Arba'un 9 — what I forbid you, avoid

الأربعون 9 — ما نهيتكم عنه فاجتنبوه

Abu Hurayra (may God be pleased with him)'s hadith, the ninth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Bukhari (7288) and Muslim (1337) — Muslim having this wording through al-Zuhri from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab and Abu Salama from Abu Hurayra — and a narration gives its occasion: a man asking, when hajj was imposed, 'every year?' until the Prophet ﷺ answered 'had I said yes it would have been obligatory and you could not have managed'; Ibn Rajab derives from it the prohibition of asking about what is not needed, of asking out of obstinacy, frivolity or mockery, of asking about what God has hidden from His servants, and of questions about the lawful and unlawful that might bring down stricter rulings, citing Sa'd's hadith 'the most sinful of Muslims is one who asked about what had not been forbidden and it was forbidden because of his question', and that licence to ask was granted to bedouins and delegations rather than the Muhajirun and Ansar (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 218–238).

Summary

Hadith of Abu Hurayra: "What I have forbidden you, avoid; what I have commanded you, do as much of it as you can". The hadith of the man who asked each year about the pilgrimage shows that one should not ask about what is not needed, or ask to test or mock. ¹

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Source: the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi. Mentions Abu Hurayra. Built on in the chapters on command, prohibition and ability.

Arba'un 26 — charity is due on every joint

The hadith of Abu Hurayra that the Messenger of God said 'on every joint of the people a charity is due each day the sun rises', then enumerated among them judging justly between two people, helping a man onto his mount or lifting his goods onto it, the good word, every step walked to prayer, and removing harm from the road — the twenty-sixth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; the two Shaykhs transmitted it through Hammam ibn Munabbih from Abu Hurayra (al-Bukhari 2707, 2891, 2989; Muslim 1009), the routes coming long and short; sulama is the plural of sulamiyya — the finger-joints, or what lies between each two joints, or every hollow small bone — so the hadith means a charity on every bone of the son of Adam; al-Bazzar transmits through Abu Salih from Abu Hurayra 'man has three hundred and sixty bones, or six and thirty joints, upon each a daily charity', then the descending ladder for one who finds nothing: commanding right and forbidding wrong, then removing a bone from the road, then aiding the weak, then at least sparing people his evil — with remarks on its chain; Muslim (1007) carries from A'isha 'the son of Adam was created upon three hundred and sixty joints; whoever mentions God, praises Him, declares His unity, glorifies Him, or removes a stone, a thorn or a bone from the Muslims' road, or commands right or forbids wrong, numbering those three hundred and sixty joints, ends his day having moved his soul away from the Fire'; Muslim also carries through Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali from Abu Dharr in near wording ending 'and two rak'as performed at mid-morning suffice for all of that'; Ahmad and Abu Dawud carry from Burayda the three-hundred-and-sixty-joints wording with 'spittle in the mosque which you bury and a thing you move from the road — and if not, two mid-morning rak'as suffice you'; the two Sahihs carry from Abu Musa 'on every Muslim is a charity' with its ladder — working with his hands for his own benefit and alms, aiding the desperate needy, commanding right, and finally withholding from evil, 'for that is an alms from him'; and Ibn Hibban carries it from Ibn Abbas through a chain open to question — Samak from Ikrima is unsettled — though the hadith has what corroborates it (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 546–565).

Arba'un 9 — what I forbid you, avoid

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Arba'un 26 — charity is due on every joint