to cross it. I therefore wished that you would come and pray in my house so that I could set aside that spot as a place of worship.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I shall do so.” The next morning, after the day had grown bright, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to me together with Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him). He sought permission, and I granted it. He did not sit before asking, “Where in your house would you like me to pray?” I pointed to the place I wanted. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then stood, pronounced the opening takbīr, and we lined up behind him. He prayed two rakʿahs, ended with the salām, and we followed his salām.

I kept him back for a khazīrah (a meat-and-flour stew) that had been prepared for him. When the people of the neighbourhood heard that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in my house, men began arriving until the house was full. One of them said, “What has happened to Mālik? I do not see him!”

Another replied, “He is a hypocrite who does not love Allah or His Messenger.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not say that. Do you not see that he has said ‘Lā ilāha illā Allah,’ seeking thereby the Face of Allah, Exalted is He?”

The man answered, “Allah and His Messenger know best, but as for us—by Allah—we see no affection from him, nor does he converse except with the hypocrites.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then declared, “Allah has made Hellfire unlawful for anyone who says ‘Lā ilāha illā Allah,’ seeking thereby the Face of Allah.” Agreed upon.

‘ʿItbān’ is pronounced with a kasrah under the ʿayn, a silent tā with two dots above, followed by a single bāʾ. Khazīrah—spelled with a khāʾ—refers to a porridge of flour cooked with fat. The phrase “thāba men” (with an initial thāʾ) means: they came and gathered.

[Explanation]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said, quoting ʿItbān ibn Mālik (may Allah