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Chapter 109 of 5614 min read
الفصل 109
Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel cannot be discussed in detail here.1 These matters include: (1) The Fount or Cistern of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)2; (2) The different intercessions3; (3) The distribution of the books of deeds; (4) Passing over the siraat (bridge) over Hell4; and (5) The entrance into Paradise and Hell with all of its related aspects. Importance of Proper Belief in the Last Day The belief in and knowledge of the great events of the Last Day and the Hereafter should have some very profound effects on the individualif he takes the time to remember and seriously think about that Day. First, it should make the believer rush to perform good deeds, knowing the reward that may be in store for them. The bounties of Paradise are greater than what any eye has seen or even what any mind could imagine. First and foremost, this great reward includes the pleasure of Allah and the opportunity to see Him in the Hereafter. If a person could possibly be conscious of this aspect at every moment of his life, he would be anxiously seeking and searching for any good deed he could perform. Second, the threat of punishment should sway the person from committing any sin, no matter how "light". No sin performed in this world could be worth the punishment it could bring about in the Hereafter. Furthermore, by committing sins, the person may also be earning the displeasure of Allah, his Lord, Creator and Beloved. Third, according to ibn Uthaimin, the reckoning and justice of the Day of Judgment should bring comfort and solace to the heart of the believer. It is normal for humans to have a hatred for injustice. In this world, it appears to occur often. Those who cheat and who are unethical many times get ahead in this world without ever suffering for what they have done. However, that is only because, on a grand scale, this world is not the final place for judgment, reward and punishment. They will not escape the evil that they are doing. The good deeds of a person will also not be in vain, as they sometimes seem to be in this world. The time will come for all those matters to be settled and to be settled in a just manner. And that time is the Day of Judgment.5 Fourth, without the guidance of Allah and the proper belief in Allah, the result could be complete despair and no purpose to living. If there is no purpose to living, then there is no purpose for being moral, for doing what is right or for any type of work. In fact, this is the conclusion that Jean-Paul 1 Although not used as a reference here due to its detail, Salaam (pp. 120-145) has provided an excellent yet concise discussion of many of the aspects of the Hereafter 2 For a discussion in English on this topic, see Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Barbahaaree, Explanation of the Creed (Birmingham, UK: Al-Haneef Publications, 1995), p. 36. 3 See al-Barbahaaree, p. 37. 4 See al-Barbahaaree, p. 38. 5 lbn Uthaimeen, Sharh Usool al-/maan, p. 46. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Sartre came to. He is considered by many to be a leading thinker of this century and yet he concluded that all of this creation has no purpose and it is all in vain and there is no wisdom or meaning to the existence of man. Allah' ss response to this unfortunate way of thinking that some humans come to is: c c iJօ \ ԉ 2·1 -J¥. 1:'s/·:/! Gj նj'--llj 1:!.1\ (. alॊ Gj "We have not created the heaven and earth in vain. That is the presumption of those who disbelieve. So woe to the disbelievers from the Fire" (Saad 27). "and to believe in the divine decree ( al-Qadar), [both] the good and the evil thereof." The Restatement of "to believe in" The first aspect that one may note is that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) repeated the word, "to believe in," before mentioning divine destiny (al-Qadar). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not repeat this word before any of the other articles of faith. Obviously, there must have been some reason for this. The scholars have discussed and differed concerning the reasoning behind this. One view, expressed by al-Qaari, is that there is some "verbal distance" between the beginning of the sentence and the last article of faith. Hence, the word was repeated to state that al-Qadar is also something that must be believed in. 1 In this author's view, this argument does not sound very convincing. Al-Ubayy states that it has been mentioned that the reason behind the repeating of the word, "to believe in," is that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) knew that the people would later differ about al-Qadar.2 Indeed, the concept of al-Qadar is one that has led to a great deal of division and difference of opinion in the history of Islam.