http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=210&category=24
Explanation of Hadeeth Number 36
This is a great hadeeth that encompasses all the branches of knowledge, and the principles [of the religion], and the excellent manners. In it is found the virtue of fulfilling the needs of the Muslims, and benefiting them, from what is possible for one, of knowledge, or wealth, or aid, or guidance towards that which will correct their affairs, or advice. or other than that. And the meaning of "alleviates the need" is removing it.
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Whoever shields [or hides the misdeeds of] a Muslim", then 'shielding' here means to hide his slips and lapses, and the intended meaning here is hiding the lapses of those who are of upright and pious character, and those like them who are not known to be evil-doers. And this is with regards to hiding the sins that they may have committed in the past, and which are over. On the other hand, if they are caught red-handed performing a sin then it is obligatory to admonish them and forbid them from it. And if they are unable to do so, then they must raise the matter to the authorities, if they do not fear any evil repercussions from this. Thus, in such cases the correct action is not to shield them, as this may tempt them to perpetrate more evil, to cause more harm, to enter into more forbidden matters, or to encourage others upon what is similar to this. So it is desired that one raises the matter to the leader, as long as he does not fear any further evil from doing so. And similar to all this is the disparagement and criticizing of the narrators of hadeeth by the hadeeth scholars, and of the witnesses [to contracts], and the trustees of the wealth to be distributed in charity and the awqaaf, and those who look after the wealth of the orphans, and what is similar to that. Then in all such cases it is obligatory to expose their evil actions if required, and it is not permissible to hide their sins if one sees from them that which is reproachable. And this is not considered to be from the forbidden backbiting, rather it is part of the obligatory naseehah [sincerity, advice].
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "And Allaah will aid His slave so long as he aids his brother" then this is a generalization whose detailed explanation must include the case where the slave [of Allaah] resolves to help his brother Muslim [by admonishing him], whereupon it becomes required of him not to be cowardly of speaking the truth to him, believing, all the while, that Allaah will help him and protect him from any evil repercussions of doing so.
And in this hadeeth it is mentioned the virtue of fulfilling the needs of a Muslim, and of striving in the path of seeking knowledge, and this includes the virtue of being pre-occupied with knowledge. And what is intended by knowledge here is the knowledge of the sharee'ah. And all this requires that one intends by it the face of Allaah ta'aalaa, just as this is a condition in every act of worship.
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together in one of the houses of Allaah, reciting the book of Allaah and studying it among themselves" is a proof for the virtue of gathering in the Masjid for the recitation of the Qur'aan. And regarding the word 'sakeenah' mentioned here, then some people have said that it means 'mercy', but this interpretation is weak due to the separate mention of mercy in the next part of the hadeeth. And it has been said that it means tranquility, peacefulness and dignity, and this is better.
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together" is in the indefinite, general form, as though he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) meant to say "Any people" who gather for this, then they will receive all of the virtue that he has mentioned. And he (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) did not lay a condition here that the people must be scholars, or ascetics or possessors of high stations. And the meaning of "and the angels surround them" is similar to that mentioned by Allaah ta'aalaa in His noble book: "And you will see the angels surrounding the throne (of Allaah) from all round" [Soorah az-Zumar, 75], that is they will encircle and encompass them from every side. And so it will be as though the angels will be so close to them, so as to completely encircle them, and no gap will be left between them through which shaytaan may enter.
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and mercy envelops them" then the word 'envelop' is not used except when all the parts of the object are completely covered from all sides. And Shaykh Shihaab ad-Deen bin Farj said: "And the meaning of this, from what I see to be correct, is that the envelopment of His mercy is such that it encircles and embraces all previous sins, inshaa'Allaah ta'aalaa".
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and Allaah mentions them amongst those who are with Him" implies that the mentioning of Allaah ta'aalaa is amongst the prophets and the most honorable of the angels, and Allaah knows best.
Summary
1. That this hadeeth contains encouragement to help each other for our own benefit.
2. That any Muslim who makes a Muslim happy will receive the mercy of Allaah on the Day of Resurrection, and He will remove one of his grieves that day.
3. That any Muslim who sees to the need of another Muslim, will have his own needs seen to by Allaah.
4. That any Muslim who protects another Muslim will be protected by Allaah.
5. That Allaah will help us as long as we help each other.
6. That one who strives to gain knowledge of the deen will be helped by Allaah in acting upon it.
7. That the Mosques should be used to gather in to study the deen and to recite the Qur'aan collectively.
8. That such groups of people receive the peace and mercy of Allaah, and are surrounded by the angels, and are mentioned by Allaah to those near Him.
9. That this is true for any group of Muslims, whether or not they are scholars or very pious individuals.
10. That when we remember Allaah, He remembers us and makes mention of us.
11. That if one becomes lax in his religious duties, his lineage or ancestry will not avail him anything before Allaah.
12. Seeking knowledge of the deen entails acting upon it and propagating it.
Explanation of Hadeeth Number 36
This is a great hadeeth that encompasses all the branches of knowledge, and the principles [of the religion], and the excellent manners. In it is found the virtue of fulfilling the needs of the Muslims, and benefiting them, from what is possible for one, of knowledge, or wealth, or aid, or guidance towards that which will correct their affairs, or advice. or other than that. And the meaning of "alleviates the need" is removing it.
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "Whoever shields [or hides the misdeeds of] a Muslim", then 'shielding' here means to hide his slips and lapses, and the intended meaning here is hiding the lapses of those who are of upright and pious character, and those like them who are not known to be evil-doers. And this is with regards to hiding the sins that they may have committed in the past, and which are over. On the other hand, if they are caught red-handed performing a sin then it is obligatory to admonish them and forbid them from it. And if they are unable to do so, then they must raise the matter to the authorities, if they do not fear any evil repercussions from this. Thus, in such cases the correct action is not to shield them, as this may tempt them to perpetrate more evil, to cause more harm, to enter into more forbidden matters, or to encourage others upon what is similar to this. So it is desired that one raises the matter to the leader, as long as he does not fear any further evil from doing so. And similar to all this is the disparagement and criticizing of the narrators of hadeeth by the hadeeth scholars, and of the witnesses [to contracts], and the trustees of the wealth to be distributed in charity and the awqaaf, and those who look after the wealth of the orphans, and what is similar to that. Then in all such cases it is obligatory to expose their evil actions if required, and it is not permissible to hide their sins if one sees from them that which is reproachable. And this is not considered to be from the forbidden backbiting, rather it is part of the obligatory naseehah [sincerity, advice].
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "And Allaah will aid His slave so long as he aids his brother" then this is a generalization whose detailed explanation must include the case where the slave [of Allaah] resolves to help his brother Muslim [by admonishing him], whereupon it becomes required of him not to be cowardly of speaking the truth to him, believing, all the while, that Allaah will help him and protect him from any evil repercussions of doing so.
And in this hadeeth it is mentioned the virtue of fulfilling the needs of a Muslim, and of striving in the path of seeking knowledge, and this includes the virtue of being pre-occupied with knowledge. And what is intended by knowledge here is the knowledge of the sharee'ah. And all this requires that one intends by it the face of Allaah ta'aalaa, just as this is a condition in every act of worship.
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together in one of the houses of Allaah, reciting the book of Allaah and studying it among themselves" is a proof for the virtue of gathering in the Masjid for the recitation of the Qur'aan. And regarding the word 'sakeenah' mentioned here, then some people have said that it means 'mercy', but this interpretation is weak due to the separate mention of mercy in the next part of the hadeeth. And it has been said that it means tranquility, peacefulness and dignity, and this is better.
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "No people gather together" is in the indefinite, general form, as though he (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) meant to say "Any people" who gather for this, then they will receive all of the virtue that he has mentioned. And he (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) did not lay a condition here that the people must be scholars, or ascetics or possessors of high stations. And the meaning of "and the angels surround them" is similar to that mentioned by Allaah ta'aalaa in His noble book: "And you will see the angels surrounding the throne (of Allaah) from all round" [Soorah az-Zumar, 75], that is they will encircle and encompass them from every side. And so it will be as though the angels will be so close to them, so as to completely encircle them, and no gap will be left between them through which shaytaan may enter.
And as for his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and mercy envelops them" then the word 'envelop' is not used except when all the parts of the object are completely covered from all sides. And Shaykh Shihaab ad-Deen bin Farj said: "And the meaning of this, from what I see to be correct, is that the envelopment of His mercy is such that it encircles and embraces all previous sins, inshaa'Allaah ta'aalaa".
And his (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) statement "and Allaah mentions them amongst those who are with Him" implies that the mentioning of Allaah ta'aalaa is amongst the prophets and the most honorable of the angels, and Allaah knows best.
Summary
1. That this hadeeth contains encouragement to help each other for our own benefit.
2. That any Muslim who makes a Muslim happy will receive the mercy of Allaah on the Day of Resurrection, and He will remove one of his grieves that day.
3. That any Muslim who sees to the need of another Muslim, will have his own needs seen to by Allaah.
4. That any Muslim who protects another Muslim will be protected by Allaah.
5. That Allaah will help us as long as we help each other.
6. That one who strives to gain knowledge of the deen will be helped by Allaah in acting upon it.
7. That the Mosques should be used to gather in to study the deen and to recite the Qur'aan collectively.
8. That such groups of people receive the peace and mercy of Allaah, and are surrounded by the angels, and are mentioned by Allaah to those near Him.
9. That this is true for any group of Muslims, whether or not they are scholars or very pious individuals.
10. That when we remember Allaah, He remembers us and makes mention of us.
11. That if one becomes lax in his religious duties, his lineage or ancestry will not avail him anything before Allaah.
12. Seeking knowledge of the deen entails acting upon it and propagating it.
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http://fortyhadith.iiu.edu.my/hadith36.htm
Background
This hadith was recorded by Imam Muslim by the above text. However, there is another version of the hadith where it was recorded by both Imam Muslim and Imam al-Bukhari with the following text: "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim - he does not wrong him nor does he forsake him when he is in need; whosoever is fulfilling the needs of his brother, Allah is fulfilling his needs; whosoever removes distress from a believer, Allah removes from him a distress from a distressful aspect of the Day of Resurrection; and whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection."
We see that in this hadith the obligations towards other Muslims are emphasized and the fulfillment of brotherhood is again stressed.
Lessons
"Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter."
This means that the reward of an act is of a similar nature to the act itself. Or the reward to the act is relevant to the act itself or from the same type. There are many hadiths that emphasize this principle. Grief or distress in this hadith means a great difficulty or hardship a Muslim is facing. In one version of the hadith, it is stated as "whosoever relieves" and in another version "whosoever removes". There is obviously a difference between the two versions because 'to relief' means to minimize the difficulty or distress, whereas 'to remove' means to totally eradicate the difficulty or hardship.
Ibn Rajab says the one who successfully removes a grief or distress that a Muslim is encountering will be rewarded more than the one who helps and tries his best to minimize the consequences of a certain difficulty. This is natural because there are two different situations: The first one is related to the capacity of the person who is able only to minimize the distress. The other situation is not just a matter of capacity but also a willingness to do more to remove the distress totally. Ibn Rajab emphasizes that we have to motivate Muslims to help others and to remove the distress or difficulties of one another.
The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, says that the reward for the removal or relief of the distress of a Muslim will be rewarded by a removal of a similar distress or difficulty in the Hereafter. Ibn Rajab questions the difference between the two situations where in the first one the hadith mentioned only the relief or removal of the distressful aspect of the Hereafter and not in this world. He says that not everyone is subject to such distress in this world - this is contrasted to ale'sar (unable to repay). He explains that since the difficulties of this life are incomparable to the distress aspects of the Hereafter (which nobody can endure as it is beyond human capacity), Allah reserves the reward for removing a distress of a distressful aspect of this life until the Day of Judgment.
"Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter."
Here, it is not wise or appropriate for a Muslim to demand his money back from a poor or needy Muslim who honestly cannot afford to pay him. He should either give him a chance until he is able to repay his money or forgive him. The first choice is an obligation because Allah commands us to do so in Surah al-Baqarah, Ayah 280. The second way of alleviation is that the person who is owed the money might forgive the borrower and try to help him not just by giving him more time but also by reducing the amount of money owed or forgiving him.
The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, says in one of his great hadiths: "A man of the previous nations was very rich and people used to borrow money from him. Not only did he lend them money, which is indeed a good deed, but he also asked his sons to alleviate and forgive those who could not repay the money." The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, says that in the Hereafter Allah will reward him and forgive his sins because of his generosity. Allah says in Surah al-Furqan, Ayah 26 that "it will be a very hard day for the disbelievers". This means that there is a situation where a person who is kind to those in need and Allah will relief that person by rewarding him a great reward from Allah's mercy and help.
"Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter."
Ibn Rajab says that people can fall into two categories:
1. Those who are not known for transgression or committing bad deeds. For these people, if by any chance they commit a mistake, it should not be revealed. On the contrary, it should be concealed and not even talked about.
2. Those who are very well known as transgressors or wrongdoers, and who even speak proudly about their shameful and sinful acts. Ibn Rajab mentions that if there is a need to mention the qualities of these people, we should do so for the benefit of the Muslim community.
The statement in this hadith does not apply to the second category of people. The general rule that we derive from the hadith is that Muslims should not reveal the mistakes of their Muslim brothers to others. Some Muslims today take it as a topic for fun and entertainment to reveal the mistakes of others even on very minor issues. As Muslims we should refrain ourselves from such acts. Consequently, the reward will be that Allah will conceal our faults from others. In this life we are subject to faults. If we do not conceal the faults of others, Allah will put us in a situation where our faults will be exposed to other people and everyone will be talking about them. So the punishment is relevant or of the same nature of the act if it is a bad act.
Another thing that is also worth mentioning is the faults of the ulama' or scholars. Nowadays we can notice a very strange attitude coming from some seekers of knowledge who try to find out and reveal the mistakes of very well-known scholars. This sort of situation is even worse because they are revealing the mistakes of not just regular persons. If it is a matter of academic discussion or research, we should handle it in an appropriate way that upholds the status of our scholars.
"Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother."
This statement is a principle. Before this statement, the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, gives us three examples of Allah helping those who help others.
But should we confine ourselves only to the needy mentioned in the hadith? Of course not. The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, wants to convey to us that we should help our brothers in any way possible. There are hundreds of forms of need. For example, helping the blind to cross the street or any of the great and charitable acts that are mentioned in Hadiths 25 and 26. The greater the help, the greater the reward. This is something that Muslims should take seriously because if we have a community which care about each other and help one another, then there would be no needy people. This should be our attitude - we should seek to be motivated to offer our help at any time to our Muslim brothers.
"Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise."
Here we can find the encouragement of Islam in seeking and gaining knowledge. The knowledge seekers will be rewarded if the knowledge is beneficial to oneself as well as for the betterment of the Muslim community.
This statement of the hadith can be interpreted in 3 ways:
1. Allah will make it easy for the knowledge seeker to gain the knowledge that he is seeking.
2. Allah will make it easy for the knowledge seeker so that he will benefit from the knowledge he is seeking. This means that he will benefit from the knowledge and this will lead him to enter Paradise. There are many people who seek knowledge but there are no blessings in the knowledge they seek. The crucial point here is the person should seek knowledge with good intentions.
3. For the one who seeks knowledge with good intentions, Allah will safely help him go through the horrible incidents and situations on the Day of Judgment.
Ibn Rajab classifies ilm (knowledge) into two types:
1. The outcome of knowledge is placed in the heart. That is the knowledge about Allah and His attributes that implies fearing Allah, glorifying Him, and loving Him.
2. The knowledge that we merely memorize or speak about - without our hearts being influenced or affected. This means that if the person does not abide by the knowledge that he has already obtained, then he is in a very critical situation where the he may be subject to the punishment of Allah.
"No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are in His presence."
Here the hadith implies a preferable act: to go to the mosque, to recite and study the Qur'an, or attending lectures. Ibn Rajab says that this can be applied to all branches of knowledge and not just the Qur'an. The hadith mentions four rewards for those who gather in the mosque:
1. Tranquility - this is a great reward which includes relief from stress and being calm.
2. The mercy of Allah over them.
3. The angels surrounding them.
4. Allah making mention of them amongst those who are in His presence.
"Whosoever is slowed down by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage."
This indicates that doing deeds are the means of getting the rewards and that will lead a person to Paradise. Allah says: "For all shall be judged against their actions". If the good deeds are not enough, the person's lineage or ancestry will not benefit him. This is because Allah made rewards related to good deeds and not lineage.
No ties of kinship will prevail amongst them. [Surah al-Mu'minun: Ayah 101]
Conclusion
"A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim; he does not wrong him nor does he forsake him when he is in need; whosoever is fulfilling the needs of his brother, Allah is fulfilling his needs."
This version of the hadith starts by stating a great principle: Muslims are brothers - one will not harm another nor will he do injustice or fail him when he is in need. Then the hadith states a motivation factor: Whosoever is fulfilling the needs of his brother, Allah is fulfilling his needs.
This version is more than simply stating a principle - it can be taken as a motivation for helping other Muslims, especially those who are in need. We just need to imagine the situation of the ummah when we help each other and fulfill the needs of others. We will end up being a better society, with less needy people, and stronger social ties that will lead to the strength of the Muslim ummah at large.
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