The Prophet’s Parents Are Saved pdf download

The Prophet’s Parents Are Saved by Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti – Translated by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad

THE PROPHET’S PARENTS ARE SAVED

This writing concerns the question of the ruling (hukm) that the father and mother of the Prophet are (believed to be) saved and not in Hellfire. This has been declared by the majority of the scholars, and in reaching that declaration they have several methods (masālik).

FIRST

His parents died before he was sent as Prophet, and there is no punishment for them as “We never punish until We send a messenger (and they reject him)” (17:15). Our Ash`arī Imāms of those in kalām, usūl, and Shāfi`ī fiqh agree on the statement that one who dies while da’wā has not reached him, dies saved. This has been defined by Imām Shāfi`ī . . . and some of the fuqahā’ have explained that the reason is that that person is on fitra (primordial disposition), and has not stubbornly refused nor rejected any Messenger.

That is the position of our Shaykh, Shaykh al-Islām Sharafuddīn al-Munāwī, as I received it. He was once asked whether the Prophet’s father was in the fire and he groaned loudly at the questioner. The latter insisted: “Is his Islām established?” and he answered that he died in fitra and quoted the verse.

It is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah and it was opposed by the Mu`tazila and those who follow them among those who say that one is condemned because Allāh is known rationally.

It is also the position of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalānī who said,

The (proper) conjecture (zann) concerning his parents, meaning also all those who died before his Messengership, is that they shall obey (his call) at the time of their examination (in the grave), as a gift (from Allāh) to please him.

This method is based on the following sources:

Evidence from the Qur’ān

• The aforementioned verse. (17:15)
• The verse, “Your Lord does not unjustly (bi zulm) destroy the townships while their people are unconscious (of the wrong they do)” (6:131). Al- Zarkashī adduced it to illustrate the rule (qā`ida) that one thanks Allāh through hearing (about Him), not through rational induction. 2

• The verse, “Otherwise . . . they might say, Our Lord! Why sentest Thou no messenger unto us, that we might have followed Thy revelations and be among the believers?” (28:47) Adduced by Zarkashi and Ibn Abi Hātim in their tafsīrs. The latter adds the Hadīth, “Those who die in fitra will say, My Lord, no book nor messenger  reached me, and he recited this verse.” (Bukhārī and Muslim)

• The verse, “And if We had destroyed them with some punishment before it [your coming], they would assuredly have said: Our Lord! If only Thou hadst sent unto us a messenger, so that we might have followed . . .” (20:134)

• “And never did thy Lord destroy the townships, till He had raised up in their mother-town a Messenger reciting unto them Our revelations. And never did We destroy the townships unless the folks thereof were evil- doers” (28:59). Ibn Abī Hātim quotes Ibn `Abbās’s and Qatāda’s explanations that it refers to the people of Mecca, who were condemned only after the Prophet was sent to them and they denied him.

• “Lest ye should say, the Scripture was only revealed to two sects before us, and we in sooth were unaware of what they read” (6:156).

• “And We destroyed no townships but it had its warners for reminder, for We never were oppressors” (26:208-209). `Abd ibn Hāmid, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Hātim quote Qatāda in their tafsīrs to the effect that revelation, proof, and exhortation must precede condemnation.

• “And they cry for help there, (saying), Our Lord! Release us; we will do right, not (the wrong) that we used to do. Did not We grant you a life long enough for him who reflected to reflect therein? And the warner came unto you” (35:37). The commentators said, “The warner is the Prophet.”

Evidence from the Hadīth

Hadīth Concerning the Examination of the People of fitra [Primordial Disposition] on the Day of Resurrection and the Entry into Paradise of Those Who Obey and the Entry into the Fire of Those Who Disobey:

Ahmad, Ibn Rahawayh, Ibn Mardawayh, and Bayhaqī (al-I`tiqād `alā madhhab al-salaf ahl al- sunnah wa-l-jamā`ah) who said, sahīh through Aswad ibn Sari’. The Prophet said,

Four will present excuses on the Day of Resurrection: The deaf one, the idiot, the senile old man, and the one who died in fitra.

The first will say, I didn’t hear anything; the second, Islām came and street-children were throwing dung at me; the third, Islām came and I did not have my wits about me, and the fourth, my Lord, no Messenger came to me. Allāh will Himself take their covenant to obey Him. They will be told to enter the fire (as a test). Those who obey will find it cool and safe, while those who refuse will be dragged to it. (Aswad, Abū Hurayra)

Al-Bazzār and Tirmidhī who correctly graded it hasan: The Prophet said,

The one who died in fitra, the imbecile, and the infant will say respectively: No Book or Messenger reached me; You gave me no mind wherewith to understand good or evil; I did not have a chance to do anything. A fire will be presented to them and they will be told to enter it.

 Those who would have done well in life will obey and enter it (temporarily) while those who would have disobeyed in life will refuse. Allāh will tell them, You disobey Me (seeing Me), so how could you obey My Messengers in My absence? (Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī)

Al-Bazzār and Abū Ya’la: same as above with the addition of the senile old man. Those who obey and enter the fire will go across it speedily. (Anas)

`Abdul Razzāq, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Hātim, with an authentic chain that meets the criteria of Bukhārī and Muslim: The Prophet said, “The one who died in fitra, the idiot, the deaf, the mute, and the senile will be sent a messenger (at that time) who will say, Enter the fire. They will argue and say: How can it be when no messenger reached us?

But woe to them! If they had entered it they would have found it cool and safe. Whoever accepts and obeys will enter it.” Abū Hurayra added, Read, “We never punish until We send a messenger” (17:15).”

Al-Bazzār and Hākim, who graded it sahīh by the criteria of Bukhārī and Muslim: The Prophet said,

The people of Jāhiliyya will come on the Day of Judgment carrying their idols on their backs. Allāh will question them and they will say: Our Lord, You did not send us a Messenger and nothing from You reached us.

 If you had sent us one, we would have been your most obedient servants. Allāh will say, Shall I test your obedience? And He will tell them to enter the fire and stay in it.

They will enter it and return again, in fear of its fury and exhalations, and they will say, Our Lord, protect us from it. He will say: Didn’t you promise to obey Me if I ordered you something? They will pledge again and enter it, only to come back and plead again. The Prophet said, Had they stayed in it the first time, they would have found it cool and safe. wbān)