With the Hadith
The strong believer is better and more beloved to God
We greet you all, dear listeners everywhere, in a new episode of your program "With the Hadith." We begin with the best greeting: Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "The strong believer is better and more beloved to God than the weak believer, and in each there is good. Strive for what benefits you, seek help from God, and do not be helpless. If something befalls you, do not say, 'If only I had done such and such, such and such would have happened.' Rather, say, 'God has decreed, and He does what He wills,' for 'if only' opens the door to the work of Satan."
It is mentioned in Sahih Muslim with the explanation of Al-Nawawi
His saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (The strong believer is better and more beloved to God than the weak believer, and in each there is good)
What is meant by strength here is the determination of the soul and the intellect in matters of the Hereafter, so the possessor of this attribute is more likely to advance against the enemy in jihad, and faster to go out to him and go in search of him, and more determined in enjoining good and forbidding evil, and patient in suffering in all of that, and bearing hardships in the cause of God Almighty, and more desirous of prayer, fasting, remembrance, and all acts of worship, and more active in seeking them, and preserving them, and the like.
As for his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (and in each there is good)
Its meaning is that in each of the strong and the weak there is good because they share in faith, along with the acts of worship that the weak brings.
His saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (Strive for what benefits you, seek help from God, and do not be helpless) means strive for obedience to God Almighty, and desire what is with Him, and seek help from God Almighty for that, and do not be helpless, and do not be lazy in seeking obedience, nor in seeking help.
His saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (If something befalls you, do not say, 'If only I had done such and such, such and such would have happened.' Rather, say, 'God has decreed, and He does what He wills,' for 'if only' opens the door to the work of Satan)
Qadi Iyad said: Some scholars said: This prohibition is only for the one who says it believing that for sure, and that if he had done that, he would not have been afflicted for sure. As for the one who attributes that to the will of God Almighty, that nothing will befall him except what God wills, then he is not of this, and he cited the saying of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, in the cave: (If one of them raised his head, he would see us). The Qadi said: This is not evidence because he only informed about the future, and there is no claim in it to reject a decree after it has occurred. He said: Likewise, all that al-Bukhari mentioned in the chapter: (What is permissible of 'if only') such as the hadith (If your people had not recently abandoned disbelief, I would have completed the House on the foundations of Abraham, and if I were to stone without evidence, I would have stoned this one, and if it were not that I would burden my nation, I would have ordered them to use the tooth stick) and the like, all of it is future and there is no objection to fate in it, so there is no dislike in it; because he only informed about his belief in what he would have done if it were not for the obstacle, and about what is in his power, but what has gone is not in his power. The Qadi said: What I have in the meaning of the hadith is that the prohibition is on its apparent meaning and generality; but it is a prohibition of refinement, and what indicates it is his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (for 'if only' opens the door to the work of Satan) that is, it casts into the heart opposition to fate, and Satan whispers with it. This is the words of the Qadi. I say: And it has come from the use of (if only) in the past his saying, may God bless him and grant him peace: (If I had known in advance what I learned later, I would not have brought the sacrificial animal). And other than that. So it is apparent that the prohibition is only about uttering that in what is of no benefit, so it is a prohibition of refinement, not prohibition. But as for the one who says it regretting what has passed of obedience to God Almighty, or what is impossible for him of that, and the like, then there is nothing wrong with it, and on it is carried most of the usage found in the hadiths. And God knows best.
Dear listeners,
Let us urge ourselves and strive to be among the strong believers who are devoted to obeying God and His commands, and turning away from disobeying Him and His prohibitions, relying on God as He should be relied upon, content with His decree and His judgment.
Dear listeners, until we meet you with another prophetic hadith, we leave you in God's care. Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
