Sharh al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyya by Ibn Uthaymeen (شرح الأربعين النووية) — Page 12

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

وَالْعَجَبُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْحَدِيثَ لَمْ يَرْوِهِ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِلَّا عُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ مَعَ أَهَمِّيَّتِهِ، لَكِنْ لَهُ شَوَاهِدُ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَّةِ.

It is astonishing that this hadith was not narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) except by Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), despite its importance, yet it has supporting evidence in the Quran and the Sunnah.

فَفِي الْقُرْآنِ يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللَّهِ﴾ فَهَذِهِ نِيَّةٌ، وَقَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى: ﴿مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا﴾ وَهَذِهِ نِيَّةٌ.

In the Quran, Allah the Exalted says: 'And you do not spend except seeking the countenance of Allah,' and this is an intention; and His saying the Exalted: 'Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves; you see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure,' and this is an intention.

وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ لِسَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّكَ لَنْ تُنْفِقَ نَفَقَةً تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا أُجِرْتَ عَلَيْهَا حَتَّى مَا تَجْعَلُهُ فِي فِي امْرَأَتِكَ.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): 'And know that you will not spend any expenditure seeking thereby the countenance of Allah, but that you will be rewarded for it, even what you place in the mouth of your wife.'

فَقَوْلُهُ: تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ فَهَذِهِ نِيَّةٌ، فَالْمُهِمُّ أَنَّ مَعْنَى الْحَدِيثِ ثَابِتٌ بِالْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَّةِ.

His saying: 'seeking thereby the countenance of Allah,' this is an intention; so the important point is that the meaning of the hadith is established by the Quran and the Sunnah.

وَلَفْظُ الْحَدِيثِ انْفَرَدَ بِهِ عُمَرُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، لَكِنْ تَلَقَّتْهُ الْأُمَّةُ بِالْقَبُولِ التَّامِّ، حَتَّى إِنَّ الْبُخَارِيَّ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ صَدَّرَ كِتَابَهُ الصَّحِيحَ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ.

The wording of the hadith was narrated solely by Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), but the Ummah received it with complete acceptance, to the extent that al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) began his Sahih book with this hadith.

قَوْلُهُ ﷺ إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِىءٍ مَا نَوَى لِهَذِهِ الْجُمْلَةِ مِنْ حَيْثُ الْبَحْثِ جِهَتَانِ: نَتَكَلَّمُ أَوَّلًا عَلَى مَا فِيهَا مِنَ الْبَلَاغَةِ:

His saying (peace be upon him): 'Actions are only by intentions, and every person shall have what he intended,' this sentence, from the perspective of research, has two aspects: we will speak first about what it contains of rhetoric:

فَقَوْلُهُ: إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ فِيهِ مِنْ أَوْجُهِ الْبَلَاغَةِ الْحَصْرُ، وَهُوَ: إِثْبَاتُ الْحُكْمِ فِي الْمَذْكُورِ وَنَفْيُهُ عَمَّا سِوَاهُ، وَطَرِيقُ الْحَصْرِ: إِنَّمَا لِأَنَّ إِنَّمَا تُفِيدُ الْحَصْرَ، فَإِذَا قُلْتَ زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ فَهَذَا لَيْسَ فِيهِ حَصْرٌ، وَإِذَا قُلْتَ: إِنَّمَا زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ، فَهَذَا فِيهِ حَصْرٌ وَأَنَّهُ لَيْسَ إِلَّا قَائِمًا.

His saying: 'Actions are only by intentions,' contains among the aspects of rhetoric restriction (al-hasr), which is: affirming the ruling for the mentioned and negating it from everything else; and the method of restriction is 'innama' (only), because 'innama' signifies restriction; so if you say 'Zayd is standing,' this does not contain restriction, but if you say 'Zayd is only standing,' this contains restriction, meaning he is nothing but standing.

وَكَذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُ: وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِىءٍ مَا نَوَى.

And likewise is his saying: 'And every person shall have only what he intended.'

وَفِي قَوْلِهِ: وَمَنْ كَانَتْ هِجْرَتُهُ لِدُنْيَا يُصِيبُهَا أَوِ امْرَأَةٍ يَنْكِحُهَا فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى مَا هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِ مِنَ الْبَلَاغَةِ: إِخْفَاءُ نِيَّةِ مَنْ هَاجَرَ لِلدُّنْيَا، لِقَوْلِهِ: فَهِجْرَتُهُ إِلَى.

And in his saying: 'And whoever’s migration was for a worldly gain he might attain or a woman he might marry, then his migration is to what he migrated for,' there is from rhetoric: the concealment of the intention of the one who migrated for the world, due to his saying: 'then his migration is to.'

Vocabulary · المفردات (21 verbs · 34 nouns)

• رَوَى — to narrate
• رَضِيَ — to be pleased
• قَالَ — to say
• أَنْفَقَ — to spend
• اِبْتَغَى — to seek
• أَجَرَ — to reward
• جَعَلَ — to place
• ثَبَتَ — to be established
• اِنْفَرَدَ — to be unique
• تَلَقَّى — to receive
• رَحِمَ — to have mercy
• صَدَّرَ — to start
• نَوَى — to intend
• تَكَلَّمَ — to speak
• أَثْبَتَ — to prove
• نَفَى — to negate
• أَفَادَ — to benefit
• كَانَ — to be
• أَصَابَ — to attain
• نَكَحَ — to marry
• هَاجَرَ — to emigrate
• عَجَبٌ — wonder
• حَدِيثٌ — hadith
• رَسُولٌ — messenger
• أَهَمِّيَّةٌ — importance
• شَاهِدٌ — witness
• قُرْآنٌ — Quran
• سُنَّةٌ — Sunnah
• نِيَّةٌ — intention
• كَافِرٌ — disbeliever
• رَاكِعٌ — bowing
• سَاجِدٌ — prostrating
• فَضْلٌ — bounty
• رِضْوَانٌ — approval
• نَفَقَةٌ — expenditure
• امْرَأَةٌ — woman
• مَعْنًى — meaning
• لَفْظٌ — wording
• أُمَّةٌ — nation
• قَبُولٌ — acceptance
• تَامٌّ — complete
• كِتَابٌ — book
• صَحِيحٌ — authentic
• عَمَلٌ — deed
• امْرُؤٌ — person
• جُمْلَةٌ — sentence
• بَحْثٌ — research
• جِهَةٌ — aspect
• بَلَاغَةٌ — eloquence
• حَصْرٌ — restriction
• حُكْمٌ — ruling
• مَذْكُورٌ — mentioned
• قَائِمٌ — standing
• هِجْرَةٌ — emigration
• دُنْيَا — world