The Believer, His Religion and His God

Selections of Ahadith from a forthcoming collection called Miftah al-Ma`ani by Syed Iqbal Zaheer

1. Abu Hurayrah reports the Prophet who reported Allah (swt) as saying: “I have no reward for a slave-believer when I choose to take away one of his chosen ones of this world, and he remains hoping to be rewarded, but Paradise.” 

– Bukhari

2. Abu Hurayrah says, ‘I heard the Prophet say, “Allah (swt) created, the day He created, a hundred Rahma, of which He held back with Him ninety-nine parts, sending down among the creations a single part of it. If the unbeliever knew of all that is there of Rahmah with Allah (swt), he would not despair Paradise, and if the believer knew of all that is there of the chastisements, he would not feel secure of the Fire.

– Bukhari

3. Abu Hurayra reports: the Prophet said, “Allah (swt) said, ‘Whoever antagonized My Friend, I declare war on him. And, My slave does not get closer to Me by anything dearer to Me than with what I have declared obligatory to him. A believer keeps advancing towards Me through supererogatory until I begin to love him. If I love him, I become the hearing faculty with which he hears, the sight with which he sees, the hands with which he holds, and the feet with which he walks. If he seeks My refuge, I surely grant him refuge. And I do not hesitate about anything which I wish to do, the way I hesitate about a believer’s life who dislikes death, and I dislike giving him pain.”

– Bukhari

4. Ibn `Umar reports the Prophet as saying, “A believer remains in the wide margins of his religion, so long as he does not fall into spilling unlawful blood.

– Bukhari

5. Anas reported the Prophet: “A sign of a hypocrite is hatred of the Ansar, and a sign of a believer is love of the Ansar. 

– Sahih Muslim

6. Thabit b. Dahhak narrated the Prophet (saws), “It is not for a man to vow upon what he does not own. And, cursing a believer is like murdering him. And, whoever killed himself with something in this world will be chastised with the same thing on the Day of Judgment. And, whoever made a false claim so as to increase (his wealth) thereby, Allah (swt) will not cause any increase to him except in shortfall. And, (so also) he who swore falsely, (shall find decrease in nothing but shortfall).”

~ Sahih Muslim