Sheikh Sa`id ibn Mesfer al-Qahtanis Story of Repentance A Hadith That Woke Me Up (Repentance Story) 1 2 3 4 5 (6 votes, average 4.67 out of 5) By Shari`ah Staff Tuesday, 04 February 2014 00:00 In an open meeting with Sheikh Sa`id ibn Mesfer al-Qahtani - may Allah safeguard him - some of the audience asked him to speak about the beginning of his guidance to the right path, and he replied as follows: In fact, every story of guidance has a beginning. Instinctively, I used to believe in Allah, and when I was practicing worship acts at an early age, I would feel some kind of weakness and procrastination, hoping that when I grow up and become a man, I would surely be diligent and perseverant. Hence, I was then negligent in offering prayers at certain times. And when I attended a funeral prayer or visited the graves, or listened to a sermon in the mosque, the rate of my faith would increase. Then, I would keep up daily prayers, along with supererogatory prayers, for a while, and then a week or two later, I would neglect the supererogatory prayers, and subsequently neglect obligatory prayers at all. I would thus remain negligent until another incident occurs driving me to keep up the prayers again. Read Also: The Light of Guidance (Repentance Story) I Often Think When I Might Sin (Poem) Huge Reward for Small Acts: Why? On Repentance and Hope The Difficult Test (True Story) The True Treasure (Repentance Story) Even after I reached puberty, I maintained my rebellious attitude and kept negligent about prayers, knowing that habits of early days remain in old age. Afterwards, I got married, and then I would keep up prayers at times and neglect it at other times, though I retained my instinctive faith in Almighty Allah. Things remained as such until Almighty Allah willed good for me - on a certain occasion, in 1987 A.H., while I was in the company of a fellow brother, i.e., Sheikh Sulayman ibn Muhamad ibn Faye` (may Allah bless him). Being then a school sports inspector, I was wearing a sports gear, and while I was leaving my office for home, I met him at the door of the Education Administration building, knowing that he was then working in the Financial Affairs Section. I saluted him, since he was a colleague at school. It was in Ramadan, and I was then used to go to bed after work to wake up only before the Maghrib Prayer, neglecting the `Asr Prayer, though I was fasting. So, when I was about to leave Sheikh Sulayman, he asked me, Where are going? and I answered, I am going home to get some sleep. He then said, The time for `Asr Prayer has almost approached, so what do you think if we take a little walk until then? I agreed, and we walked for a while, going up to the dam (Dam of Abha Valley), which had not been built yet. The area was full of trees, aromatic shrubs and brooks. We sat there until `Asr time was due, and then we made ablution and offered prayer, and then started to go back. On our way home, and while he was catching my hand, he recited to me a hadith that I felt as if I was hearing it for the first time, though I had already heard it before since it was a well-known hadith. Yet, as he was reciting it to me, my heart was opening for it as if I was hearing it for the first time. It was the hadith reported by Imam Ahmad, in his Musnad, and Imam Abu Dawud, in his Sunan, from al-Bara Bin `Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We went with the Messenger of Allah to attend a funeral procession of an Ansari man. We reached the grave site when it had not yet been completed. The Messenger of Allah sat, and we sat all around him, as if there were birds hovering above our heads. The Prophet was holding a piece of wood in his hand, poking the ground with it. He next raised his head and said twice or thrice, Seek refuge with Allah from the punishment of the grave. He said next, When a believing slave is reaching the end of his term in the life of this world and the beginning of his term in the Hereafter, a group of angels, whose faces are white and as radiant as the sun, will descend onto him from heaven. They will carry with them white shroud from Paradise, and fragrance for enshrouding from Paradise. They will sit as far from him as the sight goes. Then, the angel of death, will come until he sits right next to his head, saying, O, good and pure soul! Depart (your body) to Allahs forgiveness and pleasure. So the soul flows (out of its body), just as the drop flows out from the tip of the jug, and the angel of death captures it. When he captures the soul, they (the group of angels) will not leave it with him for more than an instance, and they will seize it and wrap it in that shroud, and in that fragrance. A most pleasant musk scent ever found on the earth, will flow out of the soul, and the angels will ascend it (to heaven). They will not pass by, but they will say, Whose is this Tayyib (good) soul They (the angels who are ascending the soul) will reply, Such person, the son of such and such person, -- calling him by the best names that he used to be called in the world. They will reach the lower heaven and will ask that its door be opened for him, and it will be opened for them. The best residents of every heaven will then see him to the next heaven, until he is brought to the seventh heaven. Allah, the Exalted and Ever High, will say, List my servants record in `Illiyyin and send him back to earth, for I have created them from it, and into it I shall return them, and from it I shall bring them out once again. The soul will be joined with its body, and two angels will come to him, sit him up and ask him, Who is your Lord He will say, Allah is my Lord. They will ask him, What is your religion He will say, My religion is Islam. They will say to him, What do you say about this man (Prophet Muhammad) who was sent to you He will say, He is the Messenger of Allah. They will ask him, And what proof do you have about it He will say, I read the Book of Allah (the Quran), and had faith and belief in him. Then, a caller (Allah) will herald from heaven, My servant has said the truth. Therefore, furnish him from Paradise, and let him wear from (the clothes of) Paradise, and open a door for him to Paradise. So he is given from Paradises tranquility and good scent, and his grave will be expanded for him as far as his sight can reach. Then, a man, with a handsome face and handsome clothes and whose scent is pleasant, will come to him, saying, Receive the glad tidings with that which pleases you. This is the Day which you were promised. He will ask him, Who are you; for yours is the face that carries the good news He will reply, I am your good works. He will say, O Lord! Hurry up with the commencement of the Hour, hurry up with the commencement of the Hour, so I can return to my family and my wealth. Follow the Shari`ah Zone FollowShariahTW2 FollowShariahFB2 And when the disbelieving person is reaching the end of his term in the world and the beginning of his term in the Hereafter, there will descend onto him from heaven angels with dark faces. They will bring with them Musuh [a piece of thick, hard cloth made from animal hides], and will sit as far from him as the sight reaches. Then the angel of death will come forward and sit right next to his head, saying, O impure, evil soul! Depart (your body) to the anger of Allah and a wrath from Him. The soul will scatter throughout his body, and the angel of death will seize it as when the thorny branch is removed from wet wool. The angel of death will seize the soul, and when he does, they (the group of angels) will not let it stay in his hand for more than an instance, and they will wrap it in the Musuh. The most putrid smell a dead corpse can ever have on earth will emit from the soul, and the angels will ascend with it. Whenever they pass by a group of angels, they will ask, Whose is this evil soul The angels will respond, He is such person son of such person, -- calling him by the worst names he was known by in the world. When they reach the lowest heaven, they will request that its door be opened for him, and their request will be denied. For them the gates of heaven will not be opened, and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle. [Al-A`raf: 40]. Allah will declare, List his record in Sijjin in the lowest earth. The wicked soul will then be thrown (from heaven). And whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place. [Al-Hajj: 31] His soul will be returned to his body, and two angels will come to him, sit him up and ask him, Who is your Lord He will say, Oh, oh! I do not know. They will ask him, What is your religion, and he will say, Oh, oh! I do not know. They will ask him, What do you say about this man (Prophet Muhammad) who was sent to you He will say, Oh, oh, I do not know! A caller (Allah) will herald from heaven, My servant has lied, so furnish him with the Fire and open a door for him to the Fire. He will find its heat and fierce hot wind. And his grave will be reduced in size, until his bones crush each other. Then, a man with a dreadful face, wearing dreadful clothes and with a disgusting smell emitting from him will come to him, saying, Receive the glad tidings with that which will displease you! This is the Day that you have been promised. He will ask that man, And who are you, for yours is the face that brings about evil He will say, I am your evil work. He will therefore cry, O, my Lord! Do not commence the Hour! As he had finished recitation of the hadith, we approached Abha, and each of us was about to go his way. Then, I asked him, What is the source of this hadith, brother? and he replied, It is recorded in Riyad as-Salihin. I further asked, And what book are you reading now? and he said, I am now reading azh-Zhahabis al-Kabair. Thereupon, I bade him farewell and went right away to the bookshop, i.e., the then only library in Abha, called at-Tawfiq, and bought the two books; al-Kabair and Riyad as-Shalihin; the first two books I ever acquired. On my way home, I said to myself, I am now on the crossroads, having two paths in front of me; the first is the path towards faith that leads to Paradise, and the other is the path towards disbelief, hypocrisy and sins that leads to Hellfire. As I am standing in front of the two paths, what path should I choose? A Turning Point in My Life (Repentance Story) My mind was urging me to follow the first path, while my soul was encouraging me to follow the second in the hope that I was then in my prime and had a long life ahead, and that since the door for repentance is open until the day of Judgment, I can repent at a later time in my life. These thoughts and temptations preoccupied my mind while I was on my way home. Reaching home, I broke my fast, offered Maghrib Prayer, and then went to the mosque to offer `Isha and Taraweeh Prayers. It was the first time I offer the whole Taraweeh Prayer, knowing that I had been used to praying only two rak`ahs (prayer units), or - being shy of leaving quickly when my father was there in the mosque - praying four rak`ahs. Finishing the prayer, I headed for the home of Sheikh Sulayman. He was just leaving the mosque for home. I thus went with him and, at his home, we read parts of al-Kabair on that night. We read the first four major sins; associating others with Allah in worship, sorcery, killing a human whose life is inviolable except for due cause, and abandoning prayer. As we finished reading before the time of suhur (pre-dawn meal), I said to my fellow, How come we be negligent of such words and he replied, It is recorded in scholarly reference books, and we are unaware of it. I thus said, And people are unaware of it too, and in turn we should read it to them. He wondered, Who should do so? and I answered, You. He said, No, it is you who should read to them. We argued for a while before agreeing that I read for people. We thus brought a notebook and recorded the fourth major sin in it; abandonment of prayer. On Friday of that very week, I stood in the mosque of al-Khushsha al-A`la, next to Da`wah Centre in Abha, being the only mosque in Abha then besides al-Jami` al-Kabir, and read the recorded impressive words to the people. Thanks to Allah, such a sermon was the reason for my guidance to the right path. I ask Almighty Allah to make us and you all adhere to His Religion; He is Ever Hearing
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 05:50:18 +0000
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