The Virtues of Hamd

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Virtues of Hamd

Abu Rumaysah

There are a number of ahadith that show us the great virtue of expressing hamd.
1. Muslim records on the authority of Anas bin Malik (radiyAlldhu ‘anhu) that the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“Indeed Allah is pleased at His servant when he eats some food and praises Him for it or when he drinks a drink and praises Him for it.”[1]


Al-Hasan said, 'There is no blessing except that [saying] al-Hamdulillah is better and more virtuous than it.'


2. Ibn Majah records on the authority of Anas bin Malik (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) that the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“Allah does not grant a servant a favour for which he says al-Hamdulillah except that what he offered [of praising] is better and more virtuous than what he took [of the favour].”[2]


Al-Bayhaqi commented on this by saying,
This is because the servant does not attain [the station] of praising and thanking Allah except by His divine accord. Therefore the greater excellence [of his praising Allah as compared to the initial blessing that Allah bestowed upon him] is by virtue of his being blessed with the [ability to] praise Allah and extol him and this did not exist in the initial blessing.[3]


3. Al- Hakim at-Tirmidhi, Nawadir al-Usul records from Anas bin Malik that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“If the entire world along with its contents were to be in the hand of a man from my nation and then he were to say al-Hamdulillah, this statement would be better than [what his hand contained].”[4]


Al-Qurtubi commented upon this by saying,
In our view the meaning is that he has been given the world, then after this he has been given this statement and utters it. Therefore this statement is better than the world because the world is soon to perish whereas the statement will endure for it is from those righteous deeds that remain. Allah said,
“The righteous deeds that last are better in the Sight of your Lord, for reward and better for resort.” [Surah Maryam (19): 76]


4. Ibn Majah records on the authority of ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“A servant from amongst the servants of Allah said. 'O my Lord! To You belongs all praise and thanks as is required by the magnificence of Your face and greatness of Your authority.’ This confused the two [recording] Angels and they did not know how to record it. So they ascended to Paradise and said, ‘O our Lord! Your servant has said a statement and we do not know how to record it.' Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent asks, despite the fact that He already knows, ‘What did my servant say?' They reply, 'O Lord! He said: O my Lord? To You belongs all praise and thanks as is required by the magnificence of Your face and greatness of Your authority’ Allah then says to them, 'Record it for my servant as he said it, then when He meets Me, I will reward him for it.’”[5]


5. Muslim records on the authority of Abu Musa al- Astfari that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“Purity is half of faith, [the statement] al-Hamdulillah fills the scales and [the statement] SubhanAllah wa-l-Hamdulillah fills what is between the heaven and the earth.” [6]


6. At-Tirmidhi records on the authority of Jabir bin 'Abdullah that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“The most excellent dhikr is [the statement] Ia ilaha illAllah and the most excellent supplication is [the statement] al-Hamdulillah.”[7]


7. Ahmad records on the authority of Aswad bin Sarf who said,
I asked the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), "Should I not recite to you words of praise that I praised my Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, with?" He replied, "Of course! Indeed your Lord loves praise.”[8]


8. Muslim records on the authority of Samurah bin Jundub that the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said,
“The most beloved statements to Allah are four: SubhanAllah, al-Hamdulillah, La ilaha illAllah, Allahu Akbar…”[9]

[1] Muslim Eng. Trans., vol. 4, pg. 1 429 #6592

[2] Ibn Majah #3805 and it was declared hasan by al-Busayri, al-Zawa'id, as-Suyuti, vol. 1, pg. 34, and sahih by al-Albani, #5563
A similar hadith is recorded by at-Tabarani, al-Kabir#179A on the authority of Abu Umamah and declared daif by as-Suyuti, #7841, and da'if jiddan by al-Albani, ad-Da'ifah #201 1 due to the presence of a rejected additional wording.

[3] As-Sindi#3795

[4] As-Suyuti, vol. 1, pg. 34-35, and ibn Asakir. as-Suyuti #7398, ruled it to be da’if and al-Albani #4800, ad-Da’ifah #875 ruled it to be mawdu’.
A similar hadith has been recorded on the authority of Jabir by al-Qari’, Muntakhab al-Fawa'id, and ruled da'if by al-Albani, ad-Da'ifah #876

[5] Ibn Majah #3801, and al-Bayhaqi #4387. al Busayri, az-Zawa'id said, ‘Its isnad contains Qudamah ibn Ibrahim whom ibn Hibban mentioned in ath-Thiqat. It also contains Sadaqah, ibn Bashir and I have seen no one who disparaged him or authenticated him.' al-Albani #1877, ruled it to be da'if.

[6] Muslim Eng. Trans., vol. 1, pg. 147 #432

[7] At-Tirmidhi #3623 and ibn Majah #3800. It was declared sahih by al-Hakim #1834, 1852, with adh-Dhahabi agreeing, and as-Suyuti #1253; and hasan by at-Tirmidhi and al-AIbani #1104

[8] Ahmad #15586, 15590, and Bukhari, Adab al-Mufrad #859, 861, 868, al-Albani, as-Sahihah# 3179 said it was sahih.
A similar hadith is recorded by Ahmad #3616 on the authority of ibn Mas’ud.

[9] Muslim #2137