A Treasury of Hadith – Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId pdf download

A Treasury of Hadith – A Commentary on Nawawi’s Forty Prophetic Traditions by Ibn Daqiq al-ʿId – Translated by Mokrane Guezzou

A TREASURY OF HADITH – A COMMENTARY ON NAWAWI’S FORTY PROPHETIC TRADITIONS

 It is reported that the leader of the believers Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭ ṭāb – may God be pleased with him – said: I heard God’s Messenger – may God’s blessings and peace be upon him – saying, ’Verily works are only according to intentions, and each person [gets] what he intends.

Whosoever has migrated to God and His Messenger, his migration is to God and His Messenger; and whosoever has migrated to obtain a worldly means or to marry a woman, his migration is for the sake of what he has migrated for.’

This ḥadīth was narrated by the two masters of all Ḥadīth experts, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al- Mughīrah ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhārī al-Juʿfī and Abū’l-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj ibn Muslim al-Qushayrī al-Naysābūrī in their respective collections of rigorously-authenticated prophetic sayings, which are the most reliable books written in the field.

T his is a rigorously authenticated prophetic saying whose authentication, tremendous and exalted standing and abundant benefits are all agreed upon.

Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Bukhārī narrated it in more than one place in his book. Abū’l-Ḥusayn Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj also narrated it at the end of the Book of Jihad. It is one of the prophetic sayings upon which Islam revolves.

Both Imām Aḥmad and Imām Shāfiʿī stated that ‘In the prophetic saying: “Works are according to intentions…” is included a third of all [sacred] knowledge’; this was reported by Bayhaqī and others. The reason for this lies in the fact that what the servant acquires [of works] is limited to his heart, tongue, or limbs, and the intention belongs to one of these three categories.

It is also related from Imām Shāfiʿī that he said, ‘Included in this prophetic saying are seventy subcategories of fiqh.’ A group of scholars also said, ‘This prophetic saying amounts to a third of Islam.’

The scholars have recommended that authored works start with this prophetic saying. Among the first to begin their works with this saying is Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Bukhārī. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī stated, ‘It is incumbent upon everyone who authors a book to start it with this prophetic saying to alert the student of knowledge to correct his intention.’

This prophetic saying is well known (mashhūr) for its end, but peculiar (gharīb) for its beginning, for none related it from the Prophet, may God’s

blessings and peace be upon him, except ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭāb, may Allah be well pleased with him, and none related it from ʿUmar except ʿAlqamah ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, and none related it from ʿAlqamah except Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, and none related it from Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm except Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī, after which it became well known as more than 200 people, most of whom were masters of Ḥadīth, related it from the latter.

The word (innamā) [only/naught/but] is used for delineation: it affirms what is mentioned and excludes everything else. Sometimes it denotes absolute delineation and sometimes restricted delineation which is understood from other indications (qarā’in) such as the words of God Most High, You are only a warner [Raʿd 13: 7]. The apparent meaning of this verse is that the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, is delineated by his mission of warning.

However, the Messenger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him, cannot be delineated by just this, for he has many other beautiful characteristics, such as bringing glad tidings (bishārah) and others.

Likewise the words of God Most High, The present life is naught but a sport and a diversion [Muhammad 47: 36] seems, and Allah knows best, to be a demarcation if one takes into consideration those who prefer it to the next world.

As for what it is in and of itself, it could well be a means to acts of goodness; the description used in the Qur’ānic verse is therefore applied to most cases. So, if this term [innāma] is mentioned, you should reflect on it.

If the context of the text and what is intended indicates delineation of a specific matter, then you should adopt it. Otherwise, you should understand the delineation to be absolute.

Of this is the saying of the Prophet, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him: ‘Works are only according to intentions.’ What is meant by ‘works’ here is legally prescribed works?

The meaning of the saying is, therefore: works are not of any value without the intention, like in the cases of minor ritual ablution (wuḍū’), major ritual ablution (ghusl), the prayer, the poor-due (zakāt), the pilgrimage, and all other acts of worship. As for the removal of impurities, it does not require an intention because it falls under the rubric of abstentions, and an abstention from something does not require an intention.

A group of scholars has even stated that both minor and major ritual ablutions without a prior intention are valid.

In the prophetic saying (works are only according to intention) there is something omitted (maḥdhūf) and the scholars differ in evaluating what is omitted. Those who stipulate the intention as a condition measure the soundness of works through intentions, while those who do not stipulate it as a condition measure the perfection of works through intentions.

His saying (and to each person what he intends) prompted al-Khaṭṭābī to say, ‘This points to a particular meaning that is different from the first one, which is specifying work through intention.’

Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī said, ‘The benefit of mentioning it is that the specification of what is intended is a condition. If a person had to make up prayers, it is not sufficient for him to intend to pray missed prayers.

Rather, it is a condition that he should intend to pray the Ẓuhr, ʿAṣr, or other prayers. Had it not been for the second expression, the first expression would have implied the soundness of making an intention without specification, or it would at least give the impression that the matter is so, and God knows best.’

As for his saying (whosoever his migration is for God and His Messenger, then his migration is for God and His Messenger), it is established among the scholars of Arabic that the apodosis and protasis, and the subject of a nominal clause and its predicate must be different. Here, however, they are the same: ‘whosoever his migration is for God and His Messenger’ by intention and purpose, ‘his migration is for God and His Messenger’ legally and virtually.

The occasion of this prophetic saying is reported to be a man who migrated from Makkah to Madīnah to marry a woman called Umm Qays, i.e., he did not intend to gain the merit of migration. This man used to be called ‘the migrant of