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Al-Kitaab & as-Sunnah Publishing

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TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PRELUDE ix Introduction 2.0... cee ee eeeix Our Da‘wah and Objectives... 0.0.0.0... ee eee General Approach in This Work .... Translating and Transliterating Arabic

AL-Barzakh .. 0 eee cee eee xxi References

THE APPROACH OF DEATH 1

TEXTS DESCRIBING AL-BARZAKH 7

Continual Exposition to the Future Position (47)

Screams of agony (47) Darkness in the Grave (48) Eating from the Trees of Jannah (48)

THE PROPHETS AND THE MARTYRS 49 ~

Conveying the Salah The Night Journey The Martyred 2.2.0... 0. eee ee eee

CHAPTER 8 THE SINFUL IN AL-BARZAKH 57 Samurah’s Hadith 0.0.0... eee eee57 Sins Punishable in the Grave Additional Texts 2.0... 0... eee ee eee63 Contamination with Urine (63) . Wailing of a Disbeliever's Relatives (63) Wailing of a Dead Person's Relatives (64) Excessiveness in Praising the Dead Person (64) Slandering (64)

SAVIORS FROM THE PUNISHMENT 65

COMMUNICATION WITH AL-BARZAKH 69

The Combined Report (72)

The Understanding of the Salaf (73) The Prophet’s Approval (74) Wrong Conclusion (74)

A Sunnah of the Prophets (75)

THINGS THAT BENEFIT THE DEAD 77

One’s Child Is from His Earning (84)

Sadaqah from a Child (84)

Charitable Deeds from a Non-child (86)

Claims for [jma‘ (87)

Fasting the Vowed Days (89)

INDEX OF ARABIC TERMS 101

Alhamdu lillah. Indeed, all glory and praise is due to Allah. We glorify and praise Him, and we ask Him for help and forgiveness. In Allah we seek refuge from the evils of ourselves and from our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides shall not be misguided, and he whom He

misguides shall never be guided.

I bear witness that there is no true god except Allah, alone without any partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad (8$) is His ‘Abd!

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‘Abd: Devoted servant and worshipper.

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Our Da‘wah and Objectives

Our goal in this and our other works is to propagate the True Da‘wah * that derives from the Book of Allah (8%) and the Sunnah 5 of His Messenger (4%). Propagating this Da‘wah is a duty that every Muslim should cherish. Allah (3%) says:

2 Bid ah: Innovation in the creed or in acts of worship.

3. These opening paragraphs are a translation of Khutbat wl-Hajah (the Sermon of Need) with which the Messenger (2#) used to start his speeches and which he was keen to teach to his companions.

4 Da'wah: Call and mission.

5 Sunnah: Way, guidance, teachings, etc.

This Da‘wah may be summarized in two words: tasfiyah (cleansing

and purification) and tarbiyah (cultivation and education). Allah (38) refers to this in the following:

Propagating the True Da‘wah must then be pursued through

purifying /slam from unfounded beliefs and practices, and working patiently to assist the Muslims abide by the true and purified religion. This must be done at various levels as follows:

We must uphold the sublime Qur'an and the Prophet's authentic Sunnah, and comprehend them in accordance with the understanding and practice of the righteous Salaf*. This is Allah’s (8%) command, as in the following:

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Al ‘Imran 3:104, Al-Jumu‘ah 62:2. The sahdbah (the Prophet's companions; singular sahabi) and their true followers.

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2. We must enlighten and educate the Muslims, urging them to comply with the true Din *, act according to its teachings, and adorn themselves with its virtues and ethics. This will ensure Allah's acceptance, through which they will realize happiness and glory, as indicated in the following:

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3. We must caution the Muslims and exhort them to absolve their lives of any thoughts alien to the pure and essential tenets of Islam, such as shirk (polytheism), bid ahs, or philosophy. This is a duty that Allah (3%) enjoins on us by saying:

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do not help one another in sinning and

4. We must help cleanse the Sunnah of weak and fabricated narrations. The weak reports and unfounded beliefs have marred the clarity of Islam, preventing the Muslims’ advancement. This duty is of such absolute vitality that the Messenger (8) praised those who perform it by saying:

5. Guided by the Islamic principles *, we must strive to revive the unobstructed Islamic thought, and oppose stubborn adherence to mathhabs ‘ and prejudiced loyalty to parties. Neglecting this in the past has caused rust to dwell on the hearts and minds of Muslims,

2 Authentic - Reported by Ibn ‘Adiyy and others.

3 These principles are described in point "1" above.

4 Mathhab: Way or approach. It mostly refers to one of the four /slamic schools of

legislation and jurisprudence that were based on the research and understanding of the Four /mams (scholars): Abi Hanifah an-Nu'man Bin Thabit, Malik Bin Anas, Ahmad Bin Hanbal, and Muhammad Bin Idris ash-Shafi't - May Allah (BB) bestow His mercy on them all.

diverting them from the pure original sources of Islam, and causing them to deviate from the honest /s/amic brotherhood called to by Allah (88):

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And by His Messenger (88): <Be, worshippers of Allah, one brethren. ”

6. We must help provide realistic Js/amic solutions to contemporary problems, and strive to resume a true Islamic way of life and establish a true /slamic society governed by Allah's law. Allah (88) says:

We call upon all the Muslims to support us in carrying out this noble trust. This will surely elevate and honor them and spread the eternal message of Islam all over the earth, as is Allah's true promise:

2. Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

General Approach in This Work

A large number of /slamic writings in recent times lack the correctness and preciseness that are expected in a true Islamic approach. They suffer from two major problems:

Unconcern about the importance of relying only on authentic evidence, particularly in quoting hadiths’. Thus some conclusions that they reach, and some principles that they establish are, in the least, of doubtful validity.

Replacing the glorious thought and sound understanding of the early righteous pioneers and scholars of Islam (the Salaf ) with inferior opinions and speculations of later scholars.

These problems have led to the following serious consequences:

A deformation in some of the fundamental beliefs for the majority of Muslims, including many who are regarded as scholars.

Practicing /slam in a way that conflicts with the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (3).

Through the ages, only few true scholars (‘ulama’) have directed their efforts to correcting these problems through reviving the authentic Sunnah and fighting bidahs. Their efforts have always been greatly

2. Hadith: Reports of the Prophet's sayings, actions, and approvals. Our convention is to use hadith (plural hadiths) with lower case h to indicate single report(s), and Hadith with upper case H to indicate the subject of Hadith specialty.