Sunan Ibn Maajah: Chapter One – Following the Sunnah

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

The following is an excerpt from an English translation of the Introduction to Sunan Ibn Maajah. It is the very first chapter which includes eleven important authentic hadeeths on the topic of:

Following the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah, may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace

1) Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means), “Whatever I have commanded you, do it. Whatever I have forbidden you, refrain from it.”

2) Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah: “The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means): “Leave me as I have left you (Don’t ask me the minor things that I have avoided to tell you). For those who came before you were doomed because of their questions and differences with their Prophets. If I command you to do something, then do as much of it as you can, and if I forbid you from doing something, then refrain from it.’”

3) Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah: “The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means): ‘Whoever obeys me, obeys Allaah; and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allaah.’”

4) Narrated by Aboo Ja’far: “Whenever Ibn ‘Umar heard a hadeeth from the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), he would not do more than it said, and he would not do less.”

5) Narrated by Abud-Dardaa’: “The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) came out to us when we were speaking of poverty and how we feared it. He said (what means): ‘Is it poverty that you fear? By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, this world will come to you in plenty, and nothing will cause the heart of anyone of you to deviate except that. By Allaah, I am leaving you upon the likes of a clear, white path, the night and day of which are the same.’” Aboo Darda said: “He spoke the truth, by Allaah. The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) did indeed leave us upon the likes of a clear, white path, the days and nights of which are the same.”

6) Narrated by Mu’aawiyah bin Qurrah that his father said: “The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means): ‘A group of my Ummah will continue to prevail and they will never be harmed by those who forsake them, until the Hour begins.’”

7) Narrated by Aboo Hurayrah: The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means): “A group of my Ummah will continue to adhere steadfastly to the Command of Allaah and those who oppose them will not be able to harm them.”

8) Narrated by Bakr bin Zur’ah: “I heard Aboo ‘Enabah Al-Khowlaanee, who had prayed facing both prayer directions (qiblahs) with the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), say: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) say (what means): ‘Allaah will continue to plant new people in this religion and use them in His obedience’.”

9) Narrated by ‘Amr bin Shu’ayb, that his father said: Mu’aawiyah stood up to deliver a sermon and said: ‘Where are your scholars? Where are your scholars? For I heard the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) say (what means): ‘The Hour will not begin until a group of my Ummah will prevail over the people, and they will not care who lets them down or who supports them’.”

10) Narrated by Thowbaan: The Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said (what means): “A group among my Ummah will continue to follow the Truth and prevail, and those who oppose them will not be able to harm them, until the affair of Allaah comes to pass.”

11) Narrated by Jaabir bin ‘Abdillaah: “We were with the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), and he drew a line (on the ground), then he drew two lines to its right and two to its left. Then he put his hand on the middle line and said (what means): ‘This is the Path of Allaah.’ Then he recited the Verse (which means): ( And verily, this is My straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. )” [Al-An’am 6:153]

To read the next four chapters and view the Arabic texts for the narrations, use this PDF.

To find out more information about our weekly online class studying the Introduction to Sunan Ibn Maajah, visit this page.

To get more resources to help you study this text, visit this forum.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson

9 thoughts on “Sunan Ibn Maajah: Chapter One – Following the Sunnah

  1. Assalaamu ‘Alaikum Moosaa,

    Is there a place where I can message you normally? Sometimes I want to ask a question but it’s not specific to any article. I don’t have any Salafi scholars here where I live.

    My question is: The messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

    > مَنْ تَكَفَّلَ لِي أَنْ لاَ يَسْأَلَ النَّاسَ شَيْئًا وَأَتَكَفَّلَ لَهُ بِالْجَنَّةِ
    > Whoever promises me that he will not ask the people for anything, I promise him paradise. – (My own translation. From Sunan Abi Dawood, 1643)

    I want to follow this and gain paradise. But I don’t have clear understanding. Is there an explanation I can follow? I don’t know if it even includes about asking for general knowledge. I don’t know if it includes asking for Islaamic knowledge. I don’t know if it means even when I lost my car keys and my house is a 4 hour walk away, I shouldn’t ask for a ride.

    And may Allaah reward you with good.

    • Wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaah.

      1) Your translation is inaccurate, because the hadeeth is a question, meaning: “Who will promise me that he will not ask the people for anything, so I can promise him Paradise?” Thowbaan said, “ME!” in response to the question, and thereafter he did not ask the people for anything, may Allaah be pleased with him.

      2) In the example you have given, requesting a paid service is not su’aalun-naas (asking or begging). So call someone and offer them $10 to ride you home. This is not asking for something, it is a request for a paid service, a business transaction. If they are kind and refuse your payment, you have not asked for anything. And Allaah knows best.

      May Allaah give you success.

    • Do you know of any scholar’s explanation / commentary of this hadeeth I can follow? I don’t know if it includes asking for knowledge.

    • Akhee “talab al-‘ilm” is encouraged by the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), so it obviously is not the “requesting” or “asking” that should be avoided. The books explaining the narrations in Sunan Abee Daawood are many, try al-‘Atheemabaadee’s ‘Own al-Ma’bood for starters, and perhaps Ibn al-Qayyim’s commentary. And Allaah knows best.

    • For those wondering, these books of hadith explanation are all in ‘Arabic, and very few of them have actually been translated into the English language.

      As far as I’m aware, only two complete hadith collections have full explanations available in English: Sharh Riyaadh Al-Saaliheen of Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen [Darussalam, 6 volumes] and Sharh Sahih Muslim of Imam Nawawi [The Islamic Foundation, 7 or 8 volumes]

  2. السلام عليكم
    Please ustaadh, a friend has mentioned that hijrah from kuffar countries is waajib but I thought it was only if you can’t practice your religion.
    I read shaikh albani’s explain of it and I’m very confused now
    Please clarify

    • Our teacher here in the North of England, Abu Muadh Taqweem Aslam, broke it down very clearly within this lecture, which was part of a very beneficial Three Fundamental Principles class I used to attend a few years back. In principle, hijrah is recommended rather than obligatory from kafir countries IF you can practice ALL of your religion (even if a law prevents you from ONE obligation of the religion, then hijrah becomes obligatory for the one who is able to make the necessary preparations for it, even if you can practice everything else) openly AND the ideologies widespread in the land don’t have a significant impact on you. http://www.tawheedrochdale.com/the-three-fundamental-principles-part-14/

  3. As-salamu alaykum brother Moosa, does this athar attributed to Alee (radiAllahu anhu) have any basis you know of? “Do not eat the meat slaughtered by Banu Taglab because they adhere to Christianity by drinking alcohol.” JazakAllahu khayr.

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