ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America) Canada, located at 391 Burnhamthorpe Rd., East, Oakville, ON, shares on its website the book “Riyad us Saliheen” (“The Gardens of the Righteous” رياض الصالحين) compiled by Imam Zakaruya Yahya Bin Sharaf An-Nawawi, a Sunni Shafi’ite jurist and hadith scholar who lived in 13th century.
The Gardens of the Righteous (Arabic: Riyadh as-Salihin), is a compilation of verses from the Qur’an and hadith by Al-Nawawi. It contains 1905 hadith divided across 372 chapters, many of which are introduced by verses of the Quran.
The book, shared by ICNA Canada, includes a modern commentary of the Quranic verses and the hadiths.
Below are excerpts from the book in which Jews are mentioned:
“[Hadith] 824. Ash-Sharid bin Suwaid (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) passed by me when I was sitting with my left hand behind my back and leaning on my palm. On seeing me in this posture he said, “Do you sit like those upon whom the Wrath of Allah has descended?” [Abu Dawud].”
“Commentary: The Jews and Christians are the people upon whom came the Wrath of Allah. Muslims have been stopped from copying their example. But unfortunately they now take a pride in imitating them in every matter and think it necessary for worldly progress.”
“[Hadith] 866. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you; and when you meet any one of them on the road, force him to go to the narrowest part of it.” [Muslim].”
“Commentary: This Hadith prohibits Muslims from greeting non-Muslims first. It also tells us that when the road is crowded, we should use the middle of the road and let the non-Muslims use its sides. This Hadith shows the dignity of Muslims and the disgrace and humiliation of the non-Muslims.”
“[Hadith] 868. Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) passed by a mixed company of people which included Muslims, polytheists and Jews, and he gave them the greeting (i.e., saying As-Salamu ‘Alaikum). [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].”
“Commentary: If there is a mixed assembly of Muslims and non-Muslims, one should utter greeting to it but consider Muslims as one’s addressees.”
“[Hadith] 883. Abu Musa (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Jews used to intentionally sneeze in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) hoping that he would say to them: ‘Yarhamukum-ullah (may Allah have mercy on you),’ but he would respond with: “Yahdikum-ullahu wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs).” [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi].”
“Commentary: Here, we are told that in response to sneezing on the part of non-Muslims, we should only utter these benedictory words: “Yahdikum-ullahu wa yuslihu balakum (may Allah guide you and render sound your state of affairs)!”
“[Hadith] 1636. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) as saying: “Jews and Christians do not dye their hair, so act differently from them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].”
“Commentary: We learn from this Hadith that the Prophet (PBUH) has advised the Muslims to dye the hair of their head and beard with yellow or red colour. They have been forbidden from dying the hair with black colour, as will be explained in the coming hadith. Some religious scholars have regarded this as something desirable. Therefore, it is not necessary to dye the hair of head and beard. But this is certainly better. Since any resemblance with the Jews and Christians is unlawful, not dying the hair will create a resemblance with them. Therefore, in such a situation the colouring will be necessary, otherwise it will be Mustahabb, that is to say desirable.”
“[Hadith] 1812. Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Dajjal (the Antichrist) will be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan and will be dressed in robes of green coloured satin.” [Muslim].”
“Commentary: Isfahan is a city in Persia (Iran). Tailasan green sheet (is the dress of the Sheikhs of the non-Arab nations).”
“[Hadith] 1819. ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (May Allah be pleased with them) said: One day the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) mentioned Al-Masih Dajjal (the Antichrist) in the presence of the people and said, “Verily, Allah is not one-eyed but Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal is blind in the right eye which looks like a swollen grape.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]”
“Commentary: All these narrations about the mischief of Dajjal are correct and have been narrated through reliable narrators, and all scholars agree on their being true. They have been reported by Al- Bukhari and Muslim, whose narrations are unanimously accepted by the ‘Ulama’. The second coming of the Prophet ‘Isa (Jesus) from the heavens is proved on the basis of such reliable and true narrations that none can contradict them. Before the Day of Resurrection, all these things will happen, and it is essential to believe in them. Dajjal would be a descendant of the Jews, and he will be called Dajjal because of his mischief. The meaning of Dajjal is ‘one who greatly resorts to fraud and deception’.”
“Allah will also give him some extraordinary powers to test the belief of the Muslims. Dajjal will claim to be the lord of the world. A large portion of the Jews will be with him. He has also been named as Al- Masih Ad-Dajjal in some narrations. Jesus, son of Mary (Peace be upon them) will have the honour of killing him.”
“[Hadith] 1820. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah(PBUH) said, “The Last Hour will not come until the Muslims fight against the Jews, until a Jew will hide himself behind a stone or a tree, and the stone or the tree will say: ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew behind me. Come and kill him,’ but Al-Gharqad tree will not say so, for it is the tree of the Jews.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].”
“Commentary: Gharqad is a thorny plant which is well-known in the area of Palestine. Allah can bestow the power of speech to whatever thing He likes. When Allah wills, He will give mastery to the Muslims. He will help them even by means of plants and stones which will assist the Muslims against the Jews by informing them about the whereabouts of the Jews. The Jews have predominance over the Muslims in spite of the fact that they are a minority. But according to this true narration, the situation will definitely change before the Day of Resurrection, and the Muslims will dominate the Jews. Allah is the Master and Rubb of everything.”
“[Hadith] 1827. Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “There were two women, each had her child with her. A wolf came and took away the child of one of them. One woman said to her companion: ‘The wolf has taken your son.’ The other said: ‘It has taken your son.’ So both of them took the dispute to Prophet Dawud (David) (PBUH) who judged that the boy should be given to the older lady. Then they went to Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) (PBUH) son of Dawud and put the case before him. Prophet Sulaiman said: ‘Give me a knife so that I may cut the child into two and give one half to each of you.’ The younger woman said: ‘Do not do so; may Allah bless you! He is her child.’ On that Prophet Sulaiman decided the case in favour of the younger woman.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].”
“Commentary: Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) (PBUH) went to the depth of the matter by wisdom bestowed by Allah and the power of decision using a device or a trick as a method of discovering the truth. He used this trick to discover the truth and not to evade it. Such a trick is not forbidden in the law and there is no doubt in its being permitted. However, those tricks which are used to avoid the law are a great sin for which the Jews are well-known. May Allah save us from them.”
