Explanation

The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) gave a sermon to his Companions wherein he informed them that Allah ordered him to impart to them the knowledge that Allah had imparted to Him that day. Allah said that all the wealth that He gives to His servants is lawful for them. This is a response to those who made unlawful for themselves certain types of cattle, clarifying that it did not become unlawful for them by their making it unlawful. Therefore, every property that a person possesses in this world is lawful for him, unless some external right is attached to it or there is evidence that excludes it from the general permissibility. Allah then said that He has created His slaves predisposed to be Muslims, submitting to Allah alone, or pure from all sin, or on the straight path with a readiness to receive guidance – these are three interpretations for this segment of the Hadīth. One further interpretation is that it refers to the oath that Allah took from people in the world of Dharr (particles), before they were born into this world, when he asked them: "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Indeed you are." He then said: Then the devils came to them, bluffed them, caused them to deviate from the path that they were on, and directed them toward falsehood. They also deluded them by making what was lawful for them unlawful, and ordered them to associate with Allah in worship that which Allah did not order to be worshiped and sent no evidence that would suggest that they deserve to be worshiped. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said that Allah looked at the people of the earth before the Messenger was sent and he saw them all united upon polytheism and disbelief. He hated them for this, except for some remnants of the People of the Book, those who were still holding on to their religion and had not altered it. Most of the People of the Book, however, had distorted the religion revealed to them by Allah. Allah said: "I sent you to the people to test you," meaning to see how you would carry out the tasks I assigned to you of delivering the message, fighting in the cause of Allah, and being patient for His sake. I also tested others through you by observing how they react to your message and whether or not they will believe in you. Some will reveal their faith and obey you, others will turn away from you and show enmity to you, and others will be hypocrites and will pretend to have believed while they have not. Allah already knows how everyone will react before they actually do, but He tests them so that their actions would become a clear reality. Indeed, Allah punishes His slaves based on the actions they commit, not on His prior knowledge of their actions before they actually commit them. Then Allah said that He sent down the Qur'an, and that it is preserved within the chests and not liable to elimination; rather, it will survive throughout the ages. Allah said that it could be recited during wakefulness and sleep, meaning that it is preserved for you in both wakefulness and sleep, or that it could be easily recited, according to another interpretation. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said: Allah ordered me to burn down the (tribe of) Quraysh; i.e. to kill the disbelievers of Quraysh, so I said: 'O my Lord, they would break my head just as they would break bread.' Allah said to this: Expel the Quraysh from their lands just as they did to you, though there is a big difference between the two, as the Quraysh expelled him based on falsehood while he would expel them based on truth. Allah said: Fight them and we will assist you, spend in the path of Allah and we will compensate you for it in this life and in the afterlife, and if you send an army to fight the non-Muslims, we will send angels five times its number to assist the Muslims, just as He did in Badr. He then ordered him to fight those who disobey him of the disbelievers with the help of those who do obey him of the Muslims. He then said: The people of Paradise are three: the man who possesses authority and power, yet he is fair to people, non-oppressive, and charitable towards them. He is guided to doing good and the doors of benevolence are opened before him. The second is the man who is merciful to the young and old, who has a tender heart towards his kin in particular and all Muslims in general. The third is the man who has dependents and he avoids unlawful gains and refrains from asking people for assistance because he relies upon Allah regarding his sustenance and that of his dependents. His love for his dependents and his fear concerning lack of sustenance for them do not drive him to beg people and stop relying on Allah, or to seek unlawful gains, or to become too preoccupied with them to do what is required of him of seeking (religious) knowledge and fulfilling (religious) obligations. The people of Hellfire are five: the weak who lacks the intelligence that deters him from doing what is inappropriate, who is subordinate to you and does not seek to have a wife or wealth through lawful means. Such people refrain from what is lawful and commit what is unlawful. The second is the betrayer who covets every covetable thing, even if it is almost unnoticeable; he traces it and examines it until he finds it and betrays you trust regarding it. This is a hyperbolic description of betrayal. The third is the deceiver, and the fourth is the liar or the miser, and the fifth is he who uses obscene language and is ill-mannered.