Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: We accompanied the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to a banquet. The meat of the forearm was presented to him as he was very fond of it. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) ate a morsel of it and said, "I will be the master of all the people on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why? Allah will gather all human beings, past and present generations on the same ground so that the announcer may be able to make them all hear his voice and the onlookers may be able to see all of them. The sun will come very close to the people, they will suffer such distress and trouble as they will not be able to bear. Then the people will say: `Do you see our (miserable) condition? You should look for someone who can intercede for you with your Rubb. Some people will say to the others: `Go to your father, Adam. So they will go to Adam and say to him: `You are the father of mankind; Allah created you with His Own Hand, and breathed into you of His spirit, ordered the angels to prostrate before you and He made you dwell in Jannah. So (please) intercede for us with your Rubb. Do you not see our (miserable) condition? Adam will say: `Today my Rubb has become so angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever become angry after this. He forbade me to approach the tree, but I disobeyed Him. I am worried about myself. Go to someone else. Go to (Prophet) Nuh (Noah). They will come to Nuh and will say to him: `O Nuh! You are the first of Messenger of Allah to the people on the earth, and Allah has named you a grateful slave. Please intercede for us with your Rubb. Do you not see our (miserable) condition? He will say: `Today my Rubb his become so angry as He has never been before, nor will He become angry hereafter. I was granted the right to make one definitely accepted invocation. I availed of this opportunity and made it against my nation. I am worried about myself. Go to someone else. Go to (Prophet) Ibrahim (Abraham). They will go to Ibrahim and say to him: `O Ibrahim, you are Messenger of Allah and His Khalil (the intimate friend of Allah) from among the people of the earth; so please intercede for us with your Rubb. Dont you see our (miserable) condition? He will say to them: `Today my Rubb has become so angry as He has never been before; nor will he ever be so hereafter. I had told three lies. I am worried about myself. Go to someone else. Go to (Prophet) Musa (Moses). The people will then go to Musa and say to him: `O Musa! You are Messenger of Allah and Allah gave you superiority above the others with His Message and with His direct Talk to you, so intercede for us with your Rubb. Do you not see our (miserable) condition? Musa will say: `Today my Rubb has become so angry as he has never been before, nor will He ever be hereafter. I killed a man whom I had not been ordered to kill. I am worried about myself. Go to someone else. Go to (Prophet) `Isa (Jesus). So they will go to `¦sa and say to him: `O `Isa! You are Messenger of Allah and His Word (i.e., Be-and he was) which he bestowed on Maryam (Mary) and a spirit created by Him; and you talked to the people while you were in the cradle. Please intercede for us with your Rubb. Do you not see our (miserable) condition? `¦sa will say: `Today my Rubb has become so angry as He has never been before, nor will He ever be like this hereafter. `Isa will not mention any sin, but will say: `I am worried about myself. Go to someone else. Go to Muhammad (PBUH)."Another narration is: The Messenger of Allah said, "They will come to me and say: `O Muhammad! You are the Messenger of Allah and the Last of Prophets, and Allah has forgiven your past and future sins. Please intercede for us with your Rubb. Do you not see our (miserable) condition?" The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) added, "Then I will proceed under Allahs Throne and fall down in prostration before my Rubb. Then, He will bestow upon me knowledge of such praises and glorification to Him as He has never bestowed upon anybody else before me. Then I will be addressed: `O Muhammad! Raise your head. Ask, and your request will be granted. Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted. So I will raise my head and say: `My followers, O my Rubb! My followers, O my Rubb! My followers, O my Rubb! It will be said: `O Muhammad! Admit into Jannah such people as are not subjected to reckoning through the right gate of Jannah. The rest of them will be admitted along with the rest of mankind through the various gates of Jannah." The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) further said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is! The distance between every two sides of the gates of Jannah is like the distance between Makkah and Hajar, or that between Makkah and Busra (Syria)."
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Commentary:
1. Hajar is a town in Bahrain and Busra is a city in Harran which is situated in the south of Damascus. This means that each of the gates of the Jannah will be so broad that the distance between its two sides would be thousands of miles. 2. In this narration, the greatness and superiority of the Prophet (PBUH) has been described. On the Day of Resurrection when the great Prophets would not dare to speak or request leniency for mankind, only Muhammad (PBUH) would intercede for the people and request for mercy by the Permission of Allah. The first request which he will make would be that accountability may be started, so that the people may be freed as soon as possible from the hardships and troubles of the Day of Resurrection. This part of the Hadith has not been mentioned in this narration; but it has been described in other narrations. This would be a general request. The second intercession will be for his own Ummah. This will take place in several stages. Here, the first stage has been mentioned. In this stage Allah will send those people to Jannah whose accountability would not be necessary. Next stage would be when the sinners among the believers would have completed their period of punishment in Hell and then Allah will send them to Jannah upon the intercession of the Prophet (PBUH). Other Prophets will seek to be excused from recommending or advocating because of some of their slips. The real reason for this attitude of theirs is that they are on such high pedestal of greatness and piety that even a slight slip of theirs which does come under the boundary of unworthiness would be felt by them to be very significant. This is just like the proverb which says that even the nice action of the pious ones are considered to be the blemishes and defects for the friends of Allah. Similar is the case with the Prophets, they excused themselves from advocating their case before Allah because of their insignificant slips. 3. Special reference may be made of the three statements of Prophet Ibrahim which were apparently not according to the outward facts, so they have been described as `not factual'. In reality they were not mis-statements, but only a way of convincing the people about the basic universal truth, and making them realize their misunderstanding. These three are mentioned in a long Hadith narrated on the authority of Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him): Ibrahim (PBUH) did not tell a lie except on three occasions. Twice for the sake of Allah when he said, "I am sick" (37:89) and he said, "(I have not done this) but the big idol had done it." (21:63) (The third was) that while Ibrahim and Sarah (his wife) were going (on a journey) they passed by (the territory of) a tyrant from among the tyrants. Someone said to the tyrant, "This man (i.e., Ibrahim) is accompanied by a very charming lady." So, he sent for Ibrahim and asked him about Sarah, saying, "Who is this lady?" Ibrahim said, "She is my sister." Ibrahim went to Sarah and said, "O Sarah! There are no believers on the surface of the earth except you and I. This man asked me about you and I told him that you are my sister. So do not contradict my statement..." (Al-Bukhari, vol. 4, Hadith No. 578)
The idolaters invited Ibrahim to join them in their celebrations outside the city, but he refused, claiming that he was sick. When he was left alone, he came to their idols and broke them. When the idolaters questioned him, he claimed that he had not destroyed their idols but the chief idol had, which Ibrahim left undisturbed and on whose shoulder he had put an axe to lay the accusation on it. To conclude, Ibrahim, like all other Prophets is free from sins, but the three acts which he made in good faith were to guide his people to the truth and to save his wife from the evil of the then tyrant.
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