Arba'un 30 — obligations, limits, and what He was silent about

الأربعون 30 — فرض فرائض وحد حدوداً وسكت عن أشياء

The hadith of Abu Tha'laba al-Khushani that the Prophet said 'God has laid down obligations, so do not neglect them; set bounds, so do not transgress them; forbidden things, so do not violate them; and was silent about things out of mercy for you, not forgetfulness, so do not search for them' — the thirtieth of al-Nawawi's Forty and of Ibn Rajab's commentary, called a hasan hadith by al-Nawawi, transmitted by al-Daraqutni (4350) and others, and likewise graded hasan before him by al-Hafiz Abu Bakr ibn al-Sam'ani in his Amali; it comes through Makhul from Abu Tha'laba with two defects: Makhul's hearing from Abu Tha'laba is unproven — so Abu Mashar al-Dimashqi, al-Hafiz Abu Nu'aym and others — and its elevation to the Prophet versus halting at Abu Tha'laba is disputed, some narrating it as Makhul's own saying, though al-Daraqutni judges the marfu' closer to correct and the better known; the meaning is carried marfu' through other routes — al-Bazzar and al-Hakim from Abu al-Darda', 'what God made lawful in His Book is lawful, what He forbade is forbidden, and what He was silent about is pardon, so accept God's pardon, for God was never one to forget anything', followed by 'your Lord was never forgetful' (Maryam 64), graded sahih in chain by al-Hakim and salih by al-Bazzar — and al-Tabarani and al-Daraqutni from another Abu al-Darda' route ending 'a mercy from God, so accept it', though its chain is weak; al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah carry through Sayf ibn Harun from Sulayman al-Taymi from Abu Uthman from Salman that the Prophet was asked about clarified butter, cheese and furs and answered 'the lawful is what God made lawful in His Book, the unlawful what He forbade, and what He was silent about is among what He pardoned', while Sufyan ibn Uyayna narrated it halted as al-Taymi's saying and that seems sounder — al-Bukhari held the marfu' version un-preserved, Ahmad called it rejected, Ibn Ma'in denied it, and Abu Hatim al-Razi declared it an error: the trustworthy narrate it mursal from Abu Uthman without Salman — Ibn Rajab adding that it is nonetheless related from Salman as his own saying through other routes (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 617–638).