Be Prompt with Good Deeds before the Hour

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Hasten to perform good deeds before a tribulation which will be like the dark part of the night, in which a man will be a believer in the morning and an unbeliever in the evening, or he will be a believer in the evening and an unbeliever in the morning. He would sell his faith for some goods in the world.” [Muslim].

Commentary:
This Hadith tells that the Day of Resurrection will be preceded by a long chain of calamities. Because of the rush of these calamities, religion and Faith will loose their value in people. There will be a race for wealth, so much so that people would not hesitate to compromise their religion and Faith to acquire wealth. People will rapidly change their faces. This is what actually happening. In this situation true believers are exhorted to adhere strictly to Faith and perform noble deeds without delay.

[Hafiz Salahudeen Yusuf's Commentary on Riyadhus-Saliheen: Book 1, Chapter 10, Hadīth 87]

It’s interesting that in the creation of Adam (as), there’s an important lesson to do with relationships.

We will meet many types of people. Some friendly and easy-going. Others may be difficult or even evil.

In a hadith it is mentioned that the Prophet (saws) said;

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى خَلَقَ آدَمَ مِنْ قَبْضَةٍ قَبَضَهَا مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْأَرْضِ فَجَاءَ بَنُو آدَمَ عَلَى قَدْرِ الْأَرْضِ فَجَاءَ مِنْهُمْ الْأَحْمَرُ وَالْأَبْيَضُ وَالْأَسْوَدُ وَبَيْنَ ذَلِكَ وَالسَّهْلُ وَالْحَزْنُ وَالْخَبِيثُ وَالطَّيِّبُ

“Indeed, Allāh created Adam from a handful (of soil) which was gathered from all over the earth. The children of Adam came according to the nature of the earth.

Amongst them are red, white and black, and colours between them. Some of them are easy-going and [others] harsh, whilst some are evil and others good.” (Al-Tirmidhi, Hasan Saheeh).

Why is this important?

It’s the nature of life that we’re all different. It is by design.

Hence, people will not think like you, neither will they treat you how you treat them.

It’s not great, but if you accept that just as people are different to you, "you" are also different to others. You and I have our own weaknesses and flaws which others encounter.

Once we accept this, it’s easier to lower your expectations of others. What remains then is just to be the best person you can with all types of people, hoping for ultimate reward from Allāh.

This is what is meant by Ihsaan (or excellence).

Allah al-Halim

Imām al-Ghazālī (raḥimahullāh) defined Allah’s Name al-Ḥalīm as the One “who observes the disobedience of the rebellious and notices the opposition to the command, yet anger does not incite Him nor wrath seize Him, nor do haste and recklessness move Him to rush to take revenge, although He is utterly capable of doing that.”

Take a moment to visualize the world. Observe the array of people living on its surface from the east to the west, and reflect on the innumerable sins that are being committed every minute. Consider all the injustice, murders, fraud, and theft that continues to occur around the world. Compound this image in your mind with all the kufr (disbelief in Allah) that occurs across the earth. Now imagine a world where we instantly faced the consequences of our actions. Who amongst us would survive a terrible fate? Who amongst us would not be ruined?

From that image, we get a glimpse of how forbearing Allah is towards us, out of His mercy. Allah (ʿazza wa jall) says:

وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللّٰهُ ٱلنَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِمْ مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِنْ دَآبَّةٍ وَلَٰكِنْ يُّؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰٓ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى
“If Allah were to punish people (immediately) for their wrongdoing, He would not have left a single living being on earth. But He gives them respite for an appointed term” (16:61).

Allah giving us respite is one of His greatest blessings upon us. He does not punish us immediately, but rather gives us time so that we turn back to Him with sincere repentance, and perform good deeds. Allah not only delays punishment but sends us subtle reminders so that we turn back to Him.

Similarly, the heavens and the earth seek permission to destroy the inhabitants of the earth due to the magnitude of their sins. However, Allah does not allow them to do so, out of His forbearance:

إِنَّ اللّٰهَ يُمْسِكُ السَّمٰـوٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ أَنْ تَزُوْلَا ۚ وَلَئِنْ زَالَتَآ إِنْ أَمْسَكَهُمَا مِنْ أَحَدٍۢ مِّنۢ بَعْدِهِۦٓ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ حَلِيْمًا غَفُوْرًا
Indeed, Allah keeps the heavens and the earth from falling apart. If they were to fall apart, none but Him could hold them up. He is truly Most Forbearing, All-Forgiving (35:41).

Allah’s forbearance (ḥilm) extends to not just delaying punishment, but also to delaying the recording of our sins.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “The scribe (angel) on the left delays registering the sin of a Muslim for six hours. If he repents (within these six hours), and seeks Allah’s forgiveness, they drop it off. If he doesn’t, they write it down as a single sin” (Ṭabarānī).

However, this does not mean that we can become complacent and think that because Allah is Forbearing and Merciful, we can continue sinning.

Some of us may have experienced what we feel is a clear punishment from Allah for a sin we committed. This does not contradict the fact that Allah is al-Ḥalīm. This is because Allah’s forbearance is always purposeful and merciful. What may seem as ‘punishments’ in this world are actually blessings in disguise, as He, the Most Wise, wants to alert us that we are on the wrong path and we need to return back to Him.

Almost every person suffers a headache or fever occasionally in his/her life. Whilst this may seem to be a condition of discomfort, it is a blessing in disguise.

Narrated Abu Harayrah رضي الله عنه
Rasulullaah ﷺ has said:
“As a person suffers a headache or fever, his/her sins are erased to such an extent that even if his/her sins were equal to the mount of Uhud, they will be reduced to the amount of a mustard seed.

[Musnad Abu Ya’la, Hadith#: 6150]

May Allaah Ta'aala grant us understanding.
آمِيْن يَارَبَّ الْعَالَمِينْ

Take heed before you leave your home!

"HEREAFTER IS OURS AND THE WORLD IS THEIRS?"

When Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahuanhuma) was in the house of the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhiwa sallam)
----------------------------------------------------------

I entered the room of the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhiwa sallam) while he was laying on his side over a mat. He drew up his lower garment as I sat down.

He was not wearing anything else. The mat had left visible marks on his body. I looked at his cupboard and noticed a handful of barley, some mimosa leaves in the corner of the room, and a leather bag hung to the side.

My eyes began to swell with tears. The Prophet of Allah (sallallaahu alayhiwa sallam) asked, "Why do you weep O Ibn al-Khaṭṭab?"

I said, "Prophet of Allah, why should I not cry when this mat has left marks on your side, and the supply in your cupboard is scarce?

Caesar and Khosrow are surrounded by rivers and fruits in abundance, while you, the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhiwa sallam) and His chosen one, sits with this cupboard."

The Prophet of (ʿalayhi al-salam) said, "Ibn al-Khaṭṭab, are you not pleased that the Hereafter is ours and the world is theirs?"

ʿ[Muslim no. 1479]

Staying away from oppression and sins:

The Quraysh of Makkah who were pagans knew and appreciated the sacredness of these days, they would be careful to ever oppress any other tribe. More than this, Allaah said,

{So do not oppress yourselves within these days} [09:36]

Qataadah (rahimahullah) said,

“Oppression and wrong-doing in the sacred months is more severe in sin than in any other months. Even though oppression is severe in ever time, however Allaah chooses to increase [in severity] whatever He wills.”

No one will put their neck on the line for anyone these days. No one can hardly help their brothers/sisters in Islam even though you know how many of them are in so much need.
Everyone has become for himself/herself.
On that Day everyone will be crying "Nafsi, Nafsi"!!
Because your deeds of today won't be enough to save you from tomorrow!

🖋 _*The religion of Allah is not strict, my brothers and sisters.*_
_*What's really happening is that muslims drowned in the pleasures of the worldly life, so the word and the law of Allah became heavy on their hearts.*_

In a world of dead hearts, be strangers, cause strangers are indeed blessed ...

A GROUP OF MY NATION WILL CONTINUE TO BE VICTORIOUS UPON THE DEEN.

Abu Umamah (radiAllahuanhu) reported: The Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhiwa sallam), said,

“A group of my nation will continue to be victorious upon the Deen (religion), overpowering their enemies. None who oppose them will harm them, except what afflicts them of difficult circumstances, until Allah brings his command while they're in that state.”

Source: Musnad Aḥmad 22320.Grade: Sahih
li ghayrihi (authentic due to external evidence) according to Al-Arna’ut

عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي عَلَى الدِّينِ ظَاهِرِينَ لَعَدُوِّهِمْ قَاهِرِينَ لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَالَفَهُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَصَابَهُمْ مِنْ لَأْوَاءَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَهُمْ أَمْرُ اللهِ وَهُمْ كَذَلِكَ

22320 مسند أحمد

36/557 المحدث شعيب الأرناؤوط خلاصة حكم المحدث صحيح لغيره في تخريج المسند.

When speaking of how a person leaves something correctly for the sake of Allaah and of a person’s truthfulness in that:

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullaah said:

“Indeed; one may find difficulty in abandoning the things that are customary as well as the habits – that being for whoever abandons them for other than Allaah. As for the one who abandons it truthfully and sincerely from his heart; then he finds no difficulty in abandoning it – except in the initial instant – in order for him to be tested as to: whether he is truthful in its abandonment or untruthful? So if he is patient upon that difficulty for a short period, then it transforms into pleasant delight.

Ibn Sireen said: ‘I heard Shuraih swear by Allaah; that a servant never abandoned anything for the sake of Allaah; and subsequently found bereavement over it.’

As for their saying: ‘whoever leaves off something for Allaah; then Allaah will replace it with better than it’ – this is true, and the replacement can be of various types.
The most outstanding of that which one can be granted replacement is that of:
acquaintance with Allaah and of having love for Him and the tranquility of the heart with regards to Him along with its strength and its enthusiasm and its delight and pleasure of its Lord, The Most High.
The most foolish of people is the one who strayed at the very end of his journey – and yet had neared the abode (destination).”

[Taken from: Rawdhatul Muhibbeen p.600-601 & Al-Fawaa-id p.250]

Question:

Was the Ka’bah clad with a covering at the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?

When did this practice begin?

Who was the first person to clothe the Ka’bah with such covering?

Why? This question was raised when elaborating on the definition of Bid’ah (innovation in religion)?

I replied to him with the Messenger’s Hadith: “Anyone who does a deed which is not congruent with our affair (Islam), that (deed) is to be rejected.” 1 He again asked: Was the covering of the Ka’bah provided by the order of the Prophet or during later times?

Answer:

The covering of the Ka’bah is a well known practice centuries before the Mission of the Prophet (peace be upon him). However, the historians differed concerning the first to have done that.

Some people said it was the tribe of Tubba’, others said that Isma’il was the first to clothe it, and others said it was ‘Adnan and there are many other views.

Nevertheless, knowing such a matter does not entail any legal benefit. When the Din (religion) of Islam spread, the Prophet (peace be upon him) approved of the act of covering the Ka’bah.

On the day of the Liberation of Makkah when it was mentioned before the Prophet that Sa’d ibn ‘Ubadah said to Abu Sufyan: “O Abu Sufyan! Today is the day of the massacre; today there will be sacrilege of the Ka’bah’, the Prophet (peace be upon him) denied that and said: “Sa’d lied, as today is a day in which Allah will honor and glorify the Ka’bah and it will be covered on this day.” (Related by Al-Bukhari in his Sahih as Hadith Mursal (a Hadith with no Companion of the Prophet in the chain of narration) 2.

Al-Hafizh Ibn Hajar said in his commentary: “The prophet (peace be upon him) pointed out with his hand that he will be the one to provide it with a covering this year and he did.”

The same was done by the Sahabah (Companions of the Prophet), and later Muslims to the extent that the Caliphs and Kings of Islam became keen on honoring the Ka’bah and providing it with its covering each year until our present time. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Muslim, Sahih, Book on judicial decisions, no. 1718; and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 6, p. 180. ↩

Al-Bukhari, Sahih, Book on expeditions, no. 4280. ↩

Fatawa Al-Lajnah Al-Daimah no. 21672-4
Chairman : Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Aal Al-Shaykh

Members :
Shaykh Abdullah Ibn Ghudayyan
Shaykh Salih Al-Fawzan
Shaykh Bakr Abu Zayd

Mu`adh bin Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Whoever gives up wearing elegant and expensive garments out of humbleness, when he can do so, Allah will call him on the Day of Resurrection, before all of creation, He will give him the choice to wear whichever garment of iman he would like to wear."

[At-Tirmidhi]

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said,

If Allaah puts a person under certain tests and trials and the person recognizes that he must resort to Allaah alone seeking His help,

then this is a good sign for him; the trials turn to purification and mercy.

If on the other hand, he rejects, complains, and turns away from Allaah and seeks help from human beings like himself, then this is a bad sign for him;

the trials turn to punishment and misery for him.

[Tareequl Hijratayn, 103, pg. 259]

INNOVATION SICKENS THE HEART

Al-Hasan Al-Basrī رحمه الله said:

"Do not sit with a person of Bid'ah, for indeed he will cause your heart to become sick."

[Al-'Itisām, 26]

Praising_someone_extravagantly

عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ ‏ "‏ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالتَّمَادُحَ فَإِنَّهُ الذَّبْحُ

[سنن ابن ماجه 3743، صححه الألباني في صحيح الجامع 2674]

On the authority of Mu'āwiyah [ibn Abi Sufyān] (may Allāh be pleased with him):

“I heard the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) say: ‘Beware of praising one another, for it is slaughtering (one another)’.”

[Sunan Ibn Mājah 3743, graded authentic (Sahīh) by Al-Albāni in Sahīh al-Jāmi' 2674]

Is it authentic that Aisha visited the grave of her brother, and does this indicate the permissibility of the visitation of women to graves?

Sheikh Dr. Arafat b Hasan Al-Muhammadi:

The response is yes. And the narration of Aisha was reported by AbdurRazaq in his Musannaf and also reported by Bayhaqi that Aisha was asked about this affair:

They said to her: Did the Prophet, صلى الله عليه وسلم , not prohibit visiting it (the grave)?
She said: yes, he prohibited it, thereafter, he permitted visiting it.

[Sunan al-Kubrá 6659 - Sahih according to Al-Albaani]

So this is an evidence that Aisha comprehended abrogation.

Regarding both men and women.
Because a woman also needs to remember the Hereafter.

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, when she went out behind the Messenger of Allah, صلى الله عليه وسلم , and he was supplicating.

Thereafter, he returned knowing that she was behind him. Her feet were sore or her chest was throbbing.
He was aware that she followed him.

She said to him - and this is the point of this reference:
"𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐎 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐡?" 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 [𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞]

Then, he said to her: "Say, peace be upon the people of this residence from the believers and the muslims..." [Saheeh Muslim, 974].

Then, he taught her the supplication.

𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞?

He would have told her: it is not permissible for you to visit the graves. And this was what Aisha understood.
And she visited the grave of her brother - and this is authentic from her, may Allah be pleased with her.

And in Sahih al-Bukhari also, when he saw a woman by a grave, he said to her: fear Allah and be patient. He reprimanded her for crying but he did not reprimand her for the visitation

And Allah knows best🤍

~womenofsunnah

Sheikh Muqbil Al-Wadi'ee used to say to his students:

"Oh my children, if knowledge could be poured into a glass, I would pour it for you,
but it is not obtained -
except by hard work,
exhaustion,
and scraping of the knees"

[Nubdhah Mukhtasarah -
By Umm ‘Abdillaah (Daughter of Sheikh Muqbil) , pg. 44]