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. - ग घ J /- ࢣ / y J / / tP ,.. ; ,,. o "" o ~ IP ,.. oJ ,,.. 01 :.;J Jli ௉c Jb:J t-:. • Ÿ ऻ L:./J ऽ "T .JJI J ' / G' Ȉ ि.:i • I - (..ir /. . . / y J - -/ ,,. ,,. ,.. ,.. / ,,.. ,,. "'"" (fl ~ l JJ. 0 u..;- Ǹ ' --. '1 :E .JJ1 t.:,.:,r •. . ./,. i / . • / ा I : '1 * - - Ź / c;_ ଼ ङ · Y""" The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to say often, "O changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion." The Companion said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), we have believed in you and what you have brought. Do you fear for us?" He answered, "Yes. Verily, the hearts are between two of Allah's fingers and he turns them any way He wills."1 Note that in this hadith concerning the creation in the womb, the Prophet (peace be upon him) only described two cases, where one changes from good to evil and vice-versa. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not mention the most common cases of one doing good his whole life or one doing evil his entire life. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was not intending to describe everyone in this hadith. He was simply making a point about what has been recorded about a person. No matter what the person's deeds may be, before he dies, he will do the acts that correspond to what has been recorded for him, that is, whether he was from the fortunate or the miserable. Note also that the good deeds that he performed may have been recorded on his behalf. However, such deeds will only be accepted and rewarded by Allah if a person does not follow them up with a deed that may negate them completely. There are many acts that wipe away one's good deeds. The greatest or worst of them is committing apostasy. This act wipes away all of one's good deeds. Apparently, some commentators believe that this portion of the hadith is only in reference to the one who practices Islam for some time and then turns apostate. According to ibn Hajr, there is no need for such an assumption. The entering into the Hell-fire described does not necessarily mean that he will be in the Hell-fire forever. In other words, the hadith could be referring to a Muslim who practiced his faith well for many years and then changed his ways and committed many sins. But he stayed within the fold of Islam. Therefore, he will be one of the inhabitants of Hell but he will not remain therein forever by the grace of Allah. Hence, the hadith is a warning concerning committing sins as well as leaving Islam completely.2 1 Recorded by al-Tirmidhi. According to al-Albaani, it is sahih. Al-Albaani, sahih al-Jaami, vol. 2, p. 1323. Sahih Muslim has something very similar to the last portion of the hadith. 2 Ibn Hajr, Fath, vol. 13, pp. 326-327. 1 l l Hadith #4: Creation in the Mother's Womb An Incorrect Understanding of This Portion of the Hadith According to ibn Uthaimeen, the meaning of this hadith is that a person does the acts of Paradise "as it is viewed by the people". That is, he is saying that the person is performing those deeds and the people think he is pious while in fact there is evil in his heart and he is from the People of Hell. He bases this understanding on a different hadith found in Sahih al-Bukhari in which a person was fighting valiantly on the side of the Muslims and the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated that he was from the people of Hell. A person followed that man and found him committing suicide afterwards. So the Prophet, on that particular occasion, stated, "A man may perform the acts of the People of Paradise as it appears to the people."1 However, that hadith is completely irrelevant to the hadith being discussed here. This particular hadith is concerned with the topic of al-Qadar and the fact that what has been written for a person will come about. There are people who have been written to be among the miserable. They spend almost all of their lives doing good deedstruly good deeds, not for show or out of hypocrisy. But Allah knows that they will be from the miserable. Hence, they change their ways and begin to do the deeds of the People of Hell. Therefore, this hadith is not talking about people who are outwardly showing good deeds while in their heart there is some wicked intention. It is talking about those who change their behavior before their life is over. Furthermore, the Prophet (peace be upon him) also spoke about the opposite case in this hadith.