25. Extravagance in Building
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْضَى لَكُمْ ثَلاَثًا وَيَسْخَطُ لَكُمْ ثَلاَثًا يَرْضَى لَكُمْ أَنْ تَعْبُدُوهُ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا وَأَنْ تَعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللهِ جَمِيعًا وَأَنْ تَنَاصَحُوا مَنْ وَلاَّهُ اللَّهُ أَمْرَكُمْ وَيَكْرَهُ لَكُمْ قِيلَ وَقَالَ وَكَثْرَةَ السُّؤَالِ وَإِضَاعَةَ الْمَالِ
✧ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'Allah is pleased with three things for you and displeased with three things for you. He is pleased that you worship Him and do not associate anything with Him, that you hold fast to the rope of Allah all together, and that you give sincere advice to those whom Allah has placed in authority over your affairs. He dislikes for you idle talk, excessive questioning, and squandering wealth.'
عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ فِي قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ {وَمَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يَخْلُفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ} قَالَ فِي غَيْرِ إِسْرَافٍ ولا تَقْتِيرٍ
✧ From Ibn ʿAbbās regarding His saying, Mighty and Majestic, {And whatever you spend of anything, He will replace it, and He is the Best of providers}, he said: 'Without extravagance and without miserliness.'
عَنْ أَبِي الْعُبَيْدَيْنِ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ عَبْدَ اللهِ عَنِ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ قَالَ الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ فِي غَيْرِ حَقٍّ
✧ From Abū al-ʿUbaydayn, who said: I asked ʿAbdullāh about 'the squanderers.' He said, 'Those who spend in what is not right.'
عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ {الْمُبَذِّرِينَ} قَالَ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ فِي غَيْرِ حَقٍّ
✧ From Ibn ʿAbbās, regarding {the squanderers}: he said, 'The squanderers in what is not right.'
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 446No grade recorded
عَنْ أَبِيهِ قَالَ كَانَ عُمَرُ يَقُولُ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَصْلِحُوا عَلَيْكُمْ مَثَاوِيكُمْ وَأَخِيفُوا هَذِهِ الْجِنَّانَ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُخِيفَكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ لَنْ يَبْدُوَ لَكُمْ مُسْلِمُوهَا وَإِنَّا وَاللَّهِ مَا سَالَمْنَاهُنَّ مُنْذُ عَادَيْنَاهُنَّ
✧ From his father, who said: ʿUmar used to say from the pulpit, 'O people, set right your dwellings for your own sake, and frighten these jinn before they frighten you. For their Muslims will never be apparent to you, and by Allah we have not made peace with them since we declared enmity to them.'
عَنْ خَبَّابٍ قَالَ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ لَيُؤْجَرُ فِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ إِلا الْبِنَاءَ
✧ From Khabbāb, who said: 'A man is rewarded for everything except building.'
قَالَ لِابْنِ أَخٍ لَهُ خَرَجَ مِنَ الْوَهْطِ أَيَعْمَلُ عُمَّالُكَ؟ قَالَ لاَ أَدْرِي قَالَ أَمَا لَوْ كُنْتَ ثَقَفِيًّا لَعَلِمْتَ مَا يَعْمَلُ عُمَّالُكَ ثُمَّ الْتَفَتَ إِلَيْنَا فَقَالَ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ إِذَا عَمِلَ مَعَ عُمَّالِهِ فِي دَارِهِ وَقَالَ أَبُو عَاصِمٍ مَرَّةً فِي مَالِهِ كَانَ عَامِلاً مِنْ عُمَّالِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ
✧ He said to a nephew of his who had come from al-Wahṭ: 'Are your workers working?' He replied, 'I do not know.' He said, 'If you were a Thaqafī, you would know what your workers are doing.' Then he turned to us and said, 'When a man works with his workers in his house' – and Abū ʿĀṣim once said, 'in his property' – 'he is one of the workers of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.'
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَتَطَاوَلَ النَّاسُ فِي الْبُنْيَانِ
✧ From the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, 'The Hour will not come until people vie with one another in making buildings tall.'
سَمِعْتُ الْحَسَنَ يَقُولُ كُنْتُ أَدْخُلُ بُيُوتَ أَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِي خِلاَفَةِ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ فَأَتَنَاوَلُ سُقُفَهَا بِيَدِي
✧ I heard al-Hasan say, 'I used to enter the houses of the Prophet's ﷺ wives during the caliphate of ʿUthmān b. ʿAffān and touch their ceilings with my hand.'
أَخْبَرَنَا دَاوُدُ بْنُ قَيْسٍ قَالَ رَأَيْتُ الْحُجُرَاتِ مِنْ جَرِيدِ النَّخْلِ مَغْشِيًّا مِنْ خَارِجٍ بِمُسُوحِ الشَّعْرِ وَأَظُنُّ عَرْضَ الْبَيْتِ مِنْ بَابِ الْحُجْرَةِ إِلَى بَابِ الْبَيْتِ نَحْوًا مِنْ سِتِّ أَوْ سَبْعِ أَذْرُعٍ وَأَحْزِرُ الْبَيْتَ الدَّاخِلَ عَشْرَ أَذْرُعٍ وَأَظُنُّ سُمْكَهُ بَيْنَ الثَّمَانِ وَالسَّبْعِ نَحْوَ ذَلِكَ وَوَقَفْتُ عِنْدَ بَابِ عَائِشَةَ فَإِذَا هُوَ مُسْتَقْبِلٌ الْمَغْرِبَ
✧ Dāwud b. Qays reported to us, saying, 'I saw the rooms [of the Prophet ﷺ] made of palm branches, covered on the outside with hair cloth. I estimate the width of the house from the door of the room to the door of the house to be about six or seven cubits, and I guess the inner house to be ten cubits. I think its height was between eight and seven, about that. I stood at the door of ʿĀʾisha, and it faced the west.'
أَنْ لاَ تُطِيلُوا بِنَاءَكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ مِنْ شَرِّ أَيَّامِكُمْ
"Do not make your buildings tall. That will come about in the worst of your days."'"
عَنْ حَبَّةَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ وَسَوَاءَ بْنِ خَالِدٍ أَنَّهُمَا أَتَيَا النَّبِيَّ ﷺ وَهُوَ يُعَالِجُ حَائِطًا أَوْ بِنَاءً لَهُ فَأَعَانَاهُ
✧ From Ḥabba b. Khālid and Sawāʾ b. Khālid, that they came to the Prophet ﷺ while he was working on a wall or a building of his, and they helped him.
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ نَهَانَا أَنْ نَدْعُوَ بِالْمَوْتِ لَدَعَوْتُ بِهِ
✧ The Prophet ﷺ forbade us from supplicating for death; had he not, I would have supplicated for it.
ثُمَّ أَتَيْنَاهُ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى وَهُوَ يَبْنِي حَائِطًا لَهُ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمَ يُؤْجَرُ فِي كُلِّ شَيْءٍ يُنْفِقُهُ إِلاَّ فِي شَيْءٍ يَجْعَلُهُ فِي التُّرَابِ
✧ Then we came to him another time while he was building a wall of his, and he said, 'A Muslim is rewarded for everything he spends, except for what he puts into the earth.'
مَرَّ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ وَأَنَا أُصْلِحُ خُصًّا لَنَا فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا؟ قُلْتُ أُصْلِحُ خُصَّنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ فَقَالَ الأَمْرُ أَسْرَعُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ
The Prophet ﷺ went by while I was repairing a hut I owned. He said, 'What is this?' I replied, 'I am mending my hut, O Messenger of Allah.' He said, 'The matter is too swift for that.'"
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ مِنْ سَعَادَةِ الْمَرْءِ الْمَسْكَنُ الْوَاسِعُ وَالْجَارُ الصَّالِحُ وَالْمَرْكَبُ الْهَنِيءُ
✧ From the Prophet ﷺ: 'Part of a person's happiness is a spacious dwelling, a righteous neighbor, and a comfortable mount.'
أَنَّهُ كَانَ مَعَ أَنَسٍ بِالزَّاوِيَةِ فَوْقَ غُرْفَةٍ لَهُ فَسَمِعَ الأَذَانَ فَنَزَلَ وَنَزَلْتُ فَقَارَبَ فِي الْخُطَا فَقَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ فَمَشَى بِي هَذِهِ الْمِشْيَةَ وَقَالَ أَتَدْرِي لِمَ فَعَلْتُ بِكَ؟ فَإِنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ مَشَى بِي هَذِهِ الْمِشْيَةَ وَقَالَ أَتَدْرِي لِمَ مَشَيْتُ بِكَ؟ قُلْتُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ قَالَ لِيَكْثُرَ عَدَدُ خُطَانَا فِي طَلَبِ الصَّلاةِ
✧ He was with Anas at al-Zāwiya, above a room of his, when he heard the call to prayer. He descended, and I descended, and he shortened his steps. Then he said, 'I was with Zayd b. Thābit, and he walked with me like this and said, "Do you know why I did this with you? The Prophet ﷺ walked with me like this and said, 'Do you know why I walked with you?' I said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said, 'So that the number of our steps in seeking the prayer may be many.'"'
عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ لاَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى يَبْنِيَ النَّاسُ بُيُوتًا يُشَبِّهُونَهَا بِالْمَرَاحِلِ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَعْنِي الثِّيَابَ الْمُخَطَّطَةَ
✧ From the Prophet ﷺ: 'The Hour will not come until people build houses that they decorate like striped garments.' Ibrāhīm said, 'meaning striped cloth.'
عَنْ وَرَّادٍ كَاتِبِ الْمُغِيرَةِ قَالَ كَتَبَ مُعَاوِيَةُ إِلَى الْمُغِيرَةِ اكْتُبْ إِلَيَّ مَا سَمِعْتَ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ فَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ نَبِيَّ اللهِ ﷺ كَانَ يَقُولُ فِي دُبُرِ كُلِّ صَلاَةٍ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ اللَّهُمَّ لاَ مَانِعَ لِمَا أَعْطَيْتَ وَلاَ مُعْطِيَ لَمَا مَنَعْتَ وَلاَ يَنْفَعُ ذَا الْجَدِّ مِنْكَ الْجَدُّ وَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ يَنْهَى عَنْ قِيلَ وَقَالَ وَكَثْرَةِ السُّؤَالِ وَإِضَاعَةِ الْمَالِ وَكَانَ يَنْهَى عَنْ عُقُوقِ الأُمَّهَاتِ وَوَأْدِ الْبَنَاتِ وَمَنْعٍ وَهَاتِ
✧ From Warrād, the scribe of al-Mughīra, who said: Muʿāwiya wrote to al-Mughīra, 'Write to me what you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.' So he wrote to him: 'The Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say at the end of every prayer: "There is no god but Allah alone, with no partner. His is the dominion, and His is the praise, and He has power over all things. O Allah, none can withhold what You give, and none can give what You withhold, and no one's wealth or fortune can avail them against You."' He also wrote to him: 'He used to forbid idle talk, excessive questioning, and wasting wealth. He used to forbid disobedience to mothers, burying daughters alive, and refusing and demanding.'
قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لَنْ يُنَجِّي أَحَدًا مِنْكُمْ عَمَلٌ قَالُوا وَلاَ أَنْتَ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ قَالَ وَلاَ أَنَا إِلاَّ أَنْ يَتَغَمَّدَنِي اللَّهُ مِنْهُ بِرَحْمَةٍ فَسَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَاغْدُوا وَرُوحُوا وَشَيْءٌ مِنَ الدُّلْجَةِ وَالْقَصْدَ الْقَصْدَ تَبْلُغُوا
✧ The Prophet ﷺ said, 'No one's deeds will save him.' They said, 'Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?' He said, 'Not even me, unless Allah envelops me in His mercy. So aim for what is right, draw near, and go in the morning and the evening, and a little in the late night. Stay moderate, stay moderate, and you will reach your goal.'