Select a passage to highlight it. Click or tap a highlight to remove it.
Text and translation
English translation
64. It was narrated that Abu Hurairah said: "One day the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ appeared among the people. A man came to him and said: 'O Messenger of Allāh, what is Imān (faith)?' He said: 'To believe in Allāh, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers and the meeting with Him, and to believe in the Final Resurrection.' He said: 'O Messenger of Allāh, what is Islam?' He said: 'To worship Allāh (alone) and not to associate anything with Him; to establish the prescribed prayers; to pay the obligatory Zakāt; and to fast Ramadān.' He said: 'O Messenger of Allāh, what is Ihsān?' He said: 'To worship Allāh as if you see Him, for even though you do not see Him, He sees you.' He said: 'O Messenger of Allāh, when will the Hour be?' He said: 'The one who is being asked does not know more than the one who is asking, but I will tell you about its signs. When the slave-woman gives birth to her mistress, that is one of its signs. When the shepherds compete in constructing tall buildings, that is one of its signs. And there are five things which no one knows except Allāh.' Then the Messenger
of Allāh ﷻ recited the Verse: "Verily, Allāh, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allāh is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things)."[1] (Sahih)
Your commentary saves automatically in this browser, separate from the published commentary. It stays private unless you include it in a shared study file.
Commentary
Precise knowledge of the future is the exclusive preserve of Allāh. All matters mentioned in the Qur'ānic Verse belong to the realm of the future. Not to speak of the exact timing of the impending Hour. Even the precise timing of the appearance of its signs, mentioned in the Hadith, are known to no one but Allāh. Similar is the case of the other matters for which man can only conjecture, which may or may not come true. A case in point is the clouds, a sight of which awakens the hope, but holds no guarantee, that it will bring down rain. We can plan for the future but have no means of knowing beforehand what unexpected impediments or circumstances might be in store for us. Likewise, no one except Allāh knows for sure about anyone's life or death. Man can only conjecture about the future, but cannot guarantee that his conjecture will come true.
If a scholar does not know the answer of a question, let him plainly say that he does not know it without considering it an offense to his dignity.
A learned man should never get angry but answer the queries of the questioner with tenderness and love.
