The Person in the Best Position
101 - 'Abd Allāh narrated to us: al-Qāsim ibn Hāshim narrated to us: Ādam ibn Abī Iyās narrated to us: Ibn Abī Dhi'b narrated to us, from Ismā'īl ibn 'Abd al-Raḥmān, from 'Aṭā' ibn Yasār, from Ibn 'Abbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of God be upon him, came out to his Companions while they were sitting and said: "Shall I not inform you of the person in the best position?" They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He said: "A man holding the reins of his horse in the cause of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, until he dies or is killed. Shall I not inform you of the one who follows him?" They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He said: "A person who withdraws into a mountain pass, establishing Prayer, paying Zakat, and staying away from the evils of the people. Shall I not inform you of the person in the worst position?" They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He said: "The one who is asked by Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and does not give for His sake."
Notes
- (1) Its Chain of transmission is Hasan (Good):
al-Nasāʾī (5/83), al-Dārimī (2400), Aḥmad (1/237, 319, 322), Ibn Abī Shayba (5/294), Ibn al-Mubārak (169), and Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim (153)—both in al-Jihād—ʿAbd ibn = ⦗47⦘ = Ḥumayd (667 - al-Muntakhab min al-Musnad), al-Ṭayālisī (2661), al-Ṭabarānī in his al-Kabīr (vol. 10, no. 10767), Ibn Ḥibbān (603 - Iḥsān), and others reported it from various routes on the authority of Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, from Saʿīd ibn Khālid, from Ismāʿīl with it.
And perhaps Saʿīd ibn Khālid was omitted by the scribe of our book, and the correct view is to retain it as in the aforementioned references.
Al-Mubārakfūrī said in Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī (5/293): "'A man who is asked by God and does not give by Him': This admits of two interpretations: one of them is that his statement 'yusʾal' (is asked) is in the passive voice, and 'yuʿṭī' (gives) is in the active voice, meaning: the worst of people is one from whom a person in need asks by saying: 'Give me for the sake of God,' while he is able, but he does not give anything, rather he turns him away empty-handed; and the second is that his statement 'yasʾal' (asks) is in the active voice, and his statement 'yuʿṭā' (is given) is in the passive voice, meaning: he says: 'Give me by the right of God,' but he is not given." End of quote.
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