ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim · Authentic hadith
عن أسامة بن زيد بن حارثة رضي الله عنهما قال: أرسلت بنت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم إنَّ ابني قد احتُضِر فاشْهَدنَا، فأرسَل يُقرِىءُ السَّلام، ويقول: «إنَّ لِلَّه ما أَخَذ ولَهُ ما أَعطَى، وكلُّ شَيءٍ عِنده بِأجَل مُسمَّى فَلتَصبِر ولتَحتَسِب». فأرسلت إليه تُقسِم عَليه لَيَأتِيَنَّها، فقام ومعه سعد بن عبادة، ومعاذ بن جبل، وأبي بن كعب، وزيد بن ثابت، ورجال رضي الله عنهم فَرفع إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الصَّبِي، فأَقعَدَه في حِجرِه ونَفسه تَقَعقَع، فَفَاضَت عينَاه فقال سعد: يا رسول الله، ما هذا؟ فقال: «هذه رَحمَة جَعلَها الله تعالى في قُلُوب عِباده» وفي رواية: «في قلوب من شاء من عباده، وإنَّما يَرحَم الله من عِبَاده الرُّحَماء».
“Usāmah ibn Zayd ibn Hārithah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet's daughter sent for him to come over because her son was dying. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent her the greeting of peace and this message: "To Allah belongs what He takes, and to Him belongs what He gives, and for everything He sets a specific term. So she should have patience and seek the reward from Allah." She sent back urging him to come to her. So he, along with Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubādah, Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Zayd ibn Thābit and other men (may Allah be pleased with them) went. The boy was given to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and his breath was disturbed in his chest, which made the eyes of the Messenger of Allah overflow with tears. Thereupon, Sa‘d said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is that?" He said: "That is mercy which Allah, the Exalted, puts in the hearts of His slaves." In another version: "In the hearts of those He wills of His slaves. Indeed, Allah is merciful only to those of His slaves who are merciful."”
Usāmah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) recounts that one of the daughters of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent him a message that her son was dying and asked that he comes over. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) told the messenger to tell her to have patience and to hope for the reward from Allah; meaning that she should be patient with this calamity while expecting the reward for her patience from Allah. Some people are patient but they do not hope for the reward. If they are patient and intend with their patience that Allah give them reward for it, then this is the meaning of Ihtisāb (expecting the reward from Allah). The Prophet's words "to Allah belongs what He takes and to Him belongs what He gives" is a great statement indeed. If everything belongs to Allah, then if He takes something from you, it is His, and if He gives you something, it is also His. So, how could you be angry and discontent if He takes from you what is originally His? That is why it is an act of Sunnah that when a person is afflicted with calamity he should say: "To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return!" This expression clearly means that we are the property of Allah, Who thus can do what He wills with His property. Likewise are the things we love; if Allah takes them from us, they are ultimately His. So, He is the ultimate owner of what He takes and what He gives. Yo do not own what Allah gives you and, therefore, you cannot dispose of what He has given you except in the way He permitted. Our ownership of what Allah gives us is l…