Hadith in Sahih Muslim used to justify insults against the religion?

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most Merciful Most Kind

Short Answer

Shockingly I have come across this too. Some sectarian people are using the Hadith to justify insults against Allah (Most High) and His blessed Messenger ﷺ. The narration is in Sahih Muslim and it in no way justifies insults. Rather it alludes to the fact that a slip of the tongue is excused in Islam.

Hadith

لَلَّهُ أَشَدُّ فَرَحًا بِتَوْبَةِ عَبْدِهِ حِينَ يَتُوبُ إِلَيْهِ، مِنْ أَحَدِكُمْ كَانَ عَلَى رَاحِلَتِهِ بِأَرْضِ فَلَاةٍ، فَانْفَلَتَتْ مِنْهُ وَعَلَيْهَا طَعَامُهُ وَشَرَابُهُ، فَأَيِسَ مِنْهَا، فَأَتَى شَجَرَةً، فَاضْطَجَعَ فِي ظِلِّهَا، قَدْ أَيِسَ مِنْ رَاحِلَتِهِ، فَبَيْنَا هُوَ كَذَلِكَ إِذَا هُوَ بِهَا، قَائِمَةً عِنْدَهُ، فَأَخَذَ بِخِطَامِهَا، ثُمَّ قَالَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ: اللهُمَّ أَنْتَ عَبْدِي وَأَنَا رَبُّكَ، أَخْطَأَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Allah is more pleased with the repentance of a servant than when one of you is upon his camel in the desert and the camel gets away from him. His food and drink are upon it. So he loses hope. He comes to a tree and lies down in its shadow. He is hopeless regarding his camel. Whilst he is in that state, suddenly it is standing before him. He takes hold of it and speaks in a state of overwhelming joy: O Allah, you are my servant and I am your lord. He blundered due to overwhelming joy. (Sahih Muslim, 2747 – 7).

The narration above speaks about the vast mercy of Allah (Most High) and how greatly He (Most High) is pleased with repentance. For anyone to use this Hadith to justify insults against Allah (Most High), his blessed Messenger ﷺ or anything we hold sacred is despicable. How could a Muslim even think of doing such a thing. It is only sectarianism and cultism that would misguide a person to this degree.

The commentary

The sound commentary of the last section of the Hadith above explains that a slip of the tongue is not accountable. The Hadith itself clarifies that the man made a mistake. Meaning he misspoke. He wanted to say, ‘you are my Lord.’ However, he made an error. It is a very clear and simple explanation. Thus, it leaves no room to use the Hadith to justify insults of the kind they are defending.

فسبق لسانُه وأخطأ. (شرح المصابيح للمُظْهِرِيُّ)

So his tongue slipped and he erred. (Imam al-Mudhiri al-Hanafi 727H, al-Mafateeh Sharh al-Masabeeh).

أراد أن يحمد الله بما أنعم عليه من ردِّ راحلته فسَبَقَ لسانه. (شرح مصابيح السنة لابن المَلَك)

He wanted to praise Allah (Most High) for the blessing He bestowed upon him by returning his camel, but his tongue slipped. (Imam Ibn al-Malak, Sharh Masabeeh al-Sunnah).

Imam Ali al-Qari went further and explained exactly what he was supposed to say and then what the error was. Can these people provide such an explanation. They use this Hadith to defend the repulsive statement attributed to Abu Yazid saying: My flag will be greater than the flag of Muhammad (on Judgement Day). Can they explain the slip? What was he supposed to say? Which word did he mix up?

ثُمَّ قَالَ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الْفَرَحِ: اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ عَبْدِي وَأَنَا رَبُّكَ، أَخْطَأَ. أَيْ: بِسَبْقِ اللِّسَانِ عَنْ نَهْجِ الصَّوَابِ وَهُوَ: أَنَا عَبْدُكَ وَأَنْتَ رَبِّي. (مرقاة المفاتيح شرح مشكاة المصابيح)

Then, out of overwhelming joy, he said: O Allah, you are my servant, and I am your lord. He blundered. Meaning, with a slip of the tongue away from the truth. Which is: I am your servant, and you are My Lord. (Imam Ali al-Qari 1014H, Mirqaat al-Mafateeh).

Spiritual ranks and miracles

What makes all of this even worse is that they go much further. Not only do they use the Hadith to justify insults, but they also say the insult was a miracle for the one insulting. They claim great spiritual ranks for the person uttering blasphemy. They say that Allah (Most High) was speaking through the mouth of this Wali!

Rather than unequivocally condemning blasphemy, not only do they defend it, but they present it as a miracle (Karaamah). How could people care so little about the honour of our beloved Prophet ﷺ. Not only are they justifying it, but they are praising it.

If anyone points out the abhorrence of what they are doing, they attack and say you have insulted the Awliyaa! Those who defend the blessed Prophet ﷺ are attacked by these defenders of blasphemy. Then they delude themselves into thinking they are the true defenders of the Prophet ﷺ. Why would anyone want to be part of such extreme sectarian groups?

How could a Muslim put any person before the Mubarak Prophet ﷺ. They have sided with the one blaspheming rather the defending our beloved Prophet ﷺ! How is this possible? It is the evil of sectarianism and cultism that leads people to such extremes.

Defenders of the Prophet ﷺ

As if the above was not depraved enough, they go further. These same people then present themselves as the defenders of the Prophet ﷺ. They claim to have the greatest love for the Mubarak Prophet ﷺ. They attack others for insulting the blessed Prophet ﷺ, whilst they are embroiled in defending the worst insults.

This abhorrent behaviour can only be put down to sectarianism. A non-sectarian Muslim could not behave in this manner. Rather someone who truly loves and defends our Mubarak Prophet ﷺ stands up to insults, irrespective of where they are coming from. His group, sect or cult is not considered. His only consideration is his beloved Prophet ﷺ.

The audacity of such people is almost unparalleled. They defend the worst insults and then present themselves as the ones who truly love the Prophet ﷺ. Deplorably, their love of the sect or cult they belong to is given priority. That is why they defend insults coming from people they like, and only attack insults coming from their perceived opposition.

Such sectarianism is not only misguiding Muslims, it also further weakens the Ummah. At a time where we are required to defend the blessed Prophet ﷺ from an almost unprecedented number of insults, they are busy defending some of those who insult. Absolutely disgraceful!

No excuse

It is shameful to see people defending insults against our beloved Prophet ﷺ. And there is absolutely no justification for it. If they argue that the person in question is recognised as an individual of great rank, then the answer is simple. For the Muslim, no person has a rank anywhere close to that of the Prophet ﷺ. Every Muslim recognises that.

Whereas, if the argument is that some people in our history have defended such insults against the Mubarak Prophet ﷺ. Then the response should be to absolutely condemn such stances. No person can come before the beloved Prophet ﷺ.

We will also ask, why do you take a lead from those people and not from the likes of Imam Ibn Jowzi? This great Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah unequivocally condemned such abhorrent statements. Why do you ignore his approach and follow the example of those who defend blasphemy?

أما مَا تقدم من دعاويه فما يخفى قبحها. (تلبيس إبليس)

As for the above claims, their depravity is not hidden. (Imam Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Jowzi 597H, Talbees Ibless).

The context of the Nass (text) above is that Imam Ibn Jowzi listed many of the blasphemous statements of Abu Yazid and then condemned them, calling them vile. That is the approach of a person who puts no one before Allah (Most High) and His Messenger ﷺ.

Why could these people not follow his example? Why did they defend blasphemy? These are fundamental questions that they need to ask themselves. Where has sectarianism and cultism taken them?

Conclusion

It is completely outrageous to use the Hadith to justify insults. Rather the narration in Sahih Muslim clarifies the blunder the man made. It also clarifies that it was a slip of the tongue. To attempt to apply that to an utterly reprehensible statement made against our beloved Prophet ﷺ is inexcusable. A person with an ounce of love for our Mubarak Prophet ﷺ would be unable to do such a thing.

It is extremely vile to present insults against the blessed Prophet ﷺ as something positive. But sectarian extremists go even further. They present it as a miracle (Karaamah) for the one insulting. Such behaviour is unimaginable for most Muslims. However, sectarian and cultish people often violate all limits when defending their sect or cult.

And Allah Most High Knows Best.

–Answered by Shaykh Noorud-deen Rashid (31.07.24)