Allah Almighty says: {Be patient with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His pleasure. Do not turn your eyes away from them} [Surat al-Kahf: 28]
1) Whoever suffers weakness in his body, intellect, property, or any other aspects that people view as weakness is given relief by knowing that he is strong in terms of the reward that Allah Almighty has in store for him.
2) The verse shows the guidance of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) of dealing with the weak and poor Muslims, as he was always with them, sitting with them and seeking to fulfill their needs.
252/1- Hārithah ibn Wahb (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that he heard Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: “Shall I inform you about the people of Paradise? Every weak person who is looked down upon; if he were to make an oath in the Name of Allah, He (Allah) would fulfill it. Shall I inform you about the people of Hellfire? Every cruel, greedy, arrogant person.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
-- --
--
--
--
1) One of the signs of the people of Paradise is that they do not care when they miss their share of the worldly life. They accept whatever they get and never regret what they miss thereof.
2) One of the signs of the people of Hell is that they are arrogant and boastful. So let everyone beware of assuming the qualities of those who will be tortured.
3) Among the slaves of Allah there are those whom if they take an oath in the Name of Allah, out of trust and hope in Him, Allah will fulfill it for them.
253/2- Abu al-‘Abbās Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sā‘idi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that a man passed by the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) so he said to a man who was sitting with him: “What do you say about this man?” He replied: “He is one of the noblest of people. By Allah, if he proposes marriage, his proposal deserves to be accepted, and if he intercedes, his intercession deserves to be accepted.” The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent. Then another man passed by. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “What do you think about this man?” He replied: “O Messenger of Allah, this is one of the poor Muslims. If he proposes marriage, his proposal does not deserve to be accepted, and if he intercedes, his intercession does not deserve to be accepted, and if he speaks, he does not deserve to be listened to.” Then the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “This one (the second) is better than an earth full of the other (the first).” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
-- --
--
1) A man with a high standing in the worldly life may be of no value in the sight of Allah Almighty.
2) It is the nature of deeds and the faith of the heart that count, not the looks and appearances.
254/3- Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Paradise and Hell disputed. Hell said: ‘The tyrants and the arrogant are in me.’ Paradise said: ‘The weak and the poor are in me.’ So Allah judged between them and said to Paradise: ‘You are My Mercy. I show mercy through you to whom I will.’ And He said to Hell: ‘You are My Punishment, I punish through you whom I will. And I guarantee to fill both of you completely.’” [Narrated by Muslim]
--
‘You are My Mercy’: It means that it is the abode that is created out of the mercy of Allah. As for Allah’s Mercy which is one of His Attributes, it is not created.
1) Believing in such matters of the unseen is an obligation, even though they are unperceived by the minds. A believer submissively accepts the command of Allah Almighty and the command of His Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).
2) The favor and mercy of Allah Almighty are broader than His anger. He makes it incumbent upon Himself to fill Paradise and Hell, but His mercy precedes His anger.
3) The poor and the weak are the people of Paradise, because they mostly follow the truth with submission, whereas tyrants are the people of Hell because they are too arrogant to submit to the truth.
255/4- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that Allah’s Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Verily, the huge fat man will come on the Day of Judgment weighing less in the sight of Allah than the wing of a mosquito.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
1) The Hadīth establishes that weighing will take place on the Day of Judgment; it will be entirely just and involves no injustice.
2) Warning against being focused on physical comfort alone, while everyone is obligated to take care of providing his heart with knowledge and faith which are the source of its comfort. In fact, when the heart finds comfort, the body finds it as well.
The reason this Hadīth is included under the Chapter on "Merit of the Weak, Poor, and Humble Muslims" is that obesity mostly results from overeating, which is sometimes an indicator of wealthiness and richness, arrogance and insolence, ingratitude to blessings and forgetting about the weak Muslims.
What is weighed in the balance?
The apparent meaning of the Hadīth suggests that what is weighed is man, and that he is light or heavy based upon his deeds. Some scholars said that what is weighed is the scrolls of deeds as supported by the Hadīth of the Card: “Then a card will be brought out on which is written ‘I bear witness that none has the right to be worshiped but Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger’ and it will be placed in one pan of the scale...” Others said that what is weighed are the deeds, given the saying of Allah Almighty: {We will place the scales of justice on the Day of Resurrection...} The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Two words weigh heavily in the Scale...”, which means that what will be weighed are the deeds. There is no contradiction, however, between these views, because it is possible that all that is mentioned will be subject to weighing, i.e. the doers, the scrolls, and the deeds; and Allah knows best.
256/5- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) also narrated that a black woman (or a young man in another narration) used to sweep the mosque. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) did not find her, so he asked about her, and was informed that she had died. Thereupon, he said: “Why did you not tell me?” It seemed that they undermined her status. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Tell me where her grave is.” They told him. He offered the funeral prayer for her then said: “Indeed, these graves are full of darkness, and Allah Almighty illuminates them by my prayer for them.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
-- -- --
1) The believers’ value varies according to their deeds, so whoever does good is regarded as good.
2) Cleaning mosques and removing trash from them is recommended without adorning and decorating them in a way that distracts the worshipers.
3) The Hadīth underlines that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) did not know the unseen, that is why he said: “Tell me where her grave is.” He was unaware of such tangible things that were close to him, so he was unaware of matters of the unseen with greater reason!
4) The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) cared well for his Companions; he used to check on them and ask about their conditions.
257/6- He also reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Perhaps a person who is disheveled, dusty, and driven away from doors (is so close to Allah that), if he takes an oath by Allah (about something), He will definitely fulfill it for him.” [Narrated by Muslim]
258/1- Usāmah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “I stood at the gate of Paradise, and (I saw) that the majority of those who entered it are the poor, and the wealthy were kept confined. The inmates of the Fire had been ordered to enter the Fire, and I stood at the gate of the Fire and saw that the majority of its inmates are women.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
-- Kept confined: not yet given permission to enter Paradise.
Disheveled: with uncombed hair, not having anything to improve his hair therewith.
--
1) Piety is the criterion; the more pious a person is, the more honorable he is in the sight of Allah Almighty.
2) Most of the people of Hell are women because they are given to Fitnah, except those protected by Allah Almighty through piety.
3) A slave has to guard against the trial of wealth. In fact, wealth may lead one to be tyrannical, and it could lead to his ruin and corruption. Therefore, a slave is enjoined to remain patient in poverty and in richness alike.
259/8- Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “None spoke in the cradle but only three (persons), ‘Isa (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), the second one was the baby in the story of Jurayj. Jurayj was a devoted worshiper who took a hermitage for worship and confined himself in it. His mother came to him as he was busy in prayer and she called, ‘Jurayj.’ He said, ‘My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged in) my prayer.’ He continued with the prayer. She left and she came on the next day and he was (still) busy in prayer. She called, ‘Jurayj.’ He said: ‘My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged in) my prayer, and he continued with the prayer,’ and she left. On the next day she again came while he was busy in prayer and called, ‘Jurayj.’ He said, ‘My Lord, my mother (is calling me while I am engaged in) my prayer.’ He continued with the prayer, so she said, ‘O Allah, do not let him die until he has seen the faces of prostitutes.’ The story of Jurayj and his devotion to worship spread amongst the Children of Israel. There was a prostitute who was regarded as the standard of beauty. She said (to the people): ‘If you wish, I can seduce him.’ She presented herself to him but he paid no heed to her. She came to a shepherd who took shelter in the hermitage and she offered herself to him. He (the shepherd) had sexual intercourse with her and so she became pregnant. When she gave birth to a baby she said, ‘He is Jurayj’s baby.’ So they came and took Jurayj down from his hermitage, tore it down, and started beating him. He asked them what the matter was. They said, ‘You have committed fornication with this prostitute and she has given birth to your baby.’ He said: ‘Where is the baby?’ They brought him (the baby) and Jurayj said, ‘Let me pray.’ He performed prayer and when he finished, he poked the baby in his belly and asked him, ‘O boy, who is your father?’ The baby answered, ‘It is so-and-so, the shepherd.’ The people turned towards Jurayj, kissing him and touching him (seeking blessing) and said, ‘We will build your hermitage with gold.’ He said, ‘No just rebuild it with mud as it was,’ and they did. And while a baby was suckling from his mother’s breast, a man passed by who was dressed in fine garments and riding a fancy mount. His mother said, ‘O Allah, make my child like this one.’ He (the baby) left stopped suckling and looked at the man and said, ‘O Allah, do not make me like him.’ He then returned to the breast and resumed suckling. It still remember the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as he illustrated his suckling with his index finger in his mouth and sucking that. He (the Messenger of Allah) continued: ‘They (the baby and its mother) happened to pass by a slave girl who was being beaten and those beating her were saying, ‘You have committed fornication and theft.’ She was saying, ‘Sufficient for me is Allah and excellent is He as Protector (indicating that she is innocent).’ So his mother said, ‘O Allah, do not make my son like her.’ He stopped suckling, looked at her and said: ‘O Allah! Make me like her.’ This was followed by a conversation between the mother and the child. She said, ‘A good looking man happened to pass by and I said, “O Allah, make my son like him,” and you said, “O Allah, do not make me like him,” and there passed a girl while they were beating her and saying, “You committed fornication and theft,” and I said, “O Allah, do not make my son like her,” and you said, “O Allah, make me like her.” The baby said, ‘That man was a tyrant, and I said, “O Allah, do not make me like him,” and they were saying about the girl, “You committed fornication,” whereas she had not committed that and they were saying, “You committed theft,” whereas she had not committed theft, so I said, “O Allah, make me like her.”’” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
-- -- -- --
Hermitage: a raised structure where monks stay for worship.
--
1) Jurayj was patient before affliction. He did not take revenge for himself, but he was content to remain one of the weak and poor.
2) When a slave gets close to Allah at times of prosperity, Allah Almighty gets close to him at times of distress. A true believer is not harmed by trials, and it is out of Allah’s mercy that He makes for his devoted worshipers a way out of their affliction. This may be delayed for some time in order for them to be more disciplined and receive greater reward.
3) A believer should keenly choose to be one of the common people rather than one of the arrogant tyrants.
4) The Hadīth encourages responding to the mother’s call rather than carrying on with a voluntary prayer.
5) Resorting to prayer in hard times is a sign of the one’s good understanding of the religion.