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He may fear because he is not satisfied with the deeds he performed or with the repentance he made from some deeds. These kinds of fear are in the heart of every believer. But when the actual time of death comes, the believer will be given the glad tidings of whaf is to come and his situation will change. He will then look forward to what is to come to him and his fear will be turned into tranquillity by the descending angels. In the two Sahibs, it is recorded that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ,,,. ,; rSJ ..-: ,, rSJ ,,,. ,,. ,,,, ,,.,,.. ,,. 6 .. ƺ ill Di) M\ .. ƺ Dt CBi "When the believer reaches the time of death, he is given the glad tidings of pleasure and honor from Allah. Then there is nothing more beloved to him that what is in front of him. He loves [then] to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet him." Muhammad ibn Kaab said, "The angel of death says to the one who is to 1 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 357. 2 Al-Shaukaani, Qatr, p. 5 1 8. 1 1 72 Hadith #38: "Whoever Shows Enmity to . . . " die, 'Peace be upon you, 0 devoted slave of Allah. Allah sends you greetings of peace."' Then he read the following verse of the Quran, .,, ,.,, 0 ,.,, J. ,,,. ,.. "i ,.. / ,,,. .., ,.,, .... / ,,.._ ,,,, L:_, i;.J \ \ .'11 .. --;\ '࣓/ গ m .'1 '/ ɂ- "'1ঘ\ ' ' , -:-/ ;:-/ • . .J1 . . ൙ - ._:_.)7஍ ൘ ஌..r-i . •-,! ,,. // !; \. 'W • u ... / "Those [believers] whom the angels cause to die. They say: Peace be unto you. Enter the Garden because of what you used to do" (al-Nahl 32). 1 What is the Meaning of Allah Hesitating? Hesitation, in general, implies that one is not sure about the deed that he is about to perform. This uncertainty gives rise to hesitance. Allah, though, has knowledge of all things and there seems to be no need for Allah ever to hesitate in any act that He does. Therefore, what is meant by Allah hesitating in this hadith? Once again, this question has been responded to in a number of ways. Ibn Hajr presents four explanations.2 This author knows of at least eight explanations. These include: (1) A person may be about to die due to an illness that he has. However, he supplicates to Allah and Allah removes that disease and hardship from him. This action is like a "hesitation" in that the deed was about to take place but then Allah decreed not to have that deed take place. However, when the person's time is due, he will then pass away without any delay.3 (2) A second interpretation is that Allah is saying, "I never send My messenger over and over like I do when I send him to one of My believing servants." Some say that the hesitation is on the part of the angel while Allah ascribes it to Himself. Some argue that the angel has mercy upon the slave and his attachment to this world. However, when he remembers Allah's command, he fulfills the command. This hesitation out of mercy for the human is what is being referred to in this hadith. This interpretation, though, distorts the meaning of the words itself and implies a completely different meaning. Furthermore, there is no hesitation on the part of the angel because he does actually take the soul at its destined time.4 1 Quoted in ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 358. 2 Ibn Hajr, Fath (al-Maktaba al-Tijaariyyah), vol. 1 3, pp. 148-149. 3 Al-Shaukaani's conclusions on this matter shall be stated shortly. However, he (Qatr, p. 489) states that the disease and the cure do not imply any kind of "hesitation" on the part of Allah. Hence, he rejects this interpretation outright. However, if one sees that the cure was due to the supplication of the person himself, this interpretation must be considered a part of what al­ Shaukaani himself concludes. 4 Cf., al-Shaukaani, Qatr, p. 490, p. 493 and p. 494. 1 1 73 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi (3) Since death comes with such harshness and since it is a must for every human, Allah hates to harm and hurt the believer and therefore He calls his act "hesitation" on His part with respect to the believers. (4) This hadith is addressed to humans and put in a fashion that they would understand. Ibn Hajr states, for example, when a father wants to hit his son to keep him from some wrongdoing, his compassion for his son makes him hesitate just a little. However, when he remembers the overall need of what he is going to do, he goes ahead and hits his child.