Explanation of the Hadith of Umm al-Fadl (47): (Do not wish for death; if you are a doer of good, you will increase in good, which is better for you

The Shaykh: Today’s hadith begins with the hadith from my copy, and it is a valid hadith, and it is his saying: And from Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) entered upon al-Abbas while he was complaining, so he wished for death, and he said: O Abbas, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): . It was narrated by Ahmad and al-Hakim, and the wording is his and it is more complete, and he said: Valid according to their conditions.
This hadith is among those hadiths some of which preceded in the previous lesson, and in them is the exhortation of the Muslim not to wish for death due to a calamity or harm that befalls him, but rather to wish from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to live a good, blessed life, due to the many hadiths that have preceded, and the most comprehensive of them is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , so if a person’s life is long and he is a Muslim and does righteous deeds, then it is a loss for him to wish from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to hasten his death; therefore, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard from his uncle al-Abbas, who was in a state of severe, painful illness, it seems that it caused him to lose his patience and wish for death from his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He), so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) admonished him with his saying: , for your wishing for death is in one of two states: either you are a doer of good, and your good deeds end with the end of your life, so your wishing for death is not in your benefit; do not wish for death; if you are a doer of good, you will increase in good, which is better for you, and this is clear; and the opposite of that: if you are a doer of evil, then it is better for you to be delayed so that you may seek forgiveness; that is: you seek forgiveness, and forgiveness from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is by repenting to Him and making up for what you missed of righteous deeds, and that is also better for you, to be delayed so that you may seek forgiveness for your evil, repenting to Allah and returning to Him and seeking His pleasure is better for you. So, it is that the Muslim lives a long life, does not hasten matters, and does not ask for death, even if he is a doer of evil in his deeds; because he finds an opportunity to make up in his remaining life what he missed of sincere, prompt repentance.
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And the second hadith – which is like the first in meaning with other benefits – : where he said – and it is the hadith the hadith of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) – that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This hadith came, as he said, narrated by al-Bukhari and the wording is his, and by Muslim, and in a narration by Muslim: .
The first wording, which is that of Imam al-Bukhari, completely coincides with the hadith of Umm al-Fadl (may Allah be pleased with her).
And here is an observation from the Arabic perspective: In the first hadith: it is a direct prohibition directed to his uncle al-Abbas, whereas here in the second hadith he says: so it is a negation in the meaning of prohibition, and the wording is different, , the wording differs between being a prohibition and being a negation, so the negation is in the meaning of prohibition. This is the narration of al-Bukhari: , whereas the wording of Imam Muslim is that he says: , so here in Muslim’s wording there is an additional word which is an alert to a matter in which many people fall; because wishing for death is less than a person invoking death upon himself, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) here prohibits two things: wishing for death, and what is more than that; which is a person invoking destruction upon himself, and there is no doubt that included in this prohibition is not invoking death upon oneself, but also invoking death upon one whom he loves from his children, wife, and family, and it is not permissible for the Muslim to invoke, not only upon himself with death, but also upon one whom he approves of as a companion, wife, or child; because among the principles of Islam is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): . So what your Lord or your Prophet has prohibited you from, you must also not approve of it for others who share your faith; especially if there is affection or a family tie between you and them.
, we should note that there is a custom among some women, a phrase that is customary among them; they invoke death upon themselves for the most trivial reasons; so that is something the Muslim should not accustom his tongue to, but rather he should refine it and avoid everything that contradicts the Shari'ah, even if the contradiction is verbal. Perhaps someone will say: that this person who invokes death upon himself or another is saying a word, and he does not mean what he says. If we assume that is the case, then that does not save him from falling into contradicting the prohibition of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his saying: .
Here is an observation: where he (peace be upon him) said: , it indicates something that some people may not be aware of its reality; which is that a person may fall ill with the illness of death and feel it, he develops a special sensitivity, and there are many, many incidents where the man who is afflicted with the illness of death feels that it is the illness of death; therefore he (peace be upon him) said: , but if it comes to him and he knows that, then it is better for him to rest from the narrowness or severity that surrounds death, and people differ greatly in this.
I want to say that this is not from foreknowledge of the unseen; because some of our Salafi brothers who want to adhere strictly to the texts of the Book and the Sunnah, and for that reason they fight everything that contradicts the Book and the Sunnah which is claimed to be a karamah (a miracle granted to a righteous person) or revelation or the like; these people should all know that there are specific matters that one should not hasten to deny; because they are not from the category of foreknowledge of the unseen, for only Allah knows the unseen, but rather it is from the category of conjecture, from the category of inspiration, and the door of inspiration has not been closed and will not be closed until the Hour stands; for that reason it came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in "Sahih al-Bukhari" that he said: , inspired ones, meaning: those who are inspired, and there is no difference between inspiration and revelation except that revelation is protected from error, whereas inspiration is not protected from error; a person may be inspired with something and then it becomes clear to him that he was mistaken, and reality and events confirm ... or verify it. This is from one aspect; the difference between revelation and inspiration is from two aspects: the first aspect is that revelation is specific to the prophets and messengers; and they are protected from error, whereas inspiration also relates to the righteous among the believers, and it is distinguished from revelation in that it may contain error ... .
Another distinguishing factor is that when a prophet or messenger who receives revelation speaks of it, he speaks with certainty and conviction; for Satan does not approach such a person chosen by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). As for the one who is inspired, he does not have such certainty. It may be his strong opinion that it is as he was inspired, but he does not have that infallibility given to the prophets and messengers (peace and blessings be upon them). So, when the illness of death befalls a person, wishing for death is permissible. In fact, there is another state that is an exception to this prohibition found in these hadiths: . That state is when trials become numerous, as mentioned in the long hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, which concludes with: . Here, it is also permissible to make this supplication for deliverance from the evil of trials. It should be noted that the prohibition against wishing for death is due to the hardship that has befallen one, such as poverty, illness, or the like, which does not involve a trial in one's religion or creed, but rather exposes one to some troubles and difficulties. Here, the Muslim should receive that with patience and beautiful patience, so that he may be rewarded by Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). It has come in authentic hadiths: .
So, it is not good for this person to supplicate for his own destruction; rather, he must be patient. He may be doing good and increase in his good, as you have heard. Or he may be doing evil, and he has an opportunity to return to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and seek His pleasure by repenting to Him and seeking His forgiveness.
In the narration of Muslim, it says: This is an explanatory clause: . So, this clause explains the reason for the Messenger's (peace be upon him) prohibition of his Ummah from supplicating for their own death or wishing for it.
The last hadith in this chapter is also authentic. It says: And from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . It was narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, and al-Nasa'i.
In this hadith of Anas, there is this benefit, this addition, and it contains a new benefit not mentioned in the previous hadiths; namely, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ; meaning that his boredom and weariness of life, for one reason or more, reached the point where he wished for death.
So, let him adjust his position in wishing, and let him say: . In this is the submission of the Muslim and his satisfaction with the divine decree and destiny of Allah for him. He does not know what good or evil has been decreed for him. He does not know whether hastening his death is better for him or delaying it. So, he turns to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the All-Knowing of everything and of the outcomes of affairs, and he addresses his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) humbly, saying: .
So, we conclude our lesson from this book with this same supplication with which the author concluded these principles. We say: Since we live in a time of trial, indeed trials that have spread and overflowed, we say: O Allah, keep us alive as long as life is better for us, and cause us to die when death is better for us.
And our appointment, if Allah wills, is in the next lesson on encouraging fear and its virtue, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.