The Journey to Allah By Daar Us-Sunnah

The Journey to Allah
Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, recorded a saying of the Prophet: "Your actions alone cannot save you." When asked if this applies even to him, the Messenger of Allah replied, "Not even me, unless Allah enveloped me in His mercy." Strive to be balanced and steadfast on your journey to Allah, dedicating portions of your day and night. Remember, moderation is the key to success. As recorded by Aishah, the Prophet emphasized the need for firmness and balance, stating that actions alone do not guarantee entry into Paradise. Seek forgiveness and mercy from Allah constantly, for it is through continuous and persistent good deeds that we are most beloved to Him. These teachings from the Prophet provide crucial guidance on the journey towards Allah. As the Salaf say, our ultimate destination is either the forgiveness of Allah or the Fire, and this world can either be a source of protection or destruction. On his deathbed, Muhammad ibn Waasi reminded his

Dar As Sunnah Publications

• Ibn Rajab al Hanbali

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DAR AS-SUNNAH CLASSIC COLLECTION THE JOURNEY TO ALLAH IBN RAJAB AL-HANBALI دار السنة
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1.7 Acknowledging the Grace of Allah 36 CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER TWO Islām, Iman, Iḥsān 72 The Most Beloved Deeds to Allah 39 6.1 The Periods of Morning and Evening 77 6.2 Those who Hold to the World and those who Hold on to the Hereafter 19 79 CHAPTER THREE The Meaning of "Saddidi wa Qaribu 3.1 A Noble Principle 3.2 The Ease of this Religion 45 48 49 886 CHAPTER FOUR The Meaning of "the beginning of the day", "the end of the day," and "a portion of the latter part of the night" 52 2 CHAPTER SEVEN The Unexpected Confrontation 7.1 The Types of Actions that will be as Scattered Dust The First: 81 82 82 The Second: 83 The Third: The Fourth: 84 85 The Fifth: 86 The Sixth: 86 The Seventh: 86 7.2 Sadness in the World and Misery in the Hereafter 7.3 Beware, beware! 88 90 CHAPTER FIVE The Meaning of Moderation 00 60 PICTURE PLATES OF THE MANUSCRIPTS 5.1 Travelling the Path of Allah, Mighty and Magnificent INDEX OF ARABIC WORDS 63 5.2 Deeds are by their conclusion 5.3 The excellence of drawing close to Alah 5.4 The types of reaching Allah 3858 66 TRANSLATORS BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES 105-112 109-112 222 92 97 67 70
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INTRODUCTION With the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful Bukhari records on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (radi Allahu 'anhu) that the Prophet () said, "Your actions alone will not save any of you." They asked, 'Messenger of Allah, not even you?' He replied, "Not even me, unless Allah were to envelop me in His mercy. Be firm; steadfast and balanced; and journey [to Allah] in the beginning of the day, the end of the day, and a portion of the latter part of the night. Moderation, moderation! Through this will you attain your goal!"5 He also recorded this ḥadīth in another place with the wording, "This religion is easy, none makes it hard upon himself except that it overwhelms him; therefore be firm, steadfast, and bal- anced; upon which have glad tidings! Seek help in this by jour- neying [to Allah] at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, and a portion of the latter part of the night." 5 Bukhari #6463. "Ibid. #39. 16
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CHAPTER FIVE The Meaning of Moderation His saying, "Moderation, moderation! Through this will you attain your goal!" contains encouragement towards modera tion in worship such that one avoids excess and deficiency. It is for this reason that he (repeated it twice. al-Bazzar records the hadith on the authority of Hudhayfah (radi Allahu 'anbo) that the Prophet () said, "Excellent indeed is moderation in pov erty. Excellent indeed is moderation in affluence. Excellent in deed is moderation in worship." Mutarraf ibn 'Abdullah ibn Shikhkhir had a son who would strive greatly in worship so he said to him, "The best of affairs is the middle one, the good deed lies between two evil deeds and the worst of journeys is the one where one strives so much that he kills his mount and is left stranded."112 Abū 'Ubaydah said: He means that excessiveness in worship is evil, deficiency is evil, and moderation is praiseworthy. 11 Bazzar #2946 on the authority of Hudhayfah. It was ruled da'if jiddan by Albani, Da'if al-Jam #4948. 112 Bayhaqi #3888; and Abú Nu'aym, vol. 2, p. 209. 60 The Meaning of Moderation This meaning is supported by the hadith reported on the au- thority of 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr (radry Allahu 'anbu) that the Mes- senger of Allah (said, "This religion is powerful so walk in it with gentleness and let not the worship of Allah become bur- densome for you for the one who falters and is unable to con- tinue has neither shortened the journey nor preserved his mount. Work the deeds of a man who believes that he will die as an old man and beware of the fear of a man who believes that he will die tomorrow." Recorded by ibn Zanjawayh and others. 115 In his repeatedly mentioning the command to moderation lies an indication that one should persist in this moderation. This is because a strenuous journey in which one strives greatly is prone to end suddenly without completion; a moderate journey, however, is more likely to reach its goal. This is why the Messen- ger of Allah() stated that the end result of moderation was the achievement of the objective, "and whoever travels by night will reach his destination." In this world, the believer is travelling to his Lord until he reaches Him, This sentence was also recorded by Ahmad #13052 on the authority of Anas ibn Milik It was declared sahih by Suyuti #2508 and hasan by Albani, Sabah al-Jami #2246. This amount is recorded by Bazzar and Suyuti #2509 declared it da'if as did Haythami, vol. 1, p. 62. Bayhaqj, Saman al-Kubra #4520-4521, al-Sha'ab #3886. 'Iraqi #1232 said the isnid was da'if. 61
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THE JOURNEY TO ALLAH IBN RAJAB AL-HANBALI Bukhari records on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ray Allahu 'anhu) that the Prophet said, "Your actions alone will not save any of you." They asked, 'Messenger of Allah, not even you?" He replied, "Not even me, unless Allah were to envelop me in His mercy. Be firm; steadfast and balanced; and journey [to Allah] in the beginning of the day, the end of the day, and a portion of the latter part of the night. Moderation, moderation! Through this you will attain your goal!" He also recorded this hadith in another place with the wording, "This religion is easy, none makes it hard upon himself except that it overwhelms him; therefore be firm, steadfast, and balanced; upon which have glad tidings! Seek help in this by journeying [to Allah] at the beginning of the day, at the end of the day, and a portion of the latter part of the night." He also records on the authority of 'A'ishah (raiyAllahu 'anhu) that the Prophet (3) said, "Be firm, steadfast, and balanced upon which have glad tidings for indeed actions alone will not cause one to enter Paradise." They asked, 'Messenger of Allah, not even you?" He replied, "Not even me, unless Allah were to envelop me in His forgiveness and mercy." He also records on her authority that the Prophet() said, "Be firm, steadfast, and balanced: know that your actions alone will not be a cause for your entry into Paradise and that the most beloved actions to Allah are those that are done continuously and persistently, even if they be few." These noble aḥadīth detail a great and important principle from which stem many issues related to the journey to Allah while wayfaring along His Path. Some of the Salaf said, 'The Hereafter consists either of Allah's forgiveness or the Fire; and this world is either a source of Allah's protection or a source of destruction.' On his deathbed, Muhammad ibn Wäsi bid farewell to his companions saying, 'Peace be upon you, either to the Fire or to the forgiveness of Allah.' سنة Dár as-Sunnah Publishers PO. Box 9818, Birmingham, B11 4WA, United Kingdom. E-mail: info@darassunnah.com www.darassunnah.com ISBN-13: 978-19043361-7-4 ISBN-10: 1-904336-17-5 Copyright by 9 781904 336174"> Dár as-Sunnah Publishers