Introduction (cont.)

Hadith #22: "Tell Me if I Were to Perform . . . " ""' """ """ /. "" ,,.. ' ' ೏ :!:4-!JIJ ଉଊIJ u:}I C: 0l5'" 1.1.A. x uu :;. ଈ J | Aili ஌ Aili Jd] o_;::ul' y-'- zI u - ௕r നr - 1G HL:AJ1 ,. - - -J ௖ r - · . J -- i Y.. A man came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, I bore witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah, I prayed the five [daily] prayers, I paid the zakah on my wealth and I fasted the month of Ramadhaan." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "The one who dies upon those [acts] shall be with the prophets, sincere and martyrs like this on the Day of Resurrectionand he raised his fingers togetheras long as he did not disobey his parents."' lbn Rajab then points out that all of the hadith of the nature, "Whoever does such and such will enter Paradise," are to be understood in this nature. In other words, the person who does those acts will enter Paradise as long as he does not also perform some other acts that prevent his entrance into Paradise. All of the necessary conditions must be met for entrance into Paradise and all of the preventive factors must be removed. He points out that there are many hadith that indicate that particular acts may keep one from entering Paradise. For example, he quoted the following hadith, "The one who has even the slightest amount of arrogance in his heart will not enter Paradise." (Recorded by Muslim.)2 As was discussed in the commentary to Hadith Number 3, even the testimony of faith has certain conditions that must be met. If a person makes the testimony of faith but then follows it up with deeds that reduce its effect, he may not enter Paradise without first being punished in the Hell-fire. The Follower al-Hasan al-Basri once said, "[The statement that] there is none . worthy of worship except Allah has conditions to it. Therefore, beware of slandering innocent, believing women."3 1 According to ibn Rajab and ibn Katheer, this hadith was recorded by Ahmad. However, it does not seem to be in the published editions of Musnad Ahmad. The hadith is also recorded by ibn Khuzaima, ibn Hibbaan and al-Bazzaar with a sahih chain. See al-Hilaali, Eeqaadh, pp. 3 1 8-319. 2 lbn Rajab, Jaami, vol. l , pp. 519-521. These types ofhadith are also sometimes misunderstood. They do not necessarily mean that the person will never enter Paradise. That would be the case only for those who commit acts that take them out of the fold oflslam. In general, the meaning of those hadith is that those people will not enter Paradise along with those who enter Paradise without any form of punishment in the Hereafter. 3 Quoted in ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 1 , p. 522. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi A Weaker Interpretation This hadith explicitly mentions only praying and fasting. Other hadith of this nature also concentrate on those two acts and may also mention zakah and some other deeds. Al-Dhuhaak, al-Zuhri and others understand that hadith of this nature were statements made by the Prophet (peace be upon him) before the other obligatory acts were revealed from Allah. Hence, they consider this type of hadith to be abrogated or they say that later conditions must be added to what the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated in hadith of this nature. 1 However, there is no need to resort to such claims. The hadith implies that the person recognizes what is permissible and what is forbidden and abides by them. The other hadith that are similar to this explicitly mention worshipping Allah alone and other essential characteristics that encompass obeying Allah in all matters. Thus, there is nothing missing from these hadith that need them to be abrogated or adjusted by later statements of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Desire to Know the Path to Paradise One can note from numerous hadith that the Companions were very anxious to know the path to Paradise. 2 Numerous Companions came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) to ask him to show them a deed or deeds that will lead them to Paradise. They realized that this was the most important information that they could obtain for their own welfare. After receiving the answer from the Prophet (peace be upon him), many of them swore that they would perform exactly what the Prophet (peace be upon him) had told them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) would then state that they will be in Paradise if they are truthful to those conditions or acts. This question should always be foremost in the mind of every believer. He should seek the answer to this question in the Quran and sunnah.