Allah (SWT) accepts only what is good. What does that ask of what you earn, eat, say, and do?
Islamic Studies · 40 Hadith, 9th and 10th Grade · 60 to 75 minutes
Last lesson, in Hadith 9, the Prophet (pbuh) drew a line between two kinds of instruction. What he forbade, we avoid. What he commanded, we do as much as we are able. He also warned that earlier nations were destroyed by asking too many questions and disagreeing with their prophets.
مَا نَهَيْتُكُمْ عَنْهُ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ، وَمَا أَمَرْتُكُمْ بِهِ فَأْتُوا مِنْهُ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "What I have forbidden you, avoid it. And what I have commanded you, do of it as much as you are able."
Hadith 10 is also narrated by Abu Hurairah (RA). It shows how far "avoid it" reaches: into what we earn, eat, drink, and wear, and even into our dua.
Before we read anything, make your own list. Anything you have heard, read, or noticed counts.
Does it matter where money comes from, if it ends up spent on something good?
Can something as ordinary as food have anything to do with your dua?
Today's hadith describes a man who did almost everything that helps a dua, and still something stood in his way.
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا، وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ أَمَرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ بِمَا أَمَرَ بِهِ الْمُرْسَلِينَ،
Abu Hurairah (RA) said: The Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) said: "Truly, Allah (SWT) is Good (Tayyib) and accepts only what is good. And Allah (SWT) has commanded the believers with what He (SWT) commanded the messengers.
The hadith opens with who Allah (SWT) is before it says anything about us. Why start there?
The believers were given the same command as the messengers. What does that tell you about how seriously the next part should be taken?
فَقَالَ تَعَالَى: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الرُّسُلُ كُلُوا مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَاعْمَلُوا صَالِحًا﴾، وَقَالَ تَعَالَى: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ﴾"
So He (SWT), the Exalted, said: "O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteousness." (Surah Al-Mu'minun 23:51, part of an ayah) And He (SWT), the Exalted, said: "O you who have believed, eat from the good [i.e., lawful] things which We have provided for you." (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:172, part of an ayah)
In the first ayah, what comes right after "eat from the good foods"? Why might those two be placed side by side?
Both ayat begin with eating. Why would the Prophet (pbuh) choose ayat about food to explain "accepts only what is good"?
ثُمَّ ذَكَرَ الرَّجُلَ يُطِيلُ السَّفَرَ أَشْعَثَ أَغْبَرَ، يَمُدُّ يَدَيْهِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ: يَا رَبِّ! يَا رَبِّ! وَمَطْعَمُهُ حَرَامٌ، وَمَشْرَبُهُ حَرَامٌ، وَمَلْبَسُهُ حَرَامٌ، وَغُذِّيَ بِالْحَرَامِ، فَأَنَّى يُسْتَجَابُ لَهُ؟"
Then he (pbuh) mentioned a man who travels on a long journey, his hair disheveled and covered in dust, stretching out his hands to the sky: "O Lord! O Lord!" But his food is haram, his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he has been nourished with haram. So how can he be answered?"
Picture this man. What about him would make you think his dua will be answered?
The hadith ends with a question instead of a statement. Why might the Prophet (pbuh) have chosen to ask it that way?
Tayyib means good, pure, and wholesome, and its opposite is khabith, what is foul or corrupt. Ibn Rajab, in his well-known explanation of the 40 Hadith, says that Allah (SWT) being Tayyib means He (SWT) is pure and holy, free of every flaw. He records the view that "accepts only what is good" reaches beyond charity: it covers deeds, words, and beliefs as well as wealth, since each of them can be good or foul. In your life, that reaches four places:
Money that comes to you in a halal, honest way, through work, gifts, and fair deals.
What you eat, drink, and wear, and what you buy with your money. Schools of fiqh differ on some food details, so take specific questions to your imam.
Ibn Rajab notes that speech, too, is either good or foul, and points to the Quran's description of the good word in Surah Ibrahim 14:24 and Surah Fatir 35:10.
Deeds kept pure of what spoils them, such as showing off and admiring yourself. That is Lesson 1's niyyah again.
Which of these four is the hardest to keep tayyib at your age, and why?
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ
O mankind, eat from whatever is on earth [that is] lawful and good and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.
The ayah puts two words side by side: halal, lawful, and tayyib, good. Ibn Kathir explains tayyib in this ayah as food that is "wholesome in itself, not harmful to the body or the mind."
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on Surah Al-Baqarah 2:168 · translated from the Arabic
Why might the Quran ask for food that is good as well as lawful?
Ibn Kathir mentions the mind as well as the body. Besides food, what do you take in every day that can help or harm your mind?
Ibn Rajab explains that in this one sentence the Prophet (pbuh) pointed to the manners of dua, to the things that help a dua to be answered, and to what keeps it from being answered. He names four things this man had going for him:
How many of these four were on the list you made at the start of class? Which one surprised you?
After all of that, the Prophet (pbuh) named one thing: the man's food, his drink, his clothing, and what he had been nourished with were all haram.
Ibn Rajab explains that this is a question of surprise that makes an answer seem far away. It is not a plain statement that an answer is impossible. Living on haram is one of the things that block a dua, and he adds that something else can sometimes keep that block from working.
From the outside, this man looked like someone whose dua would be answered, but what he ate, drank, and wore was haram. In Lesson 3 we saw that what is inside a person matters more than how things look. This hadith shows that what goes into a person matters too.
Why would something as ordinary as food and clothing affect something as spiritual as dua?
Today is about your own choices: what you take, what you earn, and what you choose to consume. It is not a reason to question or judge anyone else's money, including your family's. If a real question comes up, ask your imam privately.
إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى حَيِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ، يَسْتَحْيِي مِنْ عَبْدِهِ إِذَا رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ يَرُدَّهُمَا صِفْرًا
The Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) said: "Truly your Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, is Shy and Generous. He (SWT) is shy before His servant, when the servant raises his hands to Him, to send them back empty."
Ibn Rajab brings this same hadith when he explains why the traveler's raised hands mattered. So the problem in Hadith 10 was never a lack of generosity. The block was on the man's side, and a block like that can be removed. Tawbah is open, and you can change what you earn and consume starting today.
Scholars explain that this shyness is not like human shyness. The point of the hadith is His (SWT) generosity toward the one who asks.
Ask yourself: is there anything in what you earn, take, or consume that you would want to clear away before you next raise your hands in dua?
مَا عَلَى الْأَرْضِ مُسْلِمٌ يَدْعُو اللَّهَ بِدَعْوَةٍ إِلَّا آتَاهُ اللَّهُ إِيَّاهَا، أَوْ صَرَفَ عَنْهُ مِنَ السُّوءِ مِثْلَهَا، مَا لَمْ يَدْعُ بِمَأْثَمٍ أَوْ قَطِيعَةِ رَحِمٍ. فَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ: إِذًا نُكْثِرَ. قَالَ: اللَّهُ أَكْثَرُ
The Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) said: "There is no Muslim on the earth who calls upon Allah (SWT) with a dua, except that Allah (SWT) gives it to him, or turns away from him a harm equal to it, as long as he does not ask for something sinful or for cutting the ties of family." A man among the people said, "Then we will make a lot of dua." He (pbuh) said, "Allah (SWT) has more [to give]."
According to this hadith, what are the two things that can happen when a Muslim makes dua? Which one would you notice, and which one might you never notice?
The man said, "Then we will make a lot of dua." What does the answer of the Prophet (pbuh) tell you about how much you can ask for?
مَا أَكَلَ أَحَدٌ طَعَامًا قَطُّ خَيْرًا مِنْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدِهِ، وَإِنَّ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ دَاوُدَ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ كَانَ يَأْكُلُ مِنْ عَمَلِ يَدِهِ
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "No one has ever eaten food better than eating from the work of his own hand. And the Prophet of Allah (SWT), Dawud (AS), used to eat from the work of his own hand."
Many of you already have a first job, or will soon. This hadith praises eating from the work of your own hands. Ask yourself how that connects to what Hadith 10 says Allah (SWT) accepts.
Beyond getting paid, what makes the money from a job tayyib? Think about how you spend your hours, how you treat customers, and what you tell them.
Dawud (AS) was a prophet and a king. Why might he still have chosen to eat from his own work?
أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَرَّ عَلَى صُبْرَةِ طَعَامٍ فَأَدْخَلَ يَدَهُ فِيهَا فَنَالَتْ أَصَابِعُهُ بَلَلًا، فَقَالَ: "مَا هَذَا يَا صَاحِبَ الطَّعَامِ؟" قَالَ: أَصَابَتْهُ السَّمَاءُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ. قَالَ: "أَفَلَا جَعَلْتَهُ فَوْقَ الطَّعَامِ كَيْ يَرَاهُ النَّاسُ؟ مَنْ غَشَّ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي"
The Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) passed by a heap of grain. He reached into it with his hand, and his fingers felt wetness. He said, "What is this, O owner of the grain?" The man said, "Rain fell on it, O Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh)." He said, "Why did you not put it on top of the grain, so that people could see it? Whoever cheats is not of me."
The seller never said anything false. So what exactly did he do wrong?
Where do people today put the dry grain on top and keep the wet grain underneath? Think about selling things online, applying for a job, and schoolwork.
Each group takes one card. Talk it through for about 6 minutes, then one person shares your group's answer in under a minute.
Your manager at a phone store tells you to call a case "waterproof" so it sells. It is only splash resistant.
You are selling your old headphones online. The left side crackles sometimes. The buyer never asks.
A cashier hands you ten dollars too much in change and has already turned to the next customer.
Answers to tomorrow's quiz are being shared in your class group chat.
Your shift ended at 5:40, but nobody checks if you write 6:00 on your timesheet.
You borrowed a friend's hoodie three months ago. They seem to have forgotten about it.
Almost every card had a moment that no one else would see. In Lesson 2 we called the way a believer acts in moments like that ihsan. Honest money is part of it.
The door of tawbah is open. Turn back to Allah (SWT), and if something needs to be made right with a person, ask your imam privately how to do it.
Take out a sheet of paper and write your three answers quietly.
Your writing stays with you.
Ali (RA) taught this dua to a man who came to him asking for help to pay what he owed, and said he had learned it from the Prophet (pbuh).
أَلَا أُعَلِّمُكَ كَلِمَاتٍ عَلَّمَنِيهِنَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، لَوْ كَانَ عَلَيْكَ مِثْلُ جَبَلِ صِيرٍ دَيْنًا أَدَّاهُ اللَّهُ عَنْكَ؟ قَالَ: "قُلِ: اللَّهُمَّ اكْفِنِي بِحَلَالِكَ عَنْ حَرَامِكَ، وَأَغْنِنِي بِفَضْلِكَ عَمَّنْ سِوَاكَ"
Ali (RA) said: "Shall I not teach you words that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) (pbuh) taught me? If you had a debt like the mountain of Sir upon you, Allah (SWT) would pay it off for you. He said: Say, 'O Allah (SWT), suffice me with what You (SWT) have made lawful against what You have made unlawful, and by Your bounty make me free of need of all besides You.'"
Allahumma-kfini bi-halalika 'an haramik, wa aghnini bi-fadlika 'amman siwak
Say this dua once a day this week. Before you buy, take, or keep anything, ask yourself one question: is this tayyib?