Miscellaneous by Al-Albani-186

The Shaykh : There is a second hadith, also mawquf (stopping at a Companion), from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), in which he says: "Indeed, this Qur'an is an intercessor and a powerful intercessor". This means that on the Day of Resurrection, the Qur'an will intercede for its owner and for its reciter, and it is Allah who grants it this intercession. This intercession is established in some of the authentic hadiths from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As he said: This phrase of the hadith is mawquf, in the ruling of a mawquf, being the statement of Ibn Mas'ud: "Indeed, this Qur'an is an intercessor and a powerful intercessor". This is in the ruling of marfu' (traced to the Prophet) because its meaning is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Ibn Mas'ud says: "Indeed, this Qur'an is an intercessor and a powerful intercessor. Whoever follows it, it will lead him to Paradise, and whoever abandons it or turns away from it", or a word to that effect. The narrator is uncertain whether he said this word: "Whoever follows it, it will lead him to Paradise, and whoever abandons it or turns away from it." The narrator is uncertain about the exact wording spoken by Ibn Mas'ud. This is part of their caution in narration, although the meaning is achieved. "And whoever abandons the Qur'an or turns away from it, or a word to that effect, will be driven". Here, "taraghhib" (encouragement) is mentioned, and "zajj" (driven) is a transcription error; the correct word is "zakhkha" (thrust) in the back to the Fire, meaning pushed.

The questioner : Is the correct word "zakhkha"?

The Shaykh : "Zakhkha," meaning pushed.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... I do not know. It may come with the same meaning, but the narration of the hadith... Ibn Mas'ud's is "zakhkha." And as you see, this hadith, being from the words of Ibn Mas'ud, contains an explicit command to follow the Qur'an and an explicit prohibition against abandoning the practice of the Qur'an. So whoever acts in accordance with it...

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings.
Whoever acts in accordance with the Qur'an in this world will be granted intercession on the Day of Resurrection, his intercession will be accepted, and he will be entered into Paradise. And the opposite: whoever abandons acting in accordance with the Qur'an or turns away from it will be thrust in the back to the Fire, may Allah protect us. Blessed and Exalted is He. This hadith... in this chapter, this is encouragement to act in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah.
What is the relationship, and what is the position of Muslims today regarding this statement of Ibn Mas'ud, which is certainly taken from the Book and the Sunnah: "Indeed, the Qur'an is an intercessor and a powerful intercessor. Whoever acts in accordance with it, it will enter him into Paradise, and whoever abandons acting in accordance with it or turns away from it, will be thrust in the back to the Fire"? Muslims today, even if they or a large portion of them still maintain their prayers and acts of worship, in reality, a large portion of them act in accordance with acts of worship and obedience that did not come in the Book or the Sunnah. In fact, some of them act in accordance with many acts of obedience that are contrary to the Book and contrary to the Sunnah. When they are told that and it is clarified that what they are doing today is contrary to the Book and the Sunnah, they turn away from it. They turn away from it, claiming that what they are upon is the truth, and that what some people like us today claim—that the Qur'an is contrary to what they are upon—is ignorance itself. So in that case, the statement of Ibn Mas'ud applies to these people: "And whoever turns away from acting in accordance with the Qur'an will be thrust in the back to the Fire on the Day of Resurrection". We give a clear example of this.

The questioner : Peace be upon you.

The Shaykh : Many Muslims today hold beliefs and perform actions that are contrary to the Qur'an, let alone the Sunnah. For example, many of them call for aid to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous in times of hardship, saying, "O Baz, O Khidr, help us... O Sayyid Ahmad, give us aid," and so on, which you hear in their anthems and in their gatherings of dhikr (remembrance of Allah). When they are told that this is something... the Qur'an and the Messenger (peace be upon him) says: If you call upon other than Allah, then you have worshipped Him besides Allah. And you say in every prayer: "You alone we worship," meaning exclusively, "You alone we worship," meaning we worship no one but You, and "You alone we ask for help," meaning we ask for help from no one but You. So how can you seek help from the dead, the righteous, and the awliya? When they are told that this is the Qur'an and this is the Sunnah, their answer, either in their state or in their speech, is like this: . So do the words of Ibn Mas'ud apply to these people: "And whoever turns away from it will be thrust in the back to the Fire on the Day of Resurrection"? We fear, with all fear, that such a statement applies to these people who do not listen to the word of truth extracted from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), relying only on what they found their fathers and grandfathers upon. So in this hadith, there is encouragement and warning. There is encouragement for us to act in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah, and there is warning for us against abandoning acting in accordance with the Book and the Sunnah. And you... so, whether the argument is that we are Muslims and our fathers and grandfathers were Muslims and they were on guidance, and the Qur'an is contrary to what they claim, or as some of the youth in the modern era say, "We have no need now for the Qur'an, nor for the Sunnah, nor for the Shari'ah; we are a group of secularists and rationalists," this hadith covers both groups. The group that claims Islam but contradicts the Qur'an and contradicts the hadith reported from the Messenger (peace be upon him), and it covers the other group that has committed blasphemy against the religion of Allah and denied prophethood and the message, the message of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family).