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).
At a glance
- Review
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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
Connections
- 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
Cite this page
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.