Regarding the Hadith "Chapter on Following the Ways of the Jews and Christians"

With the Hadith

Do you know who is bankrupt?

May Allah greet you, our dear listeners, listeners of the radio of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir. We meet you again with our program "With the Hadith," and the best way to start our episode is with the greeting of Islam, so peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

It is mentioned in Musnad Ahmad - Remainder of the Musnad of the Prolific Narrators - that the bankrupt of my nation is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with fasting, prayer, and charity, but he comes having insulted this person, slandered this person, and consumed the wealth of this person.

Narrated 'Abd al-Rahman from Zuhair from al-'Ala' from his father from Abu Hurairah from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said: "Do you know who is bankrupt?" They said: "The bankrupt among us, O Messenger of Allah, is the one who has no dirham or goods." He said: "Indeed, the bankrupt of my nation is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with fasting, prayer, and charity, but he comes having insulted this person, slandered this person, and consumed the wealth of this person. So he will sit, and this one will take from his good deeds, and that one will take from his good deeds, and if his good deeds are exhausted before he settles what is owed to him of sins, their sins will be taken and cast upon him, then he will be thrown into the Fire."

This hadith, like other important hadiths, must be understood and realized. Some people are bankrupt despite their prayers, fasting, and zakat, because they insulted this person, slandered this person, consumed the wealth of this person, shed the blood of this person, and beat this person.

His bankruptcy is that his good deeds, which are his capital, are taken and given to this one and used to pay off that one for the price of his slander, insult, and beating. After his good deeds are exhausted before he settles what is owed, their sins are taken and cast upon him, then he is thrown into the Fire.

When the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked his companions, "Do you know who is bankrupt?" "Do you know" means knowledge and awareness of the inner workings of things. "Do you know" means "Do you really know who is bankrupt?" This confirms the saying of our master Ali, may Allah honor his face: "Wealth and poverty are after the presentation to Allah." When they were asked this question, they answered based on their experiences: "The bankrupt among us is the one who has no dirham or goods." This is the bankrupt in the eyes of the companions of the Messenger of Allah. So he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: No... HE SAID: "INDEED, THE BANKRUPT OF MY NATION IS THE ONE WHO COMES ON THE DAY OF RESURRECTION WITH FASTING, PRAYER, AND CHARITY..."

This confirms the saying of our master Umar: "Whoever wishes may fast, and whoever wishes may pray, but it is righteousness," because prayer, fasting, Hajj, and zakat are acts of worship that a person may do with sincerity, or he may do them hypocritically, but the center of gravity is to adhere to the command of Allah.

We ask Allah to keep us steadfast on the truth, and make us of His righteous servants, and replace our bad deeds with good deeds, and not disgrace us on the Day of Presentation to Him, O Allah, Amen.

Our dear listeners, until we meet you with another prophetic hadith, we entrust you to Allah, whose deposits are never lost. Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Written for the radio by

Afraa Turab

With the Hadith

The Hypocrites and Their Evil Deeds

We greet you all, dear friends, everywhere, in a new episode of your program "With the Hadith," and we begin with the best greeting: Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.

It was narrated from Buraidah, may God be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "Do not call a hypocrite 'Sayyid' (master), for if he is a master, then you have angered your Lord, the Almighty and Sublime." Narrated by Abu Dawood with a Sahih (authentic) chain of narration.

Dear listeners,

Indeed, the best of speech is the word of God Almighty, and the best guidance is the guidance of His Prophet Muhammad bin Abdullah, peace and blessings be upon him. Now then,

This noble Hadith guides us on how to deal with the hypocrites we know. The Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, was the only one who knew all the hypocrites by their names, but we can recognize some of them by their characteristics, such as those mentioned in the Quran who perform their obligatory duties lazily and grudgingly, and those who plot against Islam and Muslims, encourage strife, spread corruption on earth, and love to spread immorality by calling for it, protecting it, and nurturing it, and those who tell lies about Islam and Muslims... and others who are characterized by hypocrisy.

Therefore, we must understand what the Sharia (Islamic law) has deemed good and what it has deemed bad, so that we can distinguish the hypocrite from the sincere, and take appropriate action towards them. We should not trust those who do what contradicts the Sharia while pretending to do what they do out of concern for Islam and Muslims. We should not follow them or support them, or even less than that, by describing them as "Sayyid," otherwise God Almighty will be angry with us.

We Muslims must be the most keen people on Islam and Muslims, and not allow any hypocrite an entry point into our religion and our families, as they are among the most dangerous things we may face these days due to their abundance and the multiplicity of their faces. We must use the Sharia scale to measure the actions of those who claim to be Muslims, for Islam protects us from such evildoers.

We ask God to protect our nation from such criminals, and to guide us to the straight path and the correct scale by which we measure people's behavior, so that we stay away from those whom God does not love. Amen.

Dear friends, until we meet you with another prophetic Hadith, we leave you in God's care, and peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.

Written for radio by: Dr. Maher Saleh