Riyad as-Salihin

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "It is an act of oppression on the part of a person to procrastinate in fulfilling his obligation; if the repayment of a debt due to any of you is undertaken by a rich person, you should agree to the substitution.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He who gives something (to someone) as a gift and then gets it back (from him or her) is like a dog which eats its own vomit."Another narration is: "He who gets back his charity is like a dog which vomits and then returns to that and eats it.".

I donated a horse in the way of Allah. Its new possessor did not treat it properly. I made my mind to buy it because I thought that he would sell it at a cheap price (now that it became weak and emaciated). I asked the Prophet (ﷺ) about it, whereupon he said, "Do not buy it and do not get back your charity, for one who gets back the charity is like a dog that eats its own vomit."

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Keep away from the seven fatalities." It was asked: "What are they, O Messenger of Allah?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Associating anything with Allah in worship (i.e., committing an act of Shirk), sorcery, killing of one whom Allah has declared inviolable without a just cause, devouring the property of an orphan, the eating of usury (Riba), fleeing from the battlefield and accusing chaste believing women, who never even think of anything touching their chastity.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the one who accepts Ar-Riba (the usury) and the one who pays it. . The narration in At-Tirmidhi adds: And the one who records it, and the two persons who stand witness to it.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Almighty Allah says, 'I am the One Who is most free from want of partners. He who does a thing for the sake of someone else beside Me, I discard him and his polytheism..".

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "The first to be judged on the Day of Resurrection will be a man who had died as a martyr. He will be brought forward. Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?' The man will reply: 'I fought for Your Cause till I was martyred.' Allah will say: 'You have lied. You fought so that people might call you courageous; and they have done so.' Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man who had acquired and imparted knowledge and read the Qur'an will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. Then He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?' The man will reply: 'I acquired knowledge and taught it, and read the Qur'an for Your sake.' Allah will say to him: 'You have lied. You acquired knowledge so that people might call you a learned (man), and you read the Qur'an so that they might call you a reciter, and they have done so.' Command will then be issued about him, and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell. Next a man whom Allah had made affluent and to whom Allah had given plenty of wealth, will be brought forward, Allah will remind him of the favours He had bestowed upon him and the man will acknowledge them. He will ask him: 'What did you do to express gratitude for it?' The man will reply: 'I did not neglect any of the ways You liked wealth to be spent liberally for Your sake'. Allah will say to him: 'You have lied. You did it so that people might call you generous, and they have done so.' Command will then be issued about him and he will be dragged on his face and thrown into Hell.".

Some people told me, "We visit our rulers and we tell them things contrary to those which we say when we depart from them." `Abdullah bin `Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) replied: "In the era of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) we considered this to be an act of hypocrisy." .

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "He who so acts to show off, Allah will disgrace him on the Day of Resurrection, and he who does good deeds so that people (may hold him in high esteem), Allah will expose his hidden evil intentions before the people on the Day of Resurrection.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A person who acquires (religious) knowledge, which is (normally) acquired to gain the Pleasure of Allah, (for the sole reason) to secure worldly comforts will not even smell the fragrance of Jannah on the Day of Resurrection (i.e., will not enter Jannah).".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was asked: "Tell us about a person who does some good deed and people praise him, will this be considered as showing off?" He replied, "This is the glad tidings which a believer receives (in this life).".

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has written the very portion of Zina which a man will indulge in. There will be no escape from it. The Zina of the eye is the (lustful) look, the Zina of the ears is the listening (to voluptuous songs or talk), the Zina of the tongue is (the licentious) speech, the Zina of the hand is the (lustful) grip, the Zina of the feet is the walking (to the place where he intends to commit Zina), the heart yearns and desires and the private parts approve all that or disapprove it.".This is the wording in Muslim; Al-Bukhari wording is a bit short.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Avoid sitting on roadsides." His Companions said: "O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), there is no other alternative but to sit there to talk." Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "If you have to sit at all, then fulfill the rights of the road." They asked: "What are their rights?" Thereupon he said, "Lowering the gaze (so that you may not stare at unlawful things); refraining from doing some harm to others, responding to greeting (i.e., saying 'Wa'alaikumus- salam' to one another) and commanding the good and forbidding the evil.".

We were sitting and talking on a platform in front of our house when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) stopped by us and said, "Why do you sit on roads? Avoid sitting in them." We replied: "We sit there intending no harm. We only sit and discuss (religious) knowledge and talk." He said, "If you have to sit, you should fulfill the rights of the road: Lower your gaze, respond to greetings and talk in a good manner.".

I asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) about (the Islamic ruling on) accidental glance (i.e., at a woman one is not Islamically allowed to look at) and he ordered me to turn my eyes away..

I was with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) along with Maimunah (May Allah be pleased with her) when Ibn Umm Maktum (May Allah be pleased with him) (who was blind) came to visit him. (This incident took place after the order of Hijab). The Prophet (ﷺ) told us to hide ourselves from him (i.e., observe Hijab). We said: "O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), he is blind and is unable to see us, nor does he know us." He replied; "Are you also blind and unable to see him?".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "A man must not look at a man's private parts nor must a woman look at a woman's private parts; neither should two men lie naked under one cover, nor should two women lie naked under the same cover.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Avoid (entering a place) in which are women (uncovered or simply to mix with them in seclusion)." A man from the Ansar said, "Tell me about the brother of a woman's husband." He replied, "The brother of a woman's husband is death.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "No one of you should meet a woman in privacy unless she is accompanied by a Mahram (i.e., a relative within the prohibited degrees).".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The sanctity of the wives of Mujahidun (i.e., those who strive hard and fight in the way of Allah) for those who remain at home (i.e., those who do not go to the battlefield to fight Jihad) is like the sanctity of their own mothers. Anyone who remains behind to look after the family of a Mujahid and betrays his trust, will be made to stand on the Day of Resurrection before the Mujahid who will take away from his meritorious deeds whatever he likes till he is satisfied." The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) turned toward us and said, "Now, what do you think (i.e., will he leave anything with him)?".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed those men who are effeminate, and women who imitate men.Another narration is: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed men who copy women and cursed women who copy men..

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed a man who puts on the dress of women, and a woman who puts on the dress of men..

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "There are two types of people who will be punished in Hell and whom I have not seen: men having whips like the tails of cows and they will be beating people with them, and, women who will be dressed but appear to be naked, inviting to evil; and they themselves will be inclined to it. Their heads will appear like the humps of the Bactrian camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Jannah and they will not smell its fragrance which is perceptible from such and such a distance.".

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: "Do not eat with your left hand, because Satan eats and drinks with his left hand.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "No person should eat and drink with his left hand for Satan eats with his left hand and drinks with his left hand.".

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: "Jews and Christians do not dye their hair, so act differently from them.".

Abu Quhafah, father of Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with them) was presented to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) on the day of the conquest of Makkah and his head and beard were snow white. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Change it (i.e., dye it and avoid black colour).".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade shaving a part of the head..

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saw a boy, some portion of whose head was shaved and some of it was left out. He prohibited them from that and said, "Shave the whole of it or leave the whole of it.".

The Prophet (ﷺ) gave respite for three days to the family of Ja'far (after his martydom). Then he came and said, "Don't weep for my brother after this day." He said, "Bring all of my nephews to me." We were accordingly brought as if we were chickens. Then he said, "Call for me a barber." He directed him to shave our heads which he did..

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) prohibited a woman from shaving her head..

A woman came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have a daughter who had an attack of small pox and her hair fell off. Now I want to celebrate her marriage. Can I get her a wig?" Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has cursed the maker and wearer of a wig.".

A similar narration was narrated on the authority of 'Aishah.

I saw Mu'awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) during the Hajj (pilgrimage) standing on the pulpit. He took from the guard a bunch of hair, and said: "O people of Al-Madinah! Where are your scholars? (Why do they do not prohibit you) I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) prohibiting from using this (false hair) and saying, 'The people of Bani Israel were ruined when their women wore such hair."'

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed the maker and wearer of a wig and the tattooer and the one who is tattooed..

Allah has cursed those women who practise tattooing and those women who have themselves tattooed, and those women who get their hair removed from their eyebrows and faces (except the beard and the mustache), and those who make artificial spaces between their teeth for beauty, whereby they change Allah's creation. A woman started to argue with him, saying: "What is all this?" He replied: "Why should I not curse those whom the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) cursed and who are cursed in Allah's Book? Allah, the Exalted, has said in His Book:"And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad (ﷺ)) gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it)." (59:7).

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He who does something contrary to our way (i.e., Islam) will have it rejected.".

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Do not touch your private parts with your right hand while urinating, nor for washing or cleaning (your private parts); and do not breathe into the drinking vessel from which you drink.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "None of you should walk wearing one shoe; you should either wear them both or take them off both.".

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "When the lace of one of the shoes of any one of you is cut off, he should not walk with the other until he has got the lace repaired.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade a person wearing (tying up) his shoe while standing..

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Do not keep the fire burning in your homes when you go to bed.".

A house in Al-Madinah was burnt with its occupants inside it one night. When this was reported to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) he said, "Fire is your enemy. So, put it out before going to bed.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Cover up the (kitchen) containers (i.e., pots, pans, etc.), tie up the mouth of the water-skin, lock up the doors and extinguish the lamps, because Satan can neither untie the water-skin nor open the door nor uncover the containers. If one can cover the cooking pot even by placing a piece of wood across it, and pronounce the Name of Allah on it, let him do it. A mouse can sometimes cause a house to burn along its dwellers."

We have been forbidden to go into excess..

We visited 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) and he said to us: O people! He who has the knowledge of any matter may convey it to the others. And he who has no knowledge, thereof, should say: "Allahu a'lam (Allah knows better)." It is a part and parcel of knowledge that a man who has no knowledge of a matter should say: "Allah knows better." Allah said to His Prophet (ﷺ):"Say (O Muhammad (ﷺ)): 'No wage do I ask of you for this (the Qur'an), nor am I one of the Mutakallifun (those who pretend and fabricate things which do not exist)."' (38:86).

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The deceased is tortured in his grave for bewailing over him.".

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "He who (on befalling a calamity) slaps his cheeks, tears his clothes and follows the ways and traditions of the Days of Ignorance is none of us.".

(My father) Abu Musa got seriously ill and lost his consciousness. His head was in the lap of a woman of the family and she began to wail. When Abu Musa recovered his consciousness, he said: "I am innocent of those from whom Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is innocent. Verily, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) declared himself free of (the responsibility) for a woman who wails, shaves her head and tears up her clothes.".

I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying, "He who allows (others) to wail over his death, will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection.".