Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As salaam alaikum,

I had a question regarding what is hadees qudsi .. i read fazail e amaal and come across many hadiths which state that Rasullah (saw) narrates in a hadees qudsi that .... .. could u plz clarify .

JazakAllah

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Answer:

What is hadith qudsi?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Hadith-e-Qudsi is a term used which signifies that the meaning of the hadith is from Allah Subhanah, and the words are related from the Messenger of Allah (saws), unlike the Quran where the meaning and the words are both from Allah Subhanah.

Hadith-e-Qudsi is not a separate book or Revelation of Allah Subhanah like the Quran, and the exact same science and investigation that is needed to determine the authenticity of any hadith will be used to determine if the Hadith-e-Qudsi narrated by the narrator from the Messenger of Allah (saws) is indeed authentic or not.

Examples of a Hadith-e-Qudsi would be the following:

Hadith Qudsi 1

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said when Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His Book which is laid down with Him: “My mercy prevails over my Wrath.”

Hadith Qudsi 15

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Allah Subhanah, High and Exalted He is, says: ‘I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’

Hadith Qudsi 34

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Allah Subhanah, High and Exalted He is, said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.”

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan