and before long he repented, and his condition improved. (1)
Ibn Awn said: “The meaning of the verse is that prayer restrains the one who performs it from indecency and wrongdoing as long as he is engaged in it.” (2)
It was also said that by “prayer” He meant the Quran, as Allah, exalted is He, says: “And do not recite your prayer too loudly” (al-Isra, 110)—that is, your recitation. He meant 68/A that he recites the Quran during prayer; thus, the Quran restrains him from indecency and wrongdoing. (3)
Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Shurayh informed us; Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi informed us; Ali ibn al-Ja'd informed us; Qays ibn al-Rabi' informed us, from al-A'mash, from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir, who said: A man said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “A man recites the Quran throughout the night, yet when morning comes, he steals.” He said: “His recitation will restrain him.” (4)
In another narration, it was said: “O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so prays by day and steals by night.” He said: “Indeed, his prayer will deter him.” (5)
His saying, exalted is He: “And the remembrance of Allah is greater,” means that the remembrance of Allah is the most excellent of acts of obedience.
Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushayri informed us; Abu al-Husayn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Bishran, in Baghdad, informed us; Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Barda'i informed us; Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al-Dunya informed us,
(1) Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in al-Kafi al-Shaf, p. 128: “I did not find it.” Al-Wali al-Iraqi likewise said: “I have not come across it.” See al-Fath al-Samawi, 2/897. When such a statement, or one similar to it, is made by a recognized hadith master and no later hadith master challenges it, it is sufficient grounds for judging the hadith to be fabricated. See Shaykh Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah’s introduction to al-Masnu fi Marifat al-Hadith al-Mawdu by al-Qari, pp. 25-27.
(2) Ibn Kathir attributed this view to Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, 3/416, and cited a detailed version of its meaning from Ibn Awn. It was also the view of al-Kalbi and Ibn Jurayj, as stated in al-Bahr al-Muhit, 7/153, and al-Muharrar al-Wajiz, 12/226. Ibn Atiyyah rejected this view, saying: “This is a linguistic solecism; how far removed is it from what Anas ibn Malik narrated,” as mentioned in the preceding note.
(3) Al-Tabari transmitted it from Ibn Umar, 20/154. He preferred the first view: that prayer restrains one from al-fahsha and al-munkar (indecency and wrongdoing). If it is asked, “How can prayer restrain one from indecency and wrongdoing if this does not refer to what is recited during it?” the answer is: it restrains the person engaged in it, preventing him from committing indecencies, since occupying himself with prayer cuts him off from engaging in wrongdoing. For this reason Ibn Masud said: “Whoever does not obey his prayer only increases in distance from Allah.” Obeying it means establishing it according to its prescribed limits, and obeying it deters one from indecency and wrongdoing.
(4) Al-Bazzar transmitted it through Ziyad al-Bakka'i, and Abu Yala through Abu Ishaq al-Fazari; both narrated from al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from Jabir. Al-Bazzar said: “There is disagreement concerning its transmission from al-Amash; it was also said that he narrated it from Abu Sufyan, from Jabir.” Al-Haythami said: “Its narrators are trustworthy.” See al-Kafi al-Shaf, p. 128; Majma al-Zawaid, 2/258; al-Fath al-Samawi, 2/897-898.
(5) Imam Ahmad transmitted it from Abu Hurayrah, 2/447, with the wording: “... what he says will restrain him.” Al-Bazzar, Ishaq, and Abu Yala also transmitted it, all through al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah. Al-Haythami said: “Its narrators are those of the Sahih.” See al-Kafi al-Shaf, p. 128; Majma al-Zawaid, 2/258; al-Fath al-Samawi, 2/897.