(49) On that our Lord Smiled
There is, however, no true description of the modality of His smile. His smile cannot be likened to that of humans. Similarly, humans’ act of smiling also cannot be compared to that of Allah’s. We only believe that He smiles as told by the Prophet. We avoid pronouncing and describing the modality of His smile. Allah has held back the modality of His smile; He did not disclose that to us. We claim what our Prophet stated. We confirm it with our hearts. We remain silent about what has not been clearly told to us and what Allāh has kept to Himself of His knowledge.
1. al-Ḥasan b. Muhammad al-Zaᶜfarānī and al-Ḥusayn b. ᶜĪsā al-Bisṭāmī → Yazīd b. Hārūn → Ḥammād b. Salamah → Thābit al-Bunānī → Anas b. Mālik → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Masᶜūd → the Prophet:
The last person to enter heaven will be walking on the bridge. He will swerve from it and walk alternately [he will stumble this step and rise up and walk the next moment].
He narrated the whole lengthy narrative, which he concluded with the following:
Then our Mighty Lord will say to him, “O son of Adam, what will bring an end to your requests to Me? Will it please you if I gave you the whole world and a like one along with it?” He will say, “O my Lord! Are you mocking at me, though You are the Mighty Lord?”
ᶜAbd Allāh (b. Masᶜūd) smiled till his front teeth were visible. He asked (the hearers), “Why do you not ask me what I am smiling at?” They then said, “Why do you smile?” He said, “It is in this way that the Messenger of Allah smiled. They (the companions of the Prophet) asked him: Why do you smile, Messenger of Allah? He said: “On account of the smile of the Lord of the universe, when the person desiring Paradise said: Are You mocking at me though You are the Mighty Lord?”
2. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → Abū al-Yamān → Shuᶜayb → al-Zuhrī → Saᶜīd b. al-Musayyib and ᶜAṭāᵓ b. Yazīd al-Laythī → Abū Hurayrah:
The people said to the Prophet, “Will we see our Lord on the Day of Judgment?”
He related the whole narrative in which he said:
A man who will be the last to enter Paradise will remain facing Hell and will say, “O my Lord, turn my face away from Hell, for its air has poisoned me and its blaze has burnt me.” Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, would say, “If I did that, perhaps you would ask for more than that.” He would say, “No. By your honour, I would not.” He would give his Lord covenants and agreements as Allah wished, and so He would turn his face away from the Fire.
He narrated the whole ḥadīth and said:
He will say, “O my Lord, do not make me the most miserable of your creatures.” Allah, Blessed and Exalted, would smile at this.
Then he narrated the rest of the ḥadīth.
3. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq → Maᶜmar → al-Zuhrī → ᶜAṭāᵓ b. Yazīd al-Laythī → Abū Hurayrah:
4. Muhammad → Sulaymān b. Dāwūd al-Hāshimī → Ibrāhīm (b. Saᶜd) → Ibn Shihāb → ᶜAṭāᵓ b. Yazīd → Abū Hurayrah:
Muhammad b. Yaḥyā said that he (the next narrator) brought all the versions of this narrative. However, at times they have differed in wording while the meaning is the same.
Abū Bakr said: This report has been transmitted both by Abū Hurayrah and Abū Saᶜīd. For it is in the text we see: Abū Saᶜīd said to Abū Hurayrah, “I witness that the Prophet said that Allāh will say, ‘Ten like it along with it.’”
This statement proves that Abū Saᶜīd received this report from the Prophet and remembered it, as did Abū Hurayrah. However, Abū Saᶜīd used the words, “Ten like it along with it.” Whereas Abū Hurayrah could recall the following words, “That is for you and a similar one along with it.”
The wording used by Abū Hurayrah is, “that is for you and a similar one along with it.” It does not contradict the statement of Abū Saᶜīd. This phenomenon belongs to the category I have discussed in my book ᶜAwd and Bad’. In fact, the Arabs sometimes count something countable with a given figure and then give it another figure without contradicting themselves. For example, when someone confesses to another, “I owe you a dirham and some more.” Later, he says, “I owe you a dirham and ten more.” The latter statement does entail negation of the earlier one. The two do not contradict each other. For we know that the one who owes ten dirhams can be said to owe one, two or nine and one dirhams. He would have contradicted himself if he had stated in the beginning that he did not owe more than two dirhams and later altered it to say that he owed ten dirhams.
Suppose a man has four wives. He says to an addressee that he has a woman other than this (the present) one. Then he says to him or someone else, “I have four wives.” This second statement would not negate his first one.
This issue can only be grasped by those who have sound knowledge and understanding in fiqh. I have explained this much here only because the innovators and the wayward people continue attaching the ḥadīth reports based on the difference in the wording.
Abū Bakr said: I have clarified the meanings of these two wordings at another place. I know that the Prophet said in the beginning that Allāh would say to the man if it would please him if He granted him the like of the world and one like it. Then later, He will say, “There is for you the like of the world and ten more like it.”
5. Muhammad b. Ismaᶜīl b. Samurah al-Aḥmasī → Wakīᶜ → Sufyān → Abū al-Zinād → al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
Allāh will smile at two persons. One of them is the killer of the other. Both will enter Paradise. The first fights for the cause of Allāh and is martyred [by the latter]. Later on, Allah forgives the killer who [repents] and enters Islam. Then he fights in the cause of Allāh and becomes a martyr.
6. Muhammad b. ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAbd al-Ḥakam → Ibn Wahb → Mālik → Abū al-Zinād → al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet: The same narrative.
7. Bundār and Abū Mūsā →Muᵓmil → Sufyān → Abū al-Zinād → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
Our Lord will smile at two persons. One of them would have killed the other yet both will be in Paradise.
Bundār → Abū al-Zinād → al-Aᶜraj → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
Allāh will smile at two persons. One of them kills his companion but both will enter Paradise.
8. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → Abū al-Mughīrah → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Yazīd → al-Zuhrī → Saᶜīd b. al-Musayyib → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
Allāh smiled at two persons. One of them killed the other. Then they both entered Paradise together. He (Abd al-Raḥmān) said that Al-Zuhrī was requested to explain this saying and he said, “A polytheist kills a Muslim and later on embraces Islam. When he dies, he goes to Paradise.”
9. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Bishr b. al-Ḥakam → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq → Maᶜmar → Hammām b. Munabbih → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
Allāh will smile at two persons. One kills the other. They both enter Paradise. They (the Companions) said, “How is it possible, O Messenger of Allah (kayfa yā rasūluallāh)?” He said, “One kills the other and the dead enters Paradise. The other repents in the end and Allah guides him to Islam. Then he strives for the cause of Allāh and wins martyrdom.”
10. Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq:
A similar narrative. However, he said, “I heard Abū Hurayrah saying:…..”
He also used the following words, “They said, “How is it possible, O Messenger of Allāh (kayfa dhāka yā rasūluallāh)?””
11. ᶜĪsā b. Abī Ḥarb → Yaḥyā (b. Bukayr) → Bishr b. al-Ḥusayn (Abū Muhammad al-Iṣbihānī) → al-Zubayr b. ᶜAdī → Anas b. Mālik → the Prophet
The Almighty smiles at or likes two persons. One of them kills the other. Both enter Paradise. The first one kills the other and sends him into Paradise. Then Allah accepts his repentance and guides him to Islam.
Abū Bakr said: I have included ḥadīth on this issue in Kitāb al-Jihād.
12. Mūsā b. Khākān Baghdādī → Sallam b. Sālam al-Balkhī → Khārijah b. Musᶜab → Zayd b. Aslam → ᶜAṭāᵓ b. Yasār → ᶜĀᵓishah:
The Messenger of Allah said: Allāh will smile at the desperation and disappointment of His servants in spite of His being close to them. I said: “O Messenger of Allah, my father and mother be offered for your sake, will our Lord smile?” He said: “Yes. By Allah in whose hand is my life, He will smile.” I said: “Then we will not be deprived of good from Him Who smiles.”
13. ᶜUbayd Allāh b. ᶜAbd al-Majīd → Farqad b. al-Ḥajjāj → ᶜUqbah (b. Abī al-Ḥasnāᵓ) → Abū Hurayrah → the Prophet:
When Allāh will gather all, the earliest and the last, on the Day of Judgment, He will come to the believers and will stand in front of them. The believers will be standing on al-kūm. People asked ᶜUqbah, “What is al-kūm?” He said, “That is a raised ground.” Then He will say, “Do you recognize your Lord?” They would reply, “We will recognize Him when He introduces Himself to us.” Then He will say that a second time. Then He will smile to their faces, and they will lie in prostration.
14. ᶜAmr b. ᶜAlī → ᶜUbayd Allāh b. ᶜAbd al-Majīd.
15. Ḥammād b. Salamah → ᶜAlī b. Zayd → ᶜUmārah al-Qarshī → Abū Burdah b. Abī Mūsā → his father → the Prophet:
Our Lord will appear to us smiling on the Day of Judgment.
Muhammad b.Yaḥyā → Sulaymān b. Ḥarab → Ḥammād → Salamah:
16. Muhammad → ᶜAffān b. Muslim → Ḥammād b. Salamah → ᶜAlī b. Zayd → ᶜUmārah al-Qarshī:
We went to ᶜUmar b. ᶜAbd al-ᶜAzīz. Abū Burdah was with us. He related a story with some extended details.
He (ᶜUmārah) said that Abū Burdah said that his father reported it to him that the Prophet said:
Allāh will gather all the nations on the Day of Judgment in a single raised ground.
He related a narrative about some matters of the Day of Judgment and said:
Our Lord will meet them smiling. He will say, “Have the good news O believers! Seat of all among you in Hell has been replaced by a Jew or a Christian.”
17. Ibrāhīm b. Muhammad al-Ḥalbī → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Dāwūd Abū ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān → Ismaᶜīl b. ᶜAbd al-Malik → ᶜAlī b. Rabīᶜah:
ᶜAlī mounted me [on his mount] behind himself and rode off to the back side of al-Kūfah. Then he raised his head to the heaven and said:
There is no god but You. Glory to You. I was indeed wrong! Forgive me.
Then he turned to me and smiled. Then he said, “Do not you ask me why I smiled?” I said, “Why did you smile, O leader of the believers?” He said, “The Messenger of Allah took me behind him for a ride and started off to the stony area in Madīna with me. Then he raised his head toward the heaven and said: “There is no god but you. Glory to You. I was indeed wrong. Forgive me.” Then he turned to me and smiled. He said, “Do not you ask why I smiled?” I asked him why he smiled. He said: “I smiled because My Lord smiles and expresses His surprise that His servants know that no one forgives their sins except for Him.”
Abū Bakr said: I have included some strands of this narrative concerning the supplication said while riding in Kitāb al-Manāsik or Kitāb al-Jihād.
18. Ismaᶜīl b. Abī Khālid → Isḥāq b. Rāshid → Asmāᵓ b. Yazīd b. al-Sakan, a woman from the helpers (anṣār):
When Saᶜd b. Muᶜādh died, his mother cried in mourning. The Prophet said to her, “Behold, your tears shall dry and your grief shall vanish for your son is the first to whom Allāh smiled and at [whose death] His Throne shook.”
Muhammad b. Bashshār and Yaḥyā b. Ḥakīm → Bundār → Yazīd → Ismaᶜīl b. Abī Khālid:
The same narrative.
The same narrative has also been narrated by: Yaḥyā → Yazīd b. Hārūn → Ismaᶜīl b. Abī Khālid:
Abū Bakr said: I do not know this Isḥāq b. Rāshid, nor do I think he is al-Jazarī, the brother of al-Nuᶜmān b. Rāshid.
19. Yūnus b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Ibn Wahb → Ibn Lahīᶜah and ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Shurayḥ and Yaḥyā b. Ayyūb → ᶜUbayd Allāh b. al-Mughīrah al-Sabāᵓī → Abū Farās → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr:
Allāh smiles three times to the person who leaves for a sea voyage: when he embarks [upon the ship] and leaves his family and wealth behind him; when he is shaken [by the sea water] and when he turns [to Allah] either gratefully or ungratefully.
Abū Bakr said: I have mentioned in the previous chapter that the scholars do not differ that the believers will see their Creator on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet, the most graceful of the believers, will see his lord on the Day of Judgment. But they differed on the question whether the Prophet saw his lord in his lifetime. A comrade of mine gave me a book a few days ago. It is ascribed to one of the Jahmīs. I saw that this book contains a report from Muhammad b. Jābir from Abū Isḥāq from Hubayrah b. Yarīm from Ibn Masᶜūd. The last mentioned is reported to have said, “Whoever thinks that Allāh can be seen, openly commits polytheism. The one who thinks that that Moses asked Allah to let him see Him openly commits polytheism.”
Jahmīs have used this report as evidence that Allāh cannot be seen and that the Prophet will not see his Lord on the Day of Judgment and nor will the believers see Him. This is a clear lie coined by the Jahmīs. With Allāh’s blessing, we have two reports which disprove it. These two reports are directly traced back to Ibn Masᶜūd without a break. This fabrication is disproved by the tradition from Abū ᶜUbaydah from Masrūq from ᶜAbd Allāh b. Masᶜūd who said:
Allāh will gather all the people on the Day of Judgment. Then an announcer will call out, “O people! Are not you happy with the decision of your Lord who created you, gave you proper shape and fed you that each person should follow what he has been worshipping in the world? Is it not a just judgement from you Lord?” They will say, “Why not?”
[He said] So everybody will walk behind what he has been following in the world. What they would have been following in the world will be incarnated for them. Those who worshipped ᶜĪsā shall find the Satan of Jesus [to lead them]. The Satan of ᶜUzayr will come in the bodily form for the worshippers of ᶜUzayr. Even the trees, wood and stones will be incarnated for their worshippers. In the end, the believers will remain prostrating. The announcer will say to them, “What is wrong with you? Why do you not move like the other did?” They will say, “We have a Lord whom we have not yet seen.” He will say, “How will you recognize your Lord if you see him?” They will say, “We have a sign decided between us. When we see Him, we will recognize Him.” He would say, “What is that?” Then Allah will reveal His shin. Then everybody will fall in prostration except a party whose backs will become [hard] like the horn of a cow.
[Masrūq narrated] the complete narrative. It includes:
Ibn Masᶜūd said, “I heard the Prophet relate it several times and every time he reached this point in the narrative, he laughed.”
20. Yūsuf b. Mūsā → Mālik b. Ismaᶜīl al-Baṣrī → ᶜAbd al-Salām b. Ḥarab → Yazīd b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān Abū Khālid al-Dālānī → al-Minhāl b. ᶜAmr → Abū ᶜUbaydah → Masrūq → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Masᶜūd.
He related the complete lengthy narrative.
According to a long narrative reported from Salamah b. Kuhayl from Abū al-Zaᶜrāᵓ, ᶜAbd Allāh b. Masᶜūd said:
Then Allāh will take a bodily form for His creatures and say, “Who do you worship?”
Then he related parts of the ḥadīth in which he said:
The Muslims will remain in the end. He will say to them: “Who do you worship?” They will say: “We worship Allāh and make no partners with Him.” He will say: “Do you recognize your Lord?” They will say: “When He introduces Himself to us, we will recognize Him.” Then He will reveal His shin and all the believing men and believing women will fall in prostration.
21. Muhammad b. Bashshār Bundār → Yaḥyā → Sufyān → Salamah (b. Kuhayl):
Also narrated to us Al-Bisṭāmī → Abū Nuᶜaym → Sufyān:
The same long narrative.
Abū Bakr said: This report as well as one reported by Masrūq from Ibn Masᶜūd clarify that Ibn Masᶜūd used to affirm that the Muslims will see their Creator on the Day of Judgment when He will reveal His shin and that the believers will fall down prostrating, when they see Him at that time. Then how can a person deny it if he states only that which is true reality.
If the above-mentioned narrative quoted from the book of a Jahmī is authentic, then it does not mean what the Jahmī has assumed. It gives an understandable and sound meaning. I explain it as follows: Whoever thinks that Allāh can be seen openly in this world tells a lie. He ascribed lies to Allah. Whatever is seen clearly and openly is seen by all the creatures blessed with the faculty of sight if there is nothing separating the two. The nation of Moses had asked him to let them see Allāh openly. Moses asked, according to the words of the Book: “O my Lord! Show (Yourself) to me, that I may look upon You. Allah said, “By no means can you see Me (direct)”” (Q 7:143).
He did not say, “Show Yourself to me so that I may see You openly.” Seeing clearly is a mode of seeing granted to everybody who has eyes. It is but seeing anything literally. Allāh has hidden Himself from the eyes of the creatures, in this world. Nobody can see Allāh openly in this world. We have explained the meaning of the verse: “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision” (Q 6.103). However, it is possible that the Prophet is given an exclusive chance to see his Creator while he was in the seventh heaven. He did not see Him in this world. I have told that the scholars do not differ that the believers will see their Creator in the Hereafter. This is not the case with seeing Him in this world. Whoever denies that the believers will not see their Creator on the Day of Judgment is not a believer according to the Muslims. He is an evil man belonging to the Jews or Christians or the Sabians. Ibn al-Mubārak said: “We may quote from the stories from the Jews and the Christians but we cannot quote from sayings of the Jahmīs.”
22. ᶜAlī b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Mughīrah al-Baṣrī → Khalf b. Hishām al-Bazzāz → Ibn Shihāb → Ismaᶜīl b. Abī Khālid → Qays b. Abī Ḥāzim → Jarīr b. ᶜAbd Allāh → the Prophet:
You will see Allāh openly on the Day of Judgment.
The above passage is translated from Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Imām Abū Bakr Ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 AH). English translation by Dr Tariq Mahmood Hashmi.
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