: بِمِثْلِهِ.
Text Explanation
5. This hadith is of great importance: indeed, it is pivotal to Islam. We will explain this shortly, but first we may say that a number of scholars consider it to be one of four hadiths that combine all the principles and concepts of Islam. However, this is not the case, rather it is this hadith that combines all Islam. It is a hadith that only Muslim relates since al-Bukhari does not include in his Sahih any hadith narrated by Tamim al-Dari. Furthermore, it is the only hadith Tamim narrates and Muslim includes. We mentioned in the Introduction that scholars differ as to Tamim’s affiliation, and whether he is Dari or Dayri.
In explaining this hadith, Imam Abu Sulayman al-Khattabi said: ‘The Arabic word nasihah, which is translated here as “sincerity”, is a very comprehensive word that means giving every good thing to the addressee’. It is stated that nasihah is a word that sums up broad meaning and that there is not a single word in Arabic that suffices to express its full meaning. It is similar in scope to the Arabic word falah,i which signifies all that
