On the authority of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Part of the perfection of a person’s Islam is his leaving that which is of no concern to him.” A hasan hadith. Recorded by al-Tirmidhi and others in that fashion.
- “Part of the perfection of the person’s Islam”
- “his leaving that which is of no concern to him”
- Other Points Related to this Hadith
General Statements About the Hadith: In general, if a hadith is weak, it cannot by itself be used as evidence in the shareeah nor should it be acted upon. Therefore, there is no need to discuss it in detail. However, since this hadith is somewhat borderline, with many scholars accepting it, it will be discussed to some extent. Furthermore, much of the discussion will be centered around concepts that go beyond this one particular hadith.
This hadith is a foundation for manners, etiquette and behavior in Islam. Abu Muhammad ibn Abu Zaid, the leader of the Malikis of his time, stated that all the good manners and behavior are alluded to in four hadith: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak well or remain silent,” “Part of the perfection of the person’s Islam is his leaving that which is of no concern to him,” the hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) told the one seeking his advice, “Do not get angry,” and the hadith, “A believer loves for his brother what he loves for himself.
Some say that this hadith is half of Islam. This is because Islam is either about doing something or abstaining from something. This hadith is explicitly about the latter portion. However, it implicitly also touches upon the former portion. Hence, one can say that it is about all of lslam.
1. “Part of the perfection of the person’s Islam”
The hadith states, Some translators have understood this to mean, “Part of someone’s being a good Muslim.” However, the commentators on this hadith point out that the meaning is that the act described is part of a person perfecting or completing his Islam. Hence, if a person wants to make sure that he is applying or living Islam completely and correctly, then he must make sure that he is meeting this qualification. In Sahih Muslim, there is a hadith on the authority of Abu Huraira that describes the great reward for those people who complete and “perfect” their Islam. Abu Huraira narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said,
“If one of you makes his faith excellent, he will be recorded for every good deed ten-fold to seven hundred fold. And for every evil deed he does, he will have recorded one similar to it, until he meets Allah.” (Recorded by Muslim.) According to ibn Rajah, every good deed will be recorded ten-fold. However, the increase upon that is determined by how much a person completes his faith. In order words, the purer his intention, the greater the deed he performed and so forth will lead the deed to being multiplied seven-hundred fold.
1.1 The Convert and Completing His Islam
There are some hadith that show that it is very important for a person who converts to Islam to do his best to complete and perfect his Islam. By doing so, he will have wiped away all of his previous sins and will be rewarded for all of the good deeds that he did before entering into Islam. A hadith in Sunan al-Nasaai states,
“If a servants accept Islam and completes his Islam, Allah will record for him every good deed that he performed before [his Islam] and Allah will erase for him every evil deed that he did before [his Islam]. Then everything after that will be according to a retribution. For every good deed, he will be recorded tenfold up to seven hundred fold. And for every evil deed he will be recorded similarly [one] for it, unless Allah overlooks that for him.”
This hadith shows that a person will be rewarded for the good deeds that he performed before becoming Muslim. His evil deeds will also be erased after becoming Muslim. However, this is conditional. This is conditional upon the fact that he perfects or completes his Islam. That is, it is conditional that he remain away from the evil deeds after he becomes a Muslim. This understanding is further supported by a hadith in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim in which ibn Masud asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) if they were to be held accountable for the deeds that they performed in Jaahiliyah (pre-Islamic ignorance). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him,
“As for the one of you who excels in Islam, he will not be held accountable for it. As for the one who does evil [with respect to his Islam], he shall be held accountable for what he did in Jaahiliyah as well as in Islam.” But there is a hadith in Musnad Ahmad which states, in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) was speaking to Amr ibn al-As, “O Amr, didn’t you know that Islam wipes away all of the sins that one performed before it.” But this hadith must be understood in the light of the other hadith. According to ibn Rajab, the meaning of this hadith is that if a person completes his Islam and excels in Islam, then all of his previous sins will be erased and overlooked. Otherwise, if he continues to perform such evil acts in Islam, his previous acts will not be overlooked.
2. “his leaving that which is of no concern to him”
In this part of the hadith, it states that a person avoids things that are of no concern to him. What is meant by this is not things that are of no concern to him based on his desires or wants. What is meant is things that are of no concern to him based on the guidance of the shareeah. That is, from a shareeah point of view, those things are of no benefit for him in either this life or the Hereafter. Therefore, he should remain away from them.
Hence, the standard concerning what is or is not “of concern” is the shareeah and not an individual’s wants or desires. This is why this hadith talks about this aspect in the context of perfecting and completing one’s Islam. Otherwise, there are a lot of things that an individual may claim are of no concern to him while, from the shareeah point of view, they must be of concern to him. When, for example, the teachings of Allah are being violated, this must be of concern to every Muslim whether they wish to admit this or not. When evil is being spread or rights are ignored, a Muslim must be concerned. When a Muslim brother is in need of sincere advice, he must be advised. A Muslim cannot use this hadith as an excuse for avoiding his obligations of ordering good, eradicating evil, advising others and guiding others.
2.1 What is of No Concern to a True Believer:
The next logical question is: According to the shareeah then, what is it that is of no concern to a believer? What are these matters that he should avoid? The things that are of no concern to him or, in other words, which he should avoid are the forbidden acts, the doubtful acts, the disliked acts and over-indulgence in the permissible matters of which he is not in need.
This hadith is in reference to one’s actions, beliefs and speech. With respect to all of these, one should leave those matters that are of “no concern” or no benefit to him whatsoever. Among these, the scholars have emphasized speech the most. Many people may avoid, by their actions, things that are not of concern or benefit to them. However, it is very difficult for many people to constrain their tongues only to those things that are of concern or which are beneficial. Hence, the scholars have stressed this aspect while discussing this hadith.
The problem is that many times people do not realize that their speech is truly part of their deeds while, in some cases, it could be the most damaging aspect of their deeds. Umar ibn Abdul Azeez once said, “The one who reckons his words as part of his actions speaks very little- only about those things that are of concern to him.” In fact, even the Companion Muaadh ibn Jabal seemed not to realize how important one’s words are and that they are truly part of one’s deeds. He once asked the Prophet (peace be upon him), “Are we to be taken to account for what we say?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) answered him,
“O Muaadh, may your mother be bereaved of you. Is there anything that topples people on their faces- or on their noses- into the Hell-fire other than what their tongues reap?”
Allah has also stated that there is no benefit in most of the private conversations that people take part in. Allah says, “There is no good in most of their secret talks save (in) him who orders charity and righteousness, or conciliation between mankind. As for him who does this, seeking the good pleasure of Allah, We shall give him a great reward” (alNisaa 114).
Al-Nawawi states that a person must only speak something that is beneficial. He said that if a speech is equal in its merits or harm, then it is best to refrain from saying it. Otherwise, permissible speech may lead to forbidden or disliked speech. This actually happens quite often. However, if one is silent, it does not lead to any harm whatsoever.
2.2 A True Believer Would Not Take Part in Such Matters:
The Maliki jurist ibn al-Arabi once said that a person is not able to fulfill all of the necessary matters that he must take care of, why then should he get into the unnecessary, extra matters that are of no real concern to him?’ If a person starts getting involved into matters that are of no real concern or benefit to him, he will be wasting and losing valuable time. He will be losing time that he will never be able to regain.
For a true believer, the only matters of concern or benefit to him are Islam, Imaan, good deeds, the necessary acts that one needs to do to survive in life, such as eating, drinking, earning a living and so forth. These aspects are enough to take up every moment of his life. When will he have time to tum to trivial, useless or harmful pursuits?
A common problem today among Muslims is the endless pursuit and study of matters with very little benefit while, at the same time, ignoring the most important matters that are of great benefit. This is a sign that a person’s Islam is not complete or perfect. In fact, this is a sign that the person himself may not truly understand Islam. How much time do Muslims today spend studying and learning the Quran and hadith? Compare that to how much time they spend watching television, gossiping about others, debating on trivial points and reading numerous books on detailed political information which neither benefits nor harms them. If a person truly understood and applied this hadith, he would realize that every moment of his life must be spent only in those things that are beneficial to him in both this life and the Hereafter.
Al-Hasan al-Basri once said, “A sign that Allah has turned away from a servant is that He makes him busy with matters that are of no concern to him.” When a person reaches such a point, he must repent and ask Allah to guide him to those matters that are important and beneficial.
3. Other Points Related to this Hadith
- A true believer is heads and shoulders above the petty, useless activities that so many people get involved with in this world. If something is not beneficial to him in this life or the Hereafter, he avoids it. This is part of the completeness and perfection of his faith.
- Islam protects society as a whole from any kind of harm. Much of the harm that inflicts society is when people spend their time involved in matters that are of no concern to them. This includes meddling into the affairs of others when it is neither one’s responsibility nor one’s right. In all societies, these types of practices usually lead to great evil. In this one short sentence, the Prophet (peace be upon him) recommended a way to avoid all these kinds of societal problems.
- If a person truly worships Allah as if he sees Him, or at least knowing that Allah sees him, he would not allow himself to be seen by Allah indulging in useless and possibly harmful pursuits. Instead, he will spend all of his time in doing things that he knows Allah would be pleased with. This is a sign of true Imaan and ihsaan, or as the hadith states, the completeness and perfection of one’s Islam
- A believer should train himself to avoid useless or harmful pursuits and, instead, concentrate on the truly beneficial and important matters. At first, it might sound easy to avoid matters that are of no concern and not beneficial. However, in reality, many times the situation is different. That is why this is a sign of a true Muslim. The person must realize this fact and work on himself to improve his Islam in this direction.
- The believer must realize that he has been given this life for a very important purpose: to worship Allah. When a person remembers that he is going to be standing in front of Allah one day, he realizes that there is no time to waste and no energies to be used for the wrong purposes. Allah has reminded mankind-who loves to toil and play- in the Quran “Did you think that We had created you in play (without any purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us” (al-Muminoon 115).
4. Summary of the Hadith
• First, it should be once again noted that it was concluded that this hadith is most likely a weak hadith. However, it is definitely close to being hasan, and that is why it was commented upon in some detail. Allah knows best.
• If a person avoids what does not concern him, it means that he is only doing things that are of concern and benefit. Hence, by this means, he is on the road to completing and perfecting his Islam.
• All matters can be divided into one of two categories: Either something that is of concern or benefit to the individual or something that is of no concern or no benefit to the individual. An individual can either do one of them or leave it. If he does what is of concern to him, he has done well. If he leaves what does not concern him, he has also done well. However, if he leaves what is of concern or he does what is not of concern, then he is following the wrong path
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