You are Allah’s Witnesses Upon the Earth

Assalamu alaikum, after some time I have been able to post some more notes Alhamdulillah. Below are the first part of my notes from Lesson 181 of the Commentary of al Tajrid al Sarih (Book of Funerals, The Abridged Saheeh al-Bukhari) which was delivered by our respected teacher Shaykh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq on Friday 25th January 2008.

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Chapter of People’s Praise of the Deceased

باب: ثَنَاءُ النّاسِ عَلَى المَيّت

686. عَنْ أَنَسٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ: مَرّوا بِجَنَازَةٍ فَأَثْنَوْا عَلَيْهَا خَيْرًا, فَقَالَ النّبِيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: (وَجَبَتْ). ثُمّ مَرّوا بِأُخْرَى فَأَثْنَوْا عَلَيْهَا شَرّا, فَقَالَ: (وَجَبَتْ). فَقَالَ عُمَرُ بْنُ الخَطّابِ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ: ما وَجَبَتْ قَالَ: (هذا أَثْنَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ خَيْرًا, فَوَجَبَتْ لَهُ الجَنّةُ, وَهذَا أَثْنَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ شَرّا, فَوَجَبَتْ لَهُ النّارُ, أَنْتُمْ شُهَدَاءُ اللهِ في الأَرْضِ). رواه البخاري: 1367

Hadeeth 686 - Narrated Anas (bin Mâlik) رضى الله عنه : A funeral procession passed and the people praised the deceased. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, It has been affirmed to him. Then another funeral procession passed and the people spoke badly of the deceased. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, It has been affirmed to him. 'Umar bin Al Khattâb asked Allâh's Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم , What has been affirmed? He replied, You have praised this one so Paradise has been affirmed to him; and you have dispraised (spoken badly of) the other, so Hell has been affirmed to him. You people are Allâh's witnesses on earth. (2:448O.B.)

The sahabah spoke about two funerals that had arrived. They spoke highly of one of the deceased. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said it has become incumbent (binding). When the second funeral arrived, the sahabah spoke ill of the deceased. They had nothing good to say about the deceased. Again, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said it has become incumbent (binding). This incident is made clearer by a narration in Imam Hakim’s Mustadrak. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asked the sahabah that what good do you have to say about this person. They said that he loved Allah and His Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he worked hard to please Allah and His Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم). When they spoke ill of the second person, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asked them to clarify why they spoke ill of this person. They said that he disliked Allah and His Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he worked hard to disobey Allah and His Rasul (صلى الله عليه وسلم). This is when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Jannah has become obligatory for him (i.e. for the first deceased) and Jahanam has become obligatory for the second deceased. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said to the companions ‘You are Allah’s witnesses upon the earth’. Sayidina Abu Bakr (رضى الله عنه) said ‘Ya Rasulullah. What is this?’ Sayidina Abu Bakr (رضى الله عنه) sought an explanation. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Allah has angels upon the earth who speak on men’s tongues. When the angels want to say something good about someone their speech is manifest, or their inner feelings are expressed upon the tongues of man. Thus, Allah causes men to speak of what the angels want to say; good for good and bad for bad.

Allah manifested the praise of the first deceased and the ill words about the second deceased upon the tongues of the sahabah. This is why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said ‘You are Allah’s witnesses upon the earth’.

In Imam Muslim’s narration the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said ‘It has become binding’ thrice and he also ‘You are Allah’s witnesses upon the earth’ thrice.

Does this mean that if we speak highly of the deceased will they go to Jannah? Also, we know from previous ahadeeth that we should not speak ill of the dead? How do we reconcile this with the current hadeeth?

Firstly, these were the companions and we cannot compare normal people to the sahabah. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (رحمة الله عليه) narrates a hadeeth in his musnad which clearly states that the first deceased was a believer. The companions praised him and then the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Jannah has become obligatory upon him and then prayed salat-ul-Jinazah over that deceased person. When the next funeral came, the companions spoke ill of this second deceased person. From this narration we learn that this person was one of the known hypocrites and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) refused to pray salat-ul-Jinazah over him.

Does this apply today? i.e. ‘You are Allah’s witnesses upon the earth’.

The Shaykh said the questions raised will be answered with the next hadeeth.

687. عَنْ عُمَرَ بْنِ الخَطّاب رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ النّبِيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: (أَيّمَا مُسْلِمٍ, شَهِدَ لَهُ أَرْبَعَةٌ بخَيْرٍ, أَدْخَلَهُ اللهُ الجَنّةَ). فَقُلْنَا: وَثَلاَثَةٌ, قَالَ: (وَثَلاَثَةٌ). فَقُلْنَا: وَاثْنَانِ, قَالَ: (وَاثْنَانِ). ثُمّ لَمْ نَسْأَلْهُ عنِ الْوَاحِدِ. رواه البخاري: 1368

Hadeeth 687. Narrated Umar رضى الله عنه : The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: If four persons testify the piety of any Muslim, Allâh will grant him Paradise. We asked, If three persons testify his piety? He (the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ) replied, Even three. Then we asked, if two? He replied, Even two. We did not ask him regarding one witness. (2:449O.B.)

This is an abridgement of a longer hadeeth. Imam Bukhari (رحمة الله عليه) mentions the full incident. The narrator arrived in Madinah at the time of Sayidina Umar (رضى الله عنه). There was a funeral and people praised the deceased. Sayidina Umar (رضى الله عنه) said ‘It has become obligatory (i.e. Jannah)’. A second funeral arrived and people again praised the deceased. Sayidina Umar (رضى الله عنه) said ‘It has become obligatory (i.e. Jannah)’. A third funeral arrived and people spoke ill of the deceased. Once again, Umar (رضى الله عنه) said ‘It has become obligatory (i.e. the fire)’. The narrator asked Sayidina Umar (رضى الله عنه) what he meant by this. Sayidina Umar (رضى الله عنه) narrated the hadeeth we are currently studying (i.e. Hadeeth 687). A very important point is that in Islam the minimum number of witnesses required in most cases is two. Two people’s testimony is normally a minimum. Hence, the sahabah did not ask about one.

The Shaykh explained that even today this hadeeth is valid; it is not restricted just to the sahabah. For example, if four people (there are conditions which will be elaborated upon later) testify to his goodness, then Allah will grant him Jannah.

We know from clear and categorical hadeeth that we should not speak ill of the dead. The Shaykh said that although in the first hadeeth the deceased was a hypocrite, then one could ask the question that why did people speak ill of the person in hadeeth 687 (as not all were sahabah amongst the gathering and cannot have known if the deceased was a hypocrite). So, why did they speak ill of this deceased person. The Shaykh said that these hadeeth about speaking ill of the dead are not absolute.

This ruling about when it is permissible to speak ill about the dead will become clearer in the next part of my notes from this lesson.