The Worshipper and the Sinner

• The Prophet (peace be upon him) told this story about two men of the Children of Israel, a people who lived long before his time. Al-Durar al-Saniyya explains that the two were close like brothers for the sake of Allah, not by family, as companions and friends. 'Awn al-Ma'bud, a classical commentary on Abu Dawud's collection, also gives another meaning of the word: two men who each worked hard towards a goal, one towards good and the other towards evil (vol. 13, p. 200). One of them kept sinning; the other worked hard at worshipping Allah. The hadith does not say what the sinner's sin was.[1][7][10]
• Each time the devout man saw his friend sinning, he gave him advice and said one word, «أقصر»: stop, hold back from the sin and leave it, as al-Durar al-Saniyya and 'Awn al-Ma'bud (vol. 13, p. 200) explain. One day the sinner answered: "Leave me alone with my Lord. Have you been sent as a watchman over me?" Al-Durar al-Saniyya explains his meaning: leave me, for my Lord forgives sin and accepts those who turn back to Him; the One who watches over me, over you and over everything is Allah.[1][7][10]
• Then the devout man grew angry and swore by Allah that Allah would not forgive his friend, or, in the other words the narration gives, that Allah would not let him into Paradise. Al-Durar al-Saniyya explains that with this oath he spoke as if he could decide for Allah, about Allah's mercy to His servants. Deciding who enters Paradise or Hell belongs to Allah alone, and no one shares it with Him; whoever dares to do so puts himself in great danger.[1][7]
• Both men died and met before the Lord of all the worlds. Allah said to the devout man: "Had you knowledge about Me or had you power over that which I had in My hand?" Al-Durar al-Saniyya explains that Allah was rejecting what he had decided about the sinner, because that belongs to Allah alone. To the sinner Allah said: "Go and enter Paradise by My mercy", that is, I have forgiven you. About the other He said: "Take him to Hell", because he had firmly decided that Allah would not forgive the sinner. In Paradise, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) told in another hadith, Allah has prepared for His good servants "things which have never been seen by an eye, or heard by an ear, or imagined by a human being."[1][7][3][4]
• Abu Hurayra, who told the hadith, added: "By Him in Whose hand my soul is, he spoke a word by which this world and the next world of his were destroyed." 'Awn al-Ma'bud (vol. 13, p. 200) explains: that word destroyed what he had worked for in this world and his share of the next. Al-Durar al-Saniyya adds that he lost his good deeds, and his end in the next life was Hell. In Ahmad's longer version, Abu Hurayra tells this hadith to warn a man never to say such words to anyone, even in anger.[1][10][7][9]
• Sahih Muslim (no. 2621) has the same lesson: a man said that Allah would not forgive someone, and Allah said: "Who is he who adjures about Me that I would not grant pardon to so and so", I have forgiven him and made your deeds void. Al-Nawawi, the great scholar who explained Muslim's collection, says that «يتألى» means to swear (vol. 16, p. 133), and that the hadith shows that Allah forgives sins, when He wills, even without repentance. In another hadith (al-Bukhari 7422) Allah wrote: "My Mercy preceded My Anger"; al-Nawawi explains that this means how great and how wide His mercy is (vol. 17, p. 225).[2][11][5][6][12]
• The film ends with a verse of the Quran (Az-Zumar 39:53), in which Allah tells the Prophet to say to people who have wronged themselves by sinning: "do not despair of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all sins." Ibn Kathir explains that this verse is a call to every sinner to repent and turn back to Allah, and that one must never lose hope in Allah's mercy, even if one's sins are many and great, because "the door of repentance and mercy is expansive", that is, wide open. The scholar as-Sa'di explains: do not lose hope and say that your sins are too many to be wiped away; know that Allah forgives all sins.[13][14][15]

• Do not judge anyone's end: only Allah decides who is forgiven and who enters Paradise or Hell.[1][7]
• Advising someone is good, and it should be gentle. The devout man was not punished for his advice but for his oath that Allah would not forgive.[7]
• Watch your words, especially when you are angry: one sentence can destroy years of good deeds.[1][10][9]
• Never close the door of Allah's mercy on anyone, and never on yourself: however many the sins, the door back to Him is wide open.[2][13][14][7]
• Hope and fear go together: do not feel safe because of your own worship, and do not lose hope because of your sins.[7]
• Allah's mercy is greater than His anger: it is wider than anything we can imagine.[5][6][12]

These questions are written by Qabas Anime to help you reflect. They are not part of the hadith, the Quran or their commentaries.

1. Have you ever looked at someone's mistakes and felt sure you were better than them? What do you not see of their life with Allah?
2. The devout man's advice was good, but his words in anger were not. How can you tell someone the truth gently, without deciding for Allah?
3. One sentence ruined years of prayer and fasting. Is there something you say in anger that you would want to take back?
4. Is there someone you have given up on, or a part of yourself you think Allah would never forgive? What would change if you remembered that His mercy comes before His anger?