Hadith of the day:The Pillars of Islaam

On the authority of Aboo `Abd ir-Rahmaan `Abdullaah, the son of `Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllaahu 'anhumaa, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) say:

Islaam has been built on five [pillars]: testifying that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, establishing the salaah (prayer), paying the zakaah (obligatory charity), making the Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House, and fasting in Ramadaan. [related by al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Explanation of Hadith 

Aboo al-'Abbaas al-Qurtubee (rahimahu Allaahu) has said that this hadeeth means that these five matters are the foundation and basic principles upon which the religion of al-Islaam is built. With these five matters does Islaam make itself apparent. And the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam particularised these five matters and did not mention Jihaad along with them (even though it is through Jihaad that Islaam is made uppermost and the resistance of the Disbelievers is belittled) because these five matters are obligatory at all times upon all Muslims, whereas Jihaad is a Fard Kifaayah which may not be required during certain times.
 [Note: a Fard Kifaayah is an obligation that is required of the Muslims such that if a group of them fulfill it then the obligation is lifted from the community as a whole].

And in some of the narrations of this hadeeth (such as the one quoted above), mention of the Hajj is made before mention of the Fasting in Ramadaan. However, and Allaah knows best, the correct form is the placing of the Fasting before the Hajj, as is narrated from Ibn 'Umar that he corrected a narrator who changed the order and said "This is how I have heard it from the Messenger of Allaah (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam)". This incident shows us the precision of the Sahaabah and the scholars of Hadeeth after them in preserving the words of the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, and how can this not be when Allaah 'azza wa jall has said:

"Verily We have sent down the Dhikr and We shall preserve it"

and the Dhikr or Wahee sent down to the Prophet sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam includes both the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, as Allaah has said:

"Nor does he speak of (his own) desire; It is only an Inspiration that is inspired."

And it is also narrated from Ibn 'Umar radiAllaahu 'anhu that the Messenger sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam said:

"Islaam is built upon that you worship Allaah (alone) and disbelieve in (the worship of) all that is other than Him, and the establishment of the Prayer, ...(till the end of the hadeeth)"

And in the hadeeth occurs the phrase 'establishment' of the prayer (iqaam as-salaah), as opposed to 'performance' of the prayer. The scholars have mentioned how this indicates that the Prayer must be performed in the most perfect manner, after having completed the wudoo' in the most perfect manner, and in the Masjid with the jamaa'ah for the men, and so on and so forth. That is, simply performing the motions of the Prayer in the most minimal fashion is not what is desired from us - but rather we should exert ourselves in this affair, bearing in mind that the Prayer is the first matter that will be judged on the Day of Resurrection - if it is accepted then the rest of our actions will be accepted, and if it is rejected then the rest of our actions will also be rejected.

Summary

That Islaam is indeed built on the five principles of: 

1) Witnessing that Allaah is our only deity and Muhammad (sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam) is His Messenger to show us how to fulfill our existence on this earth as Muslims, 

2) Prayer, 

3) Zakaah, 

4) Fasting and 

5) Hajj 

So one must strive to fulfill these pillars with the utmost care, concern and priority, and one must do so normally before one gets involved with other aspects of the Deen.    

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The recording of the hadith

The recording of the hadeeth of the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, began during the time of the Prophet himself.  Al-Baghdaadi records a number of hadeeth that show that the Prophet explicitly allowed the recording of his hadeeth.  Here are some examples:

1.    Al-Daarimi and Abu Dawood in their Sunans (books) recorded that Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As stated that they used to record everything they heard from the Prophet.  They were warned against doing so as, it was argued, the Prophet was a human being who may be angry at times and pleased at others.  Abdullah stopped writing his hadeeth until they could ask the Prophet about this issue.  The Messenger of God told him:

“Write [my hadeeth], by the One in whose hand is my soul, nothing comes out [the Prophet’s mouth] except the truth.”[1]

That is, whether he was angry or pleased what he spoke was always the truth.

2.    Al-Bukhari, in his Sahih (book), recorded that Abu Hurairah said, “One can find none of the Companions of the Messenger of God relating more hadeeth than I, except Abdullah ibn Amr because he used to record the hadeeth while I did not do so.”[2]

3.    Al-Bukhari recorded that a person from Yemen came to the Prophet on the day of the Conquest of Mecca and asked him if he could get the Prophet’s speech recorded, and the Prophet approved and told someone:

“Write it for the father of so and so.”

4.    Anas narrated the statement, “Secure knowledge by writing it.”  This hadeeth has been related by a number of authorities but mostly with weak chains.  There is a dispute concerning whether or not it is actually a statement of the Prophet or of some Companion.  However, according to al-Albani, the hadeeth, as recorded by al-Haakim and others, is authentic.[3]

There is no question, therefore, that the recording of hadeeth began during the lifetime of the Messenger of God himself.  This practice of writing hadeeth continued after the death of the Messenger of God.  Al-Azami, in his work Studies in Early Hadeeth Literature, has listed and discussed some fifty Companions of the Prophet who had recorded hadeeth.[4]  Note the following:

Abdullah B. Abbas (3 B.H.-68 A.H.)… He was so eager for knowledge that he would ask as many as 30 Companions about a single incident… It seems he wrote what he heard and sometimes even employed his slaves for this purpose… The following derived hadeeth from him in written form: Ali b. Abdullah ibn Abbas, Amr b. Dinar, Al-Hakam b. Miqsam, Ibn Abu Mulaikah, Ikrimah… Kuraib, Mujahid, Najdah… Said b. Jubair.[5]

Abdullah B. Umar B. al-Khattab (10 B.H.-74 A.H.).  He transmitted a large number of ahadeeth, and was so strict in relating them that he did not allow the order of a word to be changed even though it would not have altered the meaning… He had books.  One Kitab [book] which belonged to Umar, and was in his possession, was read to him by Nafi several times… The following derived hadeeth from him in written form: Jamil b. Zaid al-Tai… Nafi client of ibn Umar, Said b. Jubair, Abd al-Aziz b. Marwan, Abd al-Malik b. Marwan, Ubaidullah b. Umar, Umar b. Ubaidullah …[6]

Al-Azami also compiled a list, discussing each personality individually, of forty-nine people of “the first century successors” who recorded hadeeth.[7]  Al-Azami goes on to list eighty-seven of “the scholars covering the late first and early second centuries” who recorded hadeeth.[8]  Then he lists “from the early second century scholars” 251 people who collected and recorded hadeeth.[9]  Thus al-Azami has produced a list of 437 scholars who had recorded hadeeth and all of them lived and died before the year 250 A. H.  Many of them are from before the time of Umar ibn Abdul Azeez, who has been wrongly credited with having been the first person to ask for the collection of hadeeth.  The story of Umar ibn Abdul Azeez has actually been misunderstood and it does not mean that no one collected hadeeth before him.[10]

To quote al-Azami, “Recent research has proved that almost all of the hadeeth of the Prophet was [sic] written down in the life of the companions, which stretched to the end of the first century.”[11]  This last statement is partially based on al-Azami’s own research in which he has mentioned many Companions and Followers who possessed written hadeeth.  Elsewhere, he himself writes,

I have established in my doctoral thesis Studies in Early Hadeeth Literature that even in the first century of the Hijra many hundreds of booklets of hadeeth were in circulation.  If we add another hundred years, it would be difficult to enumerate the quantity of booklets and books which were in circulation.  Even by the most conservative estimate they were many thousands.[12]

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Footnotes:

[1] According to al-Albaani, this hadeeth is sahih.  See Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani,Saheeh Sunan Abi Dawood (Riyadh: Maktab al-Tarbiyyah al-Arabi li-Duwal al-Khaleej, 1989), vol. 2, p. 695.

[2] Ibn Hajar, commenting on this hadeeth, explained how Abu Huraira could have narrated so many more hadeeth than Abdullah ibn Amr.  See ibn Hajar, Fath, vol. 1, pp. 206-8.  One aspect that he neglected to mention is Abu Hurairah’ dying some sixteen years after Abdullah ibn Amr.

[3] Al-Albani, Saheeh al-Jaami al-Sagheer, vol. 2, p. 816.

[4] Muhammad Mustafa al-Azami, Studies in Early Hadeeth Literature (Indianapolis, IN: American Trust Publications, 1978), pp. 34-60.

[5] Azami, Studies in Early Hadeeth, pp. 40-42. In Azami’s work, “b.” stands for ibn or “son of.”

[6] Azami, Studies in Early Hadeeth, pp. 45-46.

[7] Azami, Early Hadeeth, pp. 60-74.

[8] Ibid., pp. 74-106.

[9] Ibid., pp. 106-182.

[10] The story, as recorded by al-Bukhari, is that Umar (61-101) wrote to Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad (d. 100) saying, “Look for the knowledge of hadith and get it written, as I am afraid that religious knowledge will vanish and the religious learned men will pass away.  Do not accept anything save the hadith of the Prophet.”  He also sent letters to Saad ibn Ibraaheem and al-Zuhri asking them to do the same.  It has been incorrectly stated by some, for example, M. Z.  Siddiqi, that it was this request of Umar’ that led to the beginning of the collections of hadith.

[11] Al-Azami,  Methodology, p. 30.

[12] Ibid., p. 64.

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God’s Preservation of the Sunnah: Al Hadith

Before discussing this topic, it should be noted that, in order for something to be preserved, it is not a necessary condition that it be recorded or written down.  That is, simply because something was not written down, it does not mean that it was not accurately and correctly preserved.  Furthermore, the writing of something down itself is not sufficient for the preservation of something.  It is possible that something is recorded incorrectly.  Both of these points were duly noted by the scholars of hadeeth. 

 They did not require hadeeth to be written down for them to be accepted although they did recognize the importance of such a physical recording and many times, depending on the personality involved, preferred the written record over the verbal record.  These scholars also realized that the mere recording of something is not sufficient.  It must also be ascertained that it was recorded properly.  Hence, scholars of hadeeth would accept or prefer written reports of scholars over memorized reports only if it was known that those scholars were proficient and correct in their writing.

It has been one of the favorite practices of many of the Orientalists to constantly state the “fact” that hadeeth were not recorded at first but were, instead, passed on only orally for the first two centuries after the Hijrah (Arabic calendar).  Therefore, hadeeth are not much more than folklore and legend that was passed on orally and in a haphazard fashion for many years.  Unfortunately, this is a misconception that has become quite widespread amongst many who have sufficed with a mere shallow research of the subject.  

In reality, this false claim and incorrect view has, by the grace of God, been refuted by numerous Muslim scholars in various doctoral dissertations in the Muslim world as well as at Western Universities, such as the dissertations of Muhammad Mustafa Azami (1967), published as Studies in Early Hadeeth, and  Imitiyaz Ahmad’s The Significance of Sunna and Hadeeth and their Early Documentation from Edinburgh in 1974.

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What is Hadith?

The Arabic word Hadith means ‘statement' or ‘talk'. In the Shariah,

 the word Hadith means those things or action, which Prophet

Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said or did. You will also come

 across the word ‘Sunnah' which is also used for Hadith, but usually

 ‘Sunnah' is used to report a deed, such as how the Prophet

 Muhammad (Peace be upon him) slept or ate etc, 

while Hadith is used for ‘talk'.

There are six well know Hadith books, which were compiled by great scholars of Islam:

• Sahih Bukhari

• Sahih Muslim

• Sunnah Abu Dawood

• Sunnah Nasai

• Sunnah Tirmidhi

• Sunnah ibn Majah

There are many others, but these are the most commonly used by Muslims to seek knowledge.

Some people nowadays incorrectly say that you don't need Hadith, and that the Quran is enough for guidance to the straight path.

The correct view and understanding is that many times the Quran gives us the general principal of an order; but to understand the order clearly, Hadith is required.

Basically without Hadith we won't have clear understanding on how to practice Islam properly, Islam is a way of life, which was taught to us by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), which we know as the 'Sunnah' we should try and follow all the Sunnah's to gain great rewards in the hereafter.

An example of a Sunnah is the beard. Recently a non-Muslim asked me, why do you trim your mustache but keep a beard, the answer was it is a Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

Some Quran references on following the Sunnah/Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):

"Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allah, but whatever evil befalls you, is from yourself. And We have sent you (Muhammad) as a Messenger to humanity, and Allah is sufficient as a witness. He who obeys the Messenger, has indeed obeyed Allaah, but he who turns away, then We have not sent you as a watcher over them. (Surah An-Nisa Ayat  79-80)

"Let those who oppose the Messenger’s order beware of a fitnah (trial) to befall them, or a painful torment to be inflicted upon them." (Sura  24 ayah 63)

"O you who believe! Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger, and those of you who are in authority. If you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger if you believe in Allaah and the Last Day. This is better and more suitable for final determination." (Sura 4 ayah 59)

"Obey Allaah and His Messenger, and do not dispute (with each other), lest you fail and your strength depart; and be patient – surely, Allaah is with those who are patient."

 (Sura 8 ayah 46)

"Say (O Muhammad): ‘if you (truly) love Allah, follow me! Allah will then love you and forgive your sins.’ And Allah is All Forgiving, All Merciful."} (Sura Al Imraan ayah 31)

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Trust me, you'll love him

Unlike the founders of many religious, the final prophet of Islam is

 a real documented and historical figure.  He lived in the full light of history, and the most minute details of his life are known.  Not only do Muslims have the complete text of God’s words that were revealed to Muhammad, but they have also preserved his sayings and teachings in what is called “hadeeth” literature.  This having been said, it should be understood that Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was only a man chosen by God, and that he is not divine in any way.  In order to avoid the misguided wish to deify him, the Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to refer to him as “God’s Messenger and His Slave”. 

The mission of the last and final prophet of God was to simply teach that “there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God”, as well as being a living example of God’s revelation.  In simple terms, God sent the revelation to Muhammad, who in turn taught it, preached it, lived it and put it into practice.

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5:Your Life Before Your Death.

Every one of us has a life. That is why we are here right now. 

Every one of us without a doubt will die. Allah says:

Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die. (30 sūrat l-zumar)

And it is as Allah said, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam passed away and so did the people that opposed him and believed in him. They all have passed away. And the turn came for those after them, and then those after them, until it is our turn.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam therefore reminded us

This is the greatest of foresight. Hence the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam concluded the hadith with this phrase.

How are we going to use this life before death comes? As for the kafir, he will totally waste it because he will make this life his goal. He will live only to appease and satisfy every desire of his. Then on the Day of Judgment, he will beg Allah to send him back to this life.

Allah describes this in the Quran:

When death comes to them, he will say, “O my Lord!”

All of a sudden, when his Lord comes to him he remembers Allah. Whereas throughout all of the years that he lived, Allah was nowhere near him; Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala was the furthest thing from his death. On the Day of Judgment when he is resurrected, he will say: Oh my Lord! Allow me to go back so that I may do good in the time that I had left. Allah obviously will say, "Kalla” – no. You have only been allowed one life and you will not be able to go back and change that life. For every good you do you will be rewarded, and for every evil you do you will be punished. Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala also describes them in the Qur’an as saying on the Day of Judgment: O our Lord, we have seen and we have heard. Let us go back to do good deeds; we are now believers. They claim to believe in Allah and the Day of Judgment but Allah will not allow this to happen because everyone has only one life. That is what Allah has given and this is what we must make the best of in this world so that we are compensated accordingly in the Hereafter. These are the five things that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam told the man to do. He advised him:

"Take advantage of five matters before five others: your youth, before your old age; and your health before you fall sick; and your wealth before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life before your death."

This hadith deals with responsibility, wisdom, foresight, long-term planning, and good strategy. Every one of us has been blessed with these five blessings. There is no one amongst us who has not been blessed with these five things. So how do we utilize them? What do we utilize them for? Why do we utilize them?

The wise person is the one who strives to achieve the pleasure of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala and then expects the best from Allah. The wise one is one who tries to arrive at the goal and then has tawakkul in Allah. Tawakkul does not mean to sit back and say, "Oh, this will happen to me." Rather, you must strive for it. The fool is the one who follows his desires and then presumes that Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala will reward him.  

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4: Your free time before you become busy

This is yet another great treasure that every single one of us possesses. Every single one of us must use our free time before we become busy. How much free time do we have and what do we waste it on? Think about it. Think about how much free time all of us have been blessed with. We have hours and hours every day and they go by. What do we waste it on? Primarily, in this country at least, television. It is also wasted on gossip and socialization of which there is no benefit whatsoever, in this world nor the hereafter.

Remember the hadith of the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam about the two blessings (health and free time) most people have been deceived by. In other words, they don't realize their blessings of health and free time. You may have to work eight hours a day, no problem. Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala has allowed this for you. He has obligated it upon you. When you come home, you have four or five hours, so spend them wisely for the sake of Allah.

Spending time wisely does not necessarily mean purely religious deeds. But spending your time wisely and even be something in this world. Learn a trade. Learn something that can benefit you in this world and that can benefit other people as well. Islam is a complete way of life, a complete code. Do not forget that all of the acts a mu'min does can be transformed into acts of worship if, and only if, he does them for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala.

Of course that there are religious deeds which are the best deeds to do. Every one of us should recite the Qur'an everyday, even if it's only for five or ten minutes. You should have some relationship with the Qur'an. Every one of us should pray some extra prayers as well, a few sunnahs or the nafls, if not the continual sunnahs that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam used to pray. This is the most important thing for us to do. But at the same time, do not forget that there can be many acts that can be rewarded if you change your niyyah and do them for the sake of Allah.

Do not waste your time. The greatest waste of time is the television. You turn it on, and an hour or two go by, and not only have you not gained anything for the Akhirah, you have not gained anything for this world. You have literally killed, murdered your time, and done absolutely nothing with it. And realize that you are lucky if you don't come away from those two hours without any sin. How many are the sins that are in television, with music, and the women, and other things. In my opinion, it is better for a mu'min not to even have this instrument in his house because of the evil that comes from it. Like Allah says about alcohol, the evil that comes from it is more than the good that is obtained from it.

When you have some free time, take advantage of it. The greatest thing that we can do in this free time is to worship Allah. And one of the greatest acts of worship is to seek knowledge. Take a book out to read. Do whatever you can do to increase your 'ilm. Attend some classes or even visit one another for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala. Visit your Muslim brother with the proper Islamic etiquette and adab. This is an act you can do that will pass your time away, and be worthwhile.  

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3: Your richness before poverty.

One day we might not have anything, and the next we might have much more than we need. One day, a person might have the best of jobs and the largest of salaries, yet, the next day, something happens and he does not have that job anymore and loses his source of income. So the wise person uses his richness before he becomes poor. He invests for his future.

As for the investments of this dunya, then the kafir and the Muslim are both the same; they both do that. Even the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam would store staple food items even up to a year. Sometimes he would store barley and grain for a whole year for his family. So this is obviously something halaal as the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam himself did it, and we should do it too. 

We should make sure we have enough money for our family and our children and ourselves, so we are not poor and we are not beggars. There is no doubt that this is a part of our Shari’ah as well.

But while we are doing this, let us not forget that we also need to invest for the Akhirah. Should we not think about investing this money so we can pick it and pluck it in the Hereafter when we need it far more than we need it in this world? We need to invest for the real future, our real life after our death.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam once asked his companions, "Who amongst you loves his inheritors' money more than his own money?"

The meaning of this hadith is that the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is asking for example, does the father love the money of his son or does he love his own money? Of course, the father loves his own money. Likewise, every person will love his own money more than he loves the money of other people.

The Sahabah said, "Yaa RasulAllah, all of us love our own money more than we love the money of our inheritors. We all love our own money. We guard it and protect it more than the money of our inheritors.”

Then the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Verily, the money that you spend in charity is your money, and the money that you leave behind is the money of your inheritors."

Ponder over that hadith for a while, how true it is. As for the father who loves his own money more than the money of his son, does he not realize that one day his son will take that very money of his and he will have nothing to do with it? All that is left of his money is what he spent during his life for the sake of Allah, if there was any such money. Any of it spent in charity for the sake of Allah, is money that will be yours permanently. The Arabic word for charity includes zakah, sadaqah, waqf, and any type of monetary good that you did. Everything besides this will go into the hands of your inheritors.

Remember that feeding your family is an ibaadah if you are doing it for the sake of Allah. If you are doing it for the sake of Allah, you will be rewarded. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said that, "A morsel of food," one morsel of food, one handful of food, "if you put it in your wife's mouth, this will be a reward for you on the Day of Judgment." Now everybody, Muslim or non-Muslim, feeds his family. But will everybody be rewarded for that? No. Because only the one who does it remembering Allah, thinking about Allah, and doing it for the sake of Allah will be rewarded

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2:your health before you fall sick

The fact that one lives a normal life and is not afflicted with diseases and plagues, represents a person’s health. Take advantage of this before diseases and plagues come because mankind, being mankind, will fall sick. Everyone falls sick. If we did not fall sick, we would not be humans, we would be divine.

There will come a time when we will fall sick. Some of those times the sicknesses will be more severe, and for certain people even more severe. So the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam is reminding us that we do not know when we will have full possession of our faculties, of our strength, of our mental powers, before we will fall sick. Therefore, take advantage of it before that time comes.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said: "

There are two blessings the majority of mankind have been deceived concerning." The majority of mankind do not appreciate these two blessings. They are "health," good health, "and free time."

Once a person came to Yunus ibn 'Ubayy, one of the scholars of the Salaf, and he complained of extreme poverty as he had not been blessed with much. Yunus ibn Ubayy asked him, "Would you be willing to give away your sight for a certain amount of money?" The man said, "No, of course not." Then he asked him, "Would you be willing to give your hands away?" He said, "No, of course not." He asked, "Your feet?" He said, "Of course not." When he finished he said "I see that you have hundreds of thousands of millions of blessings, yet you are complaining of poverty?"

We have our full faculties, we can see and hear. Look at someone who Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala has tested with blindness. It is a very severe test, and that is why the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam has said in an authentic hadith:"

There are two things if Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala takes them away from a person and he is patient, he is guaranteed Jannah. These two things are the two eyes."

In other words, if a person is blind, and we seek Allah's refuge from the physical and the spiritual blindness in this world and in the hereafter, then Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala is testing him. And if he is patient, then Allah will reward him with Jannah.

How about one who has been blessed not just with eyesight, but with hearing, health, arms, limbs, energy, vitality, enthusiasm, and many other things. Should we not appreciate the blessing from Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala? Do we not realize how sweet health is? It can be used for the worship of Allah. When we are blessed with these bodies, why do we not use them in the worship of Allah? The least we can do, is the faraa'id (obligatory actions) such as salah five times a day, fasting in Ramadan, and going for the Hajj. All of these require that we use our physical bodies. That is the least that we can do, the bare minimum. Of course, the more that one does, the better it is for him.   

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1:your youth before your old age

 The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam started off and said shabbab or shab, a youth or young person. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "

Take advantage of your youth before your haram.”

And the word haram means old age, maybe even senility. It is an age in which the person does not have the power or mental faculties that he had while he was a youth.

Youthfulness is a time when a person is the most energetic, when he lays out the foundations for his future, and when he plans his life. So the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to take advantage of this time before the time comes when you do not have that enthusiasm, when you do not have that zeal, or that outlook. The enthusiasm and energy that you have been blessed with will never again be given to you after this age. 

Therefore, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to seize the moment and take advantage of it. A person should exercise this energy for the sake of Allah by procuring knowledge of Allah, obtaining halal sustenance, and worshipping Allah through acts that he might not be able to do later on in life.

Youth here does not mean the western concept of youth that youthfulness finishes when someone is eighteen or nineteen years old. In the Islamic Shari’ah, a man's life has been divided into a number of sectors or stages. Shabbab or shab, according to the strongest opinion, means before reaching the age of forty. This is because forty is the prime of life, when mental and physical capabilities have reached a peak, and after that they start to go down.

The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:

"Seven are the people that will be sheltered on the Day of Judgment, the day in which there is no shade except the shade of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala.”

One of the seven people, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned was A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala. Remember, the youth is up to forty. So this young person, whether he is twenty or thirty or right before reaching the age of forty, he has grown up and has been raised or has raised himself busy in the worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala.

Likewise, the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said in an authentic hadith that Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala is pleased with and amazed at the youth who does not have any evil inclinations. This means he does not do evil. Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala loves such a youth who is straight in the worship of Allah and does not turn left or right to the paths of Shaytaan. Allah loves this person and is amazed at him because in general it is the youth, due to their virility and strong desires, who swerve left and right away from the path of the worship of Allah subhaanahu wa ta ‘aala. So this is the first of the five: “your youth before your old age.”  

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Take advantage of 5 before 5

 In this hadith the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said to a man while he was advising him:

"Take advantage of five matters before five other matters: your youth, before you become old; and your health, before you fall sick; and your richness, before you become poor; and your free time before you become busy; and your life, before your death."  What are these five things and what each point mean? That's what we gone know it on detaills in the next articales INSHALLAH

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10 Prophecies of Muhammad

“The Prophet once delivered a speech in front of us wherein he mentioned everything [all the signs] that would happen till the Final Hour without leaving anything. Some of us remembered it and some forgot it. After that speech, I used to see events taking place which were referred to in that speech, but I had forgotten them before their occurrence. Then I would recognize such events as a man recognizes another man who has been absent and then sees and recognizes him.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

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10 Prophecies of Muhammad -

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Poster: 7 whom ALLAH will shade

The Prophet Muhammud pbuh said: There are seven whom Allah ill shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no shade except His Shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques; two men who love each other for Allah's sake, meeting for that and parting upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position [for illegal intercourse], but be says: 'I fear Allah', a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.' Narrated by Abu Hurairah & collected in Sahih al-Bukhari (english trans.) vol.1, p.356, no.629 & Sahih Muslim english trans.) vol.2, p.493, no.2248 In this beautiful Hadith , the Prophet spoke about small acts of worship which result in such a huge reward: shade on the Day when there will be no shade except His Shade.

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The Seven Earths

The Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad is the second revealed source of Islam.  Like the Quran, it contains scientific information unavailable 1400 years ago.  From these miracles is the “seven” earths, mentioned by the Prophet in several of his sayings.  From them are the following two:

Hadith 1

It was narrated on the authority of Abu Salamah that a dispute arose between him and some other people (about a piece of land).  When he told Aisha (the Prophet’s wife) about it, she said, ‘O Abu Salamah!  Avoid taking the land unjustly, for the Prophet said:

“Whoever usurps even one span of land of somebody, its depth through the seven earths will be collared to his neck.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, ‘Book of Oppression.’)

Hadith 2

Salim narrated on the authority of his father that the Prophet said:

“Whoever takes a piece of land of others unjustly, he will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari, ‘Book of Oppression.’)

The aforementioned hadith prohibits oppression in general, especially the taking of a piece of land belonging to others unjustly.  What might the seven earths refer to?

Conclusion

The layers of the earth coincide with the above mentioned hadith of the Prophet.  The miracle is in two matters:

(1)  The expression of the hadith, ‘He will sink down the seven earths on the Day of Resurrection,’ indicates the stratification of these “earths” around one center.

(2)  The accuracy with which the Prophet of Islam referred to the seven inner layers of earth.

The only way for a desert dweller to have known these facts 1400 years ago is through revelation from God.

References

Beatty, J. K. and A. Chaikin, eds.  The New Solar System.  Massachusetts: Sky Publishing, 3rd Edition, 1990.

Press, Frank and Raymond Siever.  Earth.  New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1986.

Seeds, Michael A. Horizons. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, 1995.

El-Najjar, Zaghloul.  Treasures In The Sunnah: A Scientific Approach: Cairo, Al-Falah Foundation, 2004.

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prophecies of muhammad pbuh

Entering Mecca’s Grand Mosque (al-Masjid al-Haram)

In the sixth year after the Prophet was forced to migrate from Mecca to Medina, he saw himself visiting Mecca and performing pilgrimage in a vision mentioned in the Quran:

“Certainly has God showed to His Messenger the vision (i.e. dream) in truth.  You will surely enter al-Haram mosque, if God wills, in safety, with your heads shaved and [hair] shortened[1], not fearing [anyone].  He knew what you did not know and has arranged before that a conquest near [at hand].” (Quran 48:27)

God made three promises:

(a)   Muhammad would enter into Mecca’s Grand Mosque.

(b)  Muhammad would enter in a state of security.

(c)   Muhammad and his companions would get to perform pilgrimage and fulfill its rituals.

Ignoring the hostility of Meccans, Prophet Muhammad gathered his companions and embarked on a peaceful journey to Mecca.  But the Meccans continued to be hostile and he was forced to return to Medina.  The vision remained unfulfilled; however, an important treaty was signed between the Prophet and the Meccans, which would prove of great significance.  It is due to this treaty that Muhammad performed a peaceful pilgrimage with his companions the very next year.  The vision had found its fulfillment.[2]

The Quranic Prophecy; ‘The Unbelievers Will Lose’

Muslims were subject to severe persecution in Mecca at the hand of pagans.  At one time they were boycotted for three years, and the perpetual shortage of food sometimes bordered on famine.[3]  Any talk of victory was unimaginable.  Despite all odds, God prophesized in Mecca:

“[The pagans’] assembly will be defeated, and they shall turn their backs [in flight]!.” (Quran 54:45)

The Arabic verb yuhzamu is preceded by sa (an Arabic prefix denoting the future tense), making it a distinct prophecy awaiting fulfillment in future.  And so it was in the holy month of Ramadan, two years after the Prophet’s migration from Mecca to Medina that the Meccans were defeated in the Battle of Badr and forced to retreat.[4]  Umar, the second caliph of the Muslims after the Prophet, used to say that they did not know how the Quranic prophecy would be fulfilled until they themselves witnessed it coming true at the famous battle of Badr! (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

The Quranic Prophecy; ‘Believers Will Get Political Authority’

Despite severe oppression at the hands of Meccans, Muslims were given good news fromGod:

“God has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security, [for] they worship Me, not associating anything with Me.  But whoever disbelieves after that - then those are the defiantly disobedient.” (Quran 24:55)

How such a promise from Almighty God would be fulfilled to the oppressed, brutalized Muslims in Mecca was impossible to imagine at the time it was made.  It was  fulfilled, nevertheless.  Indeed, God made Muslims secure and gave them political sway in a matter of years.

“And Our word [decree] has already preceded for Our slaves, the messengers, [that] indeed, they would be those given victory.” (Quran 37:171-172)

At first, the Muslims established their own state, by the invitation of the people of Medina, when God commanded they migrate there from Mecca.  Then, within the lifetime of the Prophet, that state expanded to hold sway over the whole of the Arabian Peninsula, from the Gulf of Aqaba and the Arabian Gulf to the Arabian Sea in the south, including the place from whence the Muslims had been driven out (Mecca itself).  This decree was ongoing, for the expansion of the Muslim political and religious dominion did not stop at the Arabian Peninsula.  History gives a living testimony that the Muslims addressed by these verses ruled the lands of the former Persian and Roman empires, an expansion that amazed and won admiration of world historians.  In the words of Encyclopedia Britannica:

“Within 12 years after Muhammad’s death, the armies of Islam took possession of Syria, Iraq, Persia, Armenia, Egypt, and Cyrenaica (in modern Libya).”[5]

The Quran’s Prophecy Regarding the Hypocrites and the Tribe of Banu Nadhir

God says in the Quran:

“Surely, if they are expelled, never will they (hypocrites) go out with them, and if they are attacked, they will never help them.  And if they do help them, they (hypocrites) will turn their backs, so they will not be victorious.” (Quran 59:12)

Pickthall

(For) indeed if they are driven out they go not out with them, and indeed if they are attacked they help them not, and indeed if they had helped them they would have turned and fled, and then they would not have been victorious.

“Have you not observed how those who are hypocrites, tell their brothers (i.e. associates) among the People of the Scripture who disbelieved, ‘If you are expelled, we will surely also leave with you, and we will never anyone against you; and if you are attacked (i.e. by the Muslim militia), we will surely aid you.’  But God bears witness that they are liars.  If they (i.e. the Jews) are expelled, they (i.e. the hypocrites) will not leave with them, and if they are fought, they will not aid them.  And [even] if they were to aid them, they will surely turn their backs; then they will not be aided.” (Quran 59:11-12)

The prophecy was fulfilled when the Banu Nadhir were expelled in August 625 CE from Medina; the hypocrites did not accompany them or come to their aid.[6]

The Quranic Prophecies concerning Future Confrontations

“They will not harm you except for [some] annoyance.  And if they fight you, they will show you their backs (i.e., flee); then they will not be aided.” (Quran 3:111)

“And if those (Meccans) who disbelieve were to fight you, they would certainly turn their backs (i.e., flee).  Then they would not find a protector or a helper.” (Quran 48:22)

Historically, after these verses were revealed, the unbelievers in the Arabian Peninsula were never able to withstand the Muslims again.[7]

We see from the prophecies discussed in these articles that the claim many detractors of Muhammad’s Prophethood are utterly unfounded.  They have based their criticism on the challenge to show that what Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, foretold, if anything, and what came true of his foretelling.[8]  Demonstrably, he did prophesize, with God’s guidance, and demonstrably, what he was directed to tell us did actually occur.  Therefore, by the criterion of the detractors, Muhammad was the Messenger of God, and the last of the prophets to be sent, by both his statements in the Sunnah (narrations from his life) and the word of the Quran.

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Footnotes:

[1] Some of the rites of Hajj.

[2] See ‘Mercy For the Worlds,’ by Qazi Suliman Mansoorpuri, vol.1, p. 212 and ‘Madinan Society At The Time Of The Prophet,’ by Dr. Akram Diya al Umari, vol. 2, p. 139.

[3] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources’ by Martin Lings, p. 89.

[4] ‘Mercy For the Worlds,’ by Qazi Suliman Mansoorpuri, vol. 3 p. 299 ‘Madinan Society At The Time Of The Prophet,’ by Dr. Akram Diya al Umari, vol. 2, p. 37.

[5] “arts, Islamic.” Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-13813)

[6] ‘Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources’ by Martin Lings, p. 204.  ‘Mercy For the Worlds,’ by Qazi Suliman Mansoorpuri, vol. 3 p. 302.

[7] ‘Risala Khatim al-Nabiyeen Muhammad,’ by Dr. Thamir Ghisyan.

[8] You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’  When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken.  The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. (The Bible, New American Standard Version, Deuteronomy 18:21-22)

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