Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (3/455)

Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-ṢāliḥīnIbn al-'Uthaymin

rulings grounded in the Sacred Law and well-observed etiquettes—guidance that increases a servant’s faith, sets his course straight toward Allah, and rectifies his dealings with His slaves. Because of the immense benefit it offers, some people have even committed the entire book to memory.

Among its many chapters is the Chapter on Remembering Death and Curtailing Worldly Hopes. In that section the author quoted several verses, the last of which is the Almighty’s saying, “Has the time not come for those who believe that their hearts should humble themselves to the remembrance of Allah…?” (Al-Ḥadīd 57:16). That is: has the moment not arrived for the believers’ hearts to soften at the mention of Allah?

The word khushūʿ (reverence) means humility and submissiveness “to the remembrance of Allah,” meaning at the very moment He is mentioned. For the believers are described as “those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them, and who place their trust in their Lord” (Al-Anfāl 8:2).

His phrase “to the remembrance of Allah” means: to remember Allah and His magnificence; and “to the truth that has been revealed” means that their hearts should humble themselves before what has been sent down of the truth, namely the contents of the Book of Allah. This Book has come with the truth, and the Prophet ﷺ upon whom it was revealed came with the truth; therefore it is only right that the believer’s heart humble itself before the remembrance of Allah and before what has been sent down of the truth.

He also says, “and let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before them. A long span of time passed over them, so their hearts hardened” (Al-Ḥadīd 57:16). In other words, the believers must not resemble those who were given the Scripture before—namely the Jews and the Christians. The Jews were given the Torah and the Christians the Gospel, yet the Jews denied the Gospel and the Christians denied the Quran, so all of them became disbelievers. For that reason the Jews, prior to the mission of the Prophet ﷺ, were subject to divine wrath, because they had been given knowledge

الشرعية والآداب المرعية ما يزيد به إيمان العبد، ويستقيم به سيرة إلى الله ﷿، ومعاملته مع عباد الله، ولهذا كان بعض الناس يحفظه عن ظهر قلب لما فيه من المنفعة العظيمة. هذا الكتاب كان من جملة أبوابه، باب ذكر الموت وقصر الأمل، وذكر المؤلف فيه آيات متعددة، سبق الكلام عليها، وآخرها قوله تعالى: (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّه......) ، يعني ألم يأت الوقت الذي تخشع فيه قلوب المؤمنين لذكر الله ﷿؟ والخشوع معناه الخضوع والذل (لِذِكْرِ اللَّه) يعني عند ذكره، فإن المؤمنين (الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَاناً وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ) (الأنفال: ٢) وقوله: (لِذِكْرِ اللَّه) أي لتذكر الله وعظمته، (وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ) أي: ويخشعون لما نزل من الحق، وهو ما كان في كتاب الله ﷾؛ فإن هذا الكتاب جاء بالحق، والنبي ﷺ الذي نزل عليه هذا الكتاب جاء بالحق، فيحق للمؤمن أن يخشع قلبه لذكر الله وما نزل من الحق. قال (وَلا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ) ، يعني ولا يكونوا كالذين أوتوا الكتاب من قبل وهم اليهود والنصارى، فاليهود أوتوا التوراة، والنصارى أوتوا الإنجيل، ومع ذلك فإن اليهود كفروا بالإنجيل، والنصارى كفروا بالقرآن، فصار الكل كلّهم كفاراً، ولذلك كان اليهود قبل بعثة النبي ﷺ مغضوباً عليهم؛ لأنهم علموا