What to Say When You Pass by a Disbeliever’s Grave

At-Tabaraanee recorded that Sa’d bin Abe Waqqaas narrated that a Bedouin came to the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) and said, “My father used to uphold the ties of kinship, and so on and so forth. Where is he now?’ He said, ‘In Hell.’ The Bedouin got upset and said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, where is your father?’ He said, ‘Whenever you pass by the grave of a disbeliever, give him the tidings of Hell.’ The Bedouin later became a Muslim, and he said, ‘The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) gave me a difficult task. Whenever I pass by the grave of a disbeliever, I give him the tidings of Hell.”

Shaykh al-Albaanee commented: This hadeeth contains an important benefit which most books of fiqh pay no attention to; and it is the legality of giving a disbeliever the tidings of Hell whenever one passes by his grave. What this legislation contains of benefit is obvious, such as cautioning a believer and reminding him of the gravity of the crime of this disbeliever in view of the fact that he committed a great crime, which outweighs all of the sins of this world if they are assembled together and it is disbelief in Allaah the Mighty and Majestic and associating partner with Him…

Source: Silsilatul-Ahaadeeth as-Saheehah, vol. 1, p.55, no. 18

Will a Muslim Be Asked About His Madhhab in The Hereafter ?

Shaykh Muhammad Sultaan al-Ma’soomee wrote:

I ask you, by Allaah, the Great, O intelligent and just Muslim that when a Muslim dies, will he be asked in his grave or on the Day of Reckoning, why did you not follow the madhhab of so and so? Or why did you not enter the tareeqah of so and so? By Allaah, you will not be asked about that at all; rather you will be asked, 'why did you stick to the madhhab of so and so or follow the tareeqah of so and so?' This is because, undoubtedly, doing such is a form of taking scholars and monks as lords besides Allaah. In addition, [blind-following of] these madhhabs and [following a] tareeqah are innovations in the religions and every innovation is misguidance.

Rather, you will only be asked about that which Allaah has made the obligatory upon you as regards belief in Him and His Messenger and acting on that which it necessitates. Belief in Allaah and His Messenger does not necessitate following a particular madhhab or the tareeqah of so and so. Yes, it necessitates that you ask the people of knowledge among the scholars of the Book and Sunnah about what you do not know and to refer whatever is not clear to you to the Book and Sunnah. This is the religion of Islaam which our leader Muhammad  - the  Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) - came with.

So, O Muslim, return to your religion, which is acting upon what is manifest of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah and that upon which the pious predecessors and righteous Imaams agreed, because in it lies your salvation and your happiness. Be a Muslim and monotheist. Do not worship anyone other than Allaah; do not have hope in anyone except Allah and do not fear anyone except Allaah. Consider yourself a brother to every Muslim. Love for them what you love for yourself.

Sufficient for you is what al–Imaam at–Tirmidhee reported in his Sunan from al-‘Irbaad bin Saariyah (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) gave us an admonition one day after the Fajr prayer, by which our eyes shed tears and our hearts were afraid. So a man said, “This is as if it is a farewell sermon, so counsel us, O Messenger of Allaah. He said: ‘I counsel you to fear Allaah and to hear and obey even if an Ethiopian slave becomes your leader, because he who lives will see great differences. Beware of newly invented matters for they are misguidance. Whoever reaches that time amongst you should cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs; cling to that with your teeth.” At-Tirmidhee graded it hasan saheeh and it can also be found in Sunan Abee Daawood

If the matter is like this, then we must beware of blind following, because there is no doubt that one who blindly follows a particular madhhab in every matter will be leaving off acting on many authentic ahaadeeth and going against them. There is no doubt that this is nothing but misguidance…

Source: Hidaayatus-Sultaan ilaa Muslimee Bilaad al-Yabaan, p. 10-11 by Shaykh Muhammad Sultaan al-Ma’soomee (may Allaah have mercy on him)

Why We Must Return to The Sunnah

Imaam al-Albaanee (may Allaah have mercy on him) stated:

Firstly: The Sunnah is the sole reference point after the Noble Qur’aan. There are many well-known aayaat concerning this, and the Ummah has a consensus upon it.

Secondly: The Sunnah has been protected from error and safeguarded from misguidance, as the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said in the farewell sermon, “O people! Indeed, I have left amongst you two things. If you hold firmly to them, you will never go astray: The Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam).” The same does not hold true for the opinions and ijtihaadaat of men. Due to this, Imaam Maalik (d.159H) –rahimahullaah – said, “I am only a human being. I err and I am correct. So look into my opinions; everything that you find in agreement with the Book and Sunnah, then take it. And everything you find that is not in agreement with the Book and the Sunnah, then leave it off.” Shurayh al-Qaadee said, “Verily the Sunnah takes precedence over your qiyaas (analogical deduction). So follow and do not innovate, since you will not be misguided by what you take of the aathaar”

Thirdly: The Sunnah is binding evidence by agreement of the Muslims, contrary to the opinions of men; since the salaf and other than them from the researching scholars did not consider them to be binding proofs. Imaam Ahmad (d.241H) –rahimahullaah- said: “As for the opinions of al-Awzaa’ee, Maalik and Aboo Haneefah, then all of that is merely opinion. Then evidence is only found in the aathaar.”

Fourthly: It is not possible for the student of knowledge to know true fiqh, except by studying the Sunnah. It is the sole source after the Qur’aan that qualifies along with it, because it helps to deduct a correct qiyaas if the text is unclear. So the errors that occur here are more likely to occur with those who are ignorant of the Sunnah, such as the qiyaas of a subsidiary affair over a subsidiary affair or performing qiyaas despite the existence of a text. Due to this, Ibn Qayyim (d.759H) –rahimahullaah- said, “The most correct of the people in qiyaas are the Ahlul-Hadeeth. The closer a man is to the hadeeth, the more correct his qiyaas will be. And the farther he is from the hadeeth, the more corrupt his qiyaas will be.

Fifthly: It is not possible to pass judgement against what has entered into the Muslims from innovations and desires, except by way of the Sunnah, just as the Sunnah is an obstruction in the path of the destructive madhaahib and strange opinions which their proponents beautify for the Muslims.  

Source: A Return to the Sunnah, p.37-38 by Imaam Muhammad Naasirud-Deen al-Albaanee, adapted by Maaz Qureshi.

The Scale to Weigh Your Eemaan and Love for Allaah

Imaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) stated:

A lover takes pleasure in the service of his beloved and acts without restrictions in his obedience. Whenever the love becomes stronger, the pleasure in the obedience and service becomes more complete. So the servant should weigh his eemaan and love for Allaah with this scale; he should examine whether he takes pleasure in the service of his beloved or detests it and discharges it with weariness, boredom and aversion? This is the yardstick of a person’s eemaan and love for Allaah…

That is why the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: “The comfort of my eyes has been placed in the Prayer.”[1] Anyone whose comfort of his eyes is placed in a particular thing would wish not to be alienated from it nor removed from it, for the comfort of the eyes of a servant is his bliss and good life. One of the pious predecessors said: “I am elated by the night because my life takes delight in it and comforts my eyes with it by conversing with the One Whom I love, my seclusion in his service and tingling with pleasure in front of Him. However, I am saddened by the coming of the dawn because the day will distract me from that.”

There is nothing more pleasing to a lover than the service of his beloved and his obedience. One of the scholars said: “I felt pain with the Salaah for twenty years then I enjoyed it for twenty years.” This pleasure and enjoyment in service only comes through endurance and toil at first, if a person is patient on it and he is truthful in his patience, it will lead him to this pleasure. Aboo Zayd said: “I gave my soul to Allaah while it was weeping. I did not cease devoting it until it was carried away by Him while it was laughing.”

Source: Tareeq al-Hijratayn wa Baab as-Sa ‘aadatayn, p. 697-698 by Imaam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

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[1] Recorded by Ahmad and an-Nasaa’ee and others

How the Salaf Respected their Scholars

Shaykh Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mu’alla wrote:

The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: “He is not one of us, he who does not show mercy to our young ones nor respect our elders nor enjoin good and forbid evil nor recognize the right of our scholars”[1]. Honouring and respecting the scholars is part of the Sunnah. Taawoos bin Kaysaan (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: ‘It is from the Sunnah to respect four persons: a scholar, an elderly person, the leader and the father.”[2]

In fact, respecting a scholar because of his knowledge and what he has memorized of the Qur’aan is reverence to Allaah. Aboo Moosaa al-Ash’aree (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said: “It is out of reverence to Allaah in respecting an aged Muslim, the one who commits the Qur’aan to memory and does not exaggerate pronouncing its letters nor forgets it after memorizing and to respect the just rulers.”[3]

The salaf of this Ummah used to exceedingly respect their scholars and deal with them with good manners. Despite the lofty status of ‘Abdullaah bin ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him), he once offered to drive Zayd bin Thaabit al-Ansaaree and said: ‘This is what we have been ordered to do with our scholars and elderly ones.”[4]

Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allaah have mercy on him) once said to Khalaf al-Ahmar: ‘I will not sit anywhere except in front of you; we have been ordered to humble ourselves to the one we are learning from.”[5]

When Imaam Muslim bin al-Hajjaaj (may Allaah have mercy on him) came to Imaam al-Bukhaaree, he kissed him in between his eyes and said: “Leave me let me kiss your feet, O teacher of teachers, the leader of the scholars of hadeeth and the doctor of hadeeth with regard to its defects…” [6]

Indeed, from the completeness of the respect the salaf gave to their scholars was that they used to revere them. Ibn Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: ‘I wanted to ask Umar bin al-Khattaab a question about a hadeeth, but I tarried for two years. Nothing prevented me from him except reverence for him.”[7]

Source: Qawaa’id fee at-Ta’aamul ma’a al-‘Ulamaa’, p. 81-83, by Shaykh Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mu’alla

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[1] Recorded by Ahmad, at-Tirmidhee and Ibn Hibbaan

[2] Al-Baghawee mentioned it in Sharh As-Sunnah (13/43)

[3] Recorded by Aboo Daawood

[4] Recorded by al-Haakim who classified it saheeh and adh-Dhahabee agreed.

[5] Tadhkitatu as-Saami’ wal-Mutakallim (88)

[6] Recorded by Ibn Katheer in al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah (11/340)

[7] Recorded by Ibn Abdul-Barr in Jaami’ Bayaan al-Ilm wa Fadlih (1/112)