Warnings of Exclusion from Paradise: Reconciling the Prophetic Reports

(79) Misinterpretation of Sound Narratives

[Here are] a few sound reports ascribed to the Prophet which are misunderstood by the two sects: Muᶜtazilah and al-Khawārij. They adduce these narratives and claim that the one who commits a sin of the first order and dies before repenting will be eternally cast in Hell and Paradise will be forbidden for him.

The other sect is that of the Murjites, who negate these reports because they do not understand their true meaning. I will mention these narratives along with their isnāds and texts, followed by an explication of their meaning by the will of Allah.

549. (1) Aḥamad b. ᶜAbdah → ᶜAbd al-Wāḥid b. Ziyād → al-Aḥwal:

….. (2) Mu’ammal b. Hishām → Ismāᶜīl → ᶜĀṣim al-Aḥwal:

….. (3) Salm b. Junādah → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → ᶜĀṣim → Abū ᶜUthmān:

I heard Saᶜd b. Abī Waqāṣ and Abū Bakr saying, “I heard the Prophet with my own ears and attentive heart saying:

Paradise is forbidden for him who knowingly claimed the fatherhood of anyone else besides his real father.”

This is the report of ᶜAbd al-Wāḥid and Abū Muᶜāwiyah. The narrative of Ibn ᶜUlayyah carries the same meaning.

550. (4) Muhammad b. Bashshār → Muhammad b. Jaᶜfar → Shuᶜbah → ᶜĀṣim al-Aḥwal → Abū ᶜUthmān → Saᶜd (who is the first to throw an arrow in the way of Allah) and Abū Bakrah who climbed the walls of the fortress of the city of al-Ṭāif to approach the Prophet:

We heard the Prophet say, “Paradise is forbidden for him who knowingly claims the fatherhood of anyone else besides his real father.”

551. (5) Aḥmad b. al-Miqdām → Ḥammād b. Zayd → ᶜĀṣim → Abū ᶜUthmān → Saᶜd b. Mālik → the Prophet:

Paradise is forbidden to him who claims that someone other than his real father is his father, while knowing that he is not.

I related this to Abū Bakrah and he said, “My two ears heard it and my heart received it from the Prophet.”

552. (6) Muhammad b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Khālid b. al-Ḥārith →Shuᶜbah → ᶜĀṣim → Abū ᶜUthmān → Saᶜd b. Mālik and Abū Bakrah → the Prophet:

Paradise is forbidden to him who claims that someone other than his real father is his father, while knowing that he is not.

553. (7) Abū al-Khaṭṭāb Ziyād b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Wahhāb b. ᶜAbd al-Majīd → Hishām b. Ḥassān → ᶜĀṣim al-Aḥwal → Abū ᶜUthmān al-Nahdī → Usāmah b. Zayd and Saᶜd b. Abī Waqāṣ and another Companion of the Prophet → the Prophet:

He who claims someone to be his father knowing very well that he is not his father, will have Paradise forbidden for him.

554. (8) Abū al-Ashᶜath → Yazīd b. Zarī‘ → Khālid → Abū ᶜUthmān:

I narrated to Abū Bakrah [this ḥadīth] and he said that he heard Saᶜd saying, “My two ears heard it and my heart received it from the Prophet. He said:

He who claims that someone other than his real father is his father, in Islam, while knowing that the said person is not his real father, Paradise is forbidden for him.”

He said, “My two ears heard it and my heart received it from Muhammad.”

555. (9) Abū Bishr al-Wāsiṭī → Khālid b. ᶜAbd Allāh → Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāᵓ → Abū ᶜUthmān → Saᶜd b. Mālik:

My two ears heard it and my heart received it from the Prophet. He said:

He who claimed someone to be his father, in Islam, while knowing that he is not his real father, Paradise is forbidden for him.

I mentioned this to Abū Bakrah who said:

My two ears heard it and my heart received it from Muhammad.

556. (10) Muhammad b. Hassān al-Azraq → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Mahdī → Sufyān → ᶜĀṣim → Abū ᶜUthmān → Saᶜd and Abū Bakrah → the Prophet:

Paradise is forbidden for him who claims someone other than his real father as his father while knowing that he is not.

557. (11) Muhammad b. Abān → Ghandar → Shuᶜbah → al-Ḥakam → Mujāhid → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr → the Prophet:

He who claims that someone other than his real father is his father will never find the air of Paradise, whereas its air can be felt from a distance of seventy years.

….. (12) This has also been narrated to us by Bundār from Muhammad b. Jaᶜfar, though in different wording. I have mentioned this version in Kitāb al-War‘. I have also included some parts of this narrative in another book of mine.

Abū Bakr said: Now consider another set of aḥādīth regarding the prophetic statements about the fact that those committing some of the sins will not be admitted into Paradise provided these sins do not amount to kufr (rejection of faith) and do not remove the faith of the criminal, contrary to the interpretation of Khawārij and Muᶜtazilah.

558. (13) Salm b. Junādah → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → al-Aᶜmash → Ibrāhīm → Hammām → Ḥudhayfah → the Prophet:

A backbiter (qattāt) will never enter Paradise.

559. (14) ᶜAbd al-Wārith b. ᶜAbd al-Ṣamad → his father → Mahdī b. Maymūn → Wāṣil → Abū Wāᵓil:

Ḥudhayfah said that he came to know that a man would slander. He said:

I heard the Prophet saying, “A slanderer will never enter Paradise.”

560. (15) ᶜAbd Allāh b. Muhammad al-Zuhrī → Sufyān → Manṣūr → Ibrāhīm → Hammām b. al-Ḥārith:

We were with Ḥudhayfah when a man passed by. People said, “This is a slanderer.” He (Ḥudhayfah) said, “I heard the Prophet saying, “A slanderer will never be admitted into Paradise.””

Sufyān said: A qattāt is a backbiter or a maligner.

Abū Bakr said: I have included these aḥādīth dealing with the issue of frequently backbiting in Kitāb al-War‘. Now study another set of aḥādīth which state that those who commit certain sins and errors will not enter Paradise, provided their sins do not amount to kufr and do not require their excommunication. The true meaning of these aḥādīth is not what Khawārij and Muᶜtazilah assume.

561. (16) ᶜAlī b. Ḥujr → Ismāᶜīl b. Jaᶜfar → al-ᶜAlāᵓ (b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān) → Maᶜbad b. Kaᶜb → his brother, ᶜAbd Allāh b. Kaᶜb al-Sulamī → Abū Amāmah:

The Prophet said, “He who appropriated the right of a Muslim by (swearing a false) oath, Allah would make Hell fire necessary for him and would declare Paradise forbidden for him.” A man said to him, “Messenger of Allah, even if it is something insignificant?” He (the Prophet) replied, “(Yes) even if it is the twig of the arak tree.”

I have included these aḥādīth in Kitāb al-Aymān wa al-Nudhūr.

(80) Apparent Contradiction

[Here are] sound narratives which are believed by many ignorant people to go against the Aḥādīth mentioned above because of differences in wording. We believe that these (below mentioned) Aḥādīth do not contradict the ones mentioned above if we consider their meanings. We will first mention the Aḥādīth and then explain how both the groups conform to each other.

562. (1) Abū Mūsā → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → Shaqīq → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Masᶜūd:

The Prophet said, “He who dies without associating anything with Allah would enter Paradise.” I (Abdullah b. Mas‘ud) say that he who dies associating anything with Allah shall enter the Fire.”

563. (2) Muhammad b. Bashshār and Yaḥyā b. Ḥakīm → Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → Shuᶜbah → Sulaymān → Abū Wāᵓil → ᶜAbd Allāh:

The Prophet stated one thing and I am stating another [corresponding one]. He said, “He who dies associating equals with Allah would enter Hell.” I (Abdullah b. Mas‘ud) say that he who dies without associating any equals with Allah shall go to Paradise.”

Bundār did not say …?

I said to Bundār, “And the one who died?”

Bundār said, “Yes.”

Yaḥyā b. Ḥakīm said, in his version: [The Prophet said]:

He who dies associating an equal with Allah would enter Hell. I (Abdullah b. Mas‘ud) say that he who dies without associating any equal with Allah shall enter Paradise.

564. (3) Salm b. Junādah → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → al-Aᶜmash → Shaqīq → ᶜAbd Allāh:

The Prophet stated one thing and I am stating another. He said:

He who dies without associating anything with Allah would enter Paradise.

I (Abdullah b. Mas‘ud) say that he who dies associating anything with Allah enters Hell.

565. (4) Abū Saᶜīd al-Ashajj → Ibn Numayr → al-Aᶜmash:

The same, except that he said:

I heard the Prophet saying, “Whoever dies associating partners to Allah, enters the Fire.” However, I say that he who dies without ascribing partners to Allāh will enter Paradise.

Ibn Numayr has changed the order in the text as opposed to Abū Muᶜāwiyah. Shuᶜbah also did the same in the meaning of the text. Shuᶜbah and Ibn Numayr are worthier to be preferred with regard to the text of a narrative than Abū Muᶜāwiyah. Sayyār Abū al-Ḥakam also follows their order.

…… (5) (Muhammad b. Yaḥyā al-Qaṭ‘ī → Rawḥ b. ᶜAṭāᵓ b. Abī Maymūnah → Sayyār Abū al-Ḥakam → Abū Wāᵓil → ᶜAbd Allāh:

There are two things, the first I heard from the Prophet and the other I say from myself. The Prophet said, “He who dies making equals with Allāh enters Hell.” I say that he who dies without making equals with Allāh enters Paradise.

566. (6) ᶜAlī b. Khashram → Īsā b. Yūnus → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Sufyān → Jābir:

A man asked the Prophet, “What are the two things which guarantee [the doer Paradise or Hell]?” He said, “He who dies without making partners with Allah enters Paradise and he who dies assigning partners to Allah enters the Fire.”

…… (7) Abū Hāshim → Muhammad b. ᶜUbayd → al-Aᶜmash:

The same report.

…… (8) Bundār → ᶜAbd al-aᶜlā:

567. (9) Muhammad b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Khālid b. al-Ḥārith → Hishām -→ Abū al-Zubayr → Jābir → the Prophet:

He who met Allah without making partners with Him entered Paradise, and he who met Him assigning partners with Him entered the Fire.

Bundār used the words: “….while he is ascribing partners with Him, will enter the Fire.”

Al-Ṣanᶜānī used the words “from (ᶜAn) Jābir b. ᶜAbd Allāh”.

Khālid b. ᶜAbd Allāh al-Wāsiṭī → ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān b. Isḥāq → Abū al-Zubayr → Jābir → the Prophet:

He who met Allah without making partners with Him entered Paradise, and he who met Him assigning partners with Him entered the Fire.

568. (10) Bishr b. Muᶜādh → Khālid b. ᶜAbd Allāh al-Wāsiṭī → Zakariyyā b. Abī Zāᵓidah → ᶜAṭiyyah → Abū Saᶜīd al-Khudrī → the Prophet:

He who died without making any partner with Allah entered Paradise.

569. (11) ᶜAmr b. ᶜAlī → ᶜAbd al-Ḥamīd b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān Abū Yaḥyā al-Ḥimmānī → Zakariyyā b. Abī Zāᵓidah:

….. (12) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → Ismāᶜīl b. ᶜAbd al-Karīm al-Ṣanᶜānī, Abū Hishām → Ibrāhīm b. ᶜAqīl b. Maᶜqil b. Munabbih → his father, ᶜAqīl → Wahb b. Munabbih:

I asked Jābir b. ᶜAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī about this ḥadīth and he told me that he was in the company of the Prophet and he heard it from him. I asked him (Jābir) about a believer. He told me that he heard the Prophet saying, “He who met Allah without associating any partner with Him entered Paradise and he who met Allah ascribing any partner with Him entered the Fire.

570. (13) ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜImrān al-‘Ābidī → Fuḍayl b. ᶜIyāḍ → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Sufyān → Jābir → the Prophet:

The Prophet said, “The mūjibatān (two things quite unavoidable) are the following. He who died without making any partners with Him entered Paradise and he who died making partners with Him entered the Fire.”

571. (14) Aḥmad b. Manī‘ → ᶜUbaydah → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Sufyān → Jābir:

The Prophet was asked, “What are the mūjibatān (two things quite unavoidable)?” He said, “He who died without making any partners with Allah entered Paradise and he who died ascribing partners to Him entered the Fire.”

572 (15) Al-Rabīᶜ b. Sulaymān and Naṣr b. Mazrūq → Asad b. Mūsā → Saᶜīd b. Zayd → al-Jaᶜd b. Dīnār al-Yashkurī → Sulaymān b. Qays:

I asked Jābir b. ᶜAbd Allāh about the mūjibatān (two things quite unavoidable). He said, “The mūjibatān are: He who met Allah without associating anything with Allah entered Paradise and he who met Him associating (anything) with Him entered Fire.”

He said that Jābir also said:

I heard the Prophet saying, “Verily, Satan has lost all hopes that the worshippers would ever worship (him), but he (is hopeful) that he would sow the seed of dissension amongst them. He is content upon it.”

Sulaymān b. Qays related to me a narrative. This man, Sulaymān b. Qays is the al-Yashkurī. Some knowledgeable people among our companions say that Sulaymān b. Qays died before Jābir b. ᶜAbd Allāh’s death. The short compilation of aḥādīth (ṣaḥīfah) which he obtained from Jābir b. ᶜAbd Allāh reached al-Baṣrah. A part of it was related by Abū Bishr Jābir b. Abī Waḥshiyyah. Some of its parts were narrated by Qatādah b. Diᶜāmah. And it has partly been transmitted by other than these two men.

(81): Some other reports which say that people committing certain sins will be barred from entering Paradise.

Some people will not be allowed to enter Paradise owing to sins which do not completely nullify the faith of the believers who commit them. Al-Muᶜtazilah and al-Khawārij failed to understand these aḥādīth. These two groups declared that those committing these sins will no more be validly called believers. I will mention all such reports with their isnāds and then clarify their meanings. I will also show their harmony with the reports mentioned earlier which the Murjites adduce as evidence for their view that those committing these sins will not lose their faith.

573. (1) Muhammad b. Bashshār and Muhammad b. Abān → Muhammad → Shuᶜbah → Manṣūr → Sālim b. Abī al-Jaᶜd → Nubayṭ → Jābān → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr → the Prophet:

A mannān (the one who reminds others of his generosity), will not enter Paradise nor an ingrate nor a habitual drunkard.

574. (2) ᶜAmr b. ᶜAlī → Sufyān → al-Zuhrī → Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Muṭᶜim → his father → the Prophet:

The one who severs kinship ties (qāṭiᶜ) will not enter Paradise.

I have mentioned the different versions of these ḥadīth narratives in Kitāb al-Barr wa al-Ṣilah. Some strands of the report transmitted by ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr have been mentioned in Kitāb al-Ashribah.

575. (3) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → Ismāᶜīl b. Abī Uways → his brother → Sulaymān b. Bilāl → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Yasār al-Aᶜraj → Sālim b. ᶜAbd Allāh → his father → ᶜUmar → the Prophet:

Three will not enter Paradise: the one who disobeys his parents, the one who makes his wife commit adultery and the mannish woman.

576. (4) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā narrated to us a ḥadīth through this isnād in musnad of Ibn ᶜUmar dropping the name of ᶜUmar from the isnād. He said:

I heard Sālim who reported from his father who reported from the Prophet:

Allāh will not look at the three on the Day of Judgment: the disobedient to the parents, the habitual drunkard and the one who reminds others of his favours.

577. (5) Yūnus b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Ibn Wahb → ᶜUmar b. Muhammad → ᶜAbd Allāh b. Yasār → Sālim b. ᶜAbd Allāh → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmar → the Prophet:

Allāh will not look at the three on the Day of Judgment: the disobedient to the parents, the habitual drunkard and the one who reminds others of his favours.

578. (6) Muhammad → Ayyūb b. Sulaymān b. Bilāl → Abū Bakr b. Abī ‘Uways → Sulaymān b. Bilāl: using this second strand:

The three will never enter Paradise: the disobedient to the parents, the one who allows his wife to have sexual relations with others, and the mannish woman.

Muhammad b. Yaḥyā reported to us the following ḥadīth similar to the report of Ibn Abī Uways. He said:

Allāh will not look at the three on the Day of Judgment.

579. (7) ᶜAbd al-Jabbār b. al-ᶜAlāᵓ → Sufyān → al-Zuhrī:

…... (8). Yūnus b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā and Saᶜīd b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān → Sufyān → al-Zuhrī:

A report similar to the ḥadīth of ᶜAmr b. ᶜAlī from Ibn ᶜUyaynah.

…… (9.) Yūnus b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Ibn Wahb → Yūnus → Ibn Shihāb → Muhammad b. Jubayr b. Muṭᶜim → his father → the Prophet:

The one who severs relationships will never enter Paradise.

He said: He meant to refer to the one who severs the blood ties.

580. (10) Muhammad b. Bashshār → ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Yūnus → al-Ḥakam b. al-Aᶜraj → al-Ashᶜath b. Thurmulah → Abū Bakrah → the Prophet:

Whoever kills a person having a treaty with the Muslims, Allah forbids for him to smell the smell of Paradise.

Abū Bakr said: The correct wording of this narrative is that of those who said: an yashimma rīhahā (to smell its smell).

Abū Bakr said: I have put the different versions of this narrative in Kitāb al-Jihād, under the head of strong condemnation of killing a non-Muslim having a treaty with the Muslims.

581. (11) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → ᶜAbd al-Razzāq → al-Thawrī → Manṣūr → Sālim b. Abī al-Jaᶜd → Jābān → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr → the Prophet:

A bastard will not be admitted into Paradise.

Abū Bakr said: This report does not fulfil the conditions of reliability we have established. Nor is the report transmitted by Nubayṭ from Jābān reliable, for Jābān is not a known personality (i.e. he is majhūl). Nubayṭ has been dropped from this isnād.

582. (12) Shuᶜbah → someone among the family of Sahl b. Ḥunayf, whose name has not been given here → ᶜUbaydah b. Muhammad b. ᶜAmmār b. Yāsir → ᶜAmmār → the Prophet:

The one who allows his wife to enter into sexual relations with unrelated men and habitual drunkard will not be admitted into Paradise.

The same has been reported by Bundār → Abū Dāwūd → Shuᶜbah → a person of the family of Sahl b. Ḥunayf:

583. (13) Yūsuf b. Mūsā → Jarīr → Manṣūr → Sālim b. Abī al-Jaᶜd → Jābān → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr b. al-ᶜĀṣ → the Prophet:

A habitual drunkard, the one who reminds others of his favours, the one who disobeys his parents and the bastard will not enter Paradise.

584. (14) Abū Mūsā → MuᶜAmmal → Sufyān → Manṣūr → Sālim → Jābān → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr → the Prophet:

The one who disobeys his parents, the one who reminds others of his favours, the habitual drunkard, the bastard and the one committing incest will not enter Paradise.

….. (15) Abū Mūsā → Muhammad b. Jaᶜfar → Shuᶜbah → Manṣūr → Sālim → Nubayṭ → Jābān → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr:

The same narrative.

585. (16) Dāwūd b. Ṣāliḥ reported from Sālim who reported that his father said that they sent a messenger to ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmar to ask him about the gravest sin. He (the last mentioned) said that the Prophet said:

No one drinks but his Prayer is not accepted for forty nights. No one dies with its particles in his bladder but Paradise is forbidden for him.

Abū Bakr said: I have included this complete narrative in connection with the severe prohibition of drinking in Kitāb al-Ashirabah.

(….) Muhammad b. ᶜAmr b. Tamām → Ibn Abī Maryam:

(…) Ibn Abī Zakariyyā → Ibn Abī Maryam → al-Darāwardī → Dāwūd b. Ṣāliḥ:

Abū Bakr said: The meaning of this narrative, if it is reliable, follows:

I have long been teaching my companions that these reports can be interpreted two ways:

Firstly, it can be taken to mean that such will not be admitted into some particular jannah (garden/paradise) in Paradise. For the Prophet has told that there are several gardens in Paradise. The name Paradise can be applied to connote any of these gardens which are part of Paradise. In this sense the meaning of these aḥādīth would be as follows:

When the Prophet says whoever commits any of these sins, Allāh will forbid Paradise for him or he will not enter Paradise, he means to say that such a transgressor will not be admitted into a particular jannah of all the jannahs. He will not be admitted into a better, bounteous, and vast jannah. He does not mean to say that he will not enter any of the jannahs making up Paradise.

ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmar has himself clarified the meaning of the narrative he reported from the Prophet: The one who disobeys his parents, the one who reminds others of his favours upon them and the habitual drunkard will not enter Paradise.” He (ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜUmar) used the words ḥaẓīrah al-quds (the sacred yard) instead of merely the word jannah.

….. (17.) This ḥadīth has also been reported by Muhammad b. Bashshār from Muhammad b. Jaᶜfar:

….. (18).Muhammad b. ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā → Khālid b. al-Ḥārith → Shuᶜbah → Yaᶜlā b. ᶜAṭāᵓ → Nāfiᶜ b. ᶜUrwah b. Masᶜūd → ᶜAbd Allāh b. ᶜAmr:

The drunkard, the one who disobeys his parents and the one who reminds of his generosity shall not enter ḥaẓīrah al-quds (the sacred yard).

Ibn ᶜAbd al-Aᶜlā used the words: The drunkard, the addict and the one who reminds others of his favours to them […..] However, the sound wording is that reported by Bundār.

The second meaning that I have very often explained to my companions is that all the warnings to the monotheists which appear in the Divine Book and the Sunnah attach an exception. It is said that such a person will not be blessed unless Allah forgives them, blesses them and grants them His bounties in which case he will not be punished for those sins. For Allah has informed in His Book that He may forgive every sin except polytheism. He says:

Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases.” (Q 4:48)

I have written on this issue in the first section of my book Maᶜānī al-Qurᵓān (Meanings of the Qurᵓān). I have also pleaded to a Prophetic ḥadīth to support this meaning. This report I could not remember earlier. The Prophet, by saying that he who appropriated the right of a Muslim by (swearing a false) oath, Allah would forbid Paradise for him, means to state it will be so except Allah forgives him and does not punish him on this crime.

578. (19) Muhammad b. Maᶜmar al-Qaysī → al-Ḥajjāj b. Minhāl → Hammād b. Salamah → ᶜAmr b. Yaḥyā b. Saᶜīd b. al-ᶜĀṣ → Qays b. Muhammad → Muhammad b. al-Ashᶜath:

Al-Ashᶜath gifted him (Qays) a slave and he got angry at him and said: By Allah, I have not gifted you anything. The next morning he returned the slave back to him. He said that he had heard the Prophet saying, “Whoever swore an oath to wrongfully appropriate the right of another Muslim he will meet Allah while He will be angry on him. He will forgive him if He willed and will take him into account if He so willed.”

Abū Bakr said: Now I refer you to a report which clearly establishes the soundness of my view that the word jannah in these reports refers to gardens in Paradise. The word jannah can be applied to any of these gardens in Paradise. You can adduce this narrative to affirm my interpretation of the aḥādīth I have reported from the Prophet. He said that whoever did so and so will not enter Paradise. He meant to refer to those of the gardens making up Paradise which are nobler, exalted, bounteous and vast. It is not possible to say that the Prophet first told that whoever committed a particular sin will not go to Paradise and later on stated that he will enter it. This entails that one of his statements negates the other. One report would contradict the others. For this type of information does not accept cancellation. On the contrary these are expressions put in general terms which are intended to refer to something particular.

588. (20) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → al-Ḥusayn b. Muhammad Abū Aḥmad → Shaybān b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān al-Naḥwī → Qatādah → Anas b. Mālik → Umm Al-Rabīᶜ bint. al-Barāᵓ mother of Ḥārithah b. Surāqah:

She came to the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allah, will you not tell me about Ḥārithah b. Surāqah. He was killed in the battle of Badr for a blind arrow hit him. (She asked): If he is in Paradise, I will have patience, and if he is not there, I will think that I have lost him.”

He said, “O Umm Ḥārithah, there are many Paradises. Your son is in the most exalted part of Paradise.”

…… (21) Muhammad b. Yaḥyā → Muslim b. Ibrāhīm → Abān b. Yazīd al-ᶜAṭṭār:

….... (22) Muhammad → Sulaymān b. Ḥarab → Abū Hilāl → Qatādah → Anas:

Muhammad b. Yaḥyā related the narratives traced back to the Prophet which give this meaning.

589. (23) ᶜAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-Darhamī → Umayyah b. Khālid → Ḥammād b. Salamah → Thābit → Anas:

Ḥārithah, the son of my aunt went out to attack the enemy on the Day of Badr. He was taken by a blind arrow. His mother Umm Al-Rabīᶜ came to the Prophet and said, “O Prophet! If Ḥārithah is in Paradise, I will have patience but if he is somewhere else, you will see.” He said, “O mother of Ḥārithah, there are many paradises. Ḥarithah is in the most exalted part of Paradise (al-firdaws al-aᶜlā).”

590. (24) Abū Mūsā Muhammad b. al-Muthannā → ᶜAbbās b. al-Walīd → Yazīd b. Zarī‘ → Saᶜīd → Qatadah → Anas:

Al-Rabīᶜ came to the Prophet and said, “O Prophet! tell me about Ḥārithah who has died on the Day of Badr? If he is in Paradise, I will have patience, but if he is somewhere else I will cry very much.” He said, “O mother of Ḥārithah, there are many Paradises. He has reached the most exalted one (al-firdaws al-aᶜlā).”

Abū Bakr said: I have included most versions of this narrative in Kitāb al-Jihād. I have mentioned the fact that there are many stages of jannah in the discussion on the bounties of Paradise and what lies between any two stages. I have also included the reports attributed to the Prophet on the fact that the general dwellers of Paradise will see those residing in the chambers (al-ghuraf) the way we see the shining stars in the horizon on the heaven. This is because of the difference between the statures of two kinds of the dwellers of Paradise. Some of the Companions of the Prophet said that only the Prophets will be residing in the chambers and no other believer can obtain this high station. The Prophet clarified the issue in the following words, “Why not? These will be those who believed in Allāh and accepted the Divine Messengers.”

I have also mentioned the sayings of the Prophet which tell us that there is a distance of one hundred years between each stage of Paradise.

Therefore, the meaning of those of the narratives in which he told that the believing sinners will not enter Paradise is that such will not enter the more exalted Paradise of the two which is the abode of the God-conscious who never committed the sins committed by these erring believers. I have also been stating that it is possible that the meaning of the Prophetic reports: “The one with an atom of faith in his heart will not enter Hell” is that he will not enter it eternally like the polytheists and idol worshippers, who will dwell there forever. The following Prophetic saying states this face expressly: “As far as the dwellers of the Fire are concerned, they deserve it and will neither live nor die in it.”

The narratives which I have mentioned in complete form, and also which give the following message can be interpreted to mean that the believers committing those particular sins will not enter Hell with the rejecters of the faith and the polytheists for Allah has told us that Hell has seven different gates and He told us that for every gate a defined groups has been determined. Allah has said: “To it are seven gates.” (Q 15:44)

Seen in this light, these reports can be interpreted as follows:

It is that they will not be put in Hell in the place where the rejecters of the faith will be put. For it is known with absolute certainty that one cannot be said to have got out of a place where he never entered. The Prophet has informed us, as is known through concurrent (mutawatir) reports, which cannot be rejected by a man having knowledge of the historical reports that the one who has in his heart faith equal to an atom will be brought out of the Fire. And it is absurd to say that he who does not enter a place will get out of it. This makes it clear, proved and established, that those with an atom of faith in their hearts will be brought out of their station in the Fire which is distinct from the place inhabited by the permanent dwellers of Hell. It is this latter place which is referred to in the aḥādīth which say that such and such kind of persons among the believers will not enter.

The aḥādīth reported from the Prophet in this regard become harmonious and reconcilable in the light of my interpretation. It is known for certain to all those who have firm knowledge of the language of the Arabs that a speaker can state that he will not enter a house to express his intention not to enter certain parts of it. Similarly a speaker can say he will not enter the house of such and such person who has many houses. This speaker can validly intend to mean only some of the houses owned by the other man. His statement does not necessarily mean that he will not enter any of the houses of the second man.

Take for example a man who is believed to be truthful to an audience. The truthful man says to his audience: I will not enter the house of a man named X. Then after sometime or a long time he says: I will enter the house of X. The audience will not hold that the truthful man contradicted himself. He is considered to be truthful, truly religious-minded, and reliable. Those of the hearers who believe him to be truthful will understand his apparently contradictory statements as follows. At first, he says that he will not enter the house of X. Later on, he says he will enter the house of X. The hearer will understand that the truthful person first intended to mean one house and in his second statement meant to refer to another house. Thus the hearers from a truthful person will hold that he, being a religious and truthful person, does not contradict himself. Both statements will be taken to be true. The apparent contradiction will be resolved by reconciling the two statements. They will believe that the truthful man did not mean to refer to the same house in his two statements.

It is necessary for every Muslim who believes in the prophethood of Muhammad and who believes him to be reliable, and the most truthful of all mankind and the most remote from untruth, lies and contradiction, that the Prophet can never contradict himself. He cannot believe that when the Prophet said, “the one who has in his heart an atom of faith will not enter the Fire” he meant to refer to all the places which can be denoted by the word fire and later on he stated that the one with an atom of faith in his heart will be brought out of the Fire. In this sense the two statements ascribed to the Prophet are obviously contradictory. One of the statements negates the other. However, if both are interpreted the way we have, they become harmonious. These two use general expressions to convey specific meanings. Therefore, understand this issue and do not cheat yourself and deflect yourself from the right path.

I also claim that it is known to the Arabs that a person who says: I will not enter such and such place or such and such person will not enter such and such place he means to imply that he will do so for a certain period of time.

It is possible to say: “whoever does so and so will not enter Paradise” to mean that he will not enter Paradise before the time when those who do not commit these sins will enter it. For he will be kept barred from entering it till then either on account of his sins or because he is to be punished in proportion to his sins by putting into the Fire. This is true even if the sin he commits is grave enough to render him permanent dweller of Hell if Allah does not forgive him this sin out of His abounding mercy and generosity.

Therefore, these aḥādīth contain all these possible senses. If we hold that cover all the denotations of the words and are not applied to the part of the whole then they would become contradictory and conflicting. It is the duty of the scholars to interpret the aḥādīth of the Prophet in such a way as to correspond to the following statement of the Caliph ᶜAlī. He said: When you hear a Prophetic statement take it to mean that which is more accommodating, guiding and containing God-consciousness.

591. (25) Muhammad b. Bashshār → Yaḥyā b. Saᶜīd → Shuᶜbah → ᶜAmr b. Murrah → Abū al-Bukhtarī → Abū ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī → ᶜAlī:

When you hear a Prophetic statement, take it to mean that which is more accommodating, more guiding and containing God-consciousness.

He came out to offer the [Morning] Prayer when the call for prayer was made. He said: What a good time for the witr (odd) prayer is this!

26. (….) The same report has been reported by Muhammad b. Bashshār → Yaḥyā b. Saᶜīd and Muhammad b. Jaᶜfar → Shuᶜbah using this isnād.

Reporting from Abū ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī, he said:

ᶜAlī came out to offer the [Morning] Prayer when the mu’adhdhin made the call for the Prayer. He said:

Where is the person who asked about the time of (al-witr)? This is the time when offering witr is good.

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.

English Translation of Seminal Islamic Texts

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