The burdens and shackles that had weighed upon those who came before us.
Allah, exalted is He, says of him—peace and blessings be upon him:
“He relieves them of their burden and the fetters that had been upon them.” (Al-A‘rāf 7:157)
Thus Allah, glorified be He, informs us that His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, removes the burdens and chains that had been imposed on the People of the Scripture. When the believers prayed for this relief, the Messenger told them that their supplication had been answered.
Even though this constitutes the lifting of certain obligations and prohibitions, Allah loves that His concessions be accepted just as He detests that His commands be violated—a point authentically reported from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
(1) The term al-aghlal is omitted in manuscripts A, J, and D. Al-asar (pl. of isr) denotes a sin or a burden, whereas al-aghlal are shackles; see Mukhtar al-Sihah, root ISR, p. 18, and root GLL, p. 478.
(2) The verb kana (“was”) is missing from manuscript B.
(3) The printed edition reads qablahum (“before them”).
(4) Qur’an, Surah al-Araf, part of verse 157.
(5) The printed text has: “The Messenger informed them that God had answered…,” etc.
(6) See the preceding note.
(7) The report appears in Musnad Ahmad on the authority of Abdullah b. Umar: “Allah loves that His permissions be taken just as He dislikes that His prohibitions be violated” (Musnad Ahmad, 2/108, Musnad of Abdullah b. Umar). Al-Suyuti grades it sound in al-Jamiʿ al-Saghir (1/288, no. 1894) and notes that it is also transmitted by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and by al-Bayhaqi in Shuʿab al-Iman. Ibn Khuzaymah includes it in his Sahih, Book of Fasting, no. 2027 (1/259) with the wording: “Allah loves that His permissions be taken just as He loves that His disobedience be avoided.”
(8) See the previous note.