25. Extravagance in Building

25. Extravagance in Building

chapter 207. Extravagance in Property

442. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah is pleased with you about three things and He is angry with you about three things. He is pleased that you worship Him, not associating anything with Him, that you all take hold of the rope of Allah and that you give good counsel to those that Allah has put in authority over you. He dislikes you engaging in chitchat, asking a lot of questions and squandering wealth.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth highlights among others, 1. The obligation of serving Allah alone, not joining partners with him. 2. The virtue of the Muslims uniting upon the truth; the Qur’an and the Sunnah. 3. Being honest and truthful to those whom Allah places in the positions of Authority. One should pray for them for guidance, protection and success in their affairs. The leader should also be given sincere advice as apprioprate and in the best manner. The Prophetﷺ said, “Anyone who intends to give sincere advice to the person in authority should not do so in the open. He should rather hold on to his hands and withdraw with him to privacy. If he accepts such (advices), then (good); otherwise, such a person has fulfilled his obligation.” (Ahmad and others). 4. The prohibition of expending money in manners that are not allowed in the religion, or allowing wealth to be wasted without prudence, or even lending money to people without guarantee. See narrations no 444 and 445. 5. It is obligatory to guard the tongue and not speak except good. From the evil use of the tongue is asking inconsequential questions. 6. From the The hadeeth highlights among others, 1. The obligation of serving Allah alone, not joining partners with him. 2. The virtue of the Muslims uniting upon the truth; the Qur’an and the Sunnah. 3. Being honest and truthful to those whom Allah places in the positions of Authority. One should pray for them for guidance, protection and success in their affairs. The leader should also be given sincere advice as apprioprate and in the best manner. The Prophetﷺ said, “Anyone who intends to give sincere advice to the person in authority should not do so in the open. He should rather hold on to his hands and withdraw with him to privacy. If he accepts such (advices), then (good); otherwise, such a person has fulfilled his obligation.” (Ahmad and others). 4. The prohibition of expending money in manners that are not allowed in the religion, or allowing wealth to be wasted without prudence, or even lending money to people without guarantee. See narrations no 444 and 445. 5. It is obligatory to guard the tongue and not speak except good. From the evil use of the tongue is asking inconsequential questions. 6. From the

443. In commenting on the words of Allah Almighty, “Anything you spend will be replaced by Him. and He is the best of Providers,” (34:39) Ibn ‘Abbas said, “without extravagance or parsimony.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That is, He the Mighty and Exalted replaces whatever one spends which is not of extravagance or stinginess; and He is the best of Providers.

chapter 208. Those who squander

444. Abu’l-‘Ubaydayn said, “I asked ‘Abdullah about those who squander and he said, ‘They are those who spend incorrectly.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

445. Ibn ‘Abbas said that he said that “the squanderers” were those who wasted money incorrectly.
Grade: Hasan (Sound)

chapter 209. Improving Houses

446. Zayd ibn Aslam reported from his father that ‘Umar used to say on the minbar, “O people! Improve your homes but be careful about these house snakes [which are a form of jinn] before they make you afraid. Those among them which are Muslim will not be clear to you and, by Allah, we have not made peace with them since the time when we treated them as an enemy.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: The narration discorages the Muslim from being afraid of snakes and even running away from it, rather than seeking to remove its danger. It also reminds of the natural enmity between human beings and snakes. In a related hadeeth, the Prophetﷺ said, “We have not made peace with them (i.e. the snakes) since we fought with them. So whosoever leaves any of them fearfully is not amongst us.” (Aboo Dawood, Ahmad and others). Meaning that, such a person is not following the Sunnah regarding that. This debunks the view amongst the Arabs during the days of Ignorance that when a snake is killed, its companion soon returns to do a revenge; and as such, they were usually afraid of killing snakes! Perhaps. owing to the fact that snakes may find refuge in cluttered up dirty places, the narration emphasizes keeping our homes clean and orderly.

chapter 210. Building expenses

447. Khabbab said, “A man is rewarded for everything except building.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Shaykh Muhammad Luqman as-Salafee explains, “this is understood to refer to building what is not intended to seek nearness to Allah with, or what is quite unnecessary.”

chapter 211. A man working with his workers

448. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr was heard to say to a nephew of his who had left al-Waht, “Are your workers at work?” “I don’t know,” he replied. He said, “If you were clever, you would work as your workers work.” Then he turned towards us and said, “When a man works with his workers in his house (and Abu ‘Asim once said, ‘in his property’), he is one of the workers of Allah Almighty.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Al-Waht literally means a garden. However, in this narration it refers to the huge farmland belonging to ‘Amr bin al-‘Aas situated at Taif. A Thaqafiyy is a person from the Thaqeef tribe which settled in Taif and later, they spread across the Muslim lands. They were known for hard work. So, ‘If you were a Thaqafiyy…seemed to demonstrate that the Thaqafiyy is hardworking and would supervise, or even work along with his workers and would certainly know what his labourers do. The narration encourages helping our workers with their work.

chapter 212. Making buildings tall

449. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The Final Hour will not come until people compete with one another in the height of their buildings.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaanee said, “it could also mean competing with each other in beautifying and decorating (houses) or something more encompassing. Many of such have been seen and it is even on the increase.” This was in his time, about 600 years ago. Today, the increase is significant and rapid. Some of the people even seek loans from Riba-based institutions and acquire wealth from other prohibited sources for this purpose! Allah alone grants success

450. Al-Hasan said, “I used to go into the houses of the wives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, during the khalifate of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, and I could touch their ceilings with my own hand.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That was because the buildings were neither unnecessarily high nor lavishly decorated. Those understood the trifling nature of the worldly life, and employed what they had to build mansions for themselves in the everlasting abode. Today the reverse is the case for many of the people. See the narration that follows.

451. Da’ud ibn Qays said, “I saw that the rooms were made from the stumps of palm trees covered on the outside with smoothed hair. I think that the width of the house from the door of the room to the door of the house was about six or seven spans. The width of the room inside was ten spans. I think that the ceiling was between seven and right, or there about. I stopped at the door of ‘A’isha, which was facing the west.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

452. ‘Abdullah ar-Rumi said, “I visited Umm Talq and exclaimed, ‘How low the ceiling of your room is!’ ‘My son,’ she replied, ‘the Amir al-Mu’minin, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote to his workers telling them: “Do not make your buildings tall. That will come about in the worst of your days.”‘”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

chapter 213. The person who builds

453. It is reported that Habba ibn Khalid and Sawa’ ibn Khalid came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was repairing a wall or a building of his, and they helped him.
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

454. Qays ibn Abi Hazm said, “We went to visit Khubbab after he had been cauterised seven times. He said, ‘Our Companions who came before us have gone and this world did not cause the, loss. We have been struck by an affliction for which we find no place to put it down except the earth. If it were no that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade us to pray for death, we would pray for it.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The Muslims who passed away earlier did not have as much wealth as these later ones, yet the early ones carried out their religious duties and were steadfast. Not having much wealth did not cause them loss of the things of the hereafter. When the Muslims were granted triumph over the lands and tremendous wealth came under their control, those who received charity became very few or practically unavailable such that the only things to do with excess wealth were building and things like it. Yet, in their expenditure, the later ones gave preference to the more important things over the important and so on. Nevertheless, for their knowledge and god-consciousness, these Muslims amongst the companions and their students – may Allah be pleased with them – recognized that the one who has more wealth has more things to account for before Allah; and as such, they disliked the condition. The companions – y – would not in the least disobey the Prophetﷺ.

455. He continued, “Then we came to him another time while he was building a wall and his and he said, ‘The Muslim is rewarded for everything on which he spends money except for what he spends on dust.’
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

456. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went by while I was repairing a hut I owned. He said, ‘What is this?’ I replied, ‘I am mending my hut, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’ He said, ‘The business is too swift for that.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: This is to emphasize that he should mend his inner behaviour and correct his ways, for it may be that he will die before completing the repairs to the hut.

chapter 214. A spacious dwelling

457. Nafi’ ibn al-Harith reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Part of a man’s happiness is a spacious dwelling, a good neighbour, and a good mount.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: While the spacious home basically provides cover and shelter, enables one to appriopriately segregate the household and accommodate visitors, the good ride helps its owner to fulfill the obligations that require him to move to distant locations. The good neighbour would aid one towards obedience to Allah and His Messengerﷺ; encouraging him upon what is good and forbidding him evil, and so he is happy and successful. In some wordings of the same hadeeth, it includes: “the pious wife”

chapter 215. A person who has upper rooms

458. Thabit reported that he was with Anas in a corner above one of his rooms. He said, “We heard the adhan and he came down and I came down as well. He took short stops and said, ‘I was with Zayd ibn Thabit and I walked with him in this fashion. He said, “Do you know why I did it to you? The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, walked in this manner and he said, ‘Do you know why I walked with you?’ I replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘So that there would be a greater number of steps in search of the prayer.'”‘”
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)
Commentary: Thaabit mentioned here, is al-Bunaanee, the eminent student and companion of Anas bin Malik (may Allah shower blessings on them). Az-Zāwia is a place about six miles from Madinah where Anas bin Malik’s mansion is. We recall that in authentic narrations, the Prophetﷺ supplicated for him to be blessed in his wealth, life, lineage, and be entered into the Paradise.

chapter 216. Painting buildings

459. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The Final Hour will not come until people build houses which are like coloured garments.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-Asqalaanee said, “it could also mean competing with each other in beautifying and decorating (houses) or something more encompassing. Many of such have been seen and it is even on the increase.” This was in his time, about 600 years ago. Today, the increase is significant and rapid. Some of the people even seek loans from Riba-based institutions and acquire wealth from other prohibited sources for this purpose! Allah alone grants success

460. Warrad, the scribe of al-Mughira ibn Shu’ba, said, “Mu’awiya wrote to al-Mughira, saying, ‘Write down for me what you heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say.’ So he wrote to him, ‘The Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say at the end of every prayer, “There is no god but Allah alone with no partner. His is the Kingdom and His is the praise and He has power over everything. O Allah, none can withhold what You give nor can anyone give what You withhold. Nor will the wealth of someone with wealth help him against You.’ He also write to him, ‘He forbade gossip, asking too many questions, and wasting money. He forbade disobeying mothers, burying daughters alive, and he forbade asking people (without real need).'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The hadeeth encourages the recitation of the mentioned expressions of remembrance after the obligatory prayers. The prohibition of squandering wealth apparently connects the narration to the chapter heading.

461. Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “None of you will be saved by his actions?” “Not even you, Messenger of Allah?” they asked. “Not even me,” he replied, “unless Allah covers me with mercy from Him. But act correctly and wisely and worship in the morning and evening and during part of the night. Keep to a middle path and you will arrive.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: As much and good as deeds may be, they are hardly completely free from shortcomings of the doer. Thus, they only profit the doer out of Allah’s mercy on him. We beg Allah to shower His mercy on us. Nevertheless, the hadeeth urges towards good deeds and being of the middle course in them and warns against extremism. This hadeeth may appear to contradict some verses of the Qur’an and narrations from the Prophetﷺ which prove that the Paradise is attained by one’s actions alone, such as Allah’s saying: “This is the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do (in the life of the world).” (Az-Zukhruf: 72). However, they all are put in their places when one understands that good deeds are a basic condition for entrance into Paradise. Yet, such must be free of things that inhibit the entrance which are only removed by Allah’s mercy. So entrance into the Paradise is not attained because of the good deeds alone. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taimiyyah – may Allah shower blessings on him – explained further: “Likewise the child; it is not given birth to by mere ejaculating the sperm into the virgina. How many have ejaculated without having a child (from such ejaculations)? The creation of the child must have been decreed by Allah, thereupon, the woman becomes pregnant and observes pre-natal care with all other things that perfect the child’s creation and the absence of whatever may inhibit same. The same applies in the affairs of the hereafter; a person will not attain success just by his deeds but they (i.e. the deeds) are only a means. Thus, the Prophetﷺ said, (then he mentioned the hadeeth under discourse).”