Hadith Research Libraryمكتبة الحديث والرجال
Sahih Muslim, 35 a
sahih

Chain of narration · Isnād

Each narrator name opens their biography and classical source evidence.

7 transmitters

Narrated by 'Ubaidullah bin Sa'idfrom'Abd bin Hameed bin NasrfromAbu 'Amir al-'AqdifromSulaiman bin Bilal al-Taymifrom'Abdullah bin DinarfromDhakwan Abu Salah al-Saman al-ZiyatfromAbu Hurairah

Hadith text · Matn

‏ الإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسَبْعُونَ شُعْبَةً وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ ‏

‏ ‏.‏

English translation

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

Iman has over seventy branches, and modesty is a branch of Iman.

Original Arabic chain wording

حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، وَعَبْدُ بْنُ حُمَيْدٍ، قَالاَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَامِرٍ الْعَقَدِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلاَلٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ دِينَارٍ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 1, Hadith 59
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 1, Hadith 55 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Faith is branches and degrees divided into sayings, acts, and beliefs. All good attributes fall under it. Ahlusunnah wal Jamaah believes that a believer's faith increases by doing righteous deeds and avoiding sins. His faith decreases as much as he disobeys and commits sins. In this hadith, the Prophet ﷺ confirmed that the complete faith consists of degrees that contain acts, and sayings of righteousness that reach seventy - or sixty - odd branches. Faith consists of (1) The heart's acts like believing in Allah's oneness, trust in Allah, fearing Allah, and hope of Allah's promise, (2) The tongue's acts like the two testimonies, remembering Allah, supplication, reciting the Quran, and others, and (3) The limbs' acts like prayer, fasting, relieving people, and supporting the oppressed. Whoever performs a righteous deed he completed a part of his faith. The Prophet confirmed that the faith's highest and best degrees, the foundation of faith, is the saying, “There is no god but Allah.” Believing in Allah's oneness, his control of the whole universe, his only being worthy of worship, and acting upon that are the foundations of faith. This great testimony is (1) The word of piety, (2) The most trustworthy handhold, (3) The difference between disbelief and belief, (4) The word that Prophet Ibrahim made remain among his descendants that they may return to, and (5) The word on which heavens and Earth are established and for which all beings created, (6) It is the reason for creation, command, reward, and punishment, and (7) It is Allah's right upon all of His servants. It is neither intended to verbally say it while ignoring its meaning nor behaving like hypocrites, but it is intended to verbally say, believe it with heart, love its people, and hate what contradicts it. Then the Prophet ﷺ explained that the least act of faith is to remove harmful things away from people's way like stones, thorns, etc. The Prophet also explained that modesty is one of faith's degrees. It is a moral that motivates one to leave evilness and prevents him from negligence. One's modesty with Allah means that He neither sees us where he prohibited nor loses us where He commanded us to be. In this sense, faith is the strongest motive for goodness and the greatest deterrent against evil. The Prophet mentioned modesty here, for it is a moral matter that our minds may forget that it is a faith's branch. This hadith refers that good morals are from faith. It collects all branches of faith which are beliefs, deeds, and morals, which all are complementary to faith. Moreover, this hadith generally mentioned all faith's branches, but they are detailed in the Prophet's Sunnah. Mentioning the number does not mean limiting it to sixty or seventy, but rather it indicates the abundance of faith's acts. Finally, the hadith clarifies the importance of modesty..
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