. J ; ; ;J; : ,;I•; (cont.)

Third, this belief, when it is understood in its complete and proper sense, encompasses all of the person. There is no moment of his life except that 1 For a comparable discussion, see Qutb, pp. 435-443. Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel he is guided and inspired by these articles of faith that he adheres to. In this way, every aspect of his life becomes a virtual application and enactment of these articles of faith. He begins to fulfill what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was ordered in the Quran to say and fulfill, ӽI y) JJ . .j"L:.::j ऱ੩j ,,,. ছ \,,,;),,. " u / / "Say: My prayers, my rites of sacrifice, my life and my death are for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds" (al-Anaam 162). Fourth, since this belief and resulting way of life is the only one that comes from the Creator of mankind and the One who knows the inner secrets of mankind, it is the only one that can put one's life in a true equilibrium and balance, without any extremes of any sort. It is the only ideology that can strike the proper balance between the material world and the spiritual world. It also strikes the proper balance between aspects of the experienced world as well as the unseen. It strikes a balance, for example, between following the outward causes of this worldly life and belief in qadar. It also strikes a balance between all of the different aspects of life as a whole, social, political, economic and so forth. Therefore, it is the only ideology that can truly bring peace and solace to the heart. He said, "Tell me about al-Ihsaan (goodness)." The Implication of" al' in al-Jhsaan The al (JI) in al-ihsaan implies that the matter referred to is something known and recognized by the speakers: the known ihsaan. Ihsaan and its linguistic relatives are mentioned in a number of places in the Quran.1 For example, Allah says, t.: 1,1 i- ୍ JJ ल र\ i#j i.1;  ..i.J\ Iǹ / :I #- / / c / ,,. ....__,J .. ,... ৕ ৖ / / ॣ -¢ ;:;:; J J 0 ;:;:; ,J J. ,.,. ,J 0 0 ;:;:; ,J l/lj \#I /-D Œ) ԐG-j\11 J, Œ Žj : iJ 1 0Fj ·यw 1 ԑ JԒԓ Ԕ1 0p iJ / ୌ "Verily, Allah, with Him (alone), is the knowledge of the Hour. He [alone] sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware" (Luqmaan 34).1 One should note how the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) responded to the question. At that time, as shall be discussed below, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was not aware that the questioner was j the Angel Gabriel. However, his response was in a general form and its · meaning is: "No one being questioned about this matter will have any more J knowledge concerning it than any one who may ask such a question." That is, no one of mankind will ever have knowledge of when the Day of Resurrection will occur. Hence, anyone who claims to have such exact knowledge is either a blatant liar or a deluded fool. According to al-Qurtubi, the purpose of this question was to put an end to any further asking of when the Day will occur. Many peopleas can be seen by reference to it in the Quran and hadith, such as surah al-Naaziaat 4244 and al-Araaf 187would ask the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) about when the Day would occur. Due to the nature of the Prophet's response in this question and the later statement that the questioner was the Angel Gabriel, it became understood that such knowledge would never become available to mankind. The noblest of the human beings and the noblest of the angels have no knowledge whatsoever of when that Day shall occur. Hence, there is no need to ever ask this question again. Therefore, one can also see that the purpose of this question was different from the purpose of the previous questions. The previous questions were posed in order to extract beneficial knowledge while this question was posed to bring an end to the asking of this particular question. 2 1 According to al-Qurtubi (quoted in ibn Rajab, Fath, vol. I , p. 216), the meaning of the verse is that none of mankind shall ever have definite knowledge of those things before they occur. However, one could have conjecture concerning them based on some signs that are apparent to him (such as concerning rainfall). This conjecture is sometimes wrong and sometimes right. Such conjectures are not what is prohibited or denied in this verse. Allah knows best. 2 Al-Qurtubi was quoted in ibn Hajr, Fath, vol. 1 , pp. 165-166.