Hadees Shareef and its Explanation
In the protection of Allah Almighty
Abun-Noor Rashid Ali Attari Madani
The Companion of the Messenger of Allah, Sayyiduna Abdullah Bin Yazeed رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ narrates that whenever the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم wanted to say farewell to an army, he would say: اَسْتَوْدِعُ اللهَ دِينَكُمْ وَاَمَانَتَكُمْ وَخَواتِيْمَ اَعْمَالِكُمْ, ‘I entrust your religion, what you are responsible for, and your final deeds to Allah Almighty.’ (Abu Dawood, vol. 3, p. 49, Hadees: 2601)
Explanation of the Hadees اَسْتَوْدِعُ اللهَ دِينَكُمْ
That is, I have given your religion into the protection of Allah Almighty, because the hardships and troubles of travel distract man from good deeds, and it is only through the increase in good deeds that a man's faith becomes stronger. That is why the Holy Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم prayed for t their religion and their ability to do good deeds. (Fayz-ul-Qadeer, vol. 1, p. 641, Taht-al-Hadees 1007)
وَاَمَانَتَكُمْ That is, I have entrusted your belongings to Allah Almighty because, during a journey, man deals with different people, and also has to stay with them, so in such a situation, a person may be deceived. Entrusting here may also refer to family and wealth, which means, ‘May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ protect the family and the people you leave behind, and your wealth that you are entrusting with someone to keep safe.’ (Fayz-ul-Qadeer, vol. 1, p. 641, Taht-al-Hadees: 1007; Mirqat-ul-Mafatih, vol. 4, p. 1690, Taht-al-Hadees: 2435)
وَخَواتِيْمَ اَعْمَالِكُمْ That is, I entrust the last good deed that you did before the journey to the protection of Allah Almighty, or it means dying in the state of faith. (Fayz-ul-Qadeer, vol. 1, p. 641, Taht-al-Hadees: 1007; Mirqat-ul-Mafatih, vol. 4, p. 1690, Taht-al-Hadees: 2435)
Hakeem-ul-Ummah, Mufti Ahmad Yar Khan Na’eemi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه says: ‘There is a subtle hint in this prayer that: ‘O you who lived in Madinah, until now you were under my shade, so you used to ask me every question. and you used to request me to solve every problem. However, now you are going away from me, and you will not be able to ask from me, so I entrust everything you do to Allah Almighty in every need, so all your work is entrusted to Allah Almighty.’ What a pleasant prayer and what a happy farewell! The meaning of ‘final deed’ is at the time of death, i.e. if death comes to you during this journey, may it be upon faith. Your life and death are entrusted to Allah.’ (Mirat-ul-Manajih, vol. 4, p. 43, Selected)
Dear Islamic brothers! In this hadith, the Holy Prophet's صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم way of bidding farewell to the Companions رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُم is mentioned, and we learn from it that whenever we part ways with our friends, we should entrust them to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ.
Sayyiduna Hakeem Luqman رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه says: ‘When something is entrusted to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ protects it.’ Because man is very weak and helpless and the means that are given to him are also weak in the same way. So, when he gives up on the means and leaves them acknowledging his weakness, entrusts something to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and acquits himself of its protection, and makes Allah the Almighty the disposer of affairs, then Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ protects that thing and Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ is the best Protector. (Fayz-ul-Qadeer, vol. 2, p. 642, Taht-al-Hadees: 2403)
Narration
وأخرج الحكيم عن ابن عمر أن عمر عرض الناس فإذا برجل معه ابنه فقال عمر رضی الله عنه: ما رأيت غرابا أشبه بهذا منك قال: والله يا أمير المؤمنين ولدته أمه فی القبر فاستوى قاعدا فقال: حدثنی فقال: غزوت وأمه حامل فقالت: تدعنی حاملا معقلا قلت: أستودع الله ما فی بطنك فلما قدمت وجدتها ماتت فبت عند قبرها وبكيت فرفعت لی نار علية فقلت: إنا لله أما والله كانت عفيفة صوامة قوامة فتأملت فإذا القبر مفتوح وهو يدب حولها ونوديت: أيها المستودع ربه وديعته خذ وديعتك أما لو استودعته وأمه لوجدتهما. فأخذته فعاد القبر كما كان
The second caliph, the leader of the Muslims, Sayyiduna Umar Farooq-e-A’zam رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ saw a man with his son, and said: ‘I have never seen a crow resemble (another crow) as much as this boy resembles you.’
The person said: ‘O Leader of the Faithful, by Allah Almighty, he was born in the grave.’ Umar Farooq-e-A’zam رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ sat up straight and said, ‘Tell me about his story.’
The man narrated, ‘I was leaving for jihad and the child's mother was pregnant at that time. She said to me: ‘Are you leaving me in this state?’ I replied: ‘I entrust whatever is in your womb to Allah Almighty.’
When I returned, my wife had died. I was crying at night near her grave when suddenly a fire broke out in front of me. I said: ‘By Allah Almighty! She was chaste and used to fast and stay up (in prayer) at night.’ When I stopped for a while, I saw the grave open in front of me and this child was crawling around his mother. A voice was heard: ‘O you who gave your trust into the care of your Lord! Take your belonging. Had you given his mother as well along with him, you would have found both.’ I picked up the child and the grave closed. (Ihya-ul-‘Uloom, vol. 2, p. 917)
Note: The above narration mentions the automatic opening of the grave, however, stating the Shar’i ruling regarding opening the grave yourself, Ameer-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ writes in ‘Faizan-e-Namaz’: ‘Whenever moisture or water enters the grave, the grave must never be opened without the permission of an honourable Mufti who is enriched with the love of the Prophet. Sometimes the dead person appears in a dream and says, ‘I am alive! Get me out!’ or he says: ‘My grave is full of water, I am uncomfortable here, transfer my dead body somewhere else,’ etc. Even if such dreams appear over and over again, it is not permissible to open the grave on the basis of dreams.’ (Faizan-e-Namaz, p. 369)
The Leader of the Faithful, Sayyiduna Umar Bin Abdul Aziz رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْهsaid before his death: ‘Bring my sons to me.’ When they came, his eyes became moist when seeing them and he said: ‘May I be sacrificed! I am leaving behind these poor young children in poverty. They do not have anything at all.’ Then he said while weeping: ‘My sons! I was standing at the crossroads: Either you would be rich and I would have become the fuel for hellfire, or you would have become poor and I would go to paradise. I think the latter way was better for me. Go! May Allah Almighty be your protector and guardian. Go! Allah Almighty will provide for you.’
Sayyiduna Abdul Rahman Bin Qasim Bin Abi Bakr رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْهsays that he (Umar Bin Abdul Aziz) died leaving behind eleven sons and the total inheritance that he left was 17 gold coins. Out of that, some was spent on his shroud and burial, and the remaining was distributed amongst his sons, each of them getting 19 silver coins. Whereas, Hishaam Bin Abdul Malik also died leaving 11 sons and when his inheritance wealth was distributed, each son got a million, but I saw that one of the sons of Sayyiduna Umar Bin Abdul Aziz رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه donated one hundred horses for battle in one day, while I saw people giving charity to one of the destitute sons of Hishaam. (Sirat Ibn-e-Jawzi, pp. 321,338; Sirat Ibn-e-Abdul-Hakam, p. 98)
Dear Islamic brothers! From this blessed hadith and its explanation, we get the following Madani pearls:
* The thing that is entrusted to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ stays safe.
* Whenever we bid farewell to people, we should entrust them, their life and wealth to Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ.
* It is Sunnah (i.e. a prophetic practice) to say Salam at the time of departure, however, there is nothing wrong with saying ‘Allah Hafiz/Khuda Hafiz (i.e. may Allah Almighty protect you)’ or ‘Entrusting you to Allah Almighty’ after this, in fact, in one way we are also acting upon this Prophetic narration.
May Allah Almighty enable us to follow this blessed Hadees and protect our faith, family, wealth and life.
اٰمِیْن بِجَاہِ النَّبِیِّ الْاَمِیْن صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
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