Book 22: Clothing

Sa'id b. Abul Hasan said : When was with Ibn ‘Abbas a man came to him and said, "Ibn ‘Abbas, I am a man whose livelihood comes only from the work of my hands, and I make these representations of things." Ibn ‘Abbas replied that he would tell him only what he had heard from God’s messenger. He had heard him say, ‘‘If anyone makes a representation of anything God will punish him till he blows a spirit into it, and he will never be able to do that." Then when the man gasped and became pale he said to him, “Out upon you ! If you must do so, make representations of these trees and of anything which does not possess a spirit.” Bukhari transmitted it.

‘A’isha told that when the Prophet (ﷺ) was ill some of his wives mentioned a church called Mariya. Umm Salama and Umm Habiba who had gone to Abyssinia mentioned its beauty and the statues it contained, whereupon he raised his head and said, "When a pious man among those people dies they build a place of worship over his grave, then make those statues in it. Those are the worst of God’s creatures.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, ‘The one who receives the severest punishment on the day of resurrection will be he who kills a prophet, or who is killed by a prophet, or kills one of his parents, those who make representations of things, and a learned man who derives no benefit from his learning." Baihaqi transmitted it in Shu’ab al-iman.

‘Ali used to say that chess is the maisir of the foreigners. Ibn Shihab told that Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari used to say that only a sinner plays chess. He told that when asked about playing chess he replied that it pertains to what is worthless and that God does not like what is worthless. Baihaqi transmitted the four traditions in Shu’ab al-iman.

Abu Huraira told that God's messenger used to come to the house of some of the Ansar, but that near it was a house which he never visited. That distressed the people, so they said, “Messenger of God, you visit so and so’s house, but you never visit ours.” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “It is because there is a dog in your house. ” They said, “There is a cat in their house,” and he replied, “A cat is a beast of prey.” (The explanation given is that a cat uses its fangs to kill its prey and is not unclean whereas the dog eats filth and is considered unclean.) Daraqutni transmitted it.