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3 • It has been said, "Whoever occupies himself with the obligatory deeds instead of the voluntary deeds is excused. And whoever occupies himself with the voluntary deeds instead of the obligatory deeds is deceived."4 In fact, it is one of the goals and deceptions of Satan that he gets the person occupied with some specific deeds while other deeds are much more important or much more virtuous. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that this is one of the traps of Satan. Such people have no idea, 1 Ibn Taimiya, Majmoo, vol. 1 0, p. 1 94. 2 Al-Shaukaani, Qatr, p. 454. 3 Cf., Abdul Rahmaan al-Saadi, Buhjat Quloob al-Abraar wa Qurrat Uyoon al-Akhyaar fl Sharh Jawaami al-Akhbaar (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Maarif, 1 984), p. I 04. 4 Quoted in Fareed, al-Tazkiyah, p. 23. 1 1 78 Hadith #38: "Whoever Shows Enmity to . . . " when they fall into it, that they are being tricked by Satan. They may think that since they are doing good deeds, there is no way that they are falling for one of the traps of Satan. • Al-Shaukaani notes that there is nothing in this hadith that indicates that a person must continually perform voluntary deeds in order to get closer to Allah. Instead, he may perform them from time to time. Whenever he performs them, he is getting closer to Allah, even if he does not perform them on a continual basis. However, the more he performs them and the more continual he is, the closer he continues to get to Allah. 1 • Ibn Rajah points out that one of the greatest deeds by which one comes closer to Allah is the recitation and study of the Quran. Khabaab ibn al­ Arat said, "Get as close to Allah as you can. And realize that you do not get closer to Him by anything that is more beloved to Him than His own speech." In general, the one who loves another loves to hear the other's speech. Uthmaan ibn Affaan said, "If your hearts become pure, you will never have enough of the words of your Lord." Ibn Masood said, "Whoever loves the Quran loves Allah and His messenger."2 • Al-Bukhari recorded this hadith in the "Book of Riqaaq (those hadith which make the heart tender by affecting the emotions and feelings)," "Chapter on Humility". He put it there because getting close to Allah by voluntary deeds is only done by those people who are completely humble and submissive to Allah. Similarly, having love for the beloved servants of Allah (His auliyaa) only comes about through humility and humbleness. Furthermore, some of Allah's auliyaa are the poorest and most humble people of this world. One must love them and be kind to them and accept them as one's brothers. This can only be accomplished by those who are humble and free of pride.3 Therefore, this hadith demonstrates the importance of having humility and humbleness. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated, Ηf Ž :i;..f fa 'j .]:.- 1;:o1} 0f J c.?jf JJ1 0Θ "Allah has revealed to me that you must be humble, so that no one boasts over another." (Recorded by Muslim.) • No matter what noble status a believer reaches, he will always be in need of Allah and in need of worshipping Him. As is shown in this hadith, he will still have to ask of Allah and he will still need to seek refuge in Allah. This was the way of the prophets and messengers. They always had hope in Allah. Yet, they also had a fear of Allah, even though they were from 1 Al-Shaukaani, Qatr, p. 421 . 2 Ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 2, pp. 342-343, 3 Cf., ibn Hajr, Fath (al-Maktaba al-Tijaariyyah), vol. 13, p. 1 50. 1 1 79 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Allah's most exclusive auliyaa. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself said, J o $ J "' ,,. $ 1::.k: B ill\ J J , \Si' Bi B ill\' '-.I, ঔ , YJ J i.?! , J "By Allah, although I am the Messenger of Allah, I do not know what He will do with me." (Recorded by al-Bukhari.) If anyone believes that he has reached a level wherein he is no longer in need of Allah, beseeching Him and worshipping Him, he has become deluded. He will then be one of the enemies of Allah instead of one of His auliyaa. Indeed, as a person comes closer and closer to Allah, His reliance upon Allah, his understanding of his need for Allah and his worship of Him becomes even greater. Those are some of the signs that he is getting closer to Allah and is truly one of His l. I au zyaa. • Everyone should realize that every act of disobedience is a type of fighting or war against Allah. Al-Hasan al-Basri once said, "O children of Adam, do you have the ability to fight against Allah. Whoever disobeys Allah is fighting against Him.