Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the questions of his Facebook page followers "Fiqhi"
Answer to a Question
To: Azzam Abu Fara
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
May Allah accept your obedience, and Happy New Year, our Sheikh.
I searched for the authentication (takhrij) of this Hadith, but I could not find it with this specific wording. I hope for your assistance:
"Peoples will come on the Day of Resurrection whose faith will be a wonder; their light will run before them and by their right hands. It will be said: 'Glad tidings for you today and peace be upon you; you have been good, so enter it to abide therein eternally.' The angels and Prophets will envy them for Allah's love for them. The Sahaba asked: 'Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'They are not from us nor from you. You are my companions and they are my beloved ones. They come after you and find a Book that people have abandoned and a Sunnah they have put to death. They will commit themselves to the Book and the Sunnah, reviving them, reading them, and teaching them to the people. They will face in its path a torture more severe and violent than what you faced. Indeed, the faith of one of them is equal to forty of you, and the martyr among them is equal to forty of your martyrs. For you find helpers for the truth, while they find no helpers for the truth. They will be surrounded by oppressors from every place, and they will be in the surroundings of Bait al-Maqdis. At this time, Allah's victory will come to them, and the glory of the Muslims will be at their hands.' And he said: 'O Allah, grant them victory and make them my companions at the Reservoir (Al-Hawd).'"
Barakallahu Feekum.
Answer:
Walaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
Regarding the text (the Hadith) you are asking about, we have not come across it with this specific wording in any of the Hadith books. It appears that some of its phrases are taken from multiple Hadiths that were joined together, making it seem as if it were a single Hadith:
a. Despite the fact that the referenced Hadiths are from various chapters and are not multiple narrations of a single Hadith...
b. Also, some of the Hadiths contain phrases similar to what was mentioned in the questioned text, but not the exact words...
c. The questioned text also contains some meanings found in some Hadiths, even though the wording differs...
d. Furthermore, the Hadiths from which some formulas and phrases were taken in the questioned text include acceptable Hadiths that can be used as evidence, as well as Hadiths that are not authentic (sahih) and cannot be used as evidence...
I will mention to you some of those acceptable Hadiths that can be used as evidence:
- Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished his prayer, he turned his face toward the people and said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اسْمَعُوا وَاعْقِلُوا وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عِبَاداً لَيْسُوا بِأَنْبِيَاءَ وَلَا شُهَدَاءَ يَغْبِطُهُمْ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عَلَى مَجَالِسِهِمْ وَقُرْبِهِمْ مِنْ اللَّهِ
"O people, listen, understand, and know that Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, has servants who are neither Prophets nor martyrs, but the Prophets and martyrs envy them for their seats and their proximity to Allah."
Then a Bedouin came from the distant part of the people and gestured with his hand to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and said: "O Prophet of Allah, people from among the masses, who are not Prophets or martyrs, yet the Prophets and martyrs envy them for their seats and their proximity to Allah? Describe them to us." The face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ brightened at the Bedouin's question, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
هُمْ نَاسٌ مِنْ أَفْنَاءِ النَّاسِ وَنَوَازِعِ الْقَبَائِلِ لَمْ تَصِلْ بَيْنَهُمْ أَرْحَامٌ مُتَقَارِبَةٌ تَحَابُّوا فِي اللَّهِ وَتَصَافَوْا يَضَعُ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ فَيُجْلِسُهُمْ عَلَيْهَا فَيَجْعَلُ وُجُوهَهُمْ نُوراً وَثِيَابَهُمْ نُوراً يَفْزَعُ النَّاسُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلَا يَفْزَعُونَ وَهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
"They are people from the masses and strangers from different tribes who are not related to each other, but they loved one another for the sake of Allah and were sincere to each other. On the Day of Resurrection, Allah will place for them pulpits of light and seat them upon them. He will make their faces light and their garments light. People will be terrified on the Day of Resurrection, but they will not be terrified. They are the allies of Allah upon whom there is no fear, nor shall they grieve." (Musnad Ahmad)
- Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to the graveyard and said: "Peace be upon you, O abode of a believing people, and we, if Allah wills, are about to join you. I wish we could see our brothers." They said: "Are we not your brothers, O Messenger of Allah?" He said:
أَنْتُمْ أَصْحَابِي وَإِخْوَانُنَا الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَأْتُوا بَعْدُ
"You are my companions, but our brothers are those who have not yet come."
They said: "How will you recognize those who have not yet come from your Ummah, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Do you not see that if a man has horses with white blazes on their foreheads and white marks on their legs among horses that are coal-black, would he not recognize his horses?" They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said:
فَإِنَّهُمْ يَأْتُونَ غُرّاً مُحَجَّلِينَ مِنَ الْوُضُوءِ وَأَنَا فَرَطُهُمْ عَلَى الْحَوْضِ أَلَا لَيُذَادَنَّ رِجَالٌ عَنْ حَوْضِي كَمَا يُذَادُ الْبَعِيرُ الضَّالُّ أُنَادِيهِمْ أَلَا هَلُمَّ فَيُقَالُ إِنَّهُمْ قَدْ بَدَّلُوا بَعْدَكَ فَأَقُولُ سُحْقاً سُحْقاً
"They will come with white blazes on their foreheads and white marks on their legs from the traces of wudu, and I will be at the Reservoir (Al-Hawd) ahead of them. Beware! Some men will be driven away from my Reservoir as a stray camel is driven away. I will call them: 'Come here!' but it will be said: 'They changed (the religion) after you,' so I will say: 'Away with them, away with them!'" (Sahih Muslim)
- Muslim narrated in his Sahih from Uqbah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying:
لَا تَزَالُ عِصَابَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي يُقَاتِلُونَ عَلَى أَمْرِ اللَّهِ قَاهِرِينَ لِعَدُوِّهِمْ لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَالَفَهُمْ حَتَّى تَأْتِيَهُمُ السَّاعَةُ وَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ
"A group from my Ummah will continue to fight for the sake of Allah, prevailing over their enemies. They will not be harmed by those who oppose them until the Hour comes while they are in that state." (Sahih Muslim)
- Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from al-Bara' bin 'Azib that the Prophet ﷺ stoned a Jew and said:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أُشْهِدُكَ أَنِّي أَوَّلُ مَنْ أَحْيَا سُنَّةً قَدْ أَمَاتُوهَا
"O Allah, I call You to witness that I am the first to revive a Sunnah that they had put to death." (Musnad Ahmad)
- Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from Abu Umamah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لَا تَزَالُ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْ أُمَّتِي عَلَى الْحَقِّ ظَاهِرِينَ لَعَدُوِّهِمْ قَاهِرِينَ لَا يَضُرُّهُمْ مَنْ خَالَفَهُمْ إِلَّا مَا أَصَابَهُمْ مِنْ لَأْوَاءَ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَهُمْ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَهُمْ كَذَلِكَ قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَأَيْنَ هُمْ؟ قَالَ: بِبَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ وَأَكْنَافِ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِسِ
"A group from my Ummah will remain manifest upon the truth, prevailing over their enemies. They will not be harmed by those who oppose them, except for the hardships that afflict them, until the command of Allah comes while they are in that state. They said: O Messenger of Allah, where are they? He said: In Bait al-Maqdis and the surroundings of Bait al-Maqdis." (Musnad Ahmad)
- Tirmidhi narrated in his Sunan from Abu Umayyah al-Sha'bani, who said: I went to Abu Tha'labah al-Khushani and said to him: "How do you deal with this verse?" He asked: "Which verse?" I said: "The saying of Allah the Exalted:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ
'O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided.' (QS. Al-Ma'idah [5]: 105)"
He said: "By Allah, you have asked one who is well-informed about it. I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it, and he said:
بَلِ ائْتَمِرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنَاهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ حَتَّى إِذَا رَأَيْتَ شُحّاً مُطَاعاً وَهَوًى مُتَّبَعاً وَدُنْيَا مُؤْثَرَةً وَإِعْجَابَ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْيٍ بِرَأْيِهِ فَعَلَيْكَ بِخَاصَّةِ نَفْسِكَ وَدَعِ الْعَوَّامَّ فَإِنَّ مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ أَيَّاماً الصَّبْرُ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ الْقَبْضِ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ لِلْعَامِلِ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ خَمْسِينَ رَجُلاً يَعْمَلُونَ مِثْلَ عَمَلِكُمْ
'Rather, enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil until you see greed being obeyed, desires being followed, the worldly life being preferred, and everyone with an opinion being conceited with his own opinion; then attend to yourself and leave the common folk. For ahead of you are days of patience, in which patience is like grasping a hot coal. The one who acts in those days will have a reward like that of fifty men who do the same as you do.'"
Abdullah bin al-Mubarak said: "Someone other than Utbah added for me: It was said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of us or of them?' He said:
بَلْ أَجْرُ خَمْسِينَ مِنْكُمْ
'Nay, the reward of fifty of you.'"
Abu 'Isa (al-Tirmidhi) said: "This is a Hasan Gharib Hadith." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi)
The Hadiths mentioned above are acceptable Hadiths that can be used as evidence. However, there are also Hadiths that have been criticized (fihi maqal) which contain phrases and formulas similar to what appeared in the questioned text. I will mention some of them to show that the questioned text was constructed from multiple Hadiths, some authentic and some not:
It was mentioned in Al-Ibanah al-Kubra by Ibn Battah that he ﷺ said: "May Allah have mercy on my successors." They said: "Who are your successors?" He said: "Those who revive my Sunnah and teach it to the servants of Allah." It also appeared in Musnad al-Shihab al-Quda'i from Kathir bin Abdullah al-Muzani, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, the Deen began as something strange and will return to being strange as it began, so glad tidings to the strangers (Ghuraba)." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers?" He said: "Those who revive my Sunnah and teach it to the servants of Allah." It also appeared in Jami' al-Ahadith: [... O Allah, have mercy on my successors who come after me, narrating my Hadiths and my Sunnah and teaching them to the people. (Tabarani in Al-Awsat, Al-Ramahurmuzi in Al-Muhaddith al-Fasil, Al-Khatib in Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith, and Ibn al-Najjar from Ibn Abbas from Ali. Tabarani said: Ahmad bin Isa Abu Tahir al-Alawi is unique in narrating it. It was said in Al-Mizan: Al-Daraqutni said: He is a liar, and the Hadith is false. In Al-Lisan, Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned him but did not mention any disparagement or accreditation). Narrated by Tabarani in Al-Awsat (6/77, No. 5846). Al-Haythami said (1/126): It contains Ahmad bin Isa al-Hashimi; Al-Daraqutni said: He is a liar. And Al-Ramahurmuzi in Al-Muhaddith al-Fasil (1/163). It was also narrated by Al-Daylami (1/479, No. 1960). Al-Dhahabi said in Al-Mizan (1/270, Biography 508), and Al-Hafiz agreed in Al-Lisan (1/241, Biography 756), both in the biography of Ahmad bin Isa al-Hashimi: Al-Daraqutni said: He is a liar.]
It was mentioned in Kanz al-Ummal from Anas that he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When will I meet my companions? When will I meet my beloved ones?" Some of the Sahaba said: "Are we not your beloved ones?" He said: "You are my companions, but my beloved ones are a people who have not seen me yet believed in me; I long for them." (Abu al-Sheikh in Al-Thawab). It also appeared in Al-Firdaws bi Ma'thur al-Khitab by Al-Daylami from Anas bin Malik: "When will I meet my companions? When will I meet my beloved ones?" Some of the Sahaba said: "Are we not your beloved ones?" He said: "You are my companions, but my beloved ones are a people who have not seen me yet believed in me; I long for them." Al-Qushayri mentioned it in Al-Risalah with the chain: Ali bin Ahmad al-Ahwazi informed us, saying: Ahmad bin Ubayd al-Basri informed us, saying: Yahya bin Muhammad al-Jayyani told us, saying: Uthman bin Abdullah al-Qurashi told us, from Nu'aym bin Salim, from Anas bin Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When will I meet my beloved ones?" His companions said: "May our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you, are we not your beloved ones?" He said: "You are my companions. My beloved ones are a people who have not seen me, yet believed in me, and my longing for them is greater." This Hadith contains narrators who are criticized, and some researchers said it is a rejected (munkar) and fabricated Hadith... meaning this Hadith is not among the acceptable Hadiths that can be used as evidence.
Thus, it becomes clear that the text you are asking about is not a Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Rather, it is a composite text, apparently formulated by an unknown person who gathered phrases and formulas that appeared in various Hadiths, some of which are acceptable and others are not. Therefore, it is not correct to narrate this questioned text as a Hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Allah is the All-Knowing, All-Wise.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
20 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1444 AH Corresponding to 16/10/2022 CE
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