Hadiths 9 to 11: obeying as one can, the pure and doubt

Hadith 9: what I have forbidden you, avoid it From Abu Hurayra 'Abd ar-Raḥmaan ibn Ṣakhr (may Allah be pleased with him): I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ، وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ "What I have forbidden you, avoid it; and what I have commanded you, do of it what you can. What destroyed those before you was their many questions and their disagreements with their prophets." Source: Bukhari 7288 and Muslim 1337. In Muslim, the hadith is linked to a question about the pilgrimage: "Is it every year?"

The commentary • Prohibitions and commands are not treated the same way. A prohibition is left entirely, because abstaining is always possible; a command is done "as far as you can". Ibn Rajab links this hadith to the verse "Fear Allah as much as you can" (64:16). • A rule of ease: whoever can only do part of an obligation does that part. Jurists apply it everywhere: praying seated if one cannot stand, dry ablution if water is lacking. • Excessive questions: these are, according to An-Nawawi, useless questions or ones that seek to complicate what Allah has left simple, especially at the time of revelation, when a question could lead to a new obligation. Asking questions to learn and practise remains praiseworthy. • Necessity: Ibn Rajab discusses whether necessity makes a prohibition permissible; scholars accept it within precise limits (verse 2:173), which are to be asked of the imam.

In daily life • Do not put off all practice because you cannot do everything: do what is possible today. • Do not look for the "limits" of a prohibition in order to get close to it: leave it.

Hadith 10: Allah is good and accepts only what is good From Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا "Allah is good (ṭayyib) and accepts only what is good. Allah has commanded the believers with what He commanded the messengers," then he recited verses 23:51 and 2:172 (below). "Then he mentioned the man who travels at length, his hair dishevelled, covered in dust, who stretches his hands to the sky: 'O Lord! O Lord!', while his food is unlawful, his drink is unlawful, his clothing is unlawful, and he has been nourished with the unlawful: how could he be answered?" فَأَنَّى يُسْتَجَابُ لِذَلِكَ Source: Muslim 1015.

The commentary • "Ṭayyib": Allah is pure of every defect; He accepts, among deeds, property and words, only what is pure. Ibn Rajab explains that this concerns charity (giving from lawful property), but also all deeds, which must be sincere and conforming. • Messengers and believers receive the same command: eat what is lawful and do good. The lawful feeds good action. • The man on the journey combines four causes of acceptance: travel, humble appearance, raised hands, the call "O Lord". All of this is cancelled by one thing: unlawful income. • "How could he be answered?" is a way of saying that it is very unlikely; scholars do not say that Allah never answers, but that the unlawful is a major obstacle [À VÉRIFIER : formulation].

In daily life • Check the source of your income: contracts, interest, fraud, poor work paid as good work. • Before complaining that your supplications are not answered, purify your earnings. • Give in charity from the best of what you have, not from what you want to get rid of.

Hadith 11: leave what makes you doubt From Abu Muhammad Al-Ḥasan ibn 'Ali ibn Abi Ṭaalib, grandson of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his flower (may Allah be pleased with them both): I retained from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ "Leave what makes you doubt for what does not make you doubt." Source: At-Tirmidhi 2518, who grades it "ḥasan ṣaḥiiḥ", and An-Nasaa'i [À VÉRIFIER : numéro]. In At-Tirmidhi's version he adds: "For truth is tranquillity, and lying is doubt."

The commentary • An extension of hadith 6: there, the Prophet ﷺ described doubtful matters; here, he gives the conduct in one sentence. Ibn Rajab explains that the believer's heart finds peace in the lawful and the true, and unease in the unlawful and the false. • To whom this advice is addressed: to one whose practice is already solid. Ibn Rajab reports that some people were reproached for being fussy about small doubts while committing great prohibitions [À VÉRIFIER : récit cité]. • Certainty is not removed by doubt: jurists draw from this the rule "al-yaqiin laa yazuul bish-shakk". Whoever is sure he made ablution and doubts whether he lost it remains in a state of purity. Hadith 11 does not contradict this rule: it targets real doubt about what is lawful, not obsession (al-waswaas).

In daily life • A transaction, a source of income, a statement you doubt: choose the safe option. • Do not let obsession spoil your prayer or ablution: follow what you are certain of.

The text: Surah Al-Mu'minuun (23), verse 51 يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا ۖ إِنِّي بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٥١﴾

The text: Surah Al-Baqara (2), verse 172 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ ﴿١٧٢﴾

Meaning: "O messengers! Eat of what is good and do good; I know well what you do." (23:51); "O you who believe! Eat of the good things We have provided for you, and give thanks to Allah, if it is He whom you worship." (2:172). These are the two verses the Prophet ﷺ recited in hadith 10.

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Simple, version 1.0.2), © 2008-2010 Tanzil.net, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence, reproduced without any change (http://tanzil.net). Each verse is on its own line, followed by its number; the basmala, which the Tanzil file places at the start of the first verse, is written on its own line.

Understanding the lesson

Explanation These three hadiths form a small method for life. Hadith 9 sets the general rule: leave the prohibited entirely, and do what one can of a command. Hadith 10 shows the place of the lawful: it is the condition for the acceptance of deeds and of supplication. Hadith 11 gives the believer's reflex in the face of doubt: choose what leaves the heart at peace. One sees here the balance of Islam: demanding on prohibitions, easy on obligations (according to one's means), and attentive to the heart, without falling into obsession. Lawful income is not a secondary subject: hadith 10 places it at the heart of the relationship with Allah, since it affects supplication, the believer's weapon.

Lessons to draw from it • Do today the part of good that is possible, without waiting to be able to do everything. • Leave every prohibition, without bargaining with its limits. • Purify one's income, purchases and contracts; give from the best. • Faced with real doubt, choose the safe way; faced with obsession, follow certainty. • Ask questions in order to practise, not to complicate.

Key points to remember • Hadith 9 (Bukhari 7288, Muslim 1337): prohibitions are avoided, commands are done according to one's means. • Hadith 10 (Muslim 1015): إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا. • The unlawful is an obstacle to supplication. • Hadith 11 (At-Tirmidhi 2518): دَعْ مَا يَرِيبُكَ إِلَى مَا لَا يَرِيبُكَ. • Rule: certainty is not removed by doubt.

The main message Leave the forbidden, do good according to your means and keep your income pure: this is how your deeds and supplications rise to Allah.