224. They do not have the entire hadith but it is the hadith ofWaabisah. (cont.)

2 See the statement from al-Iraaqi as quoted in the introduction to Abdullah al-Daarimi, Sunan al­ Daarimi (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah, n.d.), p. C· Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal lived from 164-241 A.H. (780-855 C.E.). He traveled throughout the entire Muslim world gathering hadith. He began studying hadith at the age of 15 and had many great teachers, including Imam al-Shafi'ee, Abdul Razzaaq ibn Hamaam and Sufyaan ibn Uyaina. His students included al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Dawood. Beyond being a scholar of hadith, he became known as the founder of the Hanbali school of fiqh. During his lifetime, Ahmad faced a great trial from the government at that time. The government was trying to force the scholars to say that the Quran was created. Imam Ahmad refused and for that reason he was imprisoned for some time. 1 Ahmad is well-known for his Musnad collection. That work contains somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 hadith. His intention was not to collect only authentic hadith in that work but to preserve in writing as many hadith as he thought justified for the benefit of the Muslim nation and its future scholars. Hence, one can find a number of weak hadith in his collection, although, in general, he avoided very weak or rejected hadith.2 Imam Ahmad wrote a number of works besides his well-known Musnad. These works include al-Radd ala al-illnaadiqa wa al-Jahmiyah ("Refutation of the heretics and Jahmites"), al-Zuhd (a collection of hadith related to "Islamic asceticism") and al-/lal wa Marifat al-Rijaal (a book on defects in hadith and discussion of narrators ofhadith). Al-Daarimi Abu Muhammad Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahman al-Tameemi al­ Samarqaandi al-Daarimi was born in the year 181 A.H., the same year in which Abdullah ibn al-Mubaarak died. He grew up studying the Islamic sciences as was customary at his time. He traveled in search of hadith, visiting Egypt, Greater Syria, Iraq and Hijaz. He is credited with having spread the knowledge of hadith in Samarqaand. He was also known to be a great jurist. The ruler of Samarqaand wanted to appoint him as a judge but he refused. He was finally convinced, judged one case and resigned again. He died in the year 255 or 250 A.H. Those who narrated hadith from him included al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasaai, Abu Zara, Abu Haatim and numerous others. 1 For more about Ahmad and his trials, the reader should consult Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi, Saviors of Islamic Spirit (Lucknow: Academy oflslamic Research and Publications), vol. 1 , p. 67-86. 2 In the past, Ahmad Shaakir attempted to critically discuss each hadith in the Musnad. However, he was only able to finish between one-third to one-half of the work. Currently, Shuaib al­ Arnaoot and his colleagues are doing a similar work. At the time of the publication of this work, they had published twenty-five out of a projected forty volumes. Hadith #27: "Righteousness is Good Character .. " His Musnad is well accepted among the scholars of hadith. Some include it as one of the "standard six books" instead of Sunan ibn Maajah. Al­ Suyooti mentioned that some scholars call his work Sahih al-Daarimi.1 Other Points Related to This Hadith • Before a believer performs any act that is not clearly righteous or sinful, he should look to his heart and see what he feels about that act. If his heart feels fine with it, he should do it. If his heart is uncomfortable with it, he should leave it.2 • If a person is a true believer and is indifferent between having people see him perform an act or having it kept hidden from him, this is a sign that the act must be a righteous act or permissible act. • Islam provides a strong, living internal factor that controls the behavior of believers. The question for a believer is not simply whether he can get away with an act or if there is nothing in the secular law, for example, that prohibits that act. He, instead, stands in front of the "higher authority" who knows what is in his heart. He will not perform an act, even if he could easily get away with it, if inside he does not feel it is righteous. 3 • This hadith could imply that simply considering the performance an evil deed is a sin in itself. The act of thinking about committing a sin may meet the two conditions stated: The soul feels uneasy about it and the person would not like others to know that he considered doing such a deed. However, other evidence demonstrates that this is not necessarily the case. Allah does not hold a person sinful for a wrongful deed that he thought about but did not speak about or act upon. Furthermore, if the person abandoned that evil thought and did not act upon it for the sake of Allah, he would be rewarded by Allah.