Commentary on Hadeeth, - Dought & clear, - * The meaning of theword Anwaat

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In the hadeeth of Abu Waaqid al-Laythi (may Allaah be pleased with him) it says: “We went out with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to Hunayn and we were new in Islam. The mushrikeen had a tree to which they would go and spend time (to seek blessings) and they used to hang their weapons on it, it was called Dhat Anwaat…” What is the meaning of the word Anwaat?.
Praise be to Allaah.
This hadeeth was narrated by Imam Ahmad (2139) and by al-Tirmidhi (2180), who said it is hasan saheeh. It was also narrated by Ibn Abi Aasim inal-Sunnah. Al-Manaawi said: its isnaad is saheeh. And it was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inRiyaadh al-Sunnah, no. 76.
These words were narrated in the hadeeth of Abu Waaqid al-Laythi (may Allaah be pleased with him): They went out from Makkah with the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to Hunayn. The kuffaar had a tree to which they would go and spend time (to seek blessings) and they used to hang their weapons on it, and it was called Dhaat Anwaat. We passed by a large green tree and we said: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, make for us a dhaat anwaat.’ The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you have said the same as the people of Moosa said: make for us a god as they have gods. Verily you are a people who know not. These are ways that you will certainly follow as did those who came before you, step by step.’
According to a report narrated by Ibn Abi ‘Aasim inKitaab al-Sunnah: And we were new in Islam (at that time).
With regard to the words Dhaat Anwaat:Anwaatis the plural of the wordnawt, which refers to anything that is hung up. Dhaat Anwaat is the tree on which these things were hung. Ibn al-Atheer said inal-Nihaayah: This is the name of a specific tree that belonged to the mushrikeen, on which they used to hang their weapons and to which they would go and spend time (to seek blessings). They asked him to make something like that for them, and he forbade them to do that.
With regard to the phrase, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you have said the same as the people of Moosa said: make for us a god as they have gods. Verily you are a people who know not”: Here the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) likened what they had said to the words of the Children of Israel when they passed by some people who were worshipping their idols. They asked Moosa (peace be upon him) to make for them a god that they could worship as those people had a god.
With regard to the phrase “These are ways that you will certainly follow as did those who came before you”: i.e., this is the way of the nations who came before you. What is meant here is the way of the people who follow whims and desires and innovations that they introduced based on their own ideas after their Prophets were gone, and they changed their religion.
According to the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed that was narrated by al-Bukhaari: “You will follow the ways of those who came before you, handspan by handspan, cubit by cubit, until even if they entered the hole of a lizard you will follow them.” We said: “O Messenger of Allaah, (do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?” He said: “Who else?”
Al-Nawawi said: This is a manifest miracle of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), for what he foretold indeed came to pass.
From this hadeeth we learn the following:
1- To beware of shirk (associating others with Allaah) and that a person may think that something is good and will bring him closer to Allaah, when it is as far removed as it can be from the mercy of his Lord and will bring him closer to His wrath.
2- Seeking blessings from trees and rocks and being attached to them are all acts of shirk which have happened in this ummah. Whoever falls into these things is following the path of the Jews and Christians and forsaking the path of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
3- What counts is meanings, not words. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) likened what they said to what the Children of Israel said, even though they were not blatantly asking for a god instead of Allaah.
4- It is forbidden to imitate the people of the Jaahiliyyah and the people of the Book in things that are unique to them and in their acts of worship.
5- It shows that when a person has moved away from falsehood to which he was accustomed, there is no guarantee that something of those old traditions will not be left in his heart, because the Sahaabah who asked him for that had only been Muslims for a few days, as they became Muslim on the day of the conquest of Makkah, then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) took them out on the campaign of Hunayn. This incident took place on the way to Hunayn.
SeeFath al-Majeed bi Sharh Kitaab al-Tawheed, 139-147; andal-Qawl al-Mufeedby Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen.
We would remind the questioner that Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab (may Allaah have mercy on him) quoted this hadeeth in his blessed bookKitaab al-Tawheed, in the chapter onSeeking blessings from trees, rocks, etc. We advise him to read this, along with the commentary, especially the two commentaries referred to above, as he will learn a great deal from it. And Allaah is the Source of strength.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Commentary on Hadeeth, - Dought & clear, - * Does this hadeeth contradict the principle of equality and justice in Islam?

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How sound is the following hadeeth, which was narrated by Abu Dawood and others: “Forgive the people of good character for their mistakes”? I have read that some people are not sure about it because it contradicts the Qur’aan and its verses which call for equality and justice.
Praise be to Allaah.
This hadeeth was narrated by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawood, al-Nasaa’i, al-Bayhaqi and others from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Forgive the people of good character for their mistakes, except in cases of hadd punishments.”
It has other isnaads which are not free of faults, but when taken together render the hadeeth hasan.
What is meant by the hadeeth is that it is recommended not to take people of good character to task if they slip up or make mistakes which are out of character, except in cases where a hadd punishment is required and news of the sin reaches the ruler, in which case the hadd punishment must be carried out.
What is meant by “people of good character” is ordinary people who possess an honourable attitude and other praiseworthy characteristics, those who are always obedient and are known for their good character, but who may slip sometimes and commit sins. This meaning was narrated by Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not call the pious who worship a great deal “people of good character” and this phrase is not used in the words of Allaah or His Messenger to describe the obedient and pious. It seems that it refers to those who are respected among the people for their status and high position. Allaah has singled them out for a kind of honour above others of their kind, meaning that if a person is modest and of good character, but then he slips up and the Shaytaan overpowers him briefly (and makes him do something out of character), we should not hasten to rebuke him and punish him, rather his mistake should be forgiven, provided that it does not involve transgressing one of the sacred limits of Allaah (for which a hadd punishment is required), because the hadd punishment must be carried out regardless of whether the one who deserves it is regarded as honourable or ignoble. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Those who came before you were destroyed because if a nobleman among them stole they would let him off, but if a weak and insignificant person stole they would carry out the punishment on him. By Allaah, if Faatimah the daughter of Muhammad were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” Saheeh – agreed upon. This highlights one of the wonderful aspects of this perfect sharee’ah.
End quote.
From the above it may be understood that the meaning of this hadeeth does not contradict the principle of equality and justice in Islam, rather it encourages overlooking sins and mistakes that are not subject to hadd punishments if they are committed by people who do not ordinarily do such things, and if not imposing a ta’zeer punishment will not lead to further trouble.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M