Question:
Assalam alaikum wa rahmatullah,
I don’t know the credibility of the following site, so wanted to ask any of the learned members if they could advise as to the authenticity of this (purported) hadith, and educate me with any sharh on it which they have been blessed to benefit by, as I’d like to benefit by it too, insha’Allah:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100820121921/http://fajr.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/by-my-knowledge-of-your-heart/
I am especially interested in this aspect of the narration:
(Allah the Exalted says:) […] Verily, from amongst My slaves is he who seeks worship by a certain act but I prevent that from him so that self-amazement does not enter his heart. Certainly, I run the affairs of My slaves by My Knowledge of what is in their hearts. Certainly, I am the All-Knower, All-Aware.
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
At first sight the chain of this hadith appears to be very weak (da`if jiddan) as per Albani’s Silsila Da`ifa no. 1775.
A possible explanation of the phrase you highlighted is the believer’s desire to excel or abound in one type of worship or another including learning, hifz, helping/teaching others, tazkiyat al-nafs etc. where the outcome might sometimes be a kind of hidden shirk or self-congratulation or satanic pride such as looking down on other Muslims/Madhhabs/Murids/Tariqas or even looking down on non-Muslims, as in the story of Abu Abd Allah al-Andalusi’s apostasy(*) cited by al-Abshihi in al-Mustatraf (1:183, chapter 31 on the virtues of the righteous and the miracles of the saints) but Allah knows best.
(*) https://web.archive.org/web/20190511032825/http://myummah.co.za/site/2008/04/01/eye-opening-story-of-shaikh-abdullah-al-andalusi/
I believe this story became widespread in English due to its being cited by Mawlana Zakariyya al-Kandihlawi in his book al-Shari`a wal-Tariqa which received an English translation. May Allah Most High grant him mercy and reward him, he himself said this story was constantly on his mind and that he wished that everyone, especially everyone connected to tasawwuf, would also keep it in mind.
was-Salam
Hajj Gibril
[on Sunna-Principles forum]
