Volume 4, Book 56, Number 684:
Narrated Abu Sa’id:
The Prophet said, “Amongst the people preceding your age, there was a man whom Allah had giv –
en a lot of money. While he was in his death-bed, he called his sons and said, ‘What type of father
have I been to you? They replied, ‘You have been a good father.’ He said, ‘I have never done a single
good deed; so when I die, burn me, crush my body, and scatter the resulting ashes on a windy day.’
His sons did accordingly, but Allah gathered his particles and asked (him), ‘What made you do so?’
He replied, “Fear of you.’ So Allah bestowed His Mercy upon him. (forgave him).”
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Volume 4, Book 56, Number 669:
Narrated Jundub:
Allah’s Apostle said, “Amongst the nations before you there was a man who got a wound, and
growing impatient (with its pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it and the blood did not stop
till he died. Allah said, ‘My Slave hurried to bring death upon himself so I have forbidden him (to
enter) Paradise.’ “
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 670:
Narrated Abu Huraira: that he heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “Allah willed to test three Israelis who
were a Leper, a blind man and a bald-headed man. So, he sent them an angel who came to the leper
and said, ‘What thing do you like most?’ He replied, “Good color and good skin, for the people have a
strong aversion to me.’ The angel touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given a good
color and beautiful skin. The angel asked him, ‘What kind of property do you like best?’ He replied,
‘Camels (or cows).’ (The narrator is in doubt, for either the leper or the bald-headed man demanded
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camels and the other demanded cows.) So he (i.e. the leper) was given a pregnant she-camei, and the
angel said (to him), ‘May Allah bless you in it.’
The angel then went to the bald-headed man and said, ‘What thing do you like most?’ He said, ‘I
like good hair and wish to be cured of this disease, for the people feel repulsion for me.’ The angel
touched him and his illness was cured, and he was given good hair. The angel asked (him), ‘What
kind of property do you like bests’ He replied, ‘Cows,’ The angel gave him a pregnant cow and said,
‘May Allah bless you in it.’ The angel went to the blind man and asked, ‘What thing do you like best?’
He said, ‘(I like) that Allah may restore my eye-sight to me so that I may see the people.’ The angel
touched his eyes and Allah gave him back his eye-sight. The angel asked him, “What kind of prop –
erty do you like best?’ He replied, ‘Sheep.’ The angel gave him a pregnant sheep. Afterwards, all the
three pregnant animals gave birth to young ones, and multiplied and brought forth so much that one
of the (three) men had a herd of camels filling a valley, and one had a herd of cows filling a valley,
and one had a flock of sheep filling a valley. Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance
of a leper, went to the leper and said, I am a poor man, who has lost all means of livelihood while on
a journey. So none will satisfy my need except Allah and then you. In the Name of Him Who has giv –
en you such nice color and beautiful skin, and so much property, I ask you to give me a camel so that
I may reach my destination. The man replied, ‘I have many obligations (so I cannot give you).’ The
angel said, ‘I think I know you; were you not a leper to whom the people had a strong aversion?
Weren’t you a poor man, and then Allah gave you (all this property).’ He replied, ‘(This is all wrong),
I got this property through inheritance from my fore-fathers’ The angel said, ‘If you are telling a lie,
then let Allah make you as you were before. ‘
Then the angel, disguised in the shape and appearance of a bald man, went to the bald man and
said to him the same as he told the first one, and he too answered the same as the first one did. The
angel said, ‘If you are telling a lie, then let Allah make you as you were before.’
The angel, disguised in the shape of a blind man, went to the blind man and said, ‘I am a poor man
and a traveler, whose means of livelihood have been exhausted while on a journey. I have nobody to
help me except Allah, and after Him, you yourself. I ask you in the Name of Him Who has given you
back your eye-sight to give me a sheep, so that with its help, I may complete my journey’ The man
said, ‘No doubt, I was blind and Allah gave me back my eye-sight; I was poor and Allah made me
rich; so take anything you wish from my property. By Allah, I will not stop you for taking anything
(you need) of my property which you may take for Allah’s sake.’ The angel replied, ‘Keep your prop –
erty with you. You (i.e 3 men) have been tested and Allah is pleased with you and is angry with your
two companions.”
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 671:
Narrated Ibn Umar:
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Allah’s Apostle said, “Once three persons (from the previous nations) were traveling, and suddenly
it started raining and they took shelter in a cave. The entrance of the cave got closed while they were
inside. They said to each other, ‘O you! Nothing can save you except the truth, so each of you should
ask Allah’s Help by referring to such a deed as he thinks he did sincerely (i.e. just for gaining Allah’s
Pleasure).’ So one of them said, ‘O Allah! You know that I had a laborer who worked for me for one
Faraq (i.e. three Sas) of rice, but he departed, leaving it (i.e. his wages). I sowed that Faraq of rice and
with its yield I bought cows (for him). Later on when he came to me asking for his wages, I said (to
him), ‘Go to those cows and drive them away.’ He said to me, ‘But you have to pay me only a Faraq of
rice,’ I said to him, ‘Go to those cows and take them, for they are the product of that Faraq (of rice).’
So he drove them. O Allah! If you consider that I did that for fear of You, then please remove the
rock.’ The rock shifted a bit from the mouth of the cave. The second one said, ‘O Allah, You know that
I had old parents whom I used to provide with the milk of my sheep every night. One night I was
delayed and when I came, they had slept, while my wife and children were crying with hunger. I
used not to let them (i.e. my family) drink unless my parents had drunk first. So I disliked to wake
them up and also disliked that they should sleep without drinking it, I kept on waiting (for them to
wake) till it dawned. O Allah! If You consider that I did that for fear of you, then please remove the
rock.’ So the rock shifted and they could see the sky through it. The (third) one said, ‘O Allah! You
know that I had a cousin (i.e. my paternal uncle’s daughter) who was most beloved to me and I
sought to seduce her, but she refused, unless I paid her one-hundred Dinars (i.e. gold pieces). So I
collected the amount and brought it to her, and she allowed me to sleep with her. But when I sat
between her legs, she said, ‘Be afraid of Allah, and do not deflower me but legally. ‘I got up and left
the hundred Dinars (for her). O Allah! If You consider that I did that for fear of you than please re –
move the rock. So Allah saved them and they came out (of the cave).” (This Hadith indicates that one
can only ask Allah for help directly or through his performed good deeds. But to ask Allah through
dead or absent prophets, saints, spirits, holy men, angels etc. is absolutely forbidden in Islam and it is
a kind of disbelief.)
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 672:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
That he heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “While a lady was nursing her child, a rider passed by and
she said, ‘O Allah! Don’t let my child die till he becomes like this (rider).’ The child said, ‘O Allah!
Don’t make me like him,’ and then returned to her breast (sucking it). (After a while) they passed by
a lady who was being pulled and teased (by the people). The child’s mother said, ‘O Allah! Do not
make my child like her.’ The child said, ‘O Allah! Make me like her.’ Then he said, ‘As for the rider, he
is an infidel, while the lady is accused of illegal sexual intercourse (falsely) and she says: Allah is suf –
ficient for me (He knows the truth).”
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Volume 4, Book 56, Number 673:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, “While a dog was going round a well and was about to die of thirst, an Israeli
prostitute saw it and took off her shoe and watered it. So Allah forgave her because of that good
deed.”
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 674:
Narrated Humaid bin ‘Abdur-Rahman:
That he heard Muawiya bin Abi Sufyan (talking) on the pulpit in the year when he performed the
Hajj. He took a tuft of hair that was in the hand of an orderly and said, “O people of Medina! Where
are your learned men? I heard the Prophet forbidding such a thing as this (i.e. false hair) and he used
to say, ‘The Israelis were destroyed when their ladies practiced this habit (of using false hair to
lengthen their locks).”
Volume 4, Book 56, Number 675:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, “Amongst the people preceding you there used to be ‘Muhaddithun’ (i.e. persons
who can guess things that come true later on, as if those persons have been inspired by a divine
power), and if there are any such persons amongst my followers, it is ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab.”