Unfamiliar Expressions

1 – “so that each one renders the other gentle”: that is, each successive matter makes the one before it seem light in view of the greater gravity of what follows; thus the second makes the first appear light.

2 – “the clasp of his hand”: i.e. his covenant with the imam and his commitment to obey him. It is a single striking of the two hands that occurs when the pledge of allegiance (bayʿa) to the caliphate is given.

3 – “the fruit of his heart”: that is, the pure sincerity of his pledge, or the love that he holds in his heart.

4 – “then strike the neck of the other.” Imām al-Nawawī said: “Its meaning is: repel the second man, for he is rebelling against the imam. If he cannot be repelled except through war and he takes up arms, then fight him; and if fighting leads to his being killed, it is permissible to kill him, and no compensation is due, for he is an aggressor who has transgressed by fighting.”

The ḥadīth carries many lessons, foremost among them the fact that the Prophet is obliged to call his nation to every good, guide them to it, and warn them of every evil he knows will befall them. In this there is a direct rebuttal of what is asserted in some works of kalām (speculative theology) that a prophet may receive revelation without being commanded to convey it.

242 – “Whoever seizes land without a rightful claim will be made to carry its soil to the place of assembly on the Day of Resurrection.”

Aḥmad recorded it (4/173): “ʿAffān narrated to us, ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād narrated to us, Abū Yaʿqūb ʿAbd Allāh—my grandfather—narrated to us, Abū Thābit narrated: I heard Yaʿlā ibn Murrah al-Thaqafī say, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say…’” and he mentioned it. Aḥmad also said (4/172): “Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad—who is Abū Ibrāhīm al-Muʿaqqib—narrated to us, Marwān al-Fazārī narrated to us, Abū Yaʿqūb narrated to us, from Abū Thābit,” with the same report.