The Book of Paradise and its Bounties

Behold, my Lord commanded me that I should teach you which you do not know and which He has taught me today. (He has instructed thus): The property which I have conferred upon them is lawful for them. I have created My servants as one having a natural inclination to the worship of Allah but it is Satan who turns them away from the right religion and he makes unlawful what has been declared lawful for them and he commands them to ascribe partnership with Re, although he has no justification for that. And verily, Allah looked towards the people of the world and He showed hatred for the Arabs and the non-Arabs, but with the exception of some remnants from the People of the Book. And He (further) said: I have sent thee (the Holy Prophet) in order to put you to test and put (those to test) through you. And I sent the Book to you which cannot be washed away by water, so that you may recite it while in the state of wakefulness or sleep. Verily, Allah commanded me to burn (kill) the Quraish. I said: My Lord, they would break my head (like the tearing) of bread, and Allah said: You turn them out as they turned you out, you fight against them and We shall help you in this, you should spend and you would be conferred upon. You send an army and I would send an army five times greater than that. Fight against those who disobey you along with those who obey you. The inmates of Paradise are three: One who wields authority and is just and fair, one who Is truthful and has been endowed with power to do good deeds. And the person who is merciful and kind hearted towards his relatives and to every pious Muslim, and one who does not stretch his hand in spite of having a large family to support. And He said: The inmates of Hell are five: the weak who lack power to (avoid evil), the (carefree) who pursue (everything irrespective of the fact that it is good or evil) and who do not have any care for their family or for their wealth. And those dishonest whose greed cannot be concealed even in the case of minor things. And the third. who betray you. morning and evening, in regard to your family and your property. He also made a mention of the miser and the liar and those who are in the habit of abusing people and using obscene and foul language. Abu Ghassan in his narration did not make mention of” Spend and there would be spent for you.”

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Qatada with the same chain of transmitters but with a slight variation of wording.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of ‘Iyad b. Himar that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) gave an address one day. The rest of the hadith is the same.

” Allah revealed to me that we should be humble amongst ourselves and none should show pride upon the others, And it does not behove one to do so, and He also said: There are among you people to follow not caring a bit for their family and property. Qatada said: Abu Abdullah, would this happen? Thereupon he said: Yes. By Allah, I found this in the days of ignorance that a person grazed the goat of a tribe and did not find anyone but their slave-girl (and he did not spare her) but committed adultery with her.

When any one of you dies, he is shown his seat (in the Hereafter) morning and evening; if he is amongst the inmates of Paradise (he is shown the seat) from amongst the inmates of Paradise and if he is one from amongst the denizens of Hell (he is shown the seat) from amongst the denizens of Hell, and it would be said to him: That is your seat until Allah raises you on the Day of Resurrection (and sends you to your proper seat).

When a person dies, he is shown his seat morning and evening. If he is one amongst the inmates of Paradise (he is shown his seat) in Paradise and if he is one amongst the denizens of Hell-Fire (he is shown his seat) in the Hell-Fire. Then it is said to him: That is your seat where you would be sent on the Day of Resurrection.

I did not hear this hadith from Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) directly but it was Zaid b. Thabit who narrated it from him. As Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) was going along with us towards the dwellings of Bani an-Najjar, riding upon his pony, it shied and he was about to fall. He found four, five or six graves there. He said: Who amongst you knows about those lying in the graves? A person said: It is I. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: In what state did they die? He said: They died as polytheists. He said: These people are passing through the ordeal in the graves. If it were not the reason that you would stop burying (your dead) in the graves on listening to the torment in the grave which I am listening to, I would have certainly made you hear that. Then turning his face towards us, he said: Seek refuge with Allah from the torment of Hell. They said: We seek refuge with Allah from the torment of Hell. He said: Seek refuge with Allah from the torment of the grave. They said: We seek refuge with Allah from the torment of the grave. He said: Seek refuge with Allah from turmoil, its visible and invisible (aspects), and they said: We seek refuge with Allah from turmoil and its visible and invisible aspects and he said: Seek refuge with Allah from the turmoil of the Dajjal, and they said We seek refuge with Allah from the turmoil of the Dajjal.

If you were not (to abandon) the burying of the dead (in the grave), I would have certainly supplicated Allah that He should make you listen the torment of the grave.

” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) went out after the sun had set and he heard some sound and said: It is the Jews who are being tormented in their graves.

When the servant is placed in his grave, his companions retrace their steps, and he hears the noise of their footsteps, two angels come to him and make him sit and say to him: What you have to say about this person (the Prophet)? If he is a believer, he would say: I bear testimony to the fact that he is a servant of Allah and His Messenger. Then it would be said to him: Look to your seat in the Hellfire, for Allah has substituted (the seat of yours) with a seat in Paradise. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said: He would be shown both the seats. Qatada said: It was mentioned to us that his grave (the grave of a believer) expands to seventy cubits and is full with verdure until the Day when they would be resurrected.

When the dead body. is placed in the grave, he listens to the sound of the shoes (as his friends and relatives return after burying him).

When the servant is placed in his grave and his friends retrace their steps. The rest of the liadith is the same as transmitted by Qatada.

This verse:” Allah grants steadfastness to those who believe with firm word,” was rereaied in connection with the torment of the grave. It would be said to him: Who is your Lord? And he would say: Allah is my Lord and Muhammad is my Apostle (ﷺ), and that is (what is implied) by the words of Allah, the Exalted:” Allah keeps steadfast those who believe with firm word in this world and in the Hereafter.”

“Allah keeps those who believe steadfast with firm word in this world and the Hereafter” was revealed in connection with the torment of the grave.

When the soul of a believer would go out (of his body) it would be received bv two angels who would take it to the sky. Hammad (one of the narrators in the chain of transmitters) mentioned the swetness of its odour, (and further said) that the dwellers of the sky say: Here comes the pious soul from the side of the earth Let there be blessings of Allah upon the body in which it resides. And it is carried (by the angels) to its Lord, the Exalted and Glorious. He would say: Take it to its destined end. And if he is a nonbeliever and as it (the soul) leaves the body-Hammad made a mention of its foul smell and of its being cursed-the dwellers of the sky say: There comes a dirty soul from the side of the earth, and it would be said: Take it to its destined end. Abu Huraira reported that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) put a thin cloth which was with him upon his nose while making a mention (of the foul smell) of the soul of a non-believer.

We were along with Umar between Mecca and Medina that we began to look for the new moon. And I was a man with sharp eye- sight, so I could see it, but none except me saw it. I began to say to ‘Umar: Don’t you see it? But he would not see it. Thereupon Umar said: I would soon be able to see it (when it will shine more brightly). I lay upon bed. He then made a mention of the people of Badr to us and said: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) showed us one day before (the actual battle) the place of death of the people (participating) in (the Battle) of Badr and he was saying: This would be the place of death of so and so tomorrow, if Allah wills. Umar said: By Him Who sent him with truth, they did not miss the places (of their death) which Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had pointed for them. Then they were all thrown in a well one after another. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) then went to them and said: O, so and so, the son of so and so; O so and so, the son of so and so, have you found correct what Allah and His Messenger had promised you? I have, however, found absolutely true what Allah had promised with me. Umar said: Allah’s Messenger, how are you talking with the bodies without soul in them. Thereupon he said: You cannot hear more distinctly than (their hearing) of what I say, but with this exception that they have not power to make any reply.

O Abu Jahl b. Hisham, O Umayya b. Khalaf, O Utba b. Rab’ila, O Shaiba b. Rabi’a, have you not found what your Lord had promised with you to be correct? As for me, I have found the promises of my Lord to be (perfectly) correct. Umar listened to the words of Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) and said: Allah’s Messenger, how do they listen and respond to you? They are dead and their bodies have decayed. Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: By Him in Whose Hand is my life, what I am saying to them, even you cannot hear more distinctly than they, but they lack the power to reply. Then’he commanded that they should be buried in the well of Badr.

When it was the Day of Badr and Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) had gained victory over them (the Meccans), he commanded more than twenty persons, and in another hadith these are counted as twenty-four persons, from the non-believers of the Quraish to be thrown into the well of Badr. The rest of the hadith is the same.

He who is taken to account on the Day of Resurrection is in fact put to torment. I said: Has Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, not said this: ‘He will be made subject to an easy reckoning” (Ixxxiv. 8)? Thereupon he said: (What it implies) is not the actual reckoning, but only the presentation of one’s deeds to Him. He who is thoroughly examined in reckoning is put to torment.

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ayyub with the same chain of transmitters.

Everyone who is reckoned thoroughly is undone. I said: Allah’s Messenger, has Allah not called (reckoning) as easy reckoning? Thereupon he said.. It implies only presenta- tion of (one’s deeds to Him), but if one is thoroughly examined in reckoning, he in fact is undone.

He who is examined thoroughly In reckoning is undone.

I heard Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) as saying three days before his death: None of you should court death but only hoping good from Allah

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of A’mash with the same chain of transmitters.

I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) say three days before his death: None of you should die but hoping only good from Allah, the Exalted and Glorious.

I heard Allah’s Apostle (ﷺ) as saying. Every servant would be raised (in the same very state) in which he dies.

This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of A’mash but with a slight variation of wording.

I heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: When Allah intends to chastise a people, He chastises all of them then they would be raised according to their deeds.