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MADRASA AL-HIDAYA |
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MUSLIM SCHOOL OF RIGHT GUIDANCE |
Bismillāh ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
MANBA‘ AL-IMDĀD: A FOUNTAIN OF HELP
A Compendium of the talks of:
AL-HABĪB AHMAD MASH-HŪR BIN TĀHĀ AL-HADDĀD
Rady Allāhu ‘Anhu
Compiled by his grandson:
As-Sayyid Muhammad bin Mustafā Bū Numay
Rahmatullāhi ‘alayh
Then he explained what is mentioned in a chapter in the book The Lives of Man of Imam al-Haddad (may Allah be pleased with him) about the fear of the pious predecessors of an un-blissful demise.
He said, may Allah be pleased with him.
The pious predecessors, may Allah be pleased with them, feared an un-blissful demise and asked Allah for a beautiful end to life (with these words): “With it (the Declaration of Muslim Faith), O Allah! With it, O Allah! O Allah, may the ending be good”!
It has been received in a Saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him, that he said:
“By Allah, beside Whom none is to be worshipped; if one of you does the works of the people of Paradise (that is, in appearance), until there is only an arm’s distance between him and it (Paradise) (that is, Paradise is near), then what has preceded in the book (of records) overtakes him (pre-ordained that he is not among the good people), so he does works of the people of hell-fire and enters it”.
O Allah! May the pre-ordainment be good. (Amin).
It is said that the end is built on what precedes (in the book of records) in pre-eternity.
The doomed is doomed in pre-eternity
And his opposite is the blissful, it is not changed(The Hadith continues):
“And if one of you does the works of the people of hell-fire (sins), until there is only an arm’s distance between him and it (hell), what has preceded in the book (of records) overtakes him, so he does the works of the people of Paradise, and enters it”.
The scholars say: It is most likely that if a person does the deeds of good people, and does the deeds of the people of Paradise, he will die with a felicitous end. And if he does deeds of the people of hell-fire, he will die with a bad ending. But the opposite of this general rule has already happened. You see someone doing deeds of the people of Paradise and finally he ends with a bad ending as mentioned in the Hadith because it is feared that his deeds became defective. He does the deeds of the people of Paradise but in it, there is show-off. He does deeds of the people of Paradise, but they are not according to Sacred Muslim Law, so they are not accepted. And Allah does not accept, except from the God-fearing. His deeds are in appearance deeds of the people of Paradise but there is something underlying it. That is why he ends with a bad ending. And this one did deeds of the people of hell-fire. He was unjust and disobedient, then repented with a sincere repentance, and did good deeds purely for Allah, the Exalted, and died on that.
So, as for the first, as something (suspicious) entered into his deed, so Allah says (comprehensively):
Then, as for him who gave (in charity) and practiced piety;
and confirmed in the Best;
We shall soon ease his way to ease.
And as for him who was miserly and considered himself self-sufficient;
and belied the Best;
We shall soon pave his way to hardship. (92:5-10)And in another Hadith: “Work! as everyone fortunate has been created for it”.
But this Hadith is intimidating for worshippers (of Allah) so (they make sure) they are not deluded by their deeds until they finally become forever sincere.
For what reason did the one who worshipped Allah his whole life die with a bad ending? It is because in pre-eternity, he had been written down as doomed and something bad had entered into all his deeds. For this reason, they were not accepted from him.
The second one who was disobedient, then repented in his later life a good repentance, and died on that, what had been pre-ordained for him from pre-eternity was that he is indeed from the blissful. O Allah! Beautify for us the pre-ordainment as You beautify for us the ending. (Amin).
The Truthful (Allah) says:
Undoubtedly, those for whom the Best (Record) from Us has already gone forth (was pre-ordained), they will be kept far away from it (hell). (21:101)
And what is the Best (that is mentioned here)? It means the Best that has preceded (in the Book of records).
For that, the scholars have given the example of the history of our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam), and Iblis. Iblis, the Accursed, worshipped Allah in the heaven with the angels for hundreds of years but he had earlier been recorded as doomed. So when Allah intended to make known this bad pre-ordainment about him, and let him know the virtue of our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam), he said to the angels:
Prostrate yourselves to Adam (7:11)
Iblis who was with them refused. He was overcome with arrogance and it is pride, so he said: Shall I prostrate to one whom You created from clay while You created me from fire and I am more powerful than him? And he went against His Command. And he made undue claims for himself and was too vain about himself. Vanity and pride represent disobedience. Allah is disobeyed with it. So when he refused to prostrate, Allah said to him:
So, get out from here (Paradise), as indeed you are rejected.
And indeed the curse will be upon you till the Day of Judgement. (15:34-35)And Allah created our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam) with His hand and admitted him to Paradise, and made him among those drawn near (to Him) and said to him:
O Adam, live in Paradise, you and your wife, and both of you eat freely… (2:35)
of the fruits and of everything that a person may wish for,
…but do not approach this tree lest you two become of the transgressors. (2:35)
So what happened to our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam)? Shaytan came to him and said to him:
Your Lord only forbid you both from this tree lest you two become angels or become of the immortals. (7:20)
What did my Lord tell you? Do not eat of it except if you wish to be expelled from it. If you eat of it, you will not remain in it.
And he (shaytan) swore to both of them (saying): Indeed, I am one of the well-wishers to both of you. (7:21)
And he swore an oath to them.
So, with deception, he caused both of them to be brought down. (7:22)
He lied to them. So he came to our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam), and (Sayyidah) mother Hawwa’ (‘Alayhassalam) went along with him.
So, both of them ate from it. And which tree was it? The scholars differ. Some said it was wheat. So when they ate from this tree, they had bowel movement while Paradise is clear, pure; there is nothing of filth in it.
And their Lord called out to them (saying): Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that indeed shaytan is an open enemy to both of you? (7:22)
So both of them felt the mistake that happened in it and it is the pre-ordainment that preceded with our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam) who is indeed from the blissful. And it is only Wisdom which my Lord gave, to bring him from Paradise to a place of trouble (this world). And when he came to this place, there came from his back-bone (Sayyiduna) Muhammad, son of ‘Abdullah, may Allah bless him and his Family. If he had remained in Paradise, how would he (Sayyiduna Muhammad, Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) have come, because in Paradise there is no descent. And from where would you be ennobled with the presence of (Sayyiduna) Muhammad, may Allah bless him? It would not have happened except with the suffering of our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam) arising from the disobedience and coming to this world. And there came from him the master of existence. Paradise was not created except for his sake, may Allah bless him and his Family. This is the Wisdom and what Wisdom it is!
So the pre-ordainment which we are mentioning here preceded with the blissfulness of our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam). And when he lapsed, he pleaded with Allah for the sake of the pre-ordainment; “O Lord! for the sake of the beautiful beginning and the beautiful ending”.
For that reason, Allah said:
And undoubtedly, We had given a Commandment to Adam before this… (20:115)
do not eat from the tree,
but he forgot. (20:115)
O Allah! Make us among the beloved. And the beloved is the one whose lapse is forgiven. When you love someone, if he is a son or brother or another one, and acts badly with you, you forgive him. As for the one you do not love, you consider a small mistake of his to be big. But you forget the mistake of the beloved.
For this reason, Sayyiduna Abu’l Hasan ash-Shazili said:
“O Allah! Make our misdeeds the misdeeds of one whom You love”,
just as Allah loved our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam).
“And do not make our good deeds the good deeds of one with whom You are angry”,
just as Iblis.
Then Allah absolves our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhisslam) and says:
And undoubtedly, We had given a Commandment to Adam before this but he forgot, and We did not perceive in him firm determination. (20:115)
Shaytan was humiliated in his deception. Similarly, pardon from the Beloved for His beloved. In it grew (Sayyiduna) Muhammad son of ‘Abdullah, may Allah bless him, who, when he came from his back-bone, established things with his light, may Allah’s blessings and salutation be upon him.
When our fore-father Adam (‘Alayhissalam) suffered with the lapse, and the clothing of light that was on him left him, and his shame became manifest to him, he wrapped himself all-round with the leaves of Paradise so that eventually he covered himself until finally Allah clothed him.
In what follows, he looked at the side of the Throne of Allah and he saw written in it:
Laa ilaha Illallah Muhammad-ur-Rasulullah
None is to be worshipped but Allah
Muhammad is the (Prophetic) Messenger of AllahSo he said: O Lord! Who is this whose name you have attached with Your Name? He said: he is your son from your descendants. So he said: O Lord! Have mercy on this father for the sake of this son. So Allah had mercy on him.
Then Adam (‘Alayhissalam) received certain words (of supplication) from his Lord, so He pardoned him. Indeed, He is the One Who is the Most Relenting (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful. (2:37)
Some scholars said that his words (of supplication) were (as given in the translation of this verse of the Qur’an):
Both of them said, “O our Lord! We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have Your Mercy upon us, then certainly we shall be among the losers. (7:23)