The Prophet’s Parents Are Saved
Imam Jalaluddin al-Suyuti
Translated by Shaykh Gibril Fouad Haddad
Released by www.marifah.net 1428 H
Reprinted with permission from http://www.marifah.net
This writing concerns the question of the ruling (hukm) that the father and mother of The Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) are (believed to be) saved and not in Hellfire. This has been declared by the majority of the scholars, and in reaching that declaration they have several methods (masalik).
FIRST
His parents died before he was sent as Prophet, and there is no punishment for them as “We never punish until We send a messenger (and they reject him)” (17:15). Our Ash`ari Imams of those in kalam, usul, and Shafi`i fiqh agree on the statement that one who dies while da’wa has not reached him, dies saved. This has been defined by Imam Shafi`i . . . and some of the fuqaha’ have explained that the reason is that that person is on fitra (primordial disposition), and has not stubbornly refused nor rejected any Messenger.
That is the position of our Shaykh, Shaykh al-Islam Sharafuddin al-Munawi, as I received it. He was once asked whether the Prophet’s father was in the fire and he groaned loudly at the questioner. The latter insisted: “Is his Islam established?” and he answered that he died in fitra and quoted the verse.
It is the position of Ahl al-Sunnah and it was opposed by the Mu`tazila and those who follow them among those who say that one is condemned because Allah is known rationally. It is also the position of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani who said, The (proper) conjecture (zann) concerning his parents, meaning also all those who died before his Messengership, is that they shall obey (his call) at the time of their examination (in the grave), as a gift (from Allah) to please him.
This method is based on the following sources:
[Evidence from the Qur’an]
• The aforementioned verse. (17:15)
• The verse, “Your Lord does not unjustly (bi zulm) destroy the townships while their people are unconscious (of the wrong they do)” (6:131). Al-Zarkashi adduced it to illustrate the rule (qa`ida) that one thanks Allah through hearing (about Him), not through rational induction.
• The verse, “Otherwise . . . they might say, Our Lord! Why sentest Thou no messenger unto us, that we might have followed Thy revelations and be among the believers?” (28:47) Adduced by Zarkashi and Ibn Abi Hatim in their tafsirs. The latter adds the Hadith, “Those who die in fitra will say, My Lord, no book nor messenger reached me, and he recited his verse.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
• The verse, “And if We had destroyed them with some punishment before it [your coming], they would assuredly have said: Our Lord! If only Thou hadst sent unto us a messenger, so that we might have followed . . .” (20:134)
The literary meaning of "Bid'ah" (in the dictionary) is "innovation novelty." In the following lines we see where in the Holy Quran this word has been used and the meaning with which it is associated:
Says Allah (Azza wa jalla) in the Holy Quran:
"Say I am no Bringer of New Fangled Doctrine among the Apostles." (al-Ahqaf: 9)
and He (Azza wa jalla) says:
"The Originator of the Heavens and the Earth." (al-Baqarah: 117)
and He (Azza wa jalla) says:
"But monasticism (which) they inverted. We ordained it not for them." (al-Hadid: 23)
In these Ayahs from the Holy Quran the word Bid'ah has been used in it's literary meaning. It's definition in the technical language of the Sharee'ah is different. In the Holy Quran it has been used to mean "to invent" and "to create" a new thing", whereas it's technical meaning is an written in the book Mirqat (under Babul I'tisaam bil Kitaab was-Sunnah) - "that belief or action which was not in practice during the blessed age of Rasoolullah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) but was introduced after him." From this we see that Bid'ah is of two kinds:
A. Bid'ah I'tiqaadi (innovation in belief)
B. Bid'ah Amali (innovation in action)
Now let us see the difference between Bid'ah I'tiqaadi and Bid'ah Amali.
Is that new belief (which is in contradiction with the Holy Quran and Sunnah) which found its way into Islam after the blessed age of the Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim). Christianity, Judaism, Zoroasterism and Polytheism are not Bid'ah I'tiqaadi as these beliefs were in practice before and during the blessed time and also because they do not claim themselves to be Muslims whereas the Jabriyya, Qadriyya, Batiniyya, Bahaaism, Qadyanism, etc. are Bid'ah I'tiqaadi (innovation in belief) because they come into being after the blessed age and also claim themselves to be Muslims. (See End bliss Bliss, Vol. 2, Waqf Ihlas Publications, for a brief history of some of these sects).
Allah (Azza wa jalla) says in the Holy Quran:
"And We placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him (Jesus), but Monasticism they invented - We ordained it not for them - only seeking Allah's pleasure, and they observed it not with right observance." (al-Hadid: 27)
and then He (Azza wa jalla) says:
"So We gave those of them who believes their rewards." (al-Hadid: 27)
Concerning the mistaken doctrine of those who maintain that the day of ‘Ashura
should be regarded as a day of tragic misfortune.
[Excerpt from Ghunya lit Taalibi Tariqal Haqq:
Sufficient Provision for the Seeker of the Path of Truth]
Sayyidina Shayhk 'Abdul Qadir al Jilani al Baghdadi Radhi Allahu 'anhu
Certain people have been harshly critical of those who fast on this glorious day, and of the exaltation traditionally held to be its due. They maintain that it is not permissible to observe it as a day of fasting, on the grounds that it is the day on which al-Husain ibn 'Ali (Radhi Allahu ‘anhu and with his father) was slain. They state their case in the following terms:
"What is right and proper, on that day, is that the sense of calamitous loss should be experienced by the general mass of the people, since it is the day on which his tragic death occurred. But you prefer to celebrate it as the day of happiness and joy. You declare it to be the day for treating one's dependents with special generosity, for much liberal expenditure, and for making charitable donations [Sadaqa] to the poor, the weak and the needy. Yet this is not the kind of respect that is rightfully due to al-Husain (Radhi Allahu ‘anhu) from the community of the Muslims."
Whoever makes this statement is in error, and his doctrine [madhhab] is repugnant and unsound. We can dismiss it as such, because Allah (Exalted is He) chose martyrdom [shahada] for the grandson of our Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allahu ‘alaihi wa Aalihi wa sallim) on the most noble of all the days, the most glorious of them, the most majestic of them, and the most exalted of them in His sight. In so doing, His purpose was to grant him increased elevation in His degrees and His tokens of special favor [karamat], over and above the special favor he already enjoyed. By way of martyrdom [shahada], He caused him to reach the stations of the rightly guided Caliphs who died as martyrs [al-Khulafa' ar-rashideen ash-shuhada'].