Arba'un 20 — if you feel no shame, do as you wish

الأربعون 20 — إذا لم تستح فاصنع ما شئت

Abu Masud al-Badri's hadith, the twentieth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary; transmitted by al-Bukhari (3483, 6120) through Mansur ibn al-Mu'tamir from Rib'i ibn Hirash from Abu Masud, Muslim omitting it, and its chain was disputed — some said Rib'i from Hudhayfa — but most of the memorising critics, among them al-Bukhari, Abu Zur'a and al-Daraqutni, ruled for those who said from Abu Masud, corroborated by Masruq's route from him, al-Tabarani also carrying it mursal from Abu al-Tufayl; for Ibn Rajab 'the speech of the first prophethood' means it was handed down from the earlier prophets, transmitted among people generation after generation until it reached the first of this community; 'if you feel no shame, do as you wish' has two readings — not a command but censure: either as threat and warning, like 'do as you wish, for He sees what you do', the choice of a group including Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab, or a command in form whose meaning is a statement — whoever has no shame will do whatever he wishes, shame being the restraint from ugly deeds — the choice of Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam, Ibn Qutayba and Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi, Abu Dawud reporting from Ahmad what points the same way (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 464–470).

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إن مما أدرك الناس من كلام النبوة الأولى: إذا لم تستح فاصنع ما شئت

Text: Tanzil Project,tanzil.net · verbatim and unchanged

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Basis for
Haya' (modesty and shame)
Mentions
Abu Masud al-Badri

People and things also explored

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)Haya' (modesty and shame)Abu Masud al-Badri

Sources

  • Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
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islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 20 — if you feel no shame, do as you wish”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-20/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.

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Related

Prophetic adab (proper conduct)

The body of proper conduct the believer is commanded in his words, deeds and relations with God and His servants; from the formula 'whoever believes in God and the Last Day' in Abu Hurayra's hadith Ibn Rajab derives that these traits are of the traits of iman and that deeds enter into iman, dividing the hadith's three commands into what belongs to God's rights — speaking good or keeping silent — and what belongs to His servants' rights — honouring the neighbour, withholding harm from him and honouring the guest; he transmits Aswad ibn Asram's report of the Prophet's counsel 'do not say with your tongue except what is good and do not extend your hand except to good', and that the tongue's uprightness is of the traits of iman; Abu Amr ibn al-Salah reports from Abu Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd, the Maliki imam of his time, that the conduct of goodness and all its reins branch from four hadiths: speaking good or keeping silent, leaving what does not concern one, 'do not become angry', and loving for one's brother what one loves for oneself.