Narrated Abi Abdurrahman Abdullah bin Mas'ud, May Allah is pleased with him:
Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who breathes the soul into him, and is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). So, by Allah the One, a man amongst you may do good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly, a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise." Narrated by Al-Bukhari.
To be honest with you I feel bad sometimes that I may do good deeds while it is written that I am from the people of hell. I wish you answer me, thanks a lot for your efforts, may Allah greaten your reward.
Praise be to Allaah.
Ibn al-Qayyim
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Those who are
ignorant of Allaah and His names and attributes misinterpret their true
meanings and turn people against Allaah and put obstacles between the people
and loving Allaah and drawing close to Him without realizing.
We will mention
some examples of that, such as that they try to make people with shallow
knowledge (or weak faith) think that no acts of obedience towards Allaah
will do any good, even if that is done for a long time and a person has
tried his utmost to do it properly both outwardly and inwardly; and that a
person cannot be safe from the plot of Allaah, rather it is Allaah’s way to
take the obedient one who fears Allaah out of the mosque and into the
brothels, and from Tawheed and tasbeeh to shirk and flutes, and turn his
heart from pure faith to kufr. They narrated sound reports concerning this
that they do not understand properly, and false reports that the Prophet
never said, and they claim that this is the essence of Tawheed. End quote.
Al-Fawaa’id (159).
Then he (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: … So this poor person no longer sees actions
as being good or bad, so he does not feel comfortable when doing good, or
feel distressed when doing bad. Is there any more effective way of putting
people off Allaah and making them hate Him than this?! If all the heretics
strive hard to make people hate religion and put them off Allaah, they could
never have come up with anything worse than this.
The one who has
this belief thinks that he is reinforcing the ideas of Tawheed and the
divine will and decree, and refuting the innovators and supporting Islam,
but by Allaah, a wise enemy is less harmful than an ignorant friend. All the
revealed Books and all the Messengers bear witness to the opposite of that,
especially the Qur’aan. If those who seek to call others to Allaah follow
the method that is established by Allaah and His Messenger in calling people
to Islam, the whole world would be reformed in such a way that there would
be no corruption after that.
Allaah tells us
– and He is the One Who is truthful and fulfils promises – that He only
judges people on the basis of their actions, and recompenses them for their
deeds, and the one who does good should not fear any injustice or
unfairness; He will never cause the deeds of any doer of good to be lost, no
matter how small, or wrong any soul in the slightest. “But if there is
any good (done), He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward” [al-Nisa’
4:40]. Even if it is the size of a grain of mustard seed, He gives
reward for it and does not cause it to be lost. He recompenses bad deeds
with the like thereof, and cancels them out if a person repents, regrets it
and seeks forgiveness and does good deeds, or if calamities befall him. But
He rewards a good deed anything from ten fold to seven hundred fold or
more.
He is the One
Who reforms the misguided and turns back to Him the hearts of those who turn
away; He accepts the repentance of sinners, guides the misled, saves the
doomed, teaches the ignorant, guides the confused, reminds the heedless,
gives refuge to the lost. When He sends a punishment, it is only after
severe rebellion and stubborn turning away, and after calling the people to
turn back to Him. End quote.
Al-Fawaa’id
(161).
There follows a
great hadeeth which was narrated by al-Bukhaari (3208) and Muslim (2643)
from Ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him). Some people were confused
about the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) “one of you may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is
nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he
does a deed of the people of Hell and enters it. And one of you may do the
deeds of the people of Hell until there is nothing between him and it but a
cubit, then the decree overtakes him and he does a deed of the people of
Paradise, and enters it.”
This is an
example of what Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) tried to point
out of saheeh reports which are not understood properly.
The answer to
this is that it applies to the one who does not do deeds with sincerity and
faith, rather he does deeds of the people of Paradise as it appears to
people only, as is explained in another version of the hadeeth that was
narrated by al-Bukhaari (4207) and Muslim (112) from Sahl who said: The
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the mushrikeen
met in battle and fought. When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) went back to his camp and the others went
back to their camp, there was among the companions of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)a man who killed
anyone (of the enemy) who got in his way. They said: No one has done better
today than So and so. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said, “Rather he is one of the people of Hell.” A man
said: I am going to follow him. So he went out with him; every time that man
stopped, he stopped with him, and when he hastened, he hastened with him. He
said: The man was badly wounded, so he sought to hasten his death. He put
the handle of his sword on the ground and its tip in the middle of his
chest, then he leaned [on his sword] and killed himself. The man went to the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and
said: I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allaah (S). He said: “Why
is that?” He said: The man who you said was one of the people of Hell and
the people were astounded by that. I said, I will find out about him for
you. So I followed him until he was badly wounded, then he sought to hasten
his death. He put the handle of his sword on the ground and its tip in the
middle of his chest, then he leaned on it and killed himself. The Messenger
of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “A man may
do the deeds of [the people of] Paradise, or so it seems to the people,
although he is one of the people of Hell, and a man may do the deeds of [the
people of] Hell, or so it seems to the people, although he is one of the
people of Paradise.”
As for the one
who does the deeds of the people of Paradise in a real sense, sincerely and
on the basis of faith, Allaah is too just, merciful and generous to let him
down at the end of his life.
Rather these
are the ones who are guided, directed and helped to persist, as Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Allaah will
keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world
(i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allaah Alone and none else), and in the
Hereafter. And Allaah will cause to go astray those who are Zaalimoon
(polytheists and wrongdoers), and Allaah does what He wills”
[Ibraaheem
14:27]
“As for
those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will surely guide them to Our
paths (i.e. Allaah’s religion — Islamic Monotheism). And verily, Allaah is
with the Muhsinoon (good-doers).”
[al-‘Ankaboot 29:69]
“Verily, he
who fears Allaah with obedience to Him (by abstaining from sins and evil
deeds, and by performing righteous good deeds), and is patient, then surely,
Allaah makes not the reward of the Muhsinoon (good‑doers) to be lost”
[Yoosuf
12:90]
“They
rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allaah, and that Allaah will not waste
the reward of the believers”
[Aal ‘Imraan
3:171]
Ibn al-Qayyim
said in al-Fawaa’id (p. 163): With regard to the fact that a man may
do the deeds of the people of Paradise until there is nothing between him
and it but a cubit, then the decree overtakes him, this refers to the
actions of the people of Paradise as they appear to other people. If it was
a righteous deed that is acceptable to Allaah, then Allaah would love it,
accept it and not cancel it out. Someone may say that this phrase, “until
there is nothing between him and it but a cubit”, does not support what we
have suggested; the answer to that is that if deeds are to be judged by the
way they end, this man did not have enough patience to complete his deeds
properly; rather there was a hidden problem and something wrong with his
deeds, by means of which he was let down towards the end of his life, so
that hidden, serious, fatal problem caused his downfall at the time of need.
If there was no problem and no insincerity, Allaah would not have turned his
faith into disbelief. And Allaah knows better than all people what they do
not know of each other. End quote.
Ibn Rajab (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The words “as
it appears to people” indicate that what is hidden may be different from
what is apparent to people, and that a bad end is because of a hidden
problem in a person that people are not aware of, whether it is a bad deed
and the like, so that hidden quality may lead to a bad end at death.
Similarly, a
man may do a deed of the people of Hell, but inwardly he has some good
quality, and that prevails at the end of his life, and leads to a good end
for him.
‘Abd al-‘Azeez
ibn Abi Rawaad said: A man was dying and he was being prompted to say Laa
ilaaha ill-Allaah, but the last words he said were, “He does not believe
in what you are saying” (referring to himself), and he died like that!
He said: I
asked about him, and found that he was addicted to alcohol!
‘Abd al-‘Azeez
used to say: Beware of sins for it is sins that led him to this bad end.
In general, how
people end up is the consequences of what went before, and all of that has
been previously written in a Book, hence the salaf greatly feared a bad end,
and some of them would feel anxious when remembering previous sins.
It was said
that the hearts of the righteous are concerned about how their life will
end, and they always wonder: how will our end be?
The hearts of
those who are close to Allaah are concerned about previous sins, and say:
How will our sins affect our ends? Sahl al-Tastari said: The one who has
started his journey towards Allaah fears that he may fall into sin and the
one who is close to Allaah fears that he may end fall into kufr
(disbelief).
Hence the
Sahaabah and the righteous salaf who came after them feared that they might
become hypocrites, and their fear and anxiety were intense. So the believer
fears lesser hypocrisy for himself, and worries that it might prevail at the
end of his life, and take him into a state of major hypocrisy, as it was
mentioned above that hidden problems may lead to a bad end. End quote.
Jaami’
al-‘Uloom wa’l-Hukam (1/57-58).
Shaykh Ibn
‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: The hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood,
“until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit” means, Paradise. It
does not mean that his deeds bring him to this position until there remains
nothing but a cubit, because if he were doing the deeds of the people of
Paradise in a true sense, Allaah would not let him down because Allaah is
more generous than His slaves. Imagine a person devoted to Allaah, and there
is nothing but a cubit between him and Paradise: would Allaah turn him
away?! This is impossible. Rather the meaning is that he does the deeds of
the people of Paradise as it appears to others, until when there is nothing
left of his lifespan but a little, his heart drifts away – Allaah forbid; we
ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound. This is the meaning of the hadeeth of
Ibn Mas’ood: when there is nothing left between him and Paradise but a cubit
with regard to his lifespan, otherwise he was not doing the deeds of the
people of Paradise in the first place.
We ask Allaah
not to misguide our hearts. (So the person referred to) is striving but in
his heart there is some hidden evil that leads to his doom when there is
only one cubit left when he dies. End quote from al-Liqa’ al-Shahri
(13/14).
Some scholars
suggested that the person mentioned in the hadeeth may be striving in a true
sense, until when his lifespan nears its end, he meets a bad end, and dies
in a state of kufr or sin, but this is rare. This also goes back to
something hidden or some serious evil quality that the person persisted in,
such as corrupt belief or a major sin that dooms one to Hell, which led to
his bad end. We ask Allaah to keep us safe and sound. So the hadeeth is to
be understood as a warning that no one should rely too much on his deeds and
we should ask Allaah for steadfastness until death, for hearts are between
two fingers of the Most Merciful and He turns them as He wills.
Al-Nawawi (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim: What is meant by a cubit is
an indication of how close he is to death, and whether he will enter
Paradise or Hell after that, and that there is nothing between him and his
reaching that abode except a cubit, like that which remains between him and
his reaching any spot on earth. What this hadeeth means is that this may
happen in rare cases to some people, not that it is the norm. Moreover it is
a sign of Allaah’s kindness and mercy that people may revert from evil to
good in many cases. As for their reverting from good to evil, this is very
rare and hardly ever happens. This is like the words of Allaah [in the
hadeeth qudsi]: “My mercy precedes My wrath and prevails over My wrath.”
That includes those who turn to the deeds of Hell by disbelieving or
sinning, but they (the scholars) differ with regard to whether they will
abide therein forever or not. The kaafir will abide in Hell forever, but the
sinner who dies believing in Tawheed will not abide therein forever, as
stated above. In this hadeeth there is a clear confirmation of the divine
decree, and that repentance erases all sins that came before it, and that
whatever state a person dies in, he will be judged accordingly, whether it
is good or bad, but those who commit sins other than kufr are subject to the
will of Allaah. End quote.
What should be
noted in this context is that the same hadeeth which confused you also
contains the answer to this confusion. That is because it does not only
confirm the concept of the divine decree and Allaah’s prior knowledge of His
creation and His prior writing of their deeds, but in this and similar
texts, in addition to all that, there is also affirmation of His commands
and prohibitions, and that Allaah does not punish them or bless them on the
basis of His knowledge concerning them only, but rather on the basis of what
they did and earned themselves.
Shaykh al-Islam
Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This hadeeth
and similar reports point to two concepts:
1 – The prior
decree, which means that Allaah already knows who are the people of Paradise
and who are the people of Hell before they do any deeds. This is true and
must be believed in. Indeed the imams, such as Maalik, al-Shaafa’i and
Ahmad, have stated that the one who denies this is a kaafir. Rather we must
believe that Allaah knows everything that is going to happen before it
happens, and we must believe in what He has told us that He has decreed will
happen and has told us of it before it happens.
2 – That Allaah
knows all things the way they are, and He has made for things means that may
lead to these things. So He knows that these things could result from these
means, as He knows that this man may have a child by means of having
intercourse with a woman that makes her pregnant. If this man says: Allaah
knows that I am going to have a child so there is no need for me to have
intercourse, then he is a fool, because Allaah knows that it will come about
by means of what He has decreed of intercourse. Similarly a man knows that
crops will grow as the result of his watering the seeds that he has planted,
but if he says: He knows that it will happen so there is no need to plant
seeds, then he is ignorant and misguided because Allaah knows what will come
about by those means.
Similarly, if
He knows that this one will be blessed in the Hereafter and that one will be
doomed, we say: it is because that one does the deeds of the doomed, so
Allaah knows that he will be doomed because of his deeds. If it is said that
he is doomed even if he does not do anything, this is false, because Allaah
does not admit anyone to Hell except for his sin, as Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning): “That I will fill Hell with you [Iblees
(Satan)] and those of them (mankind) that follow you, together” [Saad 38:85].
So He swore to fill it with Iblees and his followers, and those who follow
Iblees have disobeyed Allaah, may He be exalted, but Allaah does not punish
anyone for what He knows he will do until he does it.
Similarly
Allaah has decreed Paradise for the people who believe in Him and obey Him,
so the one who is decreed to be one of them is guided by Allaah to believe
and obey. The one who says, I will enter Paradise whether I am a believer or
a disbeliever, if He knows that I am one of its people, is fabricating a lie
against Allaah. Allaah knows that he will be admitted to it by faith, so if
he does not have faith he will not be the one who Allaah knew would enter
Paradise, rather he will be not a believer but a kaafir, and Allaah knows
that he will be one of the people of Hell, not one of the people of
Paradise.
Hence Allaah
commanded people to pray, seek forgiveness from Allaah and other means. The
one who says, I will not pray or ask, and I will rely on the divine decree,
is also mistaken, because Allaah has made praying and asking means of
attaining His forgiveness, mercy, guidance, support and provision. If He has
decreed some good for a person to be attained by means of du’aa’ that will
not be attained it without du’aa’. What Allaah has decreed and knows about
people’s situations and how their lives will end, it is only decreed through
the means that lead to that specific outcome. Nothing in this world or in
the Hereafter happens except through means, and Allaah is the Creator of the
means and the ends.
With regard to
this matter, two types of people go astray. There are those who believe in
the divine decree and think that it is sufficient to attain one's aims, so
they turn away from the prescribed means and righteous deeds. They will end
up disbelieving in the Books of Allaah, His Messengers and His religion.
(The other
group) ask for reward from Allaah as a hired man asks for his wages from his
employer, relying on their own power, strength and deeds. These people are
ignorant and misguided, because Allaah has not enjoined His commands upon
people out of need, and He has not imposed His prohibitions out of
stinginess, rather He has enjoined what is in their best interests and He
has forbidden that which is bad for them. As He says: “You will never be in
a position where you are able to harm Me and you will never be in a position
to benefit Me.”
The one who
turns away from the commands and prohibitions, promises and warnings, and
focuses only on the divine decree has gone astray, and the one who strives
to follow the commands and prohibitions and ignores the divine decree has
gone astray. Rather the believer is as Allaah says: “You (Alone) we
worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything)”
[al-Faatihah 1:5], so we worship Him by following the command, and we
seek His help on the basis our belief in the divine decree. End quote.
Muqtatafaat
min Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (8/66 ff).
Following note from Muslim Quran online Blog
The first lesson to be learned by all Muslims is the importance of the Reading Quran Online. All Muslim should learn holy Quran online is the Book of Allah All mighty. Every word which the quran reciter recites or he read quran is the word of Allah it is mentioned in Quran in Arabic that it is the guidance which has come from Allah. That is why we as Muslim say it is the Holy Book. We should learn quran and focus on quran teaching thought by the quran tutor to the students and the tutor should arrange the kids quran lessons in such an easy manner so they can understand it easily and make there quran recitation online as beautiful as he could and teach them that the words of Koran were sent by Allah to our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWW) through the angel Jibraeel. And further more elaborate wile reading quran with teaching them the quran tafseer and the tajweed quran with its rules let then do quran memorization in the proper manner We as Muslim should respect the teachings of Quran and in every other manner when we are reading it or when we listen to Quran wake up Muslims and spread the word of Islam to
End of the note by quran education
