Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim Ḥadīth [2956] – The parable of the world for a believer and a disbeliever

In a prison, a person is not free in their life; rather, they are bound by the laws of the jail and the orders of its officials in everything. They cannot exercise their own will in eating, drinking, sitting, standing, walking around, and interacting. Instead, they must abide by the orders of others in every matter whether they like it or not. Thus, no human attaches their heart to a prison or considers it their home. Rather, at all times and at any cost, they desire and long to leave it.

In contrast, there will be no restriction of law in Paradise, and every inhabitant of Paradise will be able to live according to their own wish. Their every desire and wish will be fulfilled. They will be free in every matter and will make Paradise their permanent home, never wanting or desiring to leave it at any time or under any circumstance.

Therefore, in this world, a believer should live a life bound by commands and laws, akin to living in a prison. They should not disobey any command or law of the sharī’ah, nor should they live an unchecked, unregulated life like a disbeliever. Nor should they attach their heart to this world or make it their permanent abode.

For this reason, the muḥaddithīn record those precise traditions in the books of zuhd and riqāq that create a state of tenderness, softness, and compassion in the heart, reduce attachment to the world, boost the concern for the Hereafter, and make the pleasure of Allāh – the Almighty – and success in the Hereafter one’s ultimate goal.

• Reference: [2956 (8/371-372), Tuḥfatul Muslim Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Nomani Kutub Khana (Ur)]

Translated by Umm Rumayṣā’

The main characteristic of a prison is that the prisoner is not free to lead a life of his choice, but is bound by the laws of the prison and the whims of its officers. He is neither free in eating and drinking, nor in sleeping and awakening, nor in moving about nor in meeting with the people at will. In short, he has no freedom of any kind in a prison house, and has willy-nilly to obey the orders of others. The second thing is that no prisoner loves his prison like home, but is always on the lookout to somehow get out of it. Paradise, on the other hand, is a place where the inhabitants will have no such restrictions. Each person will live a life of his choice, and every desire of his will be fulfilled, and he will never feel the desire to get out of it.

• Reference: [2324 (4/358), Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Dārussalām (Eng)]

1: As a prisoner is bound to follow many laws of the prison, he cannot act freely, similarly a believer is not free in this life to do what he desires, rather he follows the commands of Allāh at every point of his life, and as a reward he will get paradise.

2: A non-believer lives freely in this world, so he gets the punishment of Hell in the Hereafter. The hardest life of this world, compared to the punishment of Hell, is considered a Paradise.

• Reference: [4113 (5/294), Sunan ibn Mājah, Dārussalām (Eng)]

As compared with the pleasures and luxuries, which are in store for a true believer in Jannah in the Hereafter, this world is a prison; and against the ceaseless torture that awaits the kuffār (disbelievers) in Hell, this world is a Jannah for them. It can also mean that the way a Muslim saves himself in life from lusts and desires and leads a pious life with fear of Allāh, this world is a prison for him because he is fettered in the chains of rules and regulations, while a kāfir (disbeliever) is free from all kinds of restrictions and is completely given to lusts and desires, and this is how this world is a Jannah for him. The purpose of this ḥadīth is to induce Muslims for the preparation of ākhirah (the Hereafter) and prevent them from unlawful luxuries of this world.

• Reference: [470 (1/428), Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn, Dārussalām (Eng)]

• Mukhtaṣar Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (2079 (1/552))
• Sunan at-Tirmidhī (2324)
• Sunan ibn Mājah (4113)
• Musnad Aḥmad (8289 (14/44-45); 9055 (15/23) & 10288 (16/198)) ^{[Shu’ayb al-Arna’ūṭ]}
• Musnad Aḥmad (8272 (8/266); 9032 (9/90) & 10237 (9/436-437)) ^{[Aḥmad Shākir]}
• Musnad al-Bazzār (6108 (12/288-289)) – on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar
• Musnad al-Bazzār (8298 (15/69-70))
• Musnad Abī Ya’lā (6465 (1/1747) & 6526 (1/1759))
• Musnad Shihāb (145 (1/118)) – on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar
• Ṣaḥīḥ ibn Ḥibbān (687-688 (2/462-464))
• Ṣaḥīḥ Mawārid aẓ-Ẓamān (2107 (2/473))
• Shu’ab al-Īmān (9340 (12/241-242) & 9977-9978 (13/76-77))
• Al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr (6087 (6/236)) – on the authority of Salmān bin Fārsī
• Al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ (9136 (9/65)) – on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar
• Al-Mustadrak ‘alā aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥayn (6707 (6/536)) – on the authority of Salmān bin Fārsī
• Sharḥ as-Sunnah (4104-4105 (14/296-297))
• Ḥilyatul Awliyā’ (6/350)
• Kanzul ‘Ummāl (6081 (3/185))
• Majma’ al-Zawā’id (18024 (21/426-427)) – on the authority of ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Umar
• Majma’ al-Zawā’id (18025 (21/427-428)) – on the authority of Salmān Bin Fārsī
• Al-Ādāb ash-Shar’īyah (2/182 & 2/234)
• Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (5158)
• Riyāḍuṣ Ṣāliḥīn (470)
• Al-Jāmi’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr [Suyūṭī] (4275 (1/260))
• Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmi’ (3412 (1/641))
• Ibn Abī ‘Āṣim’s az-Zuhd (142 (1/69))
• Imām Aḥmad’s az-Zuhd (152 (1/47))

Grade: Ṣaḥīḥ (Authentic)