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Saturday, December 29, 2018

Is hell filled by women?





These hadiths were given to me and I was asked the question 'is hell filled with women'?


These are the hadiths that are relevant:


عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّه عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: (اطَّلَعْتُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا الْفُقَرَاءَ وَاطَّلَعْتُ فِي النَّارِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاء)َ . رواه البخاري 3241 ومسلم 2737

Imran ibn Husayn [may Allah be pleased with him] reports that the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, "I looked into paradise and most its inhabitants were from the impoverished [in the world]. I looked at hell and I saw most of its inhabitants were women." Bukhari and Muslim.



فعَنْ عَبْد اللَّهِ بْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : ( َأُرِيتُ النَّارَ فَلَمْ أَرَ مَنْظَرًا كَالْيَوْمِ قَطُّ أَفْظَعَ وَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاءَ ) قَالُوا :  بِمَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ : ( بِكُفْرِهِنَّ ) قِيلَ : يَكْفُرْنَ بِاللَّهِ ، قَالَ : ( يَكْفُرْنَ الْعَشِيرَ وَيَكْفُرْنَ الإِحْسَانَ لَوْ أَحْسَنْتَ إِلَى إِحْدَاهُنَّ الدَّهْرَ كُلَّهُ ثُمَّ رَأَتْ مِنْكَ شَيْئًا قَالَتْ مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْكَ خَيْرًا قَطُّ ) رواه البخاري 1052

Abdullah ibn Abbas [may Allah be pleased with him] reports that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, "I have seen hell and I have not seen a sight, like today, more horrid. I saw most of its inhabitants were women." They asked, "Why was that? O Messenger of Allah?" He replied, "They denied." One asked, "They denied Allah?" He said, "They denied [ungrateful] towards their family, they denied goodness [that they were given]. If someone was good to them their whole life they would see something [bad] from you. They would say I have never seen any good from you." Bukhari 



حديث أُسَامَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم، قَالَ: قُمْتُ عَلَى بَابِ الْجَنَّةِ، فَكَانَ عَامَّةَ مَنْ دَخَلَهَا الْمَسَاكِينُ وَأَصْحَابُ الْجَدِّ مَحْبُوسُونَ غَيْرَ أَنَّ أَصْحَابَ النَّارِ، قَدْ أُمِرَ بِهِمْ إِلَى النَّارِ وَقمْتُ عَلَى بَابِ النَّارِ، فَإِذَا عَامَّةُ مَنْ دَخَلَهَا النِّسَاءُ أخرجه البخاري


Usamah [may Allah be pleased with him] reports that the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, "I stood at the door of paradise and most of those who entered it were poor and those who exerted themselves in isolation, unlike the residents of hell. I moved to [see] hell and stood at the door of hell. Most of those in it were women." Bukhari.




These hadith have to be explained and understood. This is something that caused me a lot of grief, when this question was asked of me. Now firstly we have to look at what our scholars said. 


قال القاضي عياض: النساء أكثر ولد آدم


Qadi Iyyad said, "Women are the greatest number of the offspring of Adam."

This makes sense, because if there were more men than women then their number in hell would be greater because there are more of them.


قال القرطبي تعليقا على قوله : { رأيتكن أكثر أهل النار } : يحتمل أن يكون هذا في وقت كون النساء في النار وأما بعد خروجهن في الشفاعة ورحمة الله تعالى حتى لا يبقى فيها أحد ممن قال: لا إله إلا الله فالنساء في الجنة أكثر


Al-Qurtabi (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I saw you [using female first person plural pronoun] as most of the inhabitants of hell." It means that is how it was at that time. Yet later they came out with the intercession and mercy of Allah (the Exalted) until none of them remained who said there is no deity except Allah then women will be the greatest [number of] heaven."



قال العيني ـ رحمه الله ـ في بيان فوائد هذا الحديث: منها: تحريم كفران الحقوق والنعم، إذ لا يدخل النار إلا بارتكاب حرام


Al-'Ayni (may Allah be pleased with him) said explaining the benefits of this hadith, "The forbidding of rejecting [or denying] rights and blessings; no one enters the fire except those who commit major sins."



ابن حجر العسقلاني ، فيكون الجمع بين الحديثين أن النساء أكثر أهل النار وأكثر أهل الجنة ، وبذلك يكن أكثر من الرجال وجودا في الخلق. ويمكن أن يقال : إن حديث أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه يدل على أن نوع النساء في الجنة


Ibn Hajjar Al-Asqalani (may Allah show him mercy) said, "Combining between the hadiths that women are most of the inhabitants of paradise and most of the inhabitants of paradise. Therefore they are greater number in creation than men."



وقال النووي: توعده على كفران العشير وكفران الإحسان بالنار يدل على أنهما من الكبائر


Al-Nawawi (may Allah show him mercy) said, "It warns that rejecting the family and rejecting blessing [is punishable] by the fire is a major sin."



 وقال ابن بطال: فيه دليل على أن العبد يعذب على جحد الإحسان والفضل وشكر النعم، قال وقد قيل إن شكر المنعم واجب.


Ibn Battal (may Allah show him mercy) said, "It contains proof that the servant is punished if he denies goodness, virtues and being ungrateful for blessings." He said, "Being grateful for blessings is mandatory."





Imam Al-Suyuti said his commentary of Imam Muslim hadith collection, 'Most means that they [women] will be more than men..." The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said,


يا معشر النساء تصدقن فاني رأيتكن أكثر أهل النار

"O women folk, give charity because I saw you [women] as most the inhabitants of hell." There would be no point in the command to give charity if they were to remain in hell forever. This indicates they are not to remain there forever. They will enter the fire for their sins and be released from the fire after a time, to marry one of the residents of paradise."

1/6 الديباج على صحيح مسلم بن الحجاج




Combining all the points


To further illustrate the opinions of the rich tradition of scholarship of Islam I want to combine all the points mentioned.


1. The hadiths occurred when the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) saw paradise and hell. This was the blessed event of the Miraj/heavenly ascension. So if he looked into hell at that point how many Muslims had died at that point in history? Very few because the miraj occurred in the year in 621 when the Muslims numbered in the hundreds. So how could it be that most of the hell was made up of women? At what point in history was hell seen? So this is why it was most of the women from previous nations, not those currently alive or yet to be born. As it would be unjust for people who were not yet born to be everlasting torment when they had done nothing. So this could only apply to those who had died without faith and were dead at that time, thus in hell. This does not apply to those who have faith. It only applies to those without.


2. Is being ungrateful to ones husband such a great sin to endure in hell forever? No sin will mean that they stay in hell forever, apart from disbelief. So female believers will be freed from hell with intercession or those who have the least bit of faith. So the hadith must be taken as a warning. Only the sin of kufr or shirk will cause perpetual torment in hell. All other sins will be removed by the torment of hell and then they will enter paradise based on faith. This is a problem when we take a single evidence in isolation. Being ungrateful to Allah (the Exalted) is a sin. Being ungrateful to ones husband is a sin but not as great to cause one to enter hell. This hadith has to be taken as a warning because if it was a major sin then would be more than just a few hadith on it. There should be so many hadith that would leave all doubt.   


3. If we also consider that men will have more than one wife in paradise therefore we must conclude that there are more women in paradise! Yet there are no men complaining about being the least gender in paradise.


What does most mean? In hanafi fiqh most meanings 51% or more. If it is 51% percent then it nothing to be concerned about especially if there are more women than men. 


In the Quran Allah (the Exalted) praised women, "The Muslim men, the Muslim women, the believing men, the believing women, the obedient men, the obedient women, the truthful men, the truthful women, the patient men, the patient women, the fearful men, the fearful women, the men who give charity, the women who give charity, the fasting men, the fasting women, and the men and women who guard their private areas, and those men and women who remember Allah much; Allah prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward." (Quran: Al-Ahzab 33:35)


So Allah (the Exalted) praises women here and do not think otherwise. If you want to see how the Quran views women please see previous article on that. Also see previous see womens reward in paradise too.


The encouragement to give charity was to increase their good actions and this has to be seen in a positive manner.


The second hadith states that there is a certain type of women who is ungrateful towards here husband for seeing one bad trait in him. This is true when people argue they forget all the good you did to them. I did translate kafar as deny but it can mean ungratefulness here. As its two main translation is disbelief and ungratefulness. Here I translated it as deny.


Finally, these hadiths should not be used by men to scare women into thinking that they are going to be in hell in greater numbers. This type of misogynistic retelling of Islam is not wanted and it belies the original tradition.


Wives must be aware of being ungrateful to Allah (the Exalted) as much as men. One has to be careful when reading hadith without, the largely untapped, commentary of our scholars. Find a scholar to ask a question and be safe. 


The main point is that hell is filled with those without faith, regardless of gender. 


Important links

How the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) treated women click here



Treatment of women click here


Women's reward in paradise click here


Hijab in the modern context click here 

Can women visit graves? click here

Sheikh Hamza Yusuf


Thursday, November 22, 2018

40 Hadith on Ahl Al-Bayt by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Nabhani

Please click here to purchase paperback or here for kindle

40 hadith on salawat

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40 hadith Imam Nawawi

 Please click here for paperback or kindle version

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forty-hadith-complied-Al-Nawawi-Sheikhy-ebook/dp/B06XYH5FT6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1542920520&sr=8-5&keywords=arfan+shah

40 hadith rights of Muslims by Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani

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Thank you

Abu Bakr Al-Saddiq (r) 40 hadith complied by Imam Al-Suyuti

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Forty-hadith-superiority-Bakr-Truthful/dp/1790134161/ref=sr_1_59?ie=UTF8&qid=1542918156&sr=8-59&keywords=arfan+shah
 for paperback version of 40 hadith on Abu Bakr the Truthful complied by Imam Al-Suyuti
translated by Arfan Shah Al-Bukhari

Or for kindle versions click here

Thank you

Saturday, October 06, 2018

Funeral Prayer /Janazah over criminals




This issue was brought to my attention and when I answered the question, it reminded me that there was something wrong. Therefore, I wanted to put something into writing that is topical and very important.





First, let us look at a few hadith.



رواه سمرة رضي الله عنه أَنَّ رَجُلًا قَتَلَ نَفْسَهُ بِمَشَاقِصَ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : أَمَّا أَنَا فَلَا أُصَلِّي عَلَيْه رواه النسائي 1964


Sumarah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports that a man killed himself with an arrow. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, "I will not pray over him." Nisa'i




روى الشيخان و أصحاب السنن عَنْ سَلَمَةَ بْنِ الأَكْوَعِ رضى الله عنه قَالَ كُنَّا جُلُوساً عِنْدَ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم إِذْ أُتِىَ بِجَنَازَةٍ فَقَالُوا صَلِّ عَلَيْهَا فَقَالَ هَلْ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنٌ ؟ قَالُوا لاَ قَالَ هَلْ تَرَكَ شَيْئاً ؟ قَالُوا  لاَ  فَصَلَّى عَلَيْه ثُمَّ أُتِىَ بِجَنَازَةٍ أُخْرَى فَقَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلِّ عَلَيْهَا قَالَ هَلْ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنٌ ؟ قِيلَ نَعَمْ قَالَ فَهَلْ تَرَكَ شَيْئاً ؟ قَالُوا ثَلاَثَةَ دَنَانِيرَ  فَصَلَّى عَلَيْهَا ثُمَّ أُتِىَ بِالثَّالِثَةِ ،‏ فَقَالُوا صَلِّ عَلَيْهَا قَالَ هَلْ تَرَك شَيْئاً ؟ قَالُوا لاَ ، قَالَ  فَهَلْ عَلَيْهِ دَيْنٌ ؟ قَالُوا ثَلاَثَةُ دَنَانِيرَ قَالَ صَلُّوا عَلَى صَاحِبِكُمْ.‏ قَالَ أَبُو قَتَادَةَ صَلِّ عَلَيْهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَعَلَىَّ دَيْنُهُ فَصَلَّى عَلَيْهِ


The two scholars [Muslim and Bukhari] and the compiler of the hadith report that Salamah bin Al-Akuwa' (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "We were sat with the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) when the funeral came and they asked, "Pray for them." He asked, "Does he have any debts?" They said, "No." He asked, "Has he left anything?" They said, "No." Then he would prayer over it [the deceased]. Then another funeral would come and they would ask, "O Messenger of Allah pray for them." He asked, "Does he have a debt?" Someone said, "Yes." He asked, "Has he left anything?" They said, "Three silver coins." [Most likely, this money was used to pay the debt] Then he prayed over him. Then a third funeral came and they asked, "Pray for it." He asked, "Has he left anything?" They said, "No." He asked, "Does he have any debts?" They said, "Three silver coins." He replied, "Pray over your companion." Abu Qatadah said, "I will pay his debt." Then he prayed over him."




عن أبي قتادة - رضي الله عنه - قال: " كان رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - إذا دعي لجنازة سأل عنها " فإن أثني عليها خيرا " قام فصلى عليها " وإن أثني عليها غير ذلك " قال لأهلها: شأنكم بها ولم يصل عليها

أبن حبان و حاكم


When he was called to a funeral prayer, he would ask [about the deceased], if the person was praised, he would arise and perform the prayer. Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him) reports, "the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) would say to the family, "They are your concern." When the words about them was other [badness] and did not pray over them." Ibn Hibban and Al-Hakim.

In terms of debts of companions one of the following occurred,
1. His debts were paid by the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him)
2. By one of the companions
3. Inheritance was made to pay debts
4. Someone else paid the debts. 




وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم : ( والذي نفسي بيده لو أن رجلاً قتل في سبيل الله ثم أحيي ثم قتل ثم أحيي ثم قتل وعليه دين ما دخل الجنة حتى يقضى عنه دينه)رواه الإمام أحمد وهو حديث صحيح


The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, "I take oath by the possessor of my soul if a man is killed in the path of Allah, brought back to life then killed, then brought back to life and killed but he owes a debt. He will not enter paradise until the debt is paid." Imam Ahmed


There are more hadiths than the above but we will suffice with these.




In the books of the Hanafi's



Imam Al-Haskafi in Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar on Imam Al-Mosuli's Ikhtiyar in the book of prayer p.119, "It is an [collective] obligation that every deceased Muslim [to be prayed over] except.."


Then he mentions four categories of people who are the exceptions from the above.  



Imam Abu Laith Al-Samarqandi said in Khazanta Al-Fiqh/ Treasure of Jurisprudence,

أربعة لا يصلي عليهم الخناق والباغي والخوارج إذا قتلوا و ماتوا قبل التوبة و قاطع الطريق إذا قتل بعدما أخذ المال وقيل الذين كابروهم فقتلهم لايصلى عليهم


"Four [categories] are not to [perform the funeral] prayer over: the strangler, the rebel, the Khawarij who died before repentance, the highway robber when killed stealing money and it was said the vile transgressor of them are killed and not prayed over." p.69




Imam Zayn Al-Deen Al-Razi said in Tufhat Al-Muluk,

لا يصلى على باغ ولا قاطع طريق


"The rebel and the highway robber are not [funeral] prayed over."p.114




Imam Al-Tahtawi said Hashiyah Al-Tahtawiyyah on Maraqi Al-Falah on Nur Al-Idah p.601/2, "The rebel is not prayed over (by agreement, even if Muslim) and not (highway robber) when one of them is killed in a battle. They are not wasted because Ali (may Allah ennoble his face) did not [instruct] the rebels to be washed. They are washed before a leader is affirmed and they are prayed over. The murderer by strangulation/assassination, he deceives, takes him to a place and kills him, the general meaning is like the strangler who takes his victim and causes corruption in the land. Not [to pray over] the haughty of a city who take arms in the night and are killed in this state. The slain of the nationalist/tribalism to humiliate him and warn others. They are washed according to one of the opinions and prayed over, if washed. A person who killed themselves on purpose for severe pain is washed and prayed over, according to Abu Hanifah and Muhammad and this is most authentic opinion because he is a sinful believer. Abu Yusuf said, "They are not prayed over." The judge, the Imam, Ali Al-Saghdi said, "The correct opinion to me they are not prayed over, even if it was an error, if it was for a pain then they prayed over by agreement. Killing oneself is a greater crime and sin than killing someone else. He who kills one of his parents is not prayed over because of oppression and to lower him."


Here, Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Muhammad's position is reliable, that a person who kills themselves because of an illness is prayed over but not someone who kills others whilst killing himself.


Nur Al-Idah is one of the most popular books of Fiqh in the Indo pak world. So it makes it even more bizarre that no one has noticed.




Similar is mentioned in Al-Fatawa Al-Tatarhaniyah by Sheikh Alim ibn Al-Alaa' Al-Indaryti in the section of those who are prayed for and those not prayed for p.607/8.



Similar is also confirmed by Imam Al-Haskafi in Al-Durr Al-Mukhtar on Imam Al-Mosuli's Ikhtiyar in the book of prayer p.119/2.



In Imam Al-Mosuli's own commentary on Ikhtiyar, he said, "The killed for the Had or Qasas is washed and prayed over because they were not killed performing oppression and are not in the meaning of martyrs of Uhud. He said, "The rebel and highway robber are not prayed over because they spread corruption on the earth. The Exalted said, "This is their disgrace in the world." (Quran 5:33). [Funeral] Prayer is intercession that they are not worthy of. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not pray over rebels and he is the exemplar, to be followed, in this chapter. This was seen by the companions and they did not reject and it became consensus." P.105.


Someone who has been killed because of the penal system has been recompensed their sin because of a court order. Therefore, they can be washed and buried but those who have committed sins which cause corruption in the land deserve more severe punishment from the government.  




Are they martyrs?


People are resurrected upon their intentions but if your attention was to get away from the police then one thing is clear. You have died committing a criminal act and because of reckless driving.


Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said, “Who do you reckon to be martyr among you?” They replied, “The one who is killed in the way of Allah.” He said, “In that case the martyrs among my people would be few!” They asked, “Messenger of Allah! Then who are the martyrs?” He replied, “He who is killed in the way of Allah is a martyr; he who dies naturally in the cause of Allah is a martyr; he who dies of plague is a martyr; he who dies of a stomach disease is a martyr; and he who is drowned is a martyr.” Muslim


A martyr is someone who was killed in battle by someone else, drown, house collapses on them, plague, defending their property, woman dying giving birth, abdominal disease, etc. Therefore, it is clear that gangsters who die committing evil acts are not martyrs.



Sheikh Gibril Haddad gives more details of the classifications of martyrs.





Imam's role in society and conclusion


He is the person who guides people to Allah by adherence to the sacred law. If he himself has no regard for it then how can he affect people? Alternatively, is that he fears for his job? The masjid committees have a lot to answer for. Praying over those who are known to be criminals should not be done by the Imam. The Imam should find out about the person they are praying over and if they are a criminal then he should refuse. The hadiths also give us a way for someone other than the Imam to pray over them but if we follow the fiqh strictly then no one should pray over them.

It shocked me that Imams do not seem to lose any sleep praying over gangsters and their ilk. If someone is driving at illegal speeds then crashes their car killing all those onboard, they have committed a criminal act. 


Criminals such as drug traffickers/gangsters and their ilk should be chastised in the community and not lauded. They should be expelled from a community and people should refuse to do business with them. Their families should not be left alone though, we cannot have the law of jungle practiced. 


Unfortunately, they find validation from their parents who brought up monsters whose harm reaches everyone they come into contact. Parents who defend the wrong actions of their children cause increase in their disobedience. These children become monsters because they have never heard the word 'no.' He is a bad person if he is harming the community by his presence. So many parents have failed to inculcate the correct manners into their children. We are then left with communities whose roads are treated like racetracks and unrighteous activity is over looked. When it should not be tolerated. 


All Imams need to heed this call and not pray over anyone who died in a wretched state of criminal activity. This will send shock waves and it might make some people wake up. However, it is clear that part of the sacred law is not being followed here and if you are an Imam then you should not make excuses. Because your sin is greater because it encourages others to commit such sins. Excuses are not going to wash on the day of judgement for anyone.