السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
الحمد لله و الصلاة و السلام على رسول الله و على آله و صحبه أجمعين…
I came across this beautiful Hadith from Sahih Muslim, Kitab-ul-Jumuah, Hadith Number 876 (as in sunnah.com).
This Hadith has many benefits, I will list out some of them In sha Allah.
The Hadith:
Abu Rifa’ah reported:
I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was delivering the sermon, and I said: Messenger of Allah, here is a stranger and he wants to learn about this religion and he does not know what this religion is. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) looked at me and left his sermon till he came to me, and he was given a chair and I thought that Its legs were made of iron. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat In it and he began to teach me what Allah had taught him. He then came (to the pulpit) for his sermon and completed it to the end.
[Abu Rifa’ah = أَبُو رِفَاعَةَ]
Benefits:
1. This Hadith is from Imam Muslim bin Hajjaj’s Kitab-ul-Jumuah, thus this is from a chapter explaining the dos and don’ts in Friday Khutbahs. This is a very beneficial chapter and all students of knowledge who will be delivering Khutbahs or are doing so must read the Ahadith in this section.
2. It is permissible for a member of the congregation to speak to the Imam on the pulpit directly,even when he is delivering the Khutbah.
3. The Sahabi mentioned that he doesn’t know about the Deen (religion) and he needed instructions. Hence he requested the Prophet ﷺ when he was on the pulpit(Mimbar) to teach him the Deen.
4. The Prophet of Mercy, Muhammad ﷺ, got down from the pulpit (Mimbar) even though the Khutbah was underway and came to teach him the basics of The Deen.
5. He ﷺ sat on a chair, this shows that he ﷺ sat on the chair sometimes, even though he mostly sat on the ground. Thus using a chair is permissible.
6. The chair was made of iron and in the Masjid, thus we get to know that chairs were present in and around Masjid An-Nabawi.
7. He ﷺ sat on the chair, thus the conversation seemed to be longer than usual.
8. He ﷺ stopped the sermon(Khutbah) halfway , this shows that the Khutbah may be stopped when necessary.
9. Talking to the Imam and the Imam responding to the Mamoom (people who come to pray) is not ‘vain talk’ if the conversation is beneficial.
10. The mercy of the Prophet ﷺ that he got down to address the issue of a Muslim, answer his question and give him his valuable time out from the Khutbah shows that he is really the Rahmatul-lil-Alameen and Nabi-ur-Rahmah.
11. He ﷺ is a role model for the teachers of The Deen who need to be patient and compassionate.The Prophet ﷺ was the best of all teachers and was filled with compassion and mercy towards his Sahaba, the Muslims and the entire world in general.
12. The Prophet ﷺ did not get angry or frustrated at the question and Abu Rifaa(the questioner) (رضي الله عنه) , this shows his forbearance and patience.
13. The Sahabi was really sincere in seeking Islamic knowledge and hence did not delay in requesting that from the Prophet ﷺ.
14. The Sahabi knew that it was allowed to speak to the Imam when he is on the pulpit during the Khutbah.
15. All the Sahaba (رضي الله عنهم) knew the above issue and hence did not rebuke or stop Abu Rifaa from questioning the Prophet ﷺ.
16. The above Hadith also shows that the Sahaba were people who displayed patience and tolerance as they did not ask the Prophet ﷺ to hurry up and finish delivering the Khutbah.
17. Since the Prophet ﷺ sat on the chair for quite a lengthy conversation (point 7 reiterated), and he would stand for the Friday Khutbah, this shows that the Khutbah used to be short (and comprehensive).
18. If the Imam finds it necessary the Imam may prefer to teach a single student (person) during the Friday Khutbah and keep the other people waiting.
19. The other Sahaba did not gossip or indulge in vain talk when the Prophet ﷺ was busy with Abu Rifaa (رضي الله عنه).
20. It is allowed to refer to yourself with the third person pronoun, as was done by Abu Rifa’ah (رضي الله عنه). This is a common style in many languages.
21. The Arabs use to call and name each other with their Kunniyah (plural Kunniyaat). Kunniyaat are usually derived by adding Abu or Ummu (for mother of) and the name of the eldest child or any other beloved child.Another way of assigning a Kunniyah is by adding Abu after a quality of a person or a famous incident connected to him.[Abu Huraira=Father of Kitten or Abu Turab= Father of Soil].Hence the Sahabi was called Abu Rifa’ah. Abu Rifa’ah Al-Adawi’s actual name was Tameem bin Asad or Abdullah bin Harith as mentioned in Taqreeb at-Tahzeeb.
22. This Hadith shows that the teacher or Daiyah (caller to Islam) should be calm and composed, and present himself comfortably to the student or Maduu Ilaih (مدعو إليه_ the one being invited to Islam), he should not hurry or be hasty in his conversation.
24. This Hadith, though in Sahih Muslim, a book second only to Sahih Al-Bukhari in authenticity, is unknown to many graduates and Khuttab (speakers) and they because of their lack of knowledge rebuke the listeners if they talk to them (when they’re delivering the Khutbah) with the Hadith which mentions being silent in Khutbah as being obligatory. Thus the actions of the Sahabi Abu Rifaa and our beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ are from the forgotten Sunnahs (Sunan Mahjoora).
25. This Hadith shows how important it is to open and read Hadith books for a student of knowledge. In the Ahadith, there is a treasure trove of Ilm(علم) usually not known to common students and teachers, let alone people.
These are some of the benfits I could gather from this Hadith, may Allah make this beneficial for all of us.
[Please mail me if you find any errors mannaforpeace17@gmail.com]
و صلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه وسلم.
-Abu Muaaz Mohammed Manna
30th October 2018, 20th Safar 1440.
Saheehus-Seerah 