“Whoever sticks to my Sunnah, when the rest of my Ummah…”

I’m just passing on to you all a Hadeeth (statement) of our Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam)… something to think about. By the way, this is a kind of follow-up on the beautiful article by our brother Jawaad Ahmad Khan (Are You Different?), on this same issue.

(Though some Hadeeth Scholars have weakened this Hadeeth — and some have even said that it is very weak [among them, Shaykh al-Albaani]… However, just for your information, the Hadeeth was also graded حسن ”hasan” by Ibn Hajar Al-`Asqalaani in Hidaayah Ar-Ruwaah, and Al-Mundhiree said about it in At-Targheeb wat-Tarheeb, إسناده صحيح أو حسن أو ما قاربهما ”Its isnaad is saheeh or hasan or something close to them.”  And furthermore, Ibn `Adiyy said regarding it in Al-Kaamil, فيه الحسن بن قتيبة أرجو أنه لا بأس به “In its chain of narration is Al-Hasan Ibn Qutaibah. I hope that there is no problem with him.”)

The narrator – the Sahaabi who narrated this from the Prophet – is ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Abbaas (and also in the narration mentioned by Ibn Hajar,  Abu Hurayrah) — who said that the Prophet Muhammad said:

مَنْ تَمَسَّكَ بِسُنَّتِي, عِنْدَ فَسَادِ أُمَّتِي, فَلَهُ أَجْرُ مِائَةِ شَهِيْد

“Whoever sticks to my Sunnah (my way, my path, my practice, my teachings) when my Ummah becomes corrupt, will receive the reward of 100 martyrs.”

Of course, when it mentions Ummah, it does not mean everyone, because the Prophet said on another occasion: إن الله قد أجار أمتي من أن تجتمع على ضلالة – implying that, this Ummah will never unite upon falsehood. But a time will come when the majority of the Ummah will have lapsed into corruption. What is corruption?

It is explained by the previous statement, “Whoever sticks to my Sunnah” — implying that the rest of the Ummah will have abandoned the Sunnah of their Messenger, hence, have fallen into corruption and misguidance. So yes, no doubt, all types of corruption, in all areas. Definitely! But particularly, abandoning the Sunnah (practice, way, teachings, guidance) of the Prophet Muhammad, and instead following other paths and other figures.

+ So, “the keeper of my Sunnah at that time” … the one who تَمَسَّكَ “sticks to”, holds firmly to, adheres strictly to, abides by, the Prophetic Sunnah — will have tremendous rewards with Allah. The reward of 100 Shaheeds.

Why? … Because, we have to realize here… the difficulty of the situation of such a person. He is going against the flow. It’s like… all the traffic is coming in 1 direction (all the cars are driving this way) and you try to… basically, go against the current! Impossible.

Many Muslims (“my Ummah”) will be telling him, “No, no, no! What are you doing?? You extremist. You Wahabi Salafi, you this and that. We’re in the 21st century. That doesn’t apply for now. That was for the old days – back in Arabia 1400 years ago. We’re in the modern world now. Those practices were for back then! Stop being an extremist!”     [And of course, the non-Muslims will also have their own onslaught of attacks, "You weirdoes. You terrorists. You backwards people. You this and you that."] And as the Prophet  himself stated in an authentic Hadeeth, that the one who will be patiently holding on to his/her religion at this time, will be like كَالْقَابِضِ عَلَى الْجَمْر  “someone who is holding onto ember (a burning piece of coal).”

The pressure… to stop following the Sunnah of the Prophet … to stop practicing the Islaam as he  brought it (e.g. to stop praying 5 times a day, to take off the hijaab, to completely shave off the beard for men, to compromise a little, to listen to music, to have premarital relations with the opposite gender, to deal with usury/interest,  to lie a little, to cheat a little, to stop coming to the Masjid regularly, to not spend in the Way of Allah and not be generous, to – in general – disobey the commands of the Prophet, to disobey one’s Parents, to curse & use foul speech, to hit your spouse,  to be unforgiving,  to backbite, slander and spread rumors, to gossip, to not keep your promises, to betray your trusts, to practice innovations in the Religion of Islaam, to be afraid or shy to practice one’s Islaam & just wanna be like everybody else) will be very very great. Tremendous! And hence, the reward will also be very very great and tremendous for those who,  despite all the pressure, stick to his Sunnah.

So that is the question that I ask you now: Are you gonna stick to the Prophet’s Sunnah despite the pressure to compromise a little, despite the onslaught of attacks? Are you gonna dare to be different? Or are you gonna buckle under the pressure and give in? If you dare to be different, then I give you the glad tidings that the Prophet Muhammad gave to such people, who would come after his death & would not have seen him, nor seen any miracles, and would only find the Book of Allah in front of them and they would read & study it and believe it, and then adhere to the Prophet’s Sunnah despite the pressure and despite the fact that they would be looked at as “strangers” and “weirdoes”. The Prophet said about such people, that they are his ‘brothers’ & he cannot wait to meet them! They will believe in him & firmly adhere to his Sunnah though they never saw him

(It’s origin is in Saheeh Muslim, and then there are other wordings elsewhere. Shaykh Al-Albaani has authenticated this hadeeth in Saheeh Ibn Maajah, Saheeh An-Nasaa’ee, As-Silsilah As-Saheehah, etc).

And he gave such “strangers” tremendous glad tidings & good news, and something to uplift their spirits in the times of darkness, depression and gloominess.

On one occasion – ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas narrates – when the Companions were all sitting with the Prophet, he said: “Toobaa (Paradise; a special tree in Paradise) is for the strangers (those who are looked at by the people as strange and weird)! Toobaa is for the strangers! Toobaa is for the strangers!” And he said it thrice.

So they asked him, “Who are these ghurabaa’ (strange people) that you’re referring to, Messenger of Allah?” And he replied:

“Righteous people who are few in number, and who are amongst evil and misguided people who are so abundant and overflowing in number. Those who are against them (these righteous people) will be more than those who follow them and support them.” (Authenticated in Musnad Ahmad by Shaykh Ahmad Shaakir, and in Saheeh Al-Jaami` & Saheeh At-Targheeb by Al-Albaani.)

And our Prophet also described them on another occasion saying,

“Certainly, Islaam began as something strange (in the eyes of people). And (one day) it will return to being strange just as it began. So Toobaa is for the ‘strangers’!” So he was asked, “Messenger of Allah, who are these ‘strangers’?” He replied: الذين يصلحون ما أفسد الناس من بعدي من سنتي “They are those who will rectify the corruption and deviation of the people after me, with regard to my Sunnah.” (This hadeeth was verified to be “hasan saheeh” by At-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, it was graded “hasan” by Ibn Al-‘Arabi in his ‘Aaridat-ul-Ahwadhi, and Ibn Hajar gave it the same ruling in the introduction to Takhreej Mishkaat Al-Masaabeeh. Furthermore, Ibn Baaz stated that this hadeeth is “saheeh” in Majmoo’ Fataawaa Ibn Baaz. And FYI, the origin of this hadeeth is in ‘Saheeh Muslim’, and also Ibn Hazm alluded to the fact that this hadeeth is mutawaatir (super authentic).)

So hang in there, don’t you ever buckle under the pressure, dare to be different!  Be proud of your Way of Life, and don’t be afraid or shy of the creation, for surely Allah – their Creator as well as yours – is more deserving of you fearing Him & feeling shy before Him.

“Whoever sticks to my Sunnah, when the rest of my Ummah has lapsed into corruption, shall receive the reward of 100 martyrs.”

I am a Muslim, and I do not walk alone. I fear no one, but the One above the Throne.

Notes

1. The following hadeeth was authenticated by Shaykh Al-Albaani (he graded it “hasan” in Saheeh Al-Jaami`) from ‘Abdullaah Ibn Mas’ood, that the Prophet said:

اَلْمُتَمَسِّكُ بِسُنَّتِي عِنْدَ اخْتِلاَفِ أُمَّتِي, كَالْقَابِضِ عَلَى الْجَمْر

“The person who sticks tightly to my Sunnah, at the time when the rest of my Ummah will be in a state of discord & disunity – will be like one who is holding on with his bare hands to ember.”

2. This hadeeth [من تمسك بسنتي عند فساد أمتي فله أجر مائة شهيد] that I talked about in this article was also mentioned by the scholar of hadeeth, As-Safaareenee Al-Hanbali in his book Lawaa`ih Al-Anwaar (1/201), and after mentioning it he said: روي من حديث أبي هريرة رضي اللَّه عنه بإسناد لا بأس به, إلا أنه قال: فله أجر شهيد ”This has been narrated from the hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah, with a chain of narration that has no problem with it except that in that narration the wording was, ‘will receive the reward of a martyr’.”