Aligning Desires with Revelation: Commentary on the 41st Hadith of An-Nawawi
An explanation of the 41st Hadith of Imam al-Nawawi on aligning one's desires with the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ. The speaker clarifies that desire (hawa) here refers to inclinations that drive actions of the heart and limbs, rather than natural worldly desires. True perfection is achieved when a believer's love and hatred align with what Allah ﷻ loves and hates.
He (RH) said:
The forty-first Hadith:
On the authority of Abu Muhammad, Abdullah bin 'Amr bin al-'As (RA),
that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"None of you [truly] believes until his desire follows what I have brought."
It is a Hasan Sahih Hadith, narrated in Kitab al-Hujjah with a Sahih chain of transmission.
Yes, of course, Kitab al-Hujjah
is printed in two volumes.
Okay, this Hadith,
“None of you [truly] believes until his desire is inclined to what I have brought,”
is one of the universal principles regarding the heart of the servant.
This is because what is meant by hawa is not lust,
for lust incites to the forbidden,
and a person cannot prevent his thoughts and desires.
Rather, what is meant by hawa
is the desire that is confirmed by the limbs,
whether it is the action of the heart or the action of the limbs.
People are of different levels in this. The most perfect of people
is he whose desires are entirely aligned: loving what Allah ﷻ loves and hating what Allah ﷻ hates.
As for what relates to human nature and the inclination towards worldly matters,
"Beautified for people is the love of desires"
“Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allāh has with Him the best return [i.e., Paradise].” (Quran 3:14)
No one is safe from these, but the perfect among people is he who weakens his attachment to them.
Yes, the last Hadith.