Part 5

that is in th em and what li es between thcm, suc h as the angels,

thc jinn and the devi ls, how Adam ~ was c reated, the sto ries

of the Prop hets and the events that surrounded them, up to the

(I) .'~/llIleel: Friend . loved one.

(2) AI-Musta/a: The Chosen One.

(3) AI-Hall'd: A vast pool or lake given to the Prophet . by Allah. The Believ-

ers wi ll drink rrom it on the Day o r Resurrcction. aficr which they will

(4) III-A!a!fal/l 1I/- ,\/(/lIl11ood: The Exalted Stmion _

times of the Children of Isra'eel and the Jal/iliyyah, (I) whi ch

ended with the coming of our Prop het, M uh am m ad ~ . We will

give deta il s of hi s life story, as ap propri ate, thereby healing

hearts , quench in g th irsts and ban ishi ng the ill s of the sick. Then

we will report the eve nt s which fo ll owed that , up to the present

time. We wi ll speak of the trials, the battl es and the Signs of

the Hour. Then we wi ll desc ribe the Se ndi ng Forth and the

Gathering, the ten'o rs of the Resurrecti on and its descripti on,

in clud ing what will occ ur on tha t Day. The n we will descri be

the Fire and after th at, the Ga rdens (of Paradi se), the good

th ings therei n and other matters rela ti ng to thi s. We will also

menti on what has been sa id regarding thi s in th e Qur 'a n, the

SIIIlI1a/J, and the traditions acce pt ed by the sc ho lars.

We shall no t menti on the 'sra 'eeliyyal m except wha t is

penll iss ibl e according to Islamic Law, i.e., whic h does not

contradict th e Book of All ah or th e SUI/noll of Hi s Messenger

~ . Such narrations <I re neither be li eved in nor rejected and we

will onl y mention those which contai n detai ls where all we

have is summary or names where our narrati ons do not supply

th em, due to there bein g no benefit for us in providing th em.

And we onl y menti on them for the purpose of embe llishment,

not with the illlention of citi ng th em as evidence or relyi ng

upon them. We on ly depend upon and have confide nce in the

Book o f Allah and th e authenti c and sound narration s from the

SWlllah of Hi s Messenger 3€i. As fo r those narrations in which

there are so me wea knesses, we ha ve identifi ed them. All ah is

the One from Whom we seek aid and upon Whom we depend

and there is no strength and 11 0 power except with All ah, th e

Almighty, the MOSl Wi se, the Mostl-li gh, the G rea t. All ah says

( I ) jul/iIi),),(I": Days of tgnorance.

(2) Ism 'ee/iy)'m: Earty litcraturc of various typcs a!lributcd by Muslim

scholars to Jcwish and Christian sources.

in Hi s Book, ( Thus We rc latc to you (0 Muhammad) somc

information or what happened before. And indeed We have

given YOli From Us a Reminder (this Qur ' an) ) (Som'oll Ta}-fa

20:99). And All ah has recounted to Hi s Prophet ~ informat ion

from the past concernin g the creation of al l things and He has

mentioned the previous nations and what I-Ie did to His Aw/iya '

and what He ca used to befall Hi s enemies. The Messenger

of Allah ~ con veyed all of thi s clearly to hi s peop le and in

each chapter, we shall narrate what has co me to us fr0111 him

~ followin g the relevan t Qur'ani c Verses. He in fanned us of

what we need to know inlhi s regard and ignored matters of no

benefit. We will only men tion a few of such things in brief and

we shall po int out what is tntC in them and acco rds with our

information and wha tever contradic ts that , we shall hold to be

As for the hadeerh narrated by AI-B ukhari in his Saheeh, on

the authori ty of ' Abdullah Ibn ' Amr Ibn A I - 'As ~ , in which it

is stated that he said: The Messenger of Allah j:!; said, "Convey

from me eve n a single Verse. You may re late from the Children

of Isra'ee l without objection. (Re late from me an d do not tell

li es about m~). If anyone deliberat ely tell s a li e aga inst me

let him prepare hi s seat in the Hell fire." (I) This refers to the

Ism 'eeliyyal on whose au then ti city we offer no op inion, for

we have nothing with whi ch to co nfinn or refute them. So it

is permi ss ible to relate them for the purpose of refl ec ti on and

contempl ation and that is what we have done in thi s book. As

for those narrations whose authenticity is confinlled by our

sources, there is no need to relate them, since we may suffice

ourselves with what we have (in the Qur 'an and SUl1nah) . As for

th ose narrations whose false hood is estab li shed by our sources,

they are rejec ted and it is not penlli ss ibl c to relate them, unless

(I) Narrated by Al-Bukhari (346 1). See also Al-Mllsnad (3 /46).

it is with the intent ion of pointing out that they arc false and

rejected. A nd since Allah - all praise and th anks be to Him

- has sufficed us with Hi s Messe nger, Muhammad, aga inst

th e need to avail ourselves of all other sources and with Hi s

Book agai nst the necessity o f referring to all other Sc riptures,

we will not resort to what is in th eir hands for informati on,

whe n we know that it cont ai ns confusion, mixed-up facts, lies,

fabrications, distortions and substitutions and in add ition to all

thaI, deletions and a lt erati ons.

That whi ch we require has been made clea r to ti S by our

Messenger, and he has exp lained it and elucidated it - so me

know it, wh il e ot he rs arc ignorant of it - as •Ali Ibn Abi Ta lib

4 said: ''The Book of Allah cont ains information abou t what

occurred before you and tidings about what wi ll occu r afler

you a nd mlings on what lakes p lace among you; and it is

true, not a Ihing 10 be taken lightly. Ifany tyra nt or oppressor

who abandons it, Allah will destroy him a nd if anyone seeks

guidance from <Illy other so urce, A llah w ill cause him to go

astray." (I) And Abu Dharr .;. said: " Whe n the Messenger of

Allah 315 died , no bird flapp ed its wi ngs in fli ght except that he

had taught us some knowledge about it." (2)

AIBukhari said in the Book of the Beginni ng of e re at ion : It

was reported on the authority o f Tariq Ibn Sh ihab that he said:

I heard ' Umar Ibn A I-Khattab ~ saying, "The Messenger of

A llah ~ stood up among us for a long period a nd infonned us

about the begin ni ng of creation (a nd talked abou t everyth ing in

detail) till he mentioned how the people of Paradise wi ll enter

their places and the people ofl-le ll wi ll e nte r the ir places. Some

(I) This is a weak Iwdceth narrnlcd by At·7irmidhi (2906) and by Ahmad

(2) This is an ;!ulhcrllic Iwdcetll n3rrnlcd by Ahmad (20854).

34 . /Ilfhor \- Prducc ,

remembered what he had sa id , and some forgot il.'· (I)

Imam Ah mad Ibn I-Ianbal reponed in hi s Mllsnad, on the

aUlhorilyofAbu Za id AI-Ansari ~ that he said: "The Messenge r

of A llah ~ led LI S in th e Fajr praye r. then he ascended th e pulpit

and he del ivered a sermon to liS until midda y, then he descend ed

and offered the ZullI" prayer. Then he ascended the pu lpit o nce

again and delivered a sermon to liS until it was li me for the

';Is ,. praye r. Then he desce nded and offered the 'Asl" prayer.

Afte r tha t, he ascend ed the pulpit once more and delive red a

sermon to li S whi ch lasted lIntil the sun set. In these se rmons,

he spoke to us about what had been, what was (a t thai tim e) and

wha t would be (in the future) and the mosl knowl edgeab le of

us ( regardi ng th ese things) was the one w ith the bcst mcmory."

(2) Mu slim also recorded it in hi s Saheeh, w ith a diITerent

chain. narrating o n th e authori ty ofVa'qoob Ibn Ibraheem Ad-

Da wraqi and l-lajjaj Ibn Ash-S ha ' ir, who both repo rted o n the

authori ty of Abu ' As im Ad-Dahhak Ibn Makhlad An-Nabeel,

who reported on the authorit y o f ' Azrah, who in turn repo ned

o n th e authori ty of ' 1Iba', who in turn reported on th e au thority

of 'Amr Ibn Akhtab Ibn Rfa'a h A I-A nsari 4 , who reported it

from the Prophet ~i , (3)

Imam Ahmad reported o n the authority of Abu Sa'eed A I-

Khudri Iha l he sa id: "The Messenger of All ah :101 de livered a

se nnOIl to liS after the 'Asl" pra yer which lasted unlil sunset.

Some o f us rem embered it and o the rs forgot it." 'A ffan said:

" l-Ial11ll1 ad said: To the best of my recollecti on, he said : (i t was

about) the event s that wou ld take place lip until the Day of

Res urrection." Th en he prai sed and thanked A llah and sa id ,

( I) Narr.lIl'd by AI ·Bukhari (3192).

(2) This is an [lUthcnlic Iweleelll narrated by Ahmad (22381 ).

(3) Narrated by i\'lusli m (2892).

"Veri ly, the life of thi s world is green and beautiful, and Allah