1. Home
  2. Categories
  3. Virtues and Manners

Hadith Shall I not guide you to what Allah erases the sins and elevates the ranks with?

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«أَلَا أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى مَا يَمْحُو اللهُ بِهِ الْخَطَايَا، وَيَرْفَعُ بِهِ الدَّرَجَاتِ؟» قَالُوا بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ قَالَ: «إِسْبَاغُ الْوُضُوءِ عَلَى الْمَكَارِهِ، وَكَثْرَةُ الْخُطَا إِلَى الْمَسَاجِدِ، وَانْتِظَارُ الصَّلَاةِ بَعْدَ الصَّلَاةِ، فَذَلِكُمُ الرِّبَاطُ».

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Shall I not guide you to what Allah erases the sins and elevates the ranks with?" They said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Performing ablution thoroughly despite the hardships, frequent steps to mosques, and waiting for one prayer after another; such is the Ribāt (garrison)."

Authentic Narrated by Muslim Sahīh Muslim - 251

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) asked his Companions if they wanted him to guide them to deeds that would be a means of forgiving sins and erasing them from the records of the guardian angels and elevating ranks in Paradise.
The Companions said: Yes, we want this. He said:
First: Completing and perfecting the ablution despite hardships like coldness, scarcity of water, physical pain, and hot water.
Second: Frequent steps—distance between the two feet—made to mosques, given the remoteness of the house from the mosque and the frequent repetition.
Third: Waiting for the time when the prayer becomes due, having one's heart attached to it, getting ready for it, and sitting in the mosque for its sake, waiting for the congregation. Then, on performing the prayer, one stays in his prayer area waiting for another prayer.
After that, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that such things represent the real Ribāt (standing at the frontline of danger against the enemy) because it blocks the devil's ways to the self, overpowers personal desires, and prevents the self from accepting the devil's whispering. This way, the party of Allah defeats the devil's soldiers, which is the major Jihad, and that puts it in the same position of standing guard at the frontline against the enemy.

Benefits from the Hadith

  1. The importance of observing the congregational prayer in the mosque and assigning good care to prayers without being distracted from them.
  2. The Prophet's good approach and how he aroused his Companions' interest as he started by mentioning a great reward in the question form, which is one of the educational methods.
  3. The benefit of presenting an issue in a question-and-answer form: To make the speech more effective given the fact that it involves ambiguity and clarification.
  4. An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: Such is Ribāt, i.e., the encouraged Ribāt, and Ribāt originally means being tied to something, as if one ties himself to this act of obedience. It is said: It is the best Ribāt, as it is said: Jihad is striving against oneself. It could probably refer to the available and accessible Ribāt, i.e., it is one of the types of Ribāt.
  5. The word "Ribāt" is repeated and used with a definite article "the" to stress the great status of such deeds.

View Translations

56 Language
UR اردو الأوردية
ES Español الإسبانية
ID Indonesia الإندونيسية
BN বাংলা البنغالية
TR Türkçe التركية
RU Русский الروسية
BS Bosanski البوسنية
SI සිංහල السنهالية
HI हिन्दी الهندية
ZH 中文 الصينية
FA فارسی الفارسية
VI Tiếng Việt الفيتنامية
TL Tagalog تجالوج
KU Kurdî الكردية
HA Hausa الهوسا
PT Português البرتغالية
ML മലയാളം المليالم
TE తెలుగు التلغو
SW Kiswahili السواحيلية
TA தமிழ் التاميلية
MY မြန်မာ البورمية
TH ไทย التايلندية
DE Deutsch الألمانية
PS پښتو بشتو
AS অসমীয়া الأسامية
SQ Shqip الألبانية
SV Svenska السويدية
AM አማርኛ الأمهرية
NL Nederlands الهولندية
GU ગુજરાતી الغوجاراتية
KY Кыргызча القيرقيزية
NE नेपाली النيبالية
YO Yorùbá اليوروبا
LT Lietuvių الليتوانية
PRS دری الدرية
SR Српски الصربية
SO Soomaali الصومالية
TG тоҷикӣ الطاجيكية
RW Kinyarwanda الكينياروندا
RO Română الرومانية
HU Magyar المجرية
CS Čeština التشيكية
MOS Moore الموري
MG Malagasy المالاجاشية
OM Oromoo الأورومو
KN ಕನ್ನಡ الكانادا
WO Wolof الولوف
AZ Azərbaycan الأذربيجانية
UZ O‘zbek الأوزبكية
UK Українська الأوكرانية
KA ქართული الجورجية
MK Македонски المقدونية
KM ភាសាខ្មែរ الخميرية
PA ਪੰਜਾਬੀ البنجابية
MR मराठी الماراثية
KMR Kurmancî الكرمنجية