Allâh the Most High, says:
“Allâh has sent down the best statement, a Book its part resembling each other in goodness and truth oft repeated. The skins of those who fear their lord shiver from it. Then their skins and hearts soften to the remembrance of Allâh” (39:23)
“Those who were given knowledge before it (ie the Jews and Christians) when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration. And they say glory be to our Lord! Truly the promise of our Lord must be fulfilled. And they fall down on their faces weeping and it adds to their humility” (17:107-109)
It has been related on the authority of Abû Hurayrah (ra) who said: “I heard the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ say:
“Seven will be granted the shade of Allâh on a day when there will be no shade but His. A just ruler, a youth who has been brought up worshipping Allâh, a man whose heart is attached to the mosque, two people who love each other for the sake of Allâh and meet and part upon that, a man who is allurred by a woman of high standing and beauty and he says, “I fear Allâh”, one who gives charity in secret so that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given, and a man whose eyes fill up with tears when he remembers Allâh in private” (Bukhârî, Muslim and others)
“The fire will not touch a man who weeps out of the fear of Allâh until the milk returns to the breasts. Also the dust produced in jihâd and the smoke of hell will never co-exist”.
(on the authority of Abû Hurayrah (ra), reported at-Tirmidhî (hasan sahîh), an-Nasâ’i and al Hâkim (sahîh))
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Toobah (a tree in Paradise whose course runs the distance of a 100yrs. The clothing of the people of Paradise is extracted from within it. Reported Ahmad and others) is for anyone who controls his tongue, whose house is sufficient for him (ie he is content with it) and who weeps over his errors” (on the authority of Uthman (ra), reported at-Tabrâni in al-Awsat as-Saghir, hasan)
On the authority of ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir (ra) who asked
“I said, O Messenger of Allâh! What is salvation?” He replied: “To have control over your tongue, to be content with your house and to weep over your errors”. (Reported by Ibn al Mubarâk in az-Zuhd, Ahmad, at-Tirmidhî, and others,
sahîh)
Beware of the Hardness of the Heart!
Beware of the Hardness of the Heart, for it can lead you to the Fire. So protect your heart from becoming hard and all that which may case it to harden, and beware of turning away from the admonition of Allâh, the Most High.
“Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe to be affected by Allâh’s Reminder (this Qurân) and that which has been revealed of the truth, lest they become as those who received the Scripture before, and the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened? And many of them were rebellious, disobedient (fâsiqoon)” (57:16)
It has been mentioned in explanation of this verse, which has been reported by Abû Hazim, that Amir ibn Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr related to him that his father informed him that only four years had passed between the time of their acceptance of Islâm and the revelation of this verse, through which Allâh was reproaching them )sahîh in Sunan Ibn Mâjah). Ibn ‘Abbâs said in explanation of this verse, “They became inclined to this world and turned away from the admonition of Allâh” (al Baghawi mentions in his tafsîr)
Weeping [1] is a Mercy which Allâh puts in the Hearts of His Servants
On the authority of Usâmah ibn Zayd (ra) who said:
“We were with the Prophet ﷺ when one of his daughters send a messenger calling for him, informing him that her small child or her son was dying. So the Prophet ﷺ told the
messenger: “Return to her and inform her that whatever Allâh takes and gives belongs to Him and that everything has an appointed term, so let her be patient and anticipate Allâh’s reward in the hereafter”. Later the messenger returned to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “Verily she has sworn by Allâh that you come to her”. So the Prophet ﷺ got up and so too did Sa’ad ibn ‘Ubâdah and Mu’âdh ibn Jabal, and I too went with them. The small boy was lifted up to the Prophet ﷺ and let out a groaning noise[2], as if he was breathing his last breath. Thereby the Prophet’s eyes ﷺ overflowed with tears. Upon this Sa’d asked: “What is this, O Messenger of Allâh?” He ﷺ replied: “This is a mercy which Allâh puts in the hearts of His servants. And verily Allâh shows mercy to those of His servants who are merciful” (al Bukhârî, Muslim)
The Weeping of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Ibn al Qayyim said in Zâd al Ma’âd:
“As for the weeping of the Prophet ﷺ it was in the same degree as his laughter. He wouldn’t sob loudly and raise his voice, just like his laughter wasn’t loud. However his eyes would fill up with tears, until they flowed out, and you would hear the sound like that of a whistling kettle coming from his chest. He would weep out of mercy for the dead, out of fear and compassion for his ummah, out of deep fear of Allâh, upon listening to the Qur’ân. And it was a weeping of longing, love and exaltation, accompanied by fear and khashyah”.
On the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood (ra) who said:
“The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ told me: “Recite to me!” So I recited Surah an-Nisa’ until I
reached:
“How will it be then, when We bring from each nation a witness, and bring you (O Prophet Muhammad) as a witness against these people?” (4:41)
Then I looked towards him and behold! I saw that his eyes were overflowing with tears” (al Bukhârî, Muslim and others)[ 3]
On the authority of ‘Ali (ra) who said,
“We did not have a horseman with us on the day of Badr except al-Miqdad. Everyone amongst us was sleeping except for the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ who was under a tree, praying and weeping until the morning.” (Ibn Khuzayman in his Sahîh.)
On the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (ra) who said:
“One day during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ the sun eclipsed, so he stood and prayed, until it seemed as though he wouldn’t go into rukoo, then he went into rukoo (for such a long time) that it seemed as if he wouldnt raise his head, then he raised his head. He remained (in that position) and it seemed as if he wouldn’t go into sujood, then he made sajdah, and (he remained in that position) until it seemed as if he wouldn’t raise his head, then he raised his head and it seemed as if he wouldn’t go into sujood again, then he made sajdah, until it seemed as if he wouldn’t raise his head again. Then he began to breathe heavily and weep, saying, “Lord, didn’t You promise me that You wouldn’t punish them while I am amongst them? Lord didnt You promise me that You wouldn’t punish them whilst they seek forgiveness from you, and we seek forgiveness from you?”. When he had finished praying two rak’ah, the sun eclipse had cleared and he ﷺ got up and praised and glorified Allâh and then he said: “The sun and the moon are two signs from among the signs opf Allâh, they do not eclipse because of the death or life of anyone. So if you see them eclipse, then hasten to the remembrance of Allâh” (an-Nasâ’î, Abû Dawûd)
On the authority of al-Barâ ibn ‘Âzib (ra) who said
“While we were with the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ he suddenly looked towards a group (of people) and said: “For what reason have they gathered here?” It was said, “In order to dig a grave”. So the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ became alarmed and startled and he quickly went ahead of the Companions until he reached the grave, then he knelt upon it and I turned my face towards him ﷺ in order to see what he was doing. He ﷺ cried until the earth became wet with his tears, then he turned to us and said, “O my brothers! Prepare for a day like this”” (al Bukhârî in at-Tarikh, Ibn Mâjah, Ahmad and others, hasan)
On the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn ash-Shikh-kheer (ra) who said:
“I saw the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ praying with us, and I heard the sound of his weeping coming out of his chest, which was like the sound of a boiling pot”. (Abû Dawûd, an Nasâî, at-Tirmidhî in ash-Shamâ’il, Ibn Hajar in al-Fath, strong chain of narration, declared authentic by Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Hibbah and al-Hakim).
(1) Ibn al-Qayyim said: “The types of weeping are: 1. the weeping of mercy
and compassion. 2. the weeping of fear and reverence. 3. the weeping of love
and longing. 4. the weeping of joy and happinses. 5. the weeping of worry
and anguish brought about by pain, and the inability to bear it. 6. the
weeping of sadness. 7. the weeping of fatigue and weakness. the weeping of
hypocrisy, that is when the eyes fill up with tears, while the heart is hard.
9. the weeping of the false and hired, such as the woman who is paid to wail
(tr note: it was an old arab custom in pre-Islâm ic Arabia, to hire people to
attend someone’s funeral, in order to cry and wail, and cause much commotion
and noise, to make it appear to other people that the deceased was very much
liked and missed. The Prophet ﷺ later condemned this). 10. the weeping of
agreement, that is when a person sees other people crying over something that
has happened to them, so he too starts to cry, not knowing why they are
crying” (Zâd al Ma’âd)
(2) al qa’qa’: the movement of something, from which a noise is heard. The
meaning intended here is agitation and movement. He (ie the narrator) meant
each time the child entered upon a particular state it did not take long
before he entered upon another which brings him closer to death. Refer to
an-Nihâyah.
(3) An explanation of this noble verse has been mentioned in a hadîth
related by Abû Sa’îd (ra) who said that the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ said:
“A prophet will come and with him will be two men, and (another) prophet will
come and with him will be three men, and more and less than that. It will be
said to him: “Did you convey (the message) to your nation?” he will reply:
“Yes” then his nation will be called, and it will be said to them: “Was the
message conveyed to you?” and they will reply: “No”. So it will be said (to
that prophet) “Who will testify for you?” He will reply, “Muhammad ﷺ and
his nation”. So the nation of Muhammadﷺ will be called and it wil be
said to them: “Were you informed of this?” and they will reply: “Yes”. So
it will be asked: “How did you come to know about that?” and they will
reply: “Our Prophet ﷺ informed us that the messengers (before him) had
conveyed the message, and we believe him”. He (Abû Sa’eed) said: “So that is
what Allâh (the Most High) means when He says in the Qurân:
“..and thus We have made you (Muslims, real believers) a just nation that you
be witnesses over mankind, and the Messenger (Prophet Muhammad) be a witness
over you…” (2:143)
(Ibn Mâjah, Ahmad, and al Bukhârî)
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