And prayers and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.

The reader: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter on the people’s praise of the deceased. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: They passed by a funeral, and they spoke well of it, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

It became obligatory

وجبت

Then they passed by another, and they spoke ill of it, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

It became obligatory

وجبت

‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What is confirmed? He said:

You praised this, so Paradise has been affirmed to him; and you spoke badly of this, so Hell has been affirmed to him. You people are Allah's witnesses on earth.

هذا أثنيتم عليه خيرا فوجبت له الجنة وهذا أثنيتم عليه شرًّا فوجبت له النار أنتم شهداء الله في الأرض

Sahih al-Bukhari 1367

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And Abu al-Aswad said: I arrived in al-Madinah and sat with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). A funeral passed by them, and he spoke well of its owner, so ‘Umar said: “It is confirmed.” Then another passed by, and he spoke well of its owner, so ‘Umar said: “It is confirmed.” Then a third passed by, and he spoke ill of its owner, so ‘Umar said: “It is confirmed.” Abu al-Aswad said: I said: What is confirmed, O Commander of the Faithful? He said: I said as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Allah will admit into paradise any Muslim whose good character is attested by four persons

أيما مسلم شهد له أربعة بخير أدخله الله الجنة

Sahih al-Bukhari 2643

We said: And three? He said:

And three.

وثلاثة

We said: And two? He said:

And two

واثنان

Then we did not ask him about one. Al-Bukhari narrated it.”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the people’s praise of the deceased”. The people’s praise of the deceased means mentioning him with good or with evil. So when a person dies, either people speak well of him or they speak ill of him, according to what they know of his state. Then the author mentioned the hadith of Anas ibn Malik and the hadith of Abu al-Aswad with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab. In the hadith of Anas, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a funeral in his gathering, and they spoke well of its owner, so he said: Then they passed by another funeral, and they spoke ill of it, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said: What is confirmed, O Messenger of Allah? He said: And the second one, and Allah knows best, is from among the hypocrites. The hypocrites in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) were present in al-Madinah in large numbers, displaying Islam and concealing disbelief, may Allah protect us from that. The hypocrites are in the lowest depth of the Fire, except for whoever repents. In this is proof that if the Muslims speak well of the deceased, that indicates that he is from the people of Paradise and that Paradise is confirmed for him. And if they speak ill of him, that indicates that he is from the people of the Fire and that the Fire is confirmed for him. There is no difference in this between the testimony being in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) or after him, because the hadith of Abu al-Aswad with ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) conceded to the point that he mentioned that whoever is testified to by two with good is from the people of Paradise. And from the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community is that we do not testify for anyone with Paradise or the Fire, except for whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) testified. So we testify for whom the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) testified with Paradise, and we testify for whom he testified with the Fire. An example of those testified to with Paradise are the four caliphs: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali, as well as the rest of the ten promised Paradise. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: These ten, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made all of them from the people of Paradise. Ikamah ibn Mahshan, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed him that seventy thousand from this Ummah would enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment, Ikamah ibn Mahshan said: “O Messenger of Allah, call upon Allah to make me among them” He said: So another man stood up and said: “Call upon Allah to make me among them” He said: Thabit ibn Qays (may Allah be pleased with him) had a loud voice; his voice was high. When the saying of Allah the Exalted came down, he (may Allah be pleased with him) was afraid and remained in his house, secluding himself in his house, weeping, fearing that his deed had been rendered void because his voice was high. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) missed him and sent for him, and he informed him of the news, so he said: And so on, for those whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to with Paradise. For these, we testify. And as for whom he testified to with the Fire, we testify for him with the Fire. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified for a group with the Fire. And so in the Qur'an, Allah the Exalted said regarding Abu Lahab, who was the uncle of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), saying about him: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that his uncle Abu Talib is in shallow fire, and he has sandals from which his brain boils, may Allah protect us from that. And a man came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, where is my father? He said: And he (peace and blessings be upon him) informed that ‘Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i is dragged by his intestines in the Fire. The important point is: for whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified with the Fire, we testify for him with the Fire. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: And so, for whom the Ummah has agreed to praise, we testify for him with Paradise. For example, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), al-Shafi'i, Abu Hanifah, Malik, Sufyan al-Thawri, Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah, and others among the imams, the Ummah has agreed to praise them, so we testify that they are from the people of Paradise. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him): People have agreed to praise him, except for whoever deviated, and the one who deviated deviated into the Fire. He is testified to with Paradise according to this opinion. And supporting what Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) went to is the hadith of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab that al-Bukhari narrated and you heard, that the Messenger said: whoever is testified to by four, and three, and two, and then they did not ask him about one. We ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you from the people of Paradise, those who are forbidden from the Fire.
The reader: He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter on the virtue of one who has small children who die. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Any Muslim who loses three children before they reach the age of maturity, will be granted Jannah by Allah, the Exalted, out of His Mercy for them.

ما من مسلم يموت له ثلاثة لم يبلغوا الحنث إلا أدخله الله الجنة بفضل رحمته إياهم

Riyad as-Salihin 952

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

A Muslim whose three children die (in infancy) will not be touched by the Fire (of Hell) except for the fulfillment of Allah's Oath.

لا يموت لأحد من المسلمين ثلاثة من الولد لا تمسه النار إلا تحلة القسم

Riyad as-Salihin 953

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, the men have taken your hadith, so make for us a day from yourself in which we come to you and you teach us of what Allah has taught you. He said:

Gather on such-and-such a day.

اجتمعن يوم كذا وكذا

So they gathered, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to them and taught them of what Allah had taught him, then he said:

Any woman of you whose three children die (in infancy) they will be a guard for her against Fire (of Hell).

ما منكن من امرأة تقدم ثلاثة من الولد إلا كانوا لها حجابا من النار

Riyad as-Salihin 954

So a woman said: And two? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

And two.

واثنين

Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.”

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book *Riyad al-Salihin*: “Chapter on the virtue of one who has small children who die”. This means the chapter on the virtue given to one who has small children who die, meaning he seeks reward from Allah the Mighty and Sublime and is patient. Then he mentioned in it the hadiths of Anas, Abu Hurayrah, and Abu Sa'id.