Continuation of the discussion on the hadith (that a group of people will be dragged into Paradise in chains . . ) .

The questioner : What is the interpretation of the hadith about being dragged into Paradise in chains?

The Shaykh : Its interpretation is what occurred in the early eras when Muslims brought many captive disbelievers into Muslim lands, and they were shackled in chains as slaves and bondsmen. After they were enslaved, and due to this enslavement, they served their masters and those who took them in. They were introduced to some of the morals and beliefs of Muslims that had been hidden from them. They found that the morals they had learned and the good treatment of their slaves and bondsmen were contrary to what they knew in their own lands regarding the bad treatment of masters toward slaves and bondsmen. This good treatment opened their hearts to Islam, and they entered it in groups. Many of them, due to the wonderful Islamic system that was unique at that time in legislating what is known in the books of hadith and jurisprudence as mukatabah, in addition to the freeing of slaves mentioned in the Qur'an, which Islam encouraged in various ways, found that this was something the disbelievers did not know. These disbelievers were the ones who innovated the practice of enslaving people who are their equals, as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said in his famous statement: "When did you enslave people when their mothers bore them free?" So they found in Islam many ways to free themselves from the humiliation of slavery and bondage. Some of these ways depended on the master, who either treated his slave or bondman well and freed him for the sake of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), or freed him as expiation for a sin for which Allah legislated that he must free a slave, or finally, there is that mukatabah. Mukatabah is: that the master agrees with the slave or one of his slaves that he will become free if he pays the master an amount they agree upon. When he pays the last installment, he becomes free. Islam opened the door for these slaves to earn their freedom and break the bonds of slavery. Through that good companionship we alluded to earlier, which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) encouraged in many hadiths, such as his saying (peace be upon him): , it seems the phrase dropped from my memory, and so on. So they found in the Islamic Shari'ah what attracted them strongly to enter Islam of their own free will. Therefore, among them were great scholars and jurists. It is sufficient for you to know that Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him), who is the first of the four followed imams, means that his father was from these slaves, let alone the likes of Tawus and others among the great hadith scholars. These , meaning they were brought as we said, shackled captives. When they mingled with the Muslims and the true Islam became clear to them, they believed, and they entered Paradise because of their faith. So they enter Paradise. This is the meaning of the hadith , meaning to Islam which leads them to Paradise, and they had been brought before in chains. This is a reality attested to by correct history. How many and how many of the mawali, meaning from these slaves whom their masters freed or who freed themselves through mukatabah, how many of them became great scholars from whom we now benefit with knowledge. They were captives brought in shackled ... .