“Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah.” Explanation of Kitābus-Sunnah from Sunan Ibn Mājah (Hadeeth 3).

Explanation of the Book of Sunnah, Sunan Ibn Mājah

Chapter 1: ‘Following the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam).’ Based on the explanation of the noble Scholar, the Sheikh, ʿAbdul Muhsin al-ʿAbbād (may Allah preserve him) with additional notes.

Hadeeth Number 3

The author, Ibn Mājah (rahimahullah) said:

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us, that Abu Muʿāwiyah and Wakeeʿ narrated to us, from al-ʿAmash, from Abu Sālih, from Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu ʿanhu) who said that Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said:

من أطاعني فقد أطاع الله, ومن عصاني فقد عصى الله

“Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me, he has disobeyed Allah.”

(Saheeh: Also reported by Bukhāri, Muslim, an-Nasā’i and Ahmad)

Explanation

This Hadeeth of Abu Hurairah is inline with the chapter heading, i.e., to follow the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam). The Messenger said, ‘Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah.’ So, obedience to the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) is from obedience to Allah, because the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) is the one who conveyed the message from Allah, so the narrations (ahādeeth) of the Prophet are revelation from Allah (the Most High). Jibreel descended with the ahādeeth to the Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam)―therefore, we believe the revelation is of two types: the Quran and the Sunnah.

So, his (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) statement: ‘Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah,’ informs us that Allah (the Most High) is the One who sent the Messenger and ordered him to convey the message, so the one who obeys Prophet Muhammad (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) has obeyed Allah, and whoever is disobedient to the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam), then he is disobedient to Allah. There is nothing upon the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) except to convey the Quran and Sunnah, so whoever believes in what he came with, then this necessitates that he believes in the One who sent him (i.e., Allah), and whoever obeys the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) in that which he came with, then he has obeyed the One who sent him, and whoever avoids what he has prohibited, then he has acted in accordance with that which came from the One (Most High) who sent him.

The one who opposes Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and does not act on his commands and disobeys him in that which he came with of the Sunnah, then such a person is disobedient to Allah, because the One who commands and prohibits is Allah whether it is by way of the Qur’ān or by way of the Sunnah.

So, whoever acts upon that which has come from Allah and has been conveyed by Allah’s Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam), then he is obedient to Allah and his Messenger, and obedience to Allah’s Messenger is in fact obedience to Allah Himself. And whoever disobeys the Messenger in that which was conveyed to him by Allah, then he is disobedient to Allah. This is because it is Allah who commanded obedience to His Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam), and much has been said by Allah in the Qur’ān regarding obedience to Allah and obedience to the Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Obedience to Allah is to act upon that which is in the Qur’ān and obedience to the Messenger is to act upon that which is in the Sunnah, which is [in essence] obedience to Allah, because all of the Sunnah is revelation from Allah (the Most High).

Neither the Qur’ān nor the Sunnah are from the Messenger (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam), both are revelation from Allah, just as He the Most High said:

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ . إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ

“He (Muhammad) does not speak of his own desires. It is only a revelation revealed.” (Surah an-Najm 53:3-4).

End.

Men in the Chain of Narration

Abu Muʿāwiyah: he is Muhammad bin Khāzim ad-Dareer al-Koofi, and he is well known by his kunya, Abu Muʿāwiyah. He is thiqah (trustworthy and reliable) and all of the 6 books narrate from him.

Wakeeʿ: he is Ibn al-Jarrāh ar-Ru’āsi al-Koofi, he is thiqah and all of the 6 books narrate from him.

Al-ʿAmash, from Abu Sālih from Abu Hurairah: these three narrators are in the highest levels of chains of narration in the first three ahādeeth of this book.