حديث جبريل
عَنْ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ أَيْضًا قَالَ: ‟ بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ جُلُوسٌ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ، إذْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْنَا رَجُلٌ شَدِيدُ بَيَاضِ الثِّيَابِ، شَدِيدُ سَوَادِ الشَّعْرِ، لَا يُرَى عَلَيْهِ أَثَرُ السَّفَرِ، وَلَا يَعْرِفُهُ مِنَّا أَحَدٌ. حَتَّى جَلَسَ إلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه و سلم. فَأَسْنَدَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ إلَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ، وَوَضَعَ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى فَخِذَيْهِ، وَقَالَ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ أَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِسْلَامِ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لَا إلَهَ إلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ، وَتُقِيمَ الصَّلَاةَ، وَتُؤْتِيَ الزَّكَاةَ، وَتَصُومَ رَمَضَانَ، وَتَحُجَّ الْبَيْتَ إنْ اسْتَطَعْت إلَيْهِ سَبِيلًا. قَالَ: صَدَقْت. فَعَجِبْنَا لَهُ يَسْأَلُهُ وَيُصَدِّقُهُ! قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِيمَانِ. قَالَ: أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاَللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ، وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ. قَالَ: صَدَقْت. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ الْإِحْسَانِ. قَالَ: أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّك تَرَاهُ، فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاك. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ السَّاعَةِ. قَالَ: مَا الْمَسْئُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنْ السَّائِلِ. قَالَ: فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنْ أَمَارَاتِهَا؟ قَالَ: أَنْ تَلِدَ الْأَمَةُ رَبَّتَهَا، وَأَنْ تَرَى الْحُفَاةَ الْعُرَاةَ الْعَالَةَ رِعَاءَ الشَّاءِ يَتَطَاوَلُونَ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ. ثُمَّ انْطَلَقَ، فَلَبِثْتُ مَلِيًّا، ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا عُمَرُ أَتَدْرِي مَنْ السَّائِلُ؟ قُلْتُ: اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ. قَالَ: فَإِنَّهُ جِبْرِيلُ أَتَاكُمْ يُعَلِّمُكُمْ دِينَكُمْ ”. [رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ]
Also narrated on the authority of ʿUmar (raḍ. ʿanhu). He said: We were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ one day when a man appeared with extremely white clothes and extremely black hair. There were no traces of travel upon him and none of us recognised him. He sat close to the Prophet ﷺ with their knees touching. He placed his palms upon his thighs, and said, "O Muḥammad, inform me about Islām." So the Prophet ﷺ said, "Islām is to testify that there is no god except Allāh, and that Muḥammad is the messenger of Allāh, and to establish the ṣalāh, and to pay the zakāh, and to fast in Ramaḍān, and to do ḥajj of the House (of Allāh ﷻ) if one can find a way to it." So he (the man) said, "You have spoken the truth." We were amazed: he asked him a question and then substantiated it. He said, "Then inform me regarding Īmān." He ﷺ said, "That you believe in Allāh, and His angels, and His books, and His messengers, and the Day of Judgement, and that you believe in qadar, its good and its bad." He (the man) said, "You have spoken the truth." He said, "Then inform me regarding Iḥsān." The Prophet ﷺ said, "That you worship Allāh as though you see Him, and if you cannot see Him then verily He sees you." He said, "So inform me about the Hour." The Prophet ﷺ said, "The one being asked is no more knowing than the questioner." He said, "Then inform me about its signs." He said, "The slave girl will give birth to her mistress, and that you will see barefoot, naked, destitute shepherds competing in tall buildings." Thereafter he left, so I waited a while. Then he ﷺ said, "O ʿUmar, do you know who the questioner was?" I said, "Allāh and His messenger know best." He said, "It was Jibrīl. He came to you so that he may teach you your religion." Narrated by Muslim.
*Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim*
This ḥadīth is an important one, encompassing all of the sciences of sharīʿah as well as the inner and outer dimensions of action. It is said that this ḥadīth is the mother of the sunnah, just as Sūrat al-Fātiḥah is the mother of the Book.
when a man appeared
Although the appearance was that of a man, it was in fact Jibrīl, an angel, who came in the form of a man.
with extremely white clothes and extremely black hair
The ḥadīth shows that one ought to wear good clothes and present a fitting appearance when entering upon the ʿulamāʾ and the people of virtue. Jibrīl came as a teacher for mankind, not only in his words but in his appearance.
There were no traces of travel upon him and none of us recognised him.
The Companions of the Prophet ﷺ could usually distinguish a traveller from a resident of Madīnah easily enough. The man bore no signs of travel, however, and yet no one recognised him: he was not someone known in Madīnah, and so he was a stranger.
He sat close to the Prophet ﷺ with their knees touching. He placed his palms upon his thighs.
The wording in Muslim is, on its face, ambiguous about whose palms rested where. al-Nasāʾī's narration clarifies that he placed his hands upon the knees of the Prophet ﷺ. Others have read the matn as "he placed his hands upon his own thighs", which is the best way to sit out of respect for the teacher.
He said, "O Muḥammad"
He did not say "O Messenger of Allāh", and some of the Companions may have taken this to mean that he was an Arab. The bedouins would often address the Prophet ﷺ by his name, as in this case, where the people of Madīnah would refer to him as the Prophet, or as the Messenger of Allāh ﷻ.
"Inform me about Islām." So the Prophet ﷺ said, "Islām is to testify that there is no god except Allāh, and that Muḥammad is the messenger of Allāh, and to establish the ṣalāh, and to pay the zakāh, and to fast in Ramaḍān, and to do ḥajj of the House (of Allāh) if one can find a way to it."
There is a long discussion in the literature on the relation of Islām to īmān. The ḥadīth shows that the two are distinct, both literally and in sharīʿah, though in practice the words are often used interchangeably.
The Prophet ﷺ defined Islām as the outer and apparent actions,1 encompassing both sayings and deeds. The first is to testify that there is no god except Allāh ﷻ and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh ﷻ; this is an action of the tongue. The remainder are actions performed with the limbs, which fall into actions of the body, such as establishing ṣalāh and fasting in Ramaḍān, and actions of wealth, such as the payment of zakāh. Ḥajj encompasses both.
One of the aḥādīth that shows Islām to mean outer and apparent actions is:
The word "Muslim" in this ḥadīth is derived from the same root as "Islām".
So he (the man) said, "You have spoken the truth." We were amazed: he asked him a question and then substantiated it.
The Companions were amazed because the questioner was not known to have met the Prophet ﷺ before, nor had they heard of him. They were also struck that he should ask a question only to verify the answer.
He said, "Then inform me regarding Īmān." He ﷺ said, "That you believe in Allāh, and His angels, and His books, and His messengers, and the Day of Judgement, and that you believe in qadar, its good and its bad." He (the man) said, "You have spoken the truth."
The Prophet ﷺ described īmān as a matter of belief.
Belief in the Prophet ﷺ entails belief in everything he ﷺ informed us of: angels, prophets, books, the resurrection, qadar, and all that the Prophet ﷺ told us about, including the qualities of Allāh ﷻ, the description of the Day of Judgement, the scales, the bridge, and the descriptions of Heaven and Hell.
The opening ḥadīth of Imām al-Nawawī's Forty: actions are judged by their intentions, and a person has of an act only what they intended by it.
Nawawī's third ḥadīth: Islam is built on five pillars, the shahādah, ṣalāh, zakāh, ḥajj, and the fast of Ramaḍān.
Nawawī's thirtieth ḥadīth: Allāh has set obligations, limits, and prohibitions, and has remained silent about other matters out of mercy.
A biographical sketch of Imām al-Bukhārī: his lineage, character, scholarly competence, teachers, students, madhhab, writings, and death.
