Textual Studies of the Hadith - National Open University of Nigeria

ISL222 TEXTUAL STUDIES OF THE HADITH
Translation
Hadith 30
On the authority of Tha‘laba Al-kushani Jurthum ibn Nāshir (may Allah
be pleased with him) that the messenger of Allah (may the blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said:
“Allah the Almighty has laid down religious duties, so do not neglect
them; He has set a boundry, so do not go beyond it; He has prohibited
some things, so do not violate against it; He was silent on some things,
out of compassion for you, not forgetfulness-, so seek not after them.”
A good hadith is related to ad-Daraqutni and others.
Commentary
There are things the limits of which we must not exceed if we do not
want to go astray. There are also some no-go areas from which Muslims
should abstain themselves. These are jointly referred to as dos and
don’ts of Allah. However, Allah was silent on some issues. He only left
them to our own discretions. Human beings are endowed with
conscience and reasoning faculty. Allah, therefore, wants us to make use
of these as far as some issues are concerned. We are, however,
cautioned not to embark on enquiry about them.
Lessons
The following lessons are derivable from the discussion above:
1. Islam has dos and don'ts.
2. We are opportuned to use our discretion on some issues.
3. We are cautioned not to enquire on issues on which Allah was
silent.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCICE 2
Translate hadith 30 into English.
4.0 CONCLUSION
For a man to survive all the tribulations of life and escape the wrath of
God he is to abide by all the principles entrenched in the Quran and
hadith as preached by the Prophet. This is not all. He is to keep his
tongue from speaking foul languages. Allah’s warning to man not to
neglect any religious duty is a sign of His love for us and in order that
we should not be thrown into calamity in this life and in the life to come.
67