Assalamualaikum wr wb,
Please give explanation of the below hadith.
HADITH QUDSI 33
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), from among the things he reports from his Lord (mighty and sublime be He), is that he said: “A servant [of Allah’s] committed a sin and said: ‘O Allah, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them.’ Then he sinned again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for them.’ Then he sinned again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ And He (glorified and exalted be He) said: ‘My servant has committed a sin and has known that he has a Lord who forgives sins and punishes for sins. Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.'” [Muslim (also by al-Bukhari).]
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Khaleel
Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Dear Brother
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
About Ahadith, two basic things must be noted.
1. Sometimes, narrators describe explanatory notes from their own which their students consider a part of the Hadith and note down in their books. Before invention of printing press, the style of transmitting Hadith was that a teacher read Hadith from his personal hand-written book and his students wrote his words in their personal books. Subsequently, the students read their books in front of the teacher and he approved / disapproved what they wrote. Sometimes, it was likely that a student would write teacher’s explanatory note along with Hadith and then he may not find enough time to confirm it with his teacher.
2. Hadith should not contradict the Quran or other authentic Ahadith. If it does so, it should be interpreted and if interpretition is not possible, it should not be accepted as Prophet’s words.
The sentence you’ve highlighted, “Do whatever you want” seems to be an interpolation of a narrator as it is clearly contradictory to the Quran and other Ahadith and no satisfactory interpretation is possible. It is a well-known principle that any Hadith will be understood in the light of the Quran and other Ahadith. This sentence is totally negating the primary message of the Quran and other Ahadith that man is accountable in front of God for his deeds. Repentance is Allah’s mercy but it does not give man a license to do whatever right or wrong a person wants to do. Therefore, it could not be a sentence of the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم. It is either misunderstanding or interpolation of an over-optimistic narrator.
Another sentence mentioned by Muslim (Kitab ut Tauba, Hadith 2758) at the end of this Hadith indicates that the narrator Abdul A’ala was confused about this sentence.
قال عبدالأعلى: لا أدري أقال في الثالثة أو الرابعة اعمل ما شئت۔
Abdul A’ala said: I don’t recall whether he (his teacher) said it third or fourth time: “Do whatever you want.”
So it indicates that the narrators had some confusion about this sentence. So we can conclude that it might be misunderstanding or interpolation of some narrator and not the words of the Prophet.
wassalaam
Muhammad Mubashir Nazir
Brother Mubashir
Assalamoalikum Wa rahmatullahi Wa Brakatahu,
Jazakallahokhaira Brother for your answer!
Is the below mentioned word available in Bukhari as well? if yes then what imam bukhari has wrote about the word?
فليعمل ما شاء
How many ahadees are there with the same having the above word?
What is the fahum salaf (understanding of ancient scholars) on the particular word?
I hope i am not bothering you.
Jazakallahokhaira!
Khaleel
Dear Brother
Wa alaikum us salam wa Rahmatullah
The Hadith is reported by both Bukhari and Muslim. In Bukhari, its number is 7507. Imam Bukhari does not put his own comments on ahadith, he simply compiles them. It is the job of Hadith Commentators to elaborate the words. I’ve seen two commentaries of Bukhari. In Fath-ul-Bari, nothing is mentioned about these words. Other commentary “Umdatul Qari” written by Allama A’aini contains the following comments on these words:
قوله فليعمل ما شاء معناه ما دمت تذنب فتتوب غفرت لك
His words: “So he should do whatever he wants” means that whenever he’ll commit a sin and will repent, he will be forgiven.”
The same words are given by Nawawi, the commentator of Muslim.
Those who have accepted these words have taken them in meaning that: “A person is free to do whatever right or wrong he wants. If he repents, Allah will forgive him.”
All of them agree that repentance means that a person decides to never commit the sin again. If a person repents by keeping in mind that he’ll do the same again, it is not repentance. None of these commentators give a free license to do whatever a person wants.
wassalaam
Muhammad Mubashir Nazir
Don’t hesitate to share your questions and comments. They will be highly appreciated. I’ll reply as soon as possible if I know the answer. Send at mubashirnazir100@gmail.com.