Explanation of Hadith 24: Allah's Justice and the Importance of Supplication

May Allah ﷻ protect us.

He (RH) said:

The twenty-fourth Hadith:

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (RA),

from the Prophet ﷺ,

in what he narrated from his Lord, Mighty and Majestic, that He said:

"O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself

and made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another.

O My servants, all of you are astray except those I have guided,

so seek guidance from Me and I will guide you.

O My servants, all of you are hungry except those I have fed,

so ask Me for food and I will feed you.

O My servants, all of you are naked except those I have clothed,

so seek clothing from Me and I will clothe you.

O My servants, indeed you commit sins by night and day,

and I forgive all sins,

so seek forgiveness from Me and I will forgive you.

O My servants, you will never be able to harm Me,

nor will you ever be able to benefit Me.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, the humans and jinn,

were as pious as the most pious heart of any one man among you,

that would not increase My kingdom in the least.

O My servants, if the first and last of you, the humans and jinn among you,

were to be as wicked as the heart of the most wicked man among you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything.

O My servants, if the first and last of you, the humans and jinn among you,

were to stand in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give every person what he asked,

that would not decrease what I have, except as a needle decreases the sea when it is put into it.

"O My servants, it is but your deeds that I record for you and then recompense you for,

so he who finds good, let him praise Allah ﷻ; and he who finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself."

Narrated by Muslim.

This Hadith is great because it speaks of a Great One — the Compeller, Glorified and Exalted is He,

for the greatest knowledge is knowledge of His actions ﷻ and His perfect attributes.

And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has attributes of essence, and He has actions described to us, which are the active attributes.

This Hadith relates to a number of matters.

His saying ﷺ: "Indeed, Allah ﷻ said: 'I have forbidden injustice for Myself.'"

His saying: "In what he narrates from his Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He." I will address one issue by way of digression,

established by verifying scholars, including Sheikh Taqi al-Din and others,

that the Qudsi Hadiths, both their wording and meaning, are from Allah ﷻ,

However, they differ from the Quran in that they are not a miracle in their wording, and that

they can be touched by one who is not in a state of purity (in minor ritual impurity),

prayer is not valid with them, and it is permissible to narrate them by meaning,

but they are the speech of Allah ﷻ in both wording and meaning.

As for what the Prophet ﷺ spoke, especially jawami' al-kalim, it is from Allah ﷻ in meaning,

and from the Prophet ﷺ in wording. So attention must be paid to this matter.

And those who say that they—meaning the Qudsi Hadiths—are in the wording of the Prophet ﷺ,

their saying this might be a pretext to claim the 'expression' (al-ibarah),

which is exuded by some of those who opposed the way of the Salaf (RH)

in affirming the attribute of speech for Al-Jabbar ﷻ.

For the default principle is that the Prophet ﷺ

only narrates from his Lord exactly as His Lord ﷻ said it,

but it is permissible to narrate it by meaning,

so narrators may differ in it by addition, omission, or changing some words.

The first of Al-Jabbar's ﷻ attributes that He related about Himself

is in His saying: "I have forbidden injustice for Myself,"

For Allah does not do injustice; rather, He is Just, Glorified be He.

This sentence indicates a matter concerning the servants,

which is the prohibition of injustice among themselves.

The scholars (RH) have mentioned that the best attributes of a servant

with which he can be characterized are those by which Allah ﷻ described Himself.

For Allah described Himself with generosity,

so the best attribute in servants is to be generous.

And Allah ﷻ described Himself with forbearance,

so the best attribute in servants is forbearance.

What is meant by these attributes—those that exist in servants—

otherwise, Allah ﷻ has attributes and names

that servants cannot be named with or possess as descriptions and attributes.

What is meant are the attributes that may exist in humans by way of correspondence,

by way of correspondence, not by way of likeness.

The second matter is that this Hadith indicates what relates to asking,

when He said: "All of you are astray except those I have guided, so seek guidance from Me,"

then He said: 'so ask Me for food,' then He said: 'so ask Me for clothing,' 'so seek My forgiveness,' and so on.

This shows us that a person should vary in their supplication to Allah ﷻ,

for among the best acts of worship is the supplication of request, as supplication has two types: request and praise,

and the supplication of request is beloved to Allah.

Allah loves the supplication of request, and it is one of the best ways to draw close to Allah ﷻ,

hence it was narrated in at-Tirmidhi: "Supplication is worship."

And separating the subject and predicate with the pronoun of separation indicates restriction and exclusivity,

indicating that supplication is among the best acts of worship.

"Supplication is worship,"

so the servant should be keen on supplicating to Allah ﷻ,

Let him know that supplication alone brings reward,

For there is no act of worship that does not contain supplication.

Prayer is not valid except with supplication.

Fasting—supplication during it is recommended.

For Zakat, supplication when giving is recommended, and some said obligatory.

Therefore, when the author of Al-Muharrar, Al-Majd Abu al-Barakat,

said, "he must supplicate when giving it," Ibn Muflih said:

"His saying 'and he must' implies obligation according to the view of Al-Qadi and Abu al-Khattab."

My point in this is that supplication is recommended even in Zakat,

and in Hajj, buying, selling, eating, and other things.

So a person should supplicate Allah ﷻ.

The best worship is supplication.

Do not think supplication is merely asking for your own benefit.

Yes, it benefits you regarding provision,

regarding guidance, for good, and regarding Paradise,

But there is a reward in it with Allah ﷻ, as it is an act of worship in itself.

The third matter this Hadith indicates, which we will address,

is the great attribute of Allah ﷻ: Al-Ghina (Self-Sufficiency).

Allah ﷻ is self-sufficient, free of need of His creation,

neither for worship, nor supplication, nor requests,

and He is independent of all their affairs.

"'You will never be able to harm Me,'"

"nor will you ever be able to benefit Me."

Allah ﷻ is Self-Sufficient, Glorified and Exalted.

Therefore, among the names of Allah, the Almighty, are Al-Ghani and Al-Hamid,

which are among His great names and attributes that deserve reflection.

When we refer to some of the names and attributes of Allah ﷻ,

we recall Abu Hurayrah's (RA) Hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said,

"'Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names; whoever preserves them will enter Paradise'"—meaning, knows them,

memorized them, contemplated their meanings, and supplicated Allah ﷻ by them.

Thus, a Muslim must always be keen to contemplate the names of Allah ﷻ, His actions, and His attributes ﷻ.

For this is indeed one of the greatest means to increase faith.

We contemplate His actions, but not His Essence.

And we have previously learned that part of faith in Him is not knowing what He has not informed us about Himself, but we see His actions.

For from whom are sustenance, health, well-being, and life, except Him, Glorified and Exalted is He? Yes.