A man met a woman who had been a prostitute during the days of ignorance, and he began flirting with her until he stretched out his hand toward her. The woman said, "Stop! Allah has done away with polytheism." Affan once said instead, "He has done away with the days of ignorance and brought us Islam."The man turned away, and his face struck a wall, gashing it. He then came to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what had happened. The Prophet ﷺ said, "You are a servant whom Allah intends good for. When Allah
intends good for a servant, He hastens the punishment of his sin in this life. But when He intends evil for a servant, He withholds his sin from him until He brings him on the Day of Resurrection burdened with it like a wild donkey."
إن رجلا لقي امرأة كانت بغيا الجاهلية، فجعل يلاعبها، حتى بسط يده إليها، فقالت المرأة: مه! فإن الله عز وجل قد ذهب بالشرك. وقال عفان مرة: ذهب بالجاهلية، وجاءنا بالإسلام فولى الرجل، فأصاب وجهه الحائط، فشجه، ثم أتى النبي ﷺ، فأخبره فقال: أنت عبد أراد الله بك خيرا، إذا أراد الله عز وجل بعبد خيرا عجل له عقوبة ذنبه، وإذا أراد بعبد شرا أمسك عليه بذنبه، حتى يوافي به يوم القيامة كأنه عير.
Imam Ahmad (16806) narrated it from Affan, who said, Hammad bin Salama told us, from Yunus, from Hasan Basri, from Abdullah bin Mughafal, and he related the same. Ibn Hibban (2911) and Hakim (1/34, 4/376–377) both graded it sahih through this same route. Hakim said, "Sahih according to the criterion of the two Shaykhs." Haythami mentioned it in Majma (10/191) and said, "Ahmad and Tabarani narrated it, and the men of Ahmad's chain are the men of the Sahih, and likewise one of Tabarani's two chains."Its chain is sahih. It contains Hasan bin Abu Hasan Basri, the Imam, who was a mudallis and narrated here using ambiguous transmission wording. However, Imam Ahmad stated explicitly that he heard from Abdullah bin Mughafal, Anas bin Malik, and Ibn Umar, so perhaps this is among what he heard directly from him. Moreover, Ibn Hibban included it in his Sahih, which lends reassurance regarding the soundness of his hearing from him, as he mentioned in the introduction on the matter of mudallis narrators.On this subject there is also a report from Anas, as a saying of the Prophet ﷺ, "The magnitude of the reward matches the magnitude of the trial. When Allah loves a people, He tests them. Whoever accepts this with contentment earns Allah's pleasure, and whoever meets it with resentment earns Allah's displeasure." Tirmidhi (2396) and Ibn Majah (4031) both narrated it through the route of Layth bin Saad, from Yazid bin Abu Habib, from Saad bin Sinan, from Anas, who related the same, and their wording is identical.Tirmidhi also transmitted, through this same chain, another wording as a saying of the Prophet, "When Allah wants good for His servant, He hastens the punishment for him in this world, and when Allah wants harm for His servant, He withholds the consequence of his sin from him until he meets it in full on the Day of Resurrection." He said, "Hasan gharib through this route."I say, rather it is very daif, for Saad bin Sinan Kindi is daif. He was declared daif by Ahmad, Nasai, Daraqutni, Juzjani, Dhahabi, and the majority of scholars. As for Hafiz, he was lenient in his assessment of him, saying, "Truthful, with some isolated reports." Perhaps his statement "with some isolated reports" alludes to what Imam Ahmad said, "He narrated fifteen hadiths, all of them objectionable. I do not recognize even one of them as sound."Likewise, what is reported from Anas bin Malik, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said to his companions, "When you fall ill, do not wish for health, for illness is better for the believer than health, and illness is Allah's gift to His servants," is not sound. Juzqani narrated it in Abatil (429) and said, "This is a munkar hadith, and its chain contains more than one unidentified narrator." Hafiz quoted this from him in Lisan (3/114).