ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim · Authentic hadith
عن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: أن رجلاً أصاب من امرأةٍ قُبْلَةً، فأتى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فأخبره، فأنزل الله تعالى : (وأقم الصلاة طَرَفَيِ النَّهَار وزُلَفًا مِنَ اللَّيلِ إِنَّ الحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبنَ السَّيِئَات) [هود: 114] فقال الرجل: ألي هذا يا رسول الله؟ قال: «لِجَمِيعِ أُمَّتِي كُلِّهِم».
“Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man kissed a woman (unlawfully), so he came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and told him of what he did. Thereupon Allah, the Almighty revealed the verse: {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.} [Sūrat Hūd: 114]. The man said: "O Messenger of Allah, is this (verse) for me?" He replied: "For everybody of my Ummah, all of them."”
Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) recounts an incident about a man from the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who was called Abu al-Yusr. This man kissed a woman unlawfully then regretted what he did, so he went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it. Consequently Allah, the Exalted, revealed a verse that addressed his situation: {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day}, meaning perform the daytime prayers, which are Fajr, Zhuhr, and ‘Asr; {and at the approach of the night}, meaning perform as well the two evening prayers, which are Maghrib and ‘Ishā’; {Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds}, meaning that these five prayers are expiation for minor sins, such as the one that he had committed. So the man asked: "Is this for me only?", meaning if this expiation through prayer is specific to his case or applies to all people in general. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) replied: "This is for everybody of my Ummah, all of them" meaning that performing these five prayers is expiation for any Muslim who did something similar to what he had done. Abu al-Yusr himself narrated this story in detail. He said: "A woman came to me to buy some dates, so I told her that I had better quality dates at home. She came into the house with me and I approached her and kissed her. I later went to Abu Bakr and related this incident to him and his reply was for me to conceal my sin and ask Allah to forgive me without telling anyone. I was impatient so I went to ‘Umar and re…