Question:
as-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah Dear Shaykh Gibril,
I was randomly browsing through an English translation of Shaykh al-Ghawiji’s Kalimat Ilmiyyah that I found on the internet and the following passage caught my attention:
<The Musnad narrates from Abul Rāf‘i who said: “A roasted sheep was made for Allah’s Messenger, the Salutations and Peace of Allah be upon him, and I brought it to him. He said: “Oh Abū Rāfi‘, pass me the shoulder.” I passed it on to him. Then he said: “Pass me the shoulder.” I passed it on to him.” Then he again said: “Pass me the shoulder.” I said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, does a sheep not only have two shoulders?” He, the salutations and Peace of Allah replied: “If you had kept silent, you would have given me the shoulder which I had called for.”>
I tried looking for the original Arabic but was unable to locate it. Would you happen to know where I could find it? Also, more importantly, I’d be most obliged if you could highlight the meaning of the last sentence: “If you had kept silent, you would have given me the shoulder which I had called for.”
I’m not sure if I’m understanding the import behind this statement.
barakAllahu feekum,
Answer:
`Alaykum as-salam,
It is narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad with a fair chain according to Imam al-Haythami in Majma` al-Zawa’id. Abu Rafi`, Allah be well-pleased with him, was one of the mawlas of the Prophet (upon him and his House blessings and peace).
This hadith illustrates the difference between madad/`adad or between baraka/`ada (human custom). Madad, Divine help, is connected with malakut, the Divine world, and cannot be counted or measured because it is from the Prophetic manifestation of the Divine Names and Attributes and the gift of {Kun fa-yakun}; whereas `adad is our common counting in worldly terms, which puts limits on things even when they are originally beyond limits.
This hadith shows the appreciation of the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) for the Divine munificence, and its depreciation by the questioning of the questioner. It is similar to another hadith in the two Sahihs in which our Mother `A’isha said that after the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) left this world she “had nothing left to eat in the house except a bit of barley on a shelf; so I ate from it and time passed. I was wondering how come it was lasting so long, so I weighed it. Soon after it finished.”
Ibn Hajar compared the two hadiths in Fath al-Bari and he summed up their message with the phrase: “Out of the negativity of objecting (shu’m al-mu`arada) comes the removal of blessing.” He also mentioned a third similar hadith in the two Sahihs, Sunan and Musnad, as spoken to Asma’ bint Abi Bakr, Allah be well-pleased with them: “Spend and do not measure lest Allah measure against you” (Anfiqi wa-la tuhsi fa yuhsiya Allahu `alayki).
The numerous verbal flights away from measure and count in the invocations of Dala’il al-Khayrat have to be understood in the context of those noble hadiths. In Damascus they would say just lift the lid, scoop up a serving, and put the lid back without checking what’s left. Hence what the Awliya give us we should never count or weigh lest this baraka be reduced to our own devices which are all about limitations.
As for the hadith in al-Bukhari “Weigh your food and it will be blessed for you” (kilu ta`amakum yubarak lakum), Ibn Hajar explained that it means at the time of sale and purchase. And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
