Abu 'Abd al-Rahman
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported: The Messenger
of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, the most truthful, the most
trusted, told us:
"Verily
the creation of any one of you takes place when he is assembled in his
mother's womb; for forty days he is as a drop of fluid, then it becomes
a clot for a similar period. Thereafter, it is a lump looking like it
has been chewed for a similar period. Then an angel is sent to him,
who breathes the ruh (spirit) into him. This Angel is commanded
to write Four decrees: that he writes down his provision (rizq),
his life span, his deeds, and whether he will be among the wretched
or the blessed.
I
swear by Allah - there is no God but He - one of you may perform the
deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm's length
between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him
so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of
you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire, till there
is naught but an arm's length between him and it, when that which has
been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the
people of Paradise and enters therein."
[Al-Bukhari
& Muslim]
Background
This
hadith was not only recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim but by other
Scholars as well. Apart from 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, this hadith
was also narrated by many other companions (Sahabahs).
This narration by
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud was recorded with different versions where some words/terms
conflicted with each other, resulting in different versions having different
meanings regarding Creation. The conflicts are as follows:
- The addition of the word "nutfah" (the drop of a
fluid)
This word is not
mentioned in Bukhari neither Muslim's narration. However it was added
to other narrations including the one chosen by al-Imam al-Nawawi to
provide a better interpretation or explanation but instead it gave two
conflicting views of the creation of mankind in terms of stages of the
fetus:
First View:
The three stages of the fetus consist of forty days each, equaling to
a total of 120 days for the stages to complete. It is only after this
120 days that the ruh (spirit) is breathed into the fetus, as
well as the recording of the fetus' provision life span, deeds and destiny.
This view, the inclusion of the word "nuftah", is the
view held by the majority of the Scholars.
One problem with
this view is that the stages of the fetus as interpreted in this hadith
contradict the facts proven by science today.
Another problem
concerns the Fatwa on abortion. Scholars say that abortion is allowed
(provided there is a very good reason - e.g. the woman's life is in
danger) only before the ruh is breathed into the fetus, i.e.
before 120 days - as opposed to 40 days if the second view is to be
taken (see below).
Second View:
The word "nutfah" does not belong to the text of the
hadith. This changes the meaning of the hadith which interprets
the three stages of the fetus as taking place in the first forty days.
This view correlates with scientific facts. And this means that the
ruh is breathed into the fetus after forty days, and not 120 days. Consequently
the Fatwa on abortion states that abortion is allowed only before forty
days.
- The authenticity of the last section of the Hadith
Some Scholars say
that the last section of the hadith (i.e. "By Allah
)
is not part of the text of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
but the words of 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud. But since the issue in this hadith
is related to matters which we cannot perceive with our limited human
perception, this last section is accepted and included here because
'Abdullah bin Mas'ud may have derived the meaning from another hadith
of the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, to explain this
hadith better.
There are other
hadiths collected by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, which touch on the
same issue. But there are some differences between the texts of those
hadiths and this one. Those hadiths narrate the Prophet,
sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, as saying: One of you will perform
the acts of the people of the Paradise (Ahlul Jannah) as it appears
in the eyes of the people.
This is like the
Munafiqin or hypocrites - they do the acts of the Mua'minin. They appear,
in our eyes, to be doing the acts of the Ahlul Jannah but Allah knows
best. Their end will be a disaster - by being Munafiqin they are actually
denying the message of God in their deep hearts as Allah mentioned in
the Qur'an and their end will be in the Hellfire since they do not submit
to Allah in their hearts. This explanation of the other hadiths
is important in the understanding of this hadith.
Lessons
The Scholars say when
we do a research on a concept or an issue mentioned in hadiths,
we shouldn't depend on only one hadith - we need to search for
other similar hadiths, which deal with the same issue/matter. We
must remember that some narrators will narrate a hadith by its
meaning, and not exactly as it was said by the Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam. This is because being human, some of them may forget
some of the exact words/terms used by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi
wasallam - but they still understand the actual meaning of what was
said.
Then we need to compare
the different texts of hadiths on the same issue with each other
in order to have a more complete interpretation and better understanding
of the issue/matter at hand.
Some people, on hearing
this hadith as it is and without further explanation, might feel
despair, fearing that they fall into the bad group of people mentioned.
This will lead to determination (jabriah) - they may think that
no matter what they do, if their end has already been written, then why
should they bother to do good deeds. This is the wrong attitude to have
as it is based on a wrong perception. Allah is Just. We should trust Allah.
If we are good to Allah and trust Him, He will be good to us. We should
be optimistic and not pessimistic. We follow Allah's commands and make
the effort to be good Muslims and we should not despair.
During one of the
battles, a companion (Sahabi) said to the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi
wasallam, that he was following him, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam,
to fight in the hope that an arrow will be shot through his (the Sahabi's)
neck, coming in from the front and going out the back. The Prophet, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, said, "If you are honest with Allah, Allah
will be honest with you." The Sahabi died exactly as he hoped to.
The Prophet's, sallallahu
'alayhi wasallam, words here are generic and can be used for all situations.
If we are honest with Allah, Allah will not leave us - He will help us
- He will guide us, etc. The closer we are to Allah, the more He will
help us and guide us. Thus, the last section of this hadith is
an exception and applies only to few people such as the Munafiqin.
But this, on the other
hand, does not mean that we live in hope alone. The Scholars say that
we must combine hope with fear - when we worship Allah, we should have
hope as well as fear of Him. Fearing Allah is a positive thing. The more
we fear Allah, the closer we get to Him. The more we fear Allah, the more
calm and at peace we will be. This is unlike the natural 'fear' where
if we fear something, e.g. a fire or a dangerous animal, we will try to
get away from it.
Scholars say that
we should have an equal amount of hope to the amount of fear. This is
so we will have a better status of Iman (faith) - there is no despair
and at the same time there is no excessive hope (over-confidence) which
could lead to laziness and the non-fulfillment of our obligations. This
is why we need to combine hope and fear, as well as love Allah the most
and have trust in Him.
This above hadith
is about Allah's Creation and Qadar. The statement: "that which has
been written will overtake him" should be understood in the positive
sense and not negatively. Allah with His ultimate knowledge knows what
will happen as it has been explained in the previous hadith.
Al-Qadar can be categorized
as:
- Al-Qadar al-Kulli - the general qadar which has been recorded
by Allah in Al-Lauhulmahfudz or the Preserved Tablet.
- Al-Qadar al-Sanawi - the annual qadar which takes place once
a year (Lailatul qadar) - where it matchs what has been written in Al-Lauhulmahfudz.
What has been written
in Al-Lauhulmahfudz is only known to Allah. It is not revealed to us -
we don't know about our destiny, what our rizq is, where we'll
end up, etc. To us it is ghaib and unknown. The translation of
this hadith using the word "overtake" may not give the
true meaning if it were to be understood that whatever has been recorded
by the angels will be "imposed" on a person's life. We are simply
being told about Ilmu Allah or the ultimate knowledge of Allah. What has
been written does not cause us to do what we do. It is not a cause and
affect situation, as believed by many Muslims. Many Muslims believe that
as it has already been written, therefore this will cause us to do whatever
has been written. The truth is even though it has been written and even
though we will do it, we will not do it because it has been written. It
is actually an association, or a matching. What we are going to do matches
the knowledge of Allah, because Allah's knowledge is ultimate. In other
words, what we are going to do matches what has been written. This shows
the glory of Allah, the ultimate knowledge of Allah. So we should not
have the understanding that things are imposed on us. Otherwise this will
nullify the whole concept of iman (faith) and the whole concept
of Creation and all other related concepts.
We are responsible
for what we choose and for what we do. Referring to the last section of
this hadith where a person's final destiny changes at the last
minute and he ends up not as expected, there are examples in the Sirahs
where some people embrace Islam in the last minute - e.g. they embrace
Islam and go into battle and die, some of them not having done a single
good deed. There are also many examples today where non-practicing Muslims
or those doing bad deeds, having reached the last stages of their lives
(at the age of 50 or 60), will repent and turn into a good Muslim. The
same applies for thousands of new converts every year.These people, according
to the will of Allah, will be forgiven and enter Paradise.
For the other scenario
where a person performs good deeds most of his/her life and at the end
of his/her life perform bad deeds deserving to enter the Hellfire (as
mentioned in the hadith), this situation affects only a limited
number of people compared to the first one. And it is because of the person
himself, such as in the case of hypocrites.
To
have the correct understanding of the concept of qadar, we need
to know more about the creation of the human being. What is mentioned
in this Hadith is actually a miracle. It describes the stages of the fetus
and the creation of man 1,400 years before science and technology confirm
it as fact. (This description of the stages of the fetus can also be found
in the Quran but without the mention of the periods of times.) In other
words, scientists were only able to observe this phenomenon in the last
few decades whereas it was already mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith
hundreds of years ago.
A conference regarding
the Creation was held in Europe several years ago and some Muslim Scholars
were invited to attend. When these Scholars gave the Islamic perspective
regarding the stages of the fetus, showing that this was documented in
the Quran and the Hadith, some of the people who attended the conference
embraced Islam - they were convinced that it is a Divine revelation.
We also need to understand
the components of the human being in order to help us understand qadar
in the positive way. The human being consists of the following components:
-
There are also external
challenges (which attract the internal challenges):
- The existing
muharamat (prohibitions) - e.g. the first aspect of nafs
will activate the hawa and the hawa will push us to
think about and do the bad deeds.
- The insinuation/whispering
(waswasa) of Satan. All that Satan can do is to insinuate.
He will try to convince us to do bad deeds by promoting evil and making
it appear nice and acceptable to us, or convince us to delay doing
good deeds. E.g. if we are good Muslims Satan will try to make us
delay performing the prayer or giving the sadaqah by making
it appear as a bad thing to do because giving sadaqah will
result in a financial burden for us. As we can see, both cases are
done through coloring our perception.
We can see that some
of the components of the human being help us while some are challenges.
For example, the Fitrah and Aql are strong components which direct us
to do good. However there is a limit to our intellect and for this Allah
sent us the Messengers with the revelations to guide us. Allah's Guidance
helps us by telling us what is good and what is bad, in what forms the
insinuation of Satan can come in, etc. When we recite the Qur'an with
contemplation, we will attain the insight (basirah) which will
activate the blaming-self and the nafs ul mutma' inah.
The Qur'an tells us
that we have been created to be tested: (Allah) Who has created death
and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. [Surah Al-Mulk
(67): ayat 2]
Allah tells us what
we are being tested on and the scenarios mentioned above describe the
nature of the test. This is the mercy of Allah - He equips us with the
power, the will, the fitrah, the aql, the Message/guidance,
etc. But He warns us that our will is going to be tested by internal and
external challenges. The power and willingness is neutral but it can be
influenced/directed to go either way, good or bad. If we have the insight
(basirah), if we recite the Quran, if we are close to Allah, if
we have the wisdom (hikmah), then what will be activated is the
sound mind and the shahawat (selfdesires) will be controlled and
we will not be misled by them. Satan will not come close to us because
he knows that if he does so he will not be able to influence us. If we
look at it this way, our life is a challenge - it's a real test that we
have to go through.
Even with all these
components Allah has equipped us with, we still need Tawfiqul Allah (guidance
from Allah). Without tawfiq we might be misled by our desires or
by the insinuation of Satan. Thus we need to be closer to Allah. We need
to do du'a to Allah (calling on Him) all the time and to devote
our hearts to Him so that we are constantly seeking His help, His refuge,
His Hidayah (guidance). That's why at least 17 times a day we say "Guide
us to the Straight Way" - we need Allah's guidance again and again.
The guidance is not only to the path but it is also within the path. These
are the two types of guidance (hidayah) - (i) to the path is becoming
a Muslim and (ii) within the path is increasing our S. The Scholars
say we need guidance within the path every second of the day - we need
Allah's guidance more than we need to breathe.
It is narrated by
the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, in one Hadith that Allah
created a man on an island where he was the only person there. Allah gave
the man rizq by providing fruits on which he survived. For 70 years
the man lived and worshipped only Allah, as there were no challenges there.
When the time came for the man to die, Allah commanded the angel to bring
his soul to Him. Allah asked the man, "O My servant, to Paradise
or to Hellfire?" The man replied, "O Allah, Almighty, to Paradise."
Allah said, "O My servant, is it because of My Mercy or is it because
of your amal (good deeds)?" The man replied, "O Allah,
it is because of my amal. For 70 years I worshipped you. I have
done nothing bad, only good deeds worshipping you." Then Allah commanded
his angel to take the bounty of sight and put it on one scale. He then
commanded the angel to put the man's 70 years' worth of good deeds on
the other scale. The bounty of sight weighed heavier than the deeds of
70 years.
In summary, if for
70 years we were to worship Allah and do good deeds and refrain from bad
deeds, we will still not be able to repay Allah for one of His bounties.
The Scholars say if you want to know Allah's bounty on you, close your
eyes. If we close our eyes and imagine that we can no longer see and try
to picture how our life would be, only then can we truly appreciate and
value the mercy of Allah.
Conclusion
The
hadiths are the sources of our iman (faith), knowledge,
and guidance as we are taught by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam.
Studying and understanding the Hadiths will activate our insight (basirah),
enlighten our hearts, and uplift our souls. This will by the help of Allah,
lead us and keep us on the right path to the end, insha Allah.