04_Matters of the Unseen & Deeds are by Their Final Actions

Hadith

On the authority ofAbdullahIbnMasud (ra), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and he is the truthful, the believed, narrated to us, “Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days in the form of a nutfah (a drop), then he becomes an alaqah (clot of blood) for a like period, then a mudghah (morsel of flesh) for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows his soul into him and who is commanded with four matters: to write down his rizq (sustenance), his life span, his actions, and whether he will be happy or unhappy (i.e., whether or not he will enter Paradise). By the One, other than Whom there is no deity, verily one of you performs the actions of the people of Paradise until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him, and so he acts with the actions of the people of the Hellfire and thus enters it; and verily one of you performs the actions of the people of the Hellfire, until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he acts with the actions of the people of Paradise and thus he enters it.” [Bukhari & Muslim]

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud is a great companion, he came from a tribe that is known for their purity in the Arabic language. He recites the Qur’an so beautifully, so that the prophet cried listening to him. He also serves the prophet in his daily routine. Before he begins the hadith by describing the prophet with two attributes :

1. Honest (siddiq)
2. True (masduq) He does this because what is about to be mentioned is from the matters of the unseen. He is putting an emphasis on this. Even the quraish agrees that they can never call prophet Muhammad a liar.

The hadith talks about 2 matters of the unseen.

Before birth

[! Hadith] Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days in the form of a nutfah (a drop), then he becomes an alaqah (clot of blood) for a like period, then a mudghah (morsel of flesh) for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows his soul into him and who is commanded with four matters: to write down his rizq (sustenance), his life span, his actions, and whether he will be happy or unhappy (i.e., whether or not he will enter Paradise).

• All of us starts in our mother’s womb. 40 days as nutfah (mix of the man’s & woman’s fluid)
• Then the person becomes an alaqah, for 40 days aswell. In Arabic alaqah is a portion of blood (clot of blood)
• And the next stage is you are a mudgat (a portion of flesh), for 40 days aswell.
• Then an angel is sent to the person, and he blows the ruh into the body.
• Then the angel is commanded by Allah azza wa jal to write down 4 things (decree) : the rizq, the ajal, his good & bad actions, whether the person is going to be a happy/sad person in life.
• Important, you will one day come across another hadith talking about the stages of life and they might be different or in different order. This hadith paints a picture. But we take the view whic is more correct according to the understanding of the 3 best generations, and for our guidance in this day & age, the ijma of the ulamas.
• The scholars said the correct order is :
• Why would the writing down of the decree happen twice? To affirm your qadr & your qadr will never change.
• At 4 months, the baby in the womb has become a living thing. The scholars say : once the soul comes in, abortion is not allowed, or before four months, it is allowed only if there is a reason accepted by the sharia. Or if the mother experiences miscarriage after 4 months, the baby has a right to be given a name & aqiqah, and perform the funeral rites of a general muslim, and bury it in the graveyard of a muslim.

The writing down of the qadr happens in 3 ways

1. Forever writing down of the qadr, this happens before anything & Allah created the pen & it worte everything that will happen from the beginning till the end of time. This is stored in the lauf mahfuz.
2. Qadr of a lifetime, the one discussed in this hadith.
3. Yearly writing of the Qadr, happens during laylatul Qadr which translates as night of the decree. If the qadr has been written down, how does one change qadr through dua? The scholars give several answers

• The first type of qadr does not change, it includes these changes.
• Ibn Taymiyyah → The change in the qadr is already part of the qadr. If everything is written already, why does it matter that I even put in the effort?

1. You must have husnudzon in Allah, based on the fact that Allah has decreed good for you already.
2. The prophet responded : he commanded the sahaba to do actions, because each & everyone of us will reach their qadr. The peole of happiness is made easy towards the happiness.
3. Put in your effort & leave the rest to Allah.

After death

Hadith

By the One, other than Whom there is no deity, verily one of you performs the actions of the people of Paradise until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him, and so he acts with the actions of the people of the Hellfire and thus enters it; and verily one of you performs the actions of the people of the Hellfire, until there is but an arms length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he acts with the actions of the people of Paradise and thus he enters it.”

• The prophet took an oath
• What really matters is the finish line, you may start the race a bit slow & behind, but don’t worry & keep persisting & try to be continuous in doing in good. “Innamal amalu bil khawar”
• One might ask after reading this hadith, how? How does one do actions of good all his life but makes a slip at the end?
• The prophet explains this hadith in another hadith, from Saad ibn Saad → what is apparent to the people, inside his actions are different, he does those good deeds only to please other than Allah, to show off, etc. We can refer it back to the first hadith of this book that deeds are based on its intentions. And when someone does an act of worship for other than Allah, it already messes up the basic principle of tawheed. The same thing goes for the other group. He might sin in front of people, but behind closed doors he tries to improve himself in terms of getting closer to Allah.
• Main takeaway from this hadith is that you have to constantly look inside yourself, ask yourself whether your intentions are correct, and to strive the path of goodness. It does not matter when you start the race in becoming good, but once you enter the race, stay consistent & persistent in that path until death overtakes you.