What is the description of the Sirat when passing over it, and has a specific description been reported for it?
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The questioner : What is the description of the Sirat when passing over it, and has a specific description been reported for it?
The Shaykh : The Sirat is a bridge placed over the Fire, through which the believers pass to Paradise. May Allah make us and you among them.
People pass over it according to their deeds, either like the flash of lightning, or like a bolt of lightning, or like the wind, or like a swift horse, or like camels.
Some of them crawl along, and some of them fall into the Fire of Hell and are punished according to the measure of their sins.
As for its description, it has been reported that it is thinner than a sword and finer than a hair. Some scholars held that it is a wide road, citing the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): This must necessarily be wide, for people traverse it.
The important thing is not to know whether it is wide or narrow. The important thing is to know how people travel upon it, and why their travel upon it differs. Some are like the flash of lightning, some are like a bolt of lightning, some crawl, and some are thrown into the Fire.
The answer is: This is according to their deeds in this world and their reception of the Shari'ah of Allah. Whoever is quick to receive the Shari'ah of Allah and hastens in good deeds, his crossing of the Sirat will be easy, light, and swift. And whoever is slow in the Shari'ah of Allah and in accepting it, his travel upon the Sirat will be like his deed, a just recompense.
The Shaykh : The Sirat is a bridge placed over the Fire, through which the believers pass to Paradise. May Allah make us and you among them.
People pass over it according to their deeds, either like the flash of lightning, or like a bolt of lightning, or like the wind, or like a swift horse, or like camels.
Some of them crawl along, and some of them fall into the Fire of Hell and are punished according to the measure of their sins.
As for its description, it has been reported that it is thinner than a sword and finer than a hair. Some scholars held that it is a wide road, citing the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
It is slippery and treacherous
إنه دحض ومزلةThe important thing is not to know whether it is wide or narrow. The important thing is to know how people travel upon it, and why their travel upon it differs. Some are like the flash of lightning, some are like a bolt of lightning, some crawl, and some are thrown into the Fire.
The answer is: This is according to their deeds in this world and their reception of the Shari'ah of Allah. Whoever is quick to receive the Shari'ah of Allah and hastens in good deeds, his crossing of the Sirat will be easy, light, and swift. And whoever is slow in the Shari'ah of Allah and in accepting it, his travel upon the Sirat will be like his deed, a just recompense.