Explanation of the hadith of Ibn Shamasa, who said: We attended 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was in the throes of death, so he wept for a long time and turned his face toward the wall.

The reader: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) transmitted in the context of the hadiths in the chapter on the recommendation of conveying good news and congratulating with good: "From Abu Shamasa (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: We attended 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him)".

The Shaykh : 'Amr.
The reader: "We attended 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was in the throes of death, so he wept for a long time and turned his face toward the wall. Then his son kept saying: 'O my father, did not the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) promise you such and such? Did not the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) promise you such and such?' So he turned his face toward him and said: 'The best of what we count is the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Indeed, I was upon three levels. I saw myself, and no one was more hateful to me than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and nothing was more desirable to me than that I had gained control over him and killed him. Had I died in that state, I would have been among the people of the Fire. But when Allah placed Islam in my heart, I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Extend your right hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you." He extended his right hand, but I held back my hand. He said: "What is the matter, O 'Amr?" I said: "I wanted to make a condition." He said: "What condition?" I said: "That He forgive me." He said:

Do you not know, 'Amr, that Islam demolishes what preceded it, that the Hijra demolishes what preceded it, and the Pilgrimage demolishes what preceded it?

أما علمت أن الإسلام يهدم ما كان قبله، وأن الهجرة تهدم ما كان قبلها/ وأن الحج يهدم ما كان قبله

Mishkat al-Masabih 28Sahīh (Zubair `Aliza'i)

And no one was more beloved to me than the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), nor more honorable in my eyes than he. I was not able to fill my eyes with looking at him out of reverence for him. Had I been asked to describe him, I would not have been able to, because I did not fill my eyes with looking at him. Had I died in that state, I would have hoped to be among the people of Paradise. Then we turned to other matters, and I do not know what my state is in them. So if I die, do not accompany me with a wailer or a fire. When you have buried me, throw the earth over me gently, then stand around my grave for the time it takes to slaughter a camel and divide its meat, so that I may become accustomed to you and see what I will answer with the messengers of my Lord. Narrated by Muslim".

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, in the context of the hadiths regarding giving glad tidings and congratulating one on good, in the hadith of 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him), a great story. He said that some of his Companions were present with him while he was in the throes of death, so he wept intensely and turned his face toward the wall (may Allah be pleased with him). He was then in the throes of death (may Allah be pleased with him), about to part with this world. His son said to him: "Why are you weeping, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) has given you glad tidings of Paradise?" He said: "O my son, I was in three states." "States" means conditions, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning one state after another. Then he mentioned these three states: that he used to hate the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) with intense hatred, and that there was no one on the face of the earth who hated him as he hated the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and that he wished he could get hold of him and kill him, which is the most extreme form of hatred. Until Allah placed Islam in his heart, so he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, extend your hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you." Meaning, extend your hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you to Islam. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was the best of people in character, so he extended his hand, but 'Amr ibn al-'As held back his hand. He held back his hand not out of arrogance, but to verify what he would mention. So the Prophet said to him: "What is the matter?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am making a condition." Meaning, regarding Islam. He said: He said, "I make the condition that I be forgiven." This was his greatest concern (may Allah be pleased with him); he made the condition that Allah forgive him, thinking that Allah would not forgive him for his past record. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to him: Three things: As for Islam, it demolishes what came before it, by the explicit text of the Noble Book. Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: And Hijrah: when a person migrates from the land in which he lived, which is a land of disbelief, it demolishes what came before it. And Hajj demolishes what came before it, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): So he pledged allegiance (may Allah be pleased with him) and loved the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) with intense love, until he became the most beloved of people to him, and he was even unable to look at him directly out of reverence for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Glorified and Exalted is He, the Turner of hearts. Yesterday he hated him with intense hatred, wishing he could get hold of him and kill him, but now he cannot raise his eyes to him out of reverence for him, and he cannot describe him because he cannot encompass him, as he did not perceive him fully out of awe of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). He said (may Allah be pleased with him) that if he died in the first state, he would be among the people of the Fire. And if he died, he said, "If I died in that state, I would hope to be among the people of Paradise." Note the caution of 'Amr (may Allah be pleased with him): in the first case, he was certain that if he died in that state, he would be among the people of the Fire. As for the second state, due to his intense fear, he said: "If I died in this state, I would hope to be among the people of Paradise." He did not say, "I would be among the people of Paradise," because testifying to Paradise is a difficult matter. We ask Allah to make us and you among its people. Then, after that, he took charge of affairs (may Allah be pleased with him); he took charge of governorships and leaderships, and what happened in the story of the war of Mu'awiyah and others occurred. 'Amr ibn al-'As was known to be the most cunning and intelligent of the Arabs. He said: "I fear that what happened after the middle state may have encompassed his deeds." Then he willed (may Allah be pleased with him) that when he died, no wailing woman should follow him. The wailing woman is the woman who wails over the dead and cries for him with a cry resembling the cooing of a pigeon. He ordered (may Allah be pleased with him) that when they buried him, they should remain at his grave for the time it takes to slaughter a camel and divide its meat, until he reviews the messengers of his Lord, who are the angels that come to the dead person when he is buried. When the dead person is buried, two angels come to him, sit him in his grave, and ask him three questions: "Who is your Lord? What is your religion? And who is your Prophet?" As for the believer whom Allah has established with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter—may Allah make us and you among them by His grace and mercy—he says: "My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad." Allah establishes him in this distressing station. As for the hypocrite, refuge with Allah, or the one who has doubt, he says: "Ha, ha, I do not know. I heard the people saying something, so I said it." Because faith did not enter his heart and did not settle in his heart; he hears and says, but we ask Allah for safety. Faith did not enter his heart, so he is struck with a mallet. The mallet is a large iron hammer; he is struck with an iron mallet and lets out a scream that everything hears except humans. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: If people heard the one being punished in his grave, they would be stunned and die, because he lets out a scream without parallel in this world, because no scream in this world, however great, causes death, but this is a great scream without parallel. He lets out a scream that everything hears except humans, and if humans heard it, they would be stunned. So 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered his family to remain with him for the time it takes to slaughter the camel and divide its meat so that he would be comforted by them. This indicates that the dead person senses his family. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he hears the clatter of their sandals when they depart from his burial. The clatter of the sandals is heard by the dead person when they depart from his burial. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a good hadith that when the dead person was buried, he would stand over him and say: It is recommended that when the dead person is buried, a person should stand over his grave and say: "O Allah, establish him, O Allah, establish him, O Allah, establish him, O Allah, forgive him, O Allah, forgive him, O Allah, forgive him," because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say the closing salam three times, and when he made supplication, he would supplicate three times. We ask Allah the Exalted to establish us and you with the firm word in this worldly life and in the Hereafter. The important point is that the son of 'Amr ibn al-'As said to him, "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) gave you glad tidings of Paradise," and this is from the category of giving glad tidings of good and congratulating one on it. And Allah grants success.