(The Hellfire complained to its Lord and said, "O Lord! Some parts of me devour other parts of me.'' So He (Allah) permitted it to take two breaths: one breath in the winter and one breath in the summer. Thus, the most severe cold that you experience in the winter is from its cold, and the most severe heat that you experience in the summer is from its heat. ) In the Two Sahihs it is recorded that he said,
(When the heat becomes intense pray the prayer when it cools down, for indeed the intense heat is from the breath of Hell.)
It is clear that we don't have all the answers. So we shouldn't doubt that this, indeed, is the reason for worm and cold weather. But I was wondering if anyone has an article concerning this hadith? Or maybe someone has some thoughts that could explain this hadith so we could understand it better insha'Allah?
Maybe the breath from Hell causes the earth to move and thus, the weather changes when the earth spins as a result of breading/blow from Hell. Allahu 'alam.
I don't know of any articles off the top of my head, but I'll just give my comments.
Its quite obvious why the Prophet saws forbade people to pray in extreme temperatures. When its very hot you can't concentrate on your prayer and your just sweating and feeling feeble, so your communication to God in your salaah is degraded. Thus, the Prophet saws metaphorically likened the temperatures to a breath from Hell. We know that a breath could mean either inhalation or exhalation, but here it is most likely inhalation, as the Hell fire pulls on you with the affliction of extreme temperatures during your worship of God.
We must keep in mind that intepreting the hadith is not like interpreting the word of God, since we know that the word of God can have several different meanings, while with the hadith its most likely that the Prophet saws meant a specific thing by the words he spoke.
I don't see any need to interpret the Prophet saws's statements in the light of science, since he wasn't trying to be a science teacher. Nevertheless, I believe that because the Prophet was inspired by God, he would not make a statement conflicting with science.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Surely I was sent to perfect the qualities of righteous character" [Musnad Ahmad, Muwatta Mâlik]
Okay. Do you know of any ahadith that are interpreted metaphorically by the scholars?
EDIT: Actually, I just remembered something. The Prophet salallahu 'alayhi wa sallam made a very, very similar statement about feber. I don't have the actual hadith right now, but I remember it said that feber is from the heat of Hell, so drink water and it will cure you. And that could be metaphorical. So this, which is also a hadith about heat and it being from Hell, could be interpreted metaphorically, wa Allahu 'alam.
Last edited by Abu Zakariya; 08-02-2005 at 01:01 AM.
The salaf used to say that the prayer was from the Akhirah, so you should leave Dunya while performing it.
Of course, this isn't supposed to be literal. So, I see your point brother ansar al-Haqq.
". from the 'Fai`h' or the 'Fauj' of Hell, which means, 'from its radiation and heat.' There is a difference of opinion regarding its relation to Hell. It was said that the relation is literal. Therefore, the heat felt by one who suffers from a fever is a part of Hell, which Allah made to appear through means that He has measured so that the slaves heed to this lesson. Similarly, types of delight and elation are parts of Paradise's delight and Allah made these to appear in this life as a lesson and a reminder. It was also said that this Hadeeth (Khabar) is a figure of speech. Thus, in this case, it would mean that the heat of fever is similar to the heat of Hell to alert one's inner self to the intensity of the heat of the Fire and that the heat of fever is similar to the Fire's Fai`h' in that it touches those near it." (Fathul Baari)
{ Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink. Except boiling water, and Ghasaaqaa”} [Al Naba: 24-25]
It is Zamhareer, it burns them with its extreme cold just as it burns them with its heat. It was also stated by Mujaahid and Muqaatil that it is the peak of coldness.
[Badaa’i al Fawaa-id: 2/244]
Al Haafidh ibn Rajab stated:
Allaah the Elevated rendered what is in this world, in terms of heat and cold, related to the heat and cold of the Hell fire, and an evidence for it, and this is why it is recommend to seek refuge from the Hell fire when one experiences this [i.e. the heat and cold].
As was narrated by ‘Uthmaan ad Daarimee and others, the Hadeeth of Daraaj, on the authority of Abu Haytham…that Abu Hurayrah narrated to him that the Prophet- صلى الله عليه وسلم - said:
If a man says on a hot day; ‘There is no deity worthy of worship in truth but Allaah, how hot it is today! O Allaah! Save me from the heat of Jahannam [the Hell fire].’
Allaah would say to Jahannam; “Indeed a servant of Mine has asked Me for salvation from your heat, indeed I hold you as a witness that I have granted him salvation.”
And if a servant says on an extremely cold day; ‘There is no deity worthy of worship in truth but Allaah, how cold it is today! O Allaah! Save me from the Zamhareer of Jahannam.’
Allaah would say to Jahannam; “Indeed a servant of Mine has sought refuge with me from your Zamhareer, indeed I hold you as a witness that I have granted him refuge.”
The companions asked: “What is the Zamhareer of Jahannam?
He replied: “It is an abode where the disbeliever is thrown, he would be torn apart by its extreme cold.” [1]
[Fat-h al Baaree: 3/71]
Al ‘Aynee stated:
There is nothing to prevent Zamhareer from emitting from the same Hell fire, because what is meant by ‘the Hell fire’ is its place, which is Jahannam, and there is a level of Zamhareer in it.
It was said that there is no contradiction here in combing between heat and cold in the Hell fire, because the Hell fire is Jahannam, and it has been narrated that parts of it are fire and other parts are Zamhareer, and they are not in the same place, it is impossible that they are combined in one place.
I say [Al ‘Aynee]: The One who created the dominion including ice and fire, is able to combine two opposites in one place. In addition, the Hell fire is from the affairs of the unseen, and the affairs of the unseen are not to be compared to the affairs of this world.
[1] The Hadeeth was declared as inauthentic by al Albaanee.
How perfect You are O Allaah, and I praise You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance
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