Ibn ‘Abbas’s Statement: Good Deeds Give Light to the Heart…
Fatwa No: 475096

Question

Assalamualaikum. my question is can you explain about a Hadith if it's authentic or fake. ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Abbaas may Allaah be pleased with him said: “Good deeds give brightness to the face, light to the heart, abundance to provision, strength to the body, and affection in people's hearts. Bad deeds bring blackness to the face, darkness to the grave and the heart, weakness to the body, lack of provision and hatred in people’s hearts. I'm sorry I can't find a way to put it in sentences

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The statement that you mentioned has been attributed to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ) in many books, such as Madarij as-Salikeen by Ibn al-Qayyim, and Majmoo’ al-Fatawa by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, and others without commenting on it whether it is authentic, weak, and so on.

Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in Rawdhat al-Muhibeen that this statement is attributed to Ibn ‘Abbas and Anas, may Allaah be pleased with them, as he said:

“Ibn 'Abbas and Anas said that good deeds give light to the heart, brightness to the face, strength to the body, abundance to provision, and affection in people's hearts. Bad deeds bring darkness to the heart, blackness to the face, weakness to the body, lack of provision, and hatred in people’s hearts.” [End of quote]

Anas narrated a Hadith attributed to the Prophet which is close in meaning to the statement you asked about, and Al-Dhahabi described it as a Munkar (odd, denounced) Hadith.

Mizan al-I’tidal authored by adh-Dhahabi reads:

And Abu Sufyan from Salem Al-Khayyat are unknown.

I said: The first of them was from'Umar ibn Nabhan, from al-Hassan, from Anas, that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘I found for a good deed light in the heart, brightness in the face, and strength at work. However, I found blackness in the heart for a sin, and darkness in the face.

Abu Hatim said: ‘This is a Munkar Hadith.’”

Allah knows best.

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