The Intercession

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

The Intercession (3)

‘Abdullah ibn Hamoud al-Furaih


Know that choosing them (may Allah be pleased with them) is built on understand the documents, not on guessing and what the mind imagines –may Allah protect us from thinking that about them. What is their explanation of the weighing; may Allah Almighty be pleased with them?

The companions of the first opinion chose: it is before the Sirat and reckoning because of two reasons:
The first of them: the wisdom in having a basin is what our Prophet (peace be upon him) made reference to “Whoever drinks (from it) will never be thirsty.” People will come out of their graves thirsty. Nonetheless when they are gathered at the moment; barefoot, naked and uncircumcised with the sun lowered. They are filled with worry, sorrow and sweat. The basin is what they need at this situation. Allah Almighty honours them by drinking from the basin of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He is the one who will reach his basin (peace be upon him) –we ask Allah for his permission (for this). However whoever is a monotheist believer; the Prophet (peace be upon him) will allow him to drink (from it) and if he drinks from it he will never be thirsty throughout the situation or before it as he would not be worried about.

What a happiness it is for the one who the pure (peace be upon him) allows to drink, so he drinks from his basin. It (drinking from the basin) distances his thirst from that long, horrible situation. It distances all thirst until he enters the Enduring Home…we ask Allah Almighty for His great permission.

The second of them: in the Hadith, there is an indication that there will be people distanced from the basin and kept away because they innovated in the religion and changed so they were not on the Sunnah of Mohammed (peace be upon him). Among them will be the hypocrites as they will be turned away from the basin. If it is said that the basin is after the Sirat, then it would include those hypocrites who were turned away from the basin because after the Sirat there is the qantara and then Paradise. It is not possible to cross the Sirat unless (the person is) a believer. As for the hypocrites and disbelievers, they will fall into the Hellfire. It is necessary from that to say that the basin is before the Sirat so that it corrects (the issue of) the hypocrites being turned away at the basin.

The community of the second statement have emphasized their choice that it is after the Sirat for (other) issues, the strongest of their sayings: it has been proven in the Hadith that whoever drinks from the basin will never be thirsty again

They said: if it is before the Sirat, then we will fall into doubt. That is: the ones who cross the Sirat are the sinful monotheist believers. There is no doubt that there are sinful monotheist believers who will enter the fire. What is important to us is that there are among the Muslims those who will enter the fire. If it was destined that those sinners will drink from the basin before the Sirat, then how will we bring together (the statement) that they will never be thirsty and their thirst in the Hellfire that those who are punished in the fire will receive?

So that you can get out of this doubt, there is no doubt that we should say: that the basin is after the Sirat.

May Allah Almighty be pleased with them. Their hearts were peaceful and enlightened with knowledge. Smartness is the Proof to the citizen. Each of the two sayings has an argument. The first saying (is stronger). Allah knows best

It is possible to discuss the explanation of the second saying with saying mentioned by the people of knowledge.

The strongest of them: that it is not forbidden to punish a sinful monotheist believer in the fire with types of punishment other than thirst as an honouring for their monotheism and as a distinction between them and the disbelievers and hypocrites.