Part 29

"Whatever the calamity a believer is afflicted with, he will be compensated for it, even the sting of the

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"Whoever is afflicted with a calamity, let him remember the calamity of my death for it is the greatest

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

"The son of a person died and Allah the Almighty said to the angels, 'Did you take the soul of the son of my

servant.'They will reply, 'Yes.' Allah will say, 'Did you take the fruit of his heart.' They will reply, 'Yes.'

Allah will say, 'What did my servant say.' They will say, 'He praised You and sought the reward from You.'

Allah will say 'Build a house for my servant in Paradise and call it the house of praise." 1

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also said,

"The Almighty Allah said in a hadith Qudsi, "The reward of my believing servant, if I take the soul of his

bosom friend in this world and he was patient and sought the reward from Me, will be nothing except

The Prophet (pbuh) also said,

"Among those things which bring happiness to the son of Adam is to be satisfied with what Allah has

destined for him,' and among things which bring him wretchedness is to be dissatisfied with Allah's

On the authority of 'Umar Ibn AI-Khattab who said, "When the angel of death (peace be upon him)

takes the soul of the believers, he will stand at the door of his house. There will be among his family the

one who slaps her face, the one who dispersed her hair and the one who wails and bursts in loud lamenting.

Thereupon the angel of death will say, "For what you display your anxiety and fear? By Allah, I did not

decrease the span of life of anyone of you, nor decrease the provision of anyone of you, nor did I oppress

anyone of you. So, if you complain and anxiety was upon me be sure that, I only was ordered to do so. And

if they were upon your dead, by Allah he has nothing to do but to surrender. And if they were upon your

Lord, by Allah you disbelieved in him. Surely I will return to you many times until I took you all. The

Messenger of Allah (pbuh) commented,

"By whom in whose hands my soul is, if they saw his place and heard his words, they would be surprised

and would weep upon themselves."

On the authority of' Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, "The Prophet

"Whoever offers the consolation to the afflicted person, he will be rewarded with the same." 4

On the authority of Abu Barzah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said, "The Prophet (pbuh) said to

Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her),

"Whoever offers consolation to the person who is bereaved of his/her child, he will be clothed with Burd

(certain kind of garment) in Paradise." 5

On the authority of 'Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn AI-As (may Allah be pleased with both of them) who

said, "The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his daughter Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her),

"For what reason did you go out from your house. 0 Fatimah?" she said, "I went to the people of this house

and asked Allah to shower his mercy upon their dead and I offered them consolation." 1

On the authority of Amr Ibn Hizam who said, "The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"Never does a believer offer his afflicted brother consolation and Allah cloth him out of his Honour on the

Consolation means that to bring patience and mention to the deceased's kin what can relieve their

sadness and lighten their calamity. It is recommended that it includes commanding the good and forbidding

the evil. It also comes under the saying of Allah,

{Help ye one another in righteousness and piety but help ye not one another in sin and rancor! }

This is the most indicative verse concerning the matter of consolation.

Consolation is preferable before and after burying the dead. The followers of Al-Shafi'i said, its time

starts from the time when the soul is taken and lasts for three days after burying the dead. Some scholars

said, consolation is not preferable after three days of dying, for consolation appeases the heart of the

afflicted person and this mostly takes place within three days and therefore there is no need to renew his

sadness. This same position was held by the majority of the scholars. Abu Al-Abbass said, there is no

wrong to offer consolation after three days since the event lasts forever. Al-Nawawi (may Allah bestow

mercy upon him) said, "What is agreed upon is that it should not be offered after three days except in two

cases: when the one who offers the consolation is absent or the afflicted person was absent as well. And

they are expected to return after three days. Offering consolation after burying the dead is better than doing

it before burying, for before burying, the people of the dead are engaged with preparing him and alienation

is intensified after burying. This may be done if no anxiety appeared on the part of the people of the dead.

Otherwise, consolation should be offered to bring quietness to them.

It is also reprehensible to gather in a particular place to receive the consolation. This means that the

people of the dead should not gather in a certain place and the people go to offer them consolation. The

formula of consolation is well known. The best of what can be said in this respect is what is reported in the

two Sahihs on the authority of Usamah Ibn Zayed (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that, "One of

the daughters of the Prophet (pbuh) sent to him and told him that one of her children is dying. The

Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to the man,

"Return to her and tell her that, to Allah is what He has taken and to him is what He has given and to

everything is an appointed term with Allah. So, order her to be patient and seek the reward from Allah." 3

Al-Nawawi (may Allah bestow mercy upon him) said that, "This hadith is one of the most

comprehensive rules of Islam which includes many religious matters, whether they are principles,

subsidiary matters, good manners, patience towards all kinds of calamities, worries and discusses many

"To Allah is what He has taken." means that the whole world is His. Therefore, He does not take what is

yours but what is His as a trust to you." To him is what he has given" means that what he has granted you

with is not out of His Sovereignty but it is His and He disposes it as He wills. "To everything there is an

appointed term with Allah" means that you should not be anxious for the one whose soul was taken by him,

completed his span in this life and it is impossible to delay or precede his appointed time. Upon being sure

of all this, you should be patient with what has afflicted you.

On the authority of Mu'awiyyah Ibn Iyas from his father (may Allah be pleased with him) who said

once the Prophet (pbuh) did not see one of his Companions and he asked about him. The Companions

"0 Messenger of Allah, his son who you have seen has died. Thereafter, the Prophet (pbuh) met him and

asked him about his son and he told him that he died. The Prophet consoled him then said,

"Which of them is most beloved to you, to enjoy this worldly life with your son or to come tomorrow and

find that your son preceded you to open whichever of the doors of Paradise you want. The man

replied, "0 the Prophet of Allah, of course to advance me to Paradise and find it open for me is most

beloved. The Prophet said, this is granted to you. The companions asked, "is it exclusive for him or is it

general for all Muslims? The Prophet replied, "For all Muslims." 1

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said,

"The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) went out to AI-Baqr and he saw a woman wailing on a grave. He said to

her, "0 the servant of Allah, fear Allah and be patient". She replied, "0 the servant of Allah, if you were

afflicted with what I have been, you would excuse me!" The Prophet said to her, "0 servant of Allah, fear

Allah and be patient." She replied, "0 the servant of Allah, I heard what you said, so let me alone. Abu

Hurairah said, "The Prophet let her alone and there was a man who witnessed this scene and came to this

woman and asked her what did this man (the Prophet) say to her? She told him what he said and with what

she replied him. The man asked her did you know him? She replied, "No, By Allah." He said, "Woe to you!

He is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Thereupon, she quickly walked towards

him until she reached him and said, "0 Messenger of Allah, I will be patient". The Prophet said, "Patience

is at the time of the suddenness of the calamity." 2

This means that the patience is more virtuous at the suddenness of the calamity, but after that, solace, of

In Sahih Muslim, it is reported that,

"Once one of Abu Talha's sons died. His wife, Umm Salim said to his family, don't tell Abu Talha and I will

tell him myself upon returning of Abu Talha, she offered the dinner for him and he ate and drank. Then she

made up herself more than she did for him before that and Abu Talha had sexual intercourse with her.

Upon realizing that he satisfied himself from her, she said, 0 Abu Talha, what do you say about some

people who lent something to others, then they demanded their right, do other people have the right to deny

them this thing? He replied, "No". Umm Salim said, "Deem your son as a trust which returned to Allah.

Abu Talha got angry and said, do you leave me until I stain myself with you then you told me about my

son. This, by Allah will never cause me to be patient. Then he went to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and

told him about what had happened. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him said, "May