41st Hadith - Opposing One’s Desires (Narrated by Al-Maqdidsi in Kitab Al-Hujjah)

الحديث الحادي والأربعون  

عَنْ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عَمْرو بْنِ الْعَاصِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم : لاَ يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يَكُوْنَ هَوَاهُ تَبَعاً لِمَا جِئْتُ بِهِ

[حَديثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيْحٌ وَرَوَيْنَاهُ فِي كِتَابِ الْحُجَّة بإسنادٍ صحيحٍ ]

41st Hadith - Translation

On the authority of Abu Muhammad Abdullah Bin Amr Bin Al-Aas (R.A.) who said: The Messenger of Allah (S.A.W.) said,

“None of you [truly] believes until his desires are subservient to that which I have brought.”

Imam an-Nawawi says: We have related it in Kitab al-Hujjah with a saheeh chain of narrators.

[Narrated by Al-Maqdidsi in his Book of Hujjah (Kitab Al-Hujjah)]

Brief Narration

Imam Nawawi stated that the sanad (chain of authorities) of this hadith is authentic. However, many other scholars, including Ibn Rajab, stated that there are many defects in the chain of authorities. Sometimes the scholars consider a hadith as weak but this does not mean that what is stated in the hadith is weak. The meaning of this hadith has been emphasised in the Quran and strengthened by other hadiths. Allah says in Surah An-Nisa:

“But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they make you [(O Muhammad (S.A.W.)] judge in all disputes between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept them with full submission.” (Surah An-Nisa: 4:65)

In another Hadith (Ibn Majah: 67) it is related that the Prophet (S.A.W.) said: "None of you will be truly a believer until I become more beloved to him than himself, his children, his family, and all the people."

The true believer is one who loves Allah and the Prophet (S.A.W.) truly and sincerely from his or her heart, and loves whatever Allah loves and whatever the Prophet (S.A.W.) loves, and hates whatever Allah hates and whatever the Prophet (S.A.W.) hates or dislikes. This love will lead him to act in accordance with these likes and dislikes. If someone acts in a different way, the obligatory love to Allah and the Prophet (S.A.W.) is not complete and has a defect. In this case, he has to repent and do his best to fulfill all the obligatory levels to achieve complete love to Allah and towards His Prophet (S.A.W.).

(Reference: Commentary of Forty Hadiths of An-Nawawi by Dr. Jamal Ahmed Badi)