Ibn Mas’ood reported that the Messenger of Allaah, and he is the most truthful, said:
“…By Allaah, other than Whom there is none worthy of worship, verily one of you does the actions of the people of Paradise, until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him so he does the actions of the people of Hell-Fire and so he enters it.
And one of you does the actions of the people of Hell-Fire, until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him so he does the actions of the people of Paradise and thus he enters it.“
[Bukhaaree #3207, 3332, 6594 and 7454. Muslim #2634. Aboo Dawood #4708. Tirmidhee #2137. Ibn Maajah #76. Ahmad 1/382, 414 and 430]
I admit to often being confused by things written and said by the Prophet (pbuh). Can someone explain the meaning of the above passage? It is very cryptic to me.
I admit to often being confused by things written and said by the Prophet (pbuh). Can someone explain the meaning of the above passage? It is very cryptic to me.
My interpretation is that the above hadith serves a very good reminder that we all need to be on our toes and should not be satisfied with our deeds, and to be always on our toes (meaning, to keep asking Allah SWT for His mercy and guidance, to keep doing good deeds and to purify our intention) because we will never know what's going to happen next.
This is similar to a story about a really bad guy who killed 100 people but then right before he died he repented so much that he went to heaven instead, and about a very pious who did nothing but good deeds but then tempted to make a small sin which lead to other sins which delivered him to hell.
Well, then why do we do any deeds if our destination is already written...?
Asalaam O Alaikum...
This Hadith is true and correct, however this Hadith can only be understood, under the light of Quran. A similar Hadith is recorded which i will mention.
it is called Surah Al Layl...Chapter of The Night... this Hadith mentioned, is to be read in conjunction with this Surah of the Glorious Quran.... This is Quoted and explained all in the Commentary of Great Classical Commentator of the Quran, Imam Ismail Ibn Kathir (r.a)....
Al-Bukhari recorded from `Ali bin Abi Talib that they (the Companions) were with the Messenger of Allah at the cemetery of Baqi` Al-Gharqad for a funeral, when the Prophet (saw) said, "There is none among you except that his place has already been written, a seat in Paradise and a seat in the Hellfire." They said, "O Messenger of Allah! Should we depend on this'' He replied, "Perform deeds for everyone will have the deeds of what he was created for (Paradise or Hell) made easy for him." Then he recited the Ayah of Surah Al Layl Chapter 92.....
92:5. As for him who gives (to others) and is Conscious of God
92:6. And believes in Al-Husna (ultimate good i.e moral values as given by Allah).
92:7. We will make smooth for him the path of ease. (i.e towards ease of mind and peace of the spirit)
92:8.But he who is greedy and thinks himself self-sufficient (even though he is a creation himself) 92:9. And denies Al-Husna. (i.e calls ultimate good a lie)
92:10. We will make smooth for him the path to evil.
So The Messenger of Allah (saw) used to recite the above Verses when he mentioned about every individual Muslim's destiny, and so he recited the above Verses to make it clear, that there is no such thing as Pre Destination in everything in Islam, rather our destiny will be determined by our will to do good or bad deeds, everything does NOT happen against our will, our will is also included.
(3:108)... Allah (swt) Wills no wrong to His Creation."
So the Hadith which i have mentioned and the one mentioned by the brother who started the thread, can only be understood under the light of the above Verses of Quran.
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