Part 109

Al-Minhaal (one of the narrators from the previous narration) then said that ‘Abdullah ibn Al-Haarith also related to him that the Prophet of Allah #8 said, “An order will be given for a group from my nation who will have been ordered to the Hellfire. They will say, ‘O Muhammad, we beseech you to intercede (for us).’ Then I will order the angels to stop with them. Then I will go forth and ask permission from the Lord (Allah) ‘Azza Wa-Jall (To Him belongs Might and Majesty), and permission will be given to me. Then I will perform prostration and say, ‘O my Lord, a group from my nation has been ordered to the Hellfire.’ He will say, ‘Go forth and take out whomsoever Allah wishes you to take out.’ Then the rest will call out, ‘O Muhammad, we beseech you to intercede (for us).’ Then I will return to the Lord (Allah) and seek permission. Permission will be given to me and J will perform a prostration. Then He will say, ‘Raise your head; ask, you will be given; intercede, your intercession will be granted.’ I will speak and I will enunciate praise upon Allah with such praises that no one else ever praised Him with. Then I will say, ‘A group from my nation has been ordered to the Hellfire.’ He will say, ‘Go forth and take out from them those who said: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Laailaha illallah). 1 will say, ‘He who has Eemaan in his heart equal to the weight of a mustard

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seed?’ He will say, ‘O Muhammad, that is not for you; that is for Me,’ Then I will go and take out whomsoever Allah wills for me to take out. A group of people will remain and they will then enter the Hellfire. The people of Hell will scoff at them, saying, ‘You used to worship Allah without associating partners with Him, and He has made you enter the Hellfire.’ They will become sad because of that. Then Allah will send an angel with a handful of water and will sprinkle it in the Hellfire. No one from the people of Leailaha illallah (“None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’) will remain except that a drop will fall on his face. And they will be identified by means of that, and the people of Hell will envy them for it. Then they (the people of “Laailaha illallah’") will come out and enter Paradise. It will be said to them, ‘Go forth, and they will host the people. Were all of them to go and visit one man, they would have enough space with him. And they are called Al-Mujarradeen.”

This wording necessitates the occurrence of a number of intercessions. Here it is mentioned that the Prophet # will intercede three times for those who were ordered to the Fiellfire, so that they do not enter it. “T will go and take out,” means, “1 will go and save,” which is proven by his saying after that, “A group of people will remain and they will enter the Hellfire.” And Allah % knows best.

The fourth kind of intercession is when the Prophet ig intercedes to raise the degrees of those who enter Paradise, ie., to raise their degrees in it over and above what their deeds are worth in terms of rewards. The Mo’tazilah have agreed with us in this intercession alone, for they have disagreed regarding the other ones, even though the Alaadeeth that mention them are related in Mutawaatir form (i.e., 80 many people related from so many people at each level of the narration, that it is impossible for them to have erred or to have colluded upon a lie). And this you shall see soon, Insha Allah. In Allah do we trust and upon Him do we depend entirely.

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Another Kind Of Intercession Is One For Whom Intercession Is Made So That He Enters Paradise Without Any Accountability; Another Is For The Punishment Of The Sinner To Be Lightened For Him

Al-Qaadee ‘Tyaaz and others mentioned another kind of intercession — a fifth kind — which is for people who enter Paradise without facing any accountability. As far as I know, I have seen no proof for this. And from what I have seen, Al-Qaadee did not mention anything to base that view upon. Then I remembered the hadith of ‘Ukkaasha Ibn Maihsin, in which the Messenger of Allah 2 supplicated for him, for Allah to make him from the 70,000 that enter Paradise without any account being taken from them. This hadith is related in both Bukhaaree and Muslim — we have already mentioned it — and it is appropriate to this issue.

In At-Tadhkirah, Abu ‘Abdullah Al-Qurtubee mentioned a sixth category of intercession, and that is the Prophet's intercession for his uncle, Abu Taalib ~ for his punishment to be lightened. Al-Qurtubee mentioned the hadith of Abu Sa’eed % ~ in sahih Muslim — asa proof. In it, Abu Taalib was mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of Allah #8, and he #¥ said, “Perhaps my intercession will benefit him on the Day of Resurrection, so that he is placed in the shallow part of the Hellfire, whereby it (the Heilfire) will reach his heels, causing his brain to boil.”

Al-Qurtubee then said, “If one says that Allah %& said: he beee eyeee ve

“So no intercession of intercessors will be of any use to them,"

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then it is said to him, ‘Tt will not help to take him out of the Hellfire, as intercession helps sinners who were Islamic Monotheists, for they will come out of the Hellfire and enter Paradise (i.e., but at least it can benefit a disbeliever in terms of his punishment being made less severe).””

The seventh kind of intercession is the Prophet's intercession for all believers, so that permission is given for them to enter Paradise. Anas ibn Maalik 4 reported that the Messenger of Allah #¢ said, “I am the first to intercede in Paradise.” (sahih Muslim)

After mentioning that the people will pass over the Siraat, the Prophet ## said in the hadith of the horn, “When the people of Paradise will reach Paradise, they will say, ‘Who will intercede for us to our Lord, so that we will enter Paradise?’ They will say, ‘Who is more worthy of that than your father, Adam? Indeed Allah created him with His Hand and blew into him from His Rook, and spoke to him Qubulan (directly).’ They will go to Adam and request that from him. He will mention a sin and say, ‘I am not the one for that, but go to Nook, for he is the first of the Messengers of Allah.’ They will request that from him, but he will mention a sin and say, ‘T am not the one for that, but you should go to Moosa.’ They will make that request to him, but he will mention a sin and say, ‘I am not the one for that, but you should go to Muhammad 28.” The Messenger of Allah #¥ said, “Then they will come to me, and for me there are three intercessions that my Lord promised me. Then I will go to Paradise and take the ring of the door. Next, I will ask for it to be opened, and it will be opened for me. | will be greeted and welcomed. When I enter Paradise, I will look at my Lord ‘Azza WaJall (To Him belongs Might and Majesty), and I will fall down to Him, prostrating. Allah will inform me of something from His praise and glorification that He never before informed anyone from His creation. Then Allah will say to me, ‘Raise your head, O Muhammad, and intercede, for you will be granted intercession. And ask, for you will be given.’ When I will raise my head, Allah will say, and He knows best, ‘What is your affair?’ I will say, ‘O my Lord, you promised me intercession, so grant it to me for the inhabitants of Paradise, so that they enter Paradise. Allah ‘Azza WaJall (To Him belongs Might and Majesty) will say, ‘I have granted your intercession, and I have given permission for them to enter Paradise.” The Messenger of Allah #8 used to say, “By the One

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Who has sent me by the truth, you do not recognize your wives and abodes in this world as well as the inhabitants of Paradise will recognize their wives and their abodes.”

Then each man from them will enter upon 72 wives, from that which Allah ‘Azza Wa-Jall (To Him belongs Might and Majesty) created (i.e, created specifically for the dwellers of Paradise), and two from the daughters of Adam 3#4.. Their favor is for whomsoever Allah pleases, and that is because of their worship of Allah in the world. He then mentioned intercession for the perpetrators of the major sins, and that is the eight category of intercession.

This eight category is for the Prophet % to intercede for those people from the nation of Muhammad who perpetrated major sins, and they are from those who enter the Hellfire; then they will come out after that intercession. There are Mutawaatir Ahaadeeth related for this category.

Knowledge Of The Intercession Was Lost To The Khawaarij And The Mo’tazilah, And So They Denied It; Some Of Them Were Obstinate And Refused To Accept It

Knowledge of the intercessions was lost to the Khawaarij and the Mo'tazilah; they differed regarding it based on their being ignorant about the authenticity of the Ahaadeeth that are related about it. As for those who do know those Ahaadeeth, they reject them obstinately, staying firm upon their innovation. As for this last intercession, the angels, the Prophets, and the believers will take part in it along with the Prophet ##, and it is an intercession that will be performed repeatedly by him — O Allah, send prayers and blessings upon him.