The Book of Faith

It is narrated on the authority of Anas b. Malik that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Four persons would be brought out from the Fire and would be presented to Allah. One of them would turn (towards the He) ) ) and say: O my Lord, when Thou hast brought me out from it, do not throw me back into it, and Allah would rescue him from it.

Anas b Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Allah would gather people on the Day of Resurrection and they would be concerned about it, and Ibn Ubaid said. They would get a Divine inspiration about it, and would say: If we could seek intercession with our Lord, we may be relieved from this predicament of ours. He (the Holy Prophet) said: They would come to Adam andsay, Thou art Adam, the father of mankind. Allah created thee with His own hand and breathed unto thee of His Spirit and commanded the angels and they prostrated before thee. So intercede for us with thy Lords, that He may relieve us from this position of ours. He would say: I am not in a position to do this, and would recall his error, and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that; go to Noah the first messenger (after me) sent by Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: So they would come to Noah (peace be upon him). He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and recall his fault which he had committed, and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that, (and would say): You better go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) whom Allah took for a friend. They would come to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and he would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and would recall his fault that he had committed and would, therefore, fight shy of his Lord on that account (and would say): You better go to Moses (peace be upon him) with whom Allah conversed and con- ferred Torah upon him. He (the Holy Prophet) said: So they would come to Moses (peace be upon him) He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and would recall his fault that he had committed and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that (and would say): You better go to Jesus, the Spirit of Allah and His word He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you; you better go to Muhammad (may peace be upon him), a servant whose former and later sins have been forgiven. He (the narrator) said: The Messenger or Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: So they would come to me and I would ask the permission of my Lord and it would be granted to me, and when I would see Him, I would fall down in prostration, and He (Allah) would leave me thus as long as He would wish, and then it would be said: O Muhammad, raise your head, say and you would be heard; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. Then I would raise my head and extrol my Lord with the praise which my Lord would teach me. I shall then inter- cede, but a limit would be set for me I would bring them out from the Fire and make them enter Paradise (according to the limit). I shall return then ard fall down in pros- tration and Allah would leave me (in that position) as long as He would wish to leave me it would be said: Rise, O Muhammad, say and you would be heard; ask and it would be conferred; intercede and intercession would be granted. I would raise my head and extrol my Lord with praise that He would teach me. I would theft intercede and a limit would be set for me. I would bring them out of the Fire (of Hell) and make them enter Paradise. He (the narrator) said: I do not remember whether he (the Holy Prophet) said at tLe third time or at the fourth time: O my Lord, none has been left in the Fire, but thise restrained by the Holy Qur'an, i e. those who were eternally doomed. Ibn Ubaid said in a narration: Qatada observed: whose everlasting stay was imperative".

Anas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The believers would gather on the Day of Resurrection, and they would be concerned about it, or would be made mindful of it (i. e. the trjuble for it), (and the remaining part of the hadith w, ) uld be narrated) like the one transmitted by Abu Uwana, and he said in the hadith: Then I would come for the fourth time, or I would return the fourth time, and would say: O my Lord, no one has been left but he whom the Holy Qur'an has restrained.

Anas b. Malik reported: The Prophet of Allah (may peace be, upon him) said: Allah will gather the believers on the Day of Resurrection and they would be made mindful of it; and the rest (of the hadith) is like the one narrated above; and then he mentioned the fourth time: And I (the Holy Prophet) would say: O my Lord, no one is left in the Fire except he whom the Qur'an has restrained, i e. eternally doomed.

Anas b. Malik reported: Verily the Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: He who professed: There is no god but Allah, would be brought out of the Fire even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of a barley grain. Then he who professed: There is no god but Allah, would come out of the Fire, even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of a wheat grain. He would then bring out from the Fire he who professed: There is no god but Allah, even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of an atom. Ibn Minhal has made an addition (of these words) in his narration: Yazid said: I met Shu'ba and narrated to him this hadith. Shu'ba said: Qatada transmitted to us this hadith from Anas b. Malik who heard it from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) with this alteration that he substituted the word Zurra (grain) in place of Zarra (atom). Yazid said: Abu Bistam has made a change in it.

Ma'bad b. Hilal al 'Anazi reported: We went to Anas b. Malik through Thabit and reached there (his house) while he was offering the forenoon prayer. Thabit sought permission for us and we entered, and he seated Thabit with him on his bedstead. He (Thabit) said to him (Anas b. Malik): O Abu Hamza (kunya of Anas b. Malik), your brothers from among the inhabitants of Basra ask you to narrate to them the hadith of intercession. He said: Muhammad (may peace be upon him) narrated to us: When it would be the Day of Resurrection, some of the people would rush to one another in bewilderment. They would come to Adam and say: Intercede (with your Lord) for your progeny. He would say: I am not fit to do this, but go to Ibrabim (peace be upon him) for he is the Friend of Allah. They would come to Ibrahim, but he would say: I am not fit to do this, but go to Moses, for he is Allah's Interlocutor. They would come to Moses, but he would say: I am not fit to do this, but you should go to Jesus, for he is the Spirit of Allah and His word. They would come to Jesus, and he would say, I am not fit to do this; you better go to Muhammad (may peace be upon him). They would come to me, and I would say: I am in a position to do that, I would go and ask the permission of my Lord and it would be granted to me. I would then stand before Him and would extol Him with praises which I am not able to do now, but with which Allah would inspire me, then I would fall in prostration and it would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise thy head, and say and it would be listened to; ask and it would be granted, intercede and it would be accepted. I shall say: My Lord, my people, my people It would be said: Go, and bring forth from it (Hell) him who has in his heart faith equal to the weight of a wheat grain or a barley seed. I would go and do that; then I would return to my Lord and extol Him with those praises (taught to me by Allah), then I would fall in prostration. It would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise your head, and say and it would be heard; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. So I would say: My people. my people. It would be said to me: Go and take out from it (Hell) him who has in his heart faith equal to the weight of a mustard seed. I would go and do that. I would again return to my Lord and extol Him with those praises. I would then fall in prostration. It would be said to me: O Muhammad, raisevour head: say, and you would be listened to; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. I would say: My Lord, my people, my people. It would be said to me: Go, and bring out of the Fire him who has in his heart as much faith as the smallest, smallest, smallest grain of mustard seed. I would go and do that. This is the hadith which Anas narrated to us. We went out of his (house) and when we reached the upper part of Jabban (graveyard) we said: Would that we meet Hasan and salute him and he was hiding in the house of Abu Khalifa. He (Ma'bad b. Hilal, the narrator) said: We went to him and greeted him and we said: O Abu Sa'id, we come from your brother Abu Hamza (kunya of Anas), and we have never heard a hadith like this relating to intercession, which he has narrated to us. He said: Narrate it, we narrated the hadith. He said: Narrate it (still further). We said: He did not (narrate it) before us more than this. He said: He (Anas) had narrated it to us twenty years back, when he was strong and healthy. He has in fact missed something. I cannot make out whether the old man has forgotten or he has (intentionally) avoided to narrate it to you lest you should rely (absolutely) upon it (and abandon doing good deeds). We said to him: Relate that to us, and he laughed and said: There is haste in the nature of man. I did not make mention of it to you but for the fact that I wanted to narrate that to you (and added that the Holy Prophet said): I would then return to my Lord for the fourth time and extol Him with these praises. I would then fall in prostration. It would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise your head: say and it will be listened to; ask and it will be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. I would say: O my Lord, permit me regarding him who professed: There is no god but Allah. He (the Lord) would say: That is not for thee or that is not what lies with thee, but by My Honour, Glory, Greatness and Might, I would certainly take him out who professed it: There is no god but Allah. He (the narrator, Ma'bad) said: I hear testimony to the fact that the hadith transmitted to us-by Hasan was heard by him from Anas b. Malik and I can see that he reported it twenty years back, when he was hale and hearty.

Abu Huraira reported: Meat was one day brought to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and a foreleg was offered to him, a part which he liked. He sliced with his teeth a piece out of it and said: I shall be the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why? Allah would gather in one plain the earlier and the later (of the human race) on the Day of Resurrection. Then the voice of the proclaimer would be heard by all of them and the eyesight would penetrate through all of them and the sun would come near. People would then experience a degree of anguish, anxiety and agony which they shall not be able to bear and they shall not be able to stand. Some people would say to the others: Don you see in which trouble you are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken you? Why don't you find one who should intercede for you with your Lord? Some would say to the others: Go to Adam. And they would go to Adam and say: O Adam, thou art the father of mankind. Allah created thee by His own Hand and breathed in thee of His spirit and ordered the angels to prostrate before thee. Intercede for us with thy Lord Don't you see in what (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? Adam would say: Verily, my Lord is angry, to an extent to which He had never been angry before nor would He be angry afterward. Verily, He forbade me (to go near) that tree and I disobeyed Him. I am concerned with my own self. Go to someone else; go to Noah. They would come to Noah and would say: O Noah, thou art the first of the Messengers (sent) on the earth (after Adam), and Allah named thee as a" Grateful Servant," intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see in what (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? He would say: Verily, my Lord is angry today as He had never been angry before, and would never be angry afterwards. There had emanated a curse from me with which I cursed my people. I am concerned with only myself, I am concerned only with myself; you better go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him). They would go to Ibrahim and say: Thou art the apostle of Allah and His Friend amongst the inhabitants of the earth; intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see in which (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? Ibrahim would say to them: Verily, my Lord is today angry as He had never been angry before and would never be angry afterwards. and (Ibrahim) would mention his lies (and then say): I am concerned only with myself, I am concerned only with myself. You better go to someone else: go to Moses. They would come to Moses (peace be upon him) and say: O Moses, thou art Allah's messenger, Allah blessed thee with His messengership and His conversation amongst people. Intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see in what (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? Moses (peace be upon him) would say to them: Verily. my Lord is angry as He had never been angry before and would never be angry afterwards. I, in fact, killed a person whom I had not been ordered to kill. I am concerned with myself, I am concerned with myself. You better go to Jesus (peace be upon him). They would come to Jesus and would say: O Jesus, thou art the messenger of Allah and thou conversed with people in the cradle, (thou art) His Word which I-Ie sent down upon Mary. and (thou art) the Spirit from Him; so intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see (the trouble) in which we are? Don't you see (the misfortune) that has overtaken us? Jesus (peace be upon him) would say: Verily, my Lord is angry today as He had never been angry before or would ever be angry afterwards. He mentioned no sin of his. (He simply said: ) I am concerned with myself, I am concerned with myself; you go to someone else: better go to Muhammad (may peace be upon him). They would come to me and say: O Mahammad, thou art the messenger of Allah and the last of the apostles. Allah has pardoned thee all thy previous and later sins. Intercede for us with thy Lord; don't you see in which (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? I shall then set off and come below the Throne and fall down prostrate before my Lord; then Allah would reveal to me and inspire me with some of His Praises and Glorifications which He had not revealed to anyone before me. He would then say: Muhammad, raise thy head; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted I would then raise my head and say: O my Lord, my people, my people. It would be said: O Muhammad, bring in by the right gate of Paradise those of your people who would have no account to render. They would share with the people some other door besides this door. The Holy Prophet then said: By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, verify the distance between two door leaves of the Paradise is as great as between Mecca and Hajar, or as between Mecca and Busra.

It is reported on the authority of Abu Huraira that there was placed before the Messenger of Allah a cup of soft bread, soup and meat. He took part of the foreleg which he liked most. He sliced (with his teeth) a slice (out of that) and said: I would be the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. He then sliced (that meat) for the second time and said: I am the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. When he saw that his companions did not ask him (about this assertion) he said: Why don't you say: How would that be? They said: How would be it, Messenger of Allah? He said: People would stand before the Lord of the worlds. And the rest of the hadith was narrated like the one transmitted by Abu Hayyan, on the authority of Abu Zur'a, and in the story of Ibrahim, this addition was made. He said and made mention of his words with regard to the star: This is my Lord. And his words with regard to their gods: But the big among them has done that. And his words: I am ailing. He (the Holy Prophet) said: By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, the distance between two leaves of the door from their supporting frames is as the distance between Mecca and Hajar or Hajar and Mecca. I do not remember how he said it (whether Mecca and Hajar or Hajar and Mecca).

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira and Hudhaifa that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, would gather people. The believers would stand till the Paradise would be brought near them. They would come to Adam and say: O our father, open for us the Paradise. He would say: What turned ye out from the Paradise was the sin of your father Adam. I am not in a position to do that; better go to my son Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: He (Ibrahim) would say: I am not in a position to do that. Verily I had been the Friend (of Allah) from beyond, beyond; you better approach Moses (peace be upon him) with whom Allah conversed. They would come to Moses (peace be upon him), but he would say: I am not in a position to do that; you better go to Jesus, the Word of Allah and His Spirit. Jesus (peace be upon him) would say: I am not in a position to do that. So they would come to Mubammad (may peace be upon him). He would then be permitted (to open the door of Paradise). Trust worthiness and kinship would be despatched, and these would stand on the right and left of the Path and the first of you would pass with (the swiftness) of lightning. He (the narrator) said: I said, O thou who art far dearer to me than my father and my mother I which thing is like the passing of lightning? He said: Have you not seen lightning, how it passes and then comes back within the twinkling of an eye? Then (they would pass) like the passing of the wind, then like the passing of a bird, and the hastening of persons would be according to their deeds, and your Apostle would be standing on the Path saying: Save, O my Lord, save. (The people would go on passing) till the deeds of the servants would be failing in strength, till a man would come who would find it hard to go along (that Path) but crawlingly. He (the narrator) said: And on the sides of the Path hooks would be suspended ready to catch anyone whom these would be required (to catch). There would be those who would somehow or other succeed in trasversing that Path and some would be piled up in Hell. By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Abu Huraira it would take one seventy years to fathom the depth of Hell.

Anas b. Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I would be the first among people to intercede in the Paradise and amongst the apostles I would have the largest following (on the Day of Resurrection).

Anas b. Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Amongst the apostles I would have the largest following on the Day of Resurrec tion, and I would be the first to knock at the door of Paradise.

Anas b. Malik said: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I would be the first intercessor in the Paradise and no apostle amongst the apostles has been testified (by such a large number of people) as I have been testified. And verily there woald be an apostle among the apostles who would be testified to by only one man from his people.

Anas b. Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. and would seek its opening. and the keeper would say: Who art thou? I would say: Muhammad. He would then say: It is for thee that I have been ordered, and not to open it for anyone before thee.

Abu Huraira reported: Verity the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a (special) prayer with which he would pray. I wish I could reserve, my prayer for intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer, and I intend (if Allah so willed) that I would reserve my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

'Amr b. Abu Sufyan transmitted a hadith like this from Abu Huraira who narrated it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him).

Amr b. Abu Sufyan reported: Abu Huraira said to Ka'b al-Ahbar that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said: For every apostle there Is a (special) prayer by which he would pray (to his Lord). I, however, intend (if Allah so willed) that I would reserve my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection. Ka'b said to Abu Huraira: Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)? Abu Huraira said: Yes.

Abu Huraira said: The Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer which is granted, but every prophet showed haste in his prayer. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection, and it would be granted, if Allah so willed, in case of everyone amongst my Ummah provided he dies without associating anything with Allah.

Abu Huraira said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Every Messenger is endowed with a prayer which is granted and by which he would (pray to his Lord) and it would he granted for him. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummab on the Day of Resurrection.

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There was for every apostle a prayer with which he prayed for his Ummah and it was granted to him; but I wish, if Allah so wills, to defer my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

Anas b. Malik reported: Verily the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer with which he prays (to Allah) for his Ummah. I have reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

This hadith is narrated with the same chain of narrators by Qatada.

Mis'ar transmitted it with the same chain of narrators from Qatada except that in the hadith narrated by Waki' (the Prophet) said: " He was endowed," and in the hadith reported by Abu Usama (the words are):" It is reported from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him)."

Muhammad b. 'Abd al-A'la reported it to me: Mu'tamir narrated to us on the authority of his father who transmitted it liom Anas that verity the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said, and then narrated the hadith like the one transmitted by Qatada on the authority of Anas.

Abu Zubair heard Jabir b. Abdullah reporting it from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him): For every apostle was a prayer with which he prayed (to his Lord) for his Ummah, but I have reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

'Abdullah b. Amr b. al-'As reported: Verily the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) recited the words of Allah, the Great and Glorious, that Ibrahim uttered. My Lord! lo! they have led many of mankind astray:" But whoso followeth me, he verily is of me" (al-Qur'an, xiv. 35) and Jesus (peace be upon him) said:" If thou punisheth them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgiveth them-verily Thou art the Mighty, the Wise" (al-Qur'an, v 117). Then he raised his hands and said: O Lord, my Ummah, my Ummah, and wept; so Allah the High and the Exalted said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad (though your Lord knows it fully well) and ask him: What makes thee weep? So Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to him and asked him, and the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) informed him what he had said (though Allah knew it fully well). Upon this Allah said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad any say: Verily We will please thee with regard to your Ummah and would not displease thee.

Anas reported: Verily, a person said: Messenger of Allah, where is my father? He said: (He) is in the Fire. When he turned away, he (the Holy Prophet) called him and said: Verily my father and your father are in the Fire.

Abu Huraira reported: When this verse was revealed:" And warn thy nearest kindred (al-Qur'an, xxvi. 214), the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) called the Quraish; so they gathered and he gave them a general warning. Then he made a particular (reference to certain tribes) and said: O sons of Ka'b b. Luwayy, rescue yourselves from the Fire; O sons of Murra b. Ka'b, rescue yourselves from the Fire: O sons of Abd Shams, rescue yourselves from the Fire; 0 sons of Abd Manaf rescue yourselves from the Fire; O sons of Hashim, rescue yourselves from the Fire; 0 sons of Abd al-Muttalib, rescue yourselves from the Fire; O Fatimah, rescue thyself from the Fire, for I have no power (to protect you) from Allah in anything except this that I would sustain relationship with you.

The same hadith is narrated by Ubaidallah b. Umar al-Qawariri from Abu 'Uwana, who transmitted it to 'Abd al-Malik b. 'Umair on the same chain of transmitter and the hadith of Jarir is more perfect and comprehensive.