Question

Kindly provide the reference for the following narration:

“We were with Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) on a journey, and some men stood up repeating aloud, ‘God is most great;’ and the Prophet said, ‘O men, be easy on yourselves and do not distress yourselves by raising your voices; truly, you do not call to one deaf or absent, but to one who hears and sees.”

Answer

The full narration is as follows:

Sayyiduna Abu Musa (radiyallahu ‘anhu) said:

“We were with Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) on a journey and whenever we would ascend an incline we would [shout and] say, ‘Allahu Akbar.’

So Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, ‘O people! Be kind to yourselves! You are not calling someone who is deaf or absent. Rather you are calling one who is hearing and seeing.’

[Abu Musa -radiyallahu ‘anhu] says, Then Nabi (sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) came to me while I was saying to myself, ‘La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah’ (There is no power nor strength except by Allah).

He said, ‘O Abdullah ibn Qays, Say ‘La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah’ for it is one of the treasures of Jannah.’ Or he said, ‘Shall I direct you to an expression which is one of the treasures of Jannah? It is ‘La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah’”

(Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 6384 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 2704 with slight variation in the wording)

And Allah Ta’ala Knows best

Answered by: Mawlana Suhail Motala

Approved by: Mawlana Muhammad Abasoomar

Checked by: Mawlana Haroon Abasoomar