False Witness (Ahadith 2319 – 2320)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 48, Number 821 :
Narrated by Anas (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) was asked about the great sins He said, “They are:- (1 ) To join others in worship with Allah, (2) To be undutiful to one’s parents. (3) To kill a person (which Allah has forbidden to kill) (i.e. to commit the crime of murdering). (4) And to give a false witness.”

Volume 3, Book 48, Number 822 :
Narrated by Abu Bakra (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said thrice, “Should I inform you out the greatest of the great sins?” They said, “Yes, O Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam)!” He said, “To join others in worship with Allah and to be undutiful to one’s parents.” The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) then sat up after he had been reclining (on a pillow) and said, “And I warn you against giving a false witness”, and he kept on saying that warning till we thought he would not stop.

There’s mention of false witness in the Quran as well:

وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَشْهَدُونَ الزُّورَ

“And [they are] those who do not testify to falsehood..” [Al-Furqan: 72]

Ibn Kathir comments:

These are further attributes of the servants of the Most Gracious. They do not bear witness to falsehood, including lies, immorality, disbelief, foul speech and false words…

“And those who do not bear witness to falsehood” refers to giving false testimony, which means lying deliberately to someone else…

From the context it seems that what is meant by those who do not bear witness to falsehood is those who do not attend it or are not present when it happens.

The above ayah talks about false witness, which is a major sin. Allah also talks about hiding witness/testimony in the Quran:

وَلَا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَ ۚ وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ

“And do not conceal testimony, for whoever conceals it – his heart is indeed sinful, and Allah is Knowing of what you do.” [Al-Baqarah: 283]

Ibn Kathir comments:

Allah’s statement,

﴿وَلاَ تَكْتُمُواْ الشَّهَـدَةَ﴾

(And conceal not the evidence) means, do not hide it or refuse to announce it. Ibn `Abbas and other scholars said, “False testimony is one of the worst of the major sins, and such is the case with hiding the true testimony.” This is why Allah said,

﴿وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ ءَاثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ﴾

(For he who hides it, surely, his heart is sinful).

As-Suddi commented, “Meaning he is a sinner in his heart.”

This is similar to Allah’s statement,

﴿وَلاَ نَكْتُمُ شَهَـدَةَ اللَّهِ إِنَّآ إِذَاً لَّمِنَ الاٌّثِمِينَ﴾

(We shall not hide testimony of Allah, for then indeed we should be of the sinful) ﴿5:106﴾.

Allah said,

﴿يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّامِينَ بِالْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءِ للَّهِ وَلَوْ عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوِ الْوَلِدَيْنِ وَالاٌّقْرَبِينَ إِن يَكُنْ غَنِيّاً أَوْ فَقَيراً فَاللَّهُ أَوْلَى بِهِمَا فَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ الْهَوَى أَن تَعْدِلُواْ وَإِن تَلْوُواْ أَوْ تُعْرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيراً ﴾

(O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allah is a better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you avoid justice; and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allah is Ever Well-Acquainted with what you do) ﴿ 4:135

P.S. We have talked previously about a similar subject: false oaths.

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Guilty as Charged (Hadith No. 2005)

Bismillah.

Volume 3, Book 38, Number 508 :
Narrated by Zaid bin Khalid and Abu Huraira (radiallaahu `anhu)
The Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) said, “O Unais! Go to the wife of this (man) and if she confesses (that she has committed illegal sexual intercourse), then stone her to death.”

In Muslim (1698), there’s an addition to this narration:

“..He said: I went to her the next day and she admitted it, so the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that she be stoned.”

The evidences to charge one with guilt are only three according to Islamic Shariah. They are testimony of witnesses, confession, and taking an oath.
A judge of Islamic Shariah is not allowed to carry out the legal punishment (Hudood) without having the legal evidence to prove guilt of the accused.
However, it is liable for a judge in an Islamic court to punish a person just to discourage further criminal behavior when there are indications of his criminality, if it is useful.

Who should carry out the hadd punishment for zinaa (adultery)? Read on it here.

 

When The Earth Starts To Shake…

In light of the frequently occurring earthquakes these days… Most of these signs can be found in various Hadiths of the Prophet (SallAllaahu Alaiyhi Wasallam). I tried to find the ones I could. See the links in sha Allah.

 

As we reach close to the end of times

The earth gets filled with sins and crimes

 

When Humans worse than animals behave

When a child treats his own mother as a slave (1)

 

When false prophets start to increase in number (2)

When you wake people up but they prefer to slumber

 

When the most loved person is a liar and deceiver

When the most hated person is a faithful believer

 

When even Muslims start believing in false prophecies

When no one is afraid of committing hypocrisy

 

When killing someone becomes a piece of cake

When while taking a life, a person’s hands don’t even shake (3)

 

When children of fornication are born everyday

When people stop caring if someone goes astray

 

When all of this gets too much to take

Then that is when the earth frequently starts to shake… (4)

Graph provided by DL Research – http://www.dlindquist.com

Prophet [SAW]’s Dream (Hadith No. 1167)

Bismillah.

It’s a long Hadith. Keep calm and start reading.

Volume 2, Book 23, Number 468:

Narrated Samura bin Jundab:

Whenever the Prophet finished the (morning) prayer, he would face us and ask, “Who amongst you had a dream last night?” So if anyone had seen a dream he would narrate it. The Prophet would say: “Ma sha’a-llah” (An Arabic maxim meaning literally, ‘What Allah wished,’ and it indicates a good omen.) One day, he asked us whether anyone of us had seen a dream. We replied in the negative. The Prophet said, “But I had seen (a dream) last night that two men came to me, caught hold of my hands, and took me to the Sacred Land (Jerusalem). There, I saw a person sitting and another standing with an iron hook in his hand pushing it inside the mouth of the former till it reached the jaw-bone, and then tore off one side of his cheek, and then did the same with the other side; in the mean-time the first side of his cheek became normal again and then he repeated the same operation again. I said, ‘What is this?’ They told me to proceed on and we went on till we came to a man Lying flat on his back, and another man standing at his head carrying a stone or a piece of rock, and crushing the head of the Lying man, with that stone. Whenever he struck him, the stone rolled away.

The man went to pick it up and by the time he returned to him, the crushed head had returned to its normal state and the man came back and struck him again (and so on). I said, ‘Who is this?’ They told me to proceed on; so we proceeded on and passed by a hole like an oven; with a narrow top and wide bottom, and the fire was kindling underneath that hole. Whenever the fire-flame went up, the people were lifted up to such an extent that they about to get out of it, and whenever the fire got quieter, the people went down into it, and there were naked men and women in it. I said, ‘Who is this?’ They told me to proceed on. So we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him, facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out, the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat to his original position; and so whenever he wanted to come out the other would throw a stone in his mouth, and he would retreat to his original position. I asked, ‘What is this?’ They told me to proceed on and we did so till we reached a well-flourished green garden having a huge tree and near its root was sitting an old man with some children. (I saw) Another man near the tree with fire in front of him and he was kindling it up. Then they (i.e. my two companions) made me climb up the tree and made me enter a house, better than which I have ever seen. In it were some old men and young men, women and children.

Then they took me out of this house and made me climb up the tree and made me enter another house that was better and superior (to the first) containing old and young people. I said to them (i.e. my two companions), ‘You have made me ramble all the night. Tell me all about that I have seen.’ They said, ‘Yes. As for the one whose cheek you saw being torn away, he was a liar and he used to tell lies, and the people would report those lies on his authority till they spread all over the world. So, he will be punished like that till the Day of Resurrection.

The one whose head you saw being crushed is the one whom Allah had given the knowledge of Quran (i.e. knowing it by heart) but he used to sleep at night (i.e. he did not recite it then) and did not use to act upon it (i.e. upon its orders etc.) by day; and so this punishment will go on till the Day of Resurrection. And those you saw in the hole (like oven) were adulterers (those men and women who commit illegal sexual intercourse). And those you saw in the river of blood were those dealing in Riba (usury). And the old man who was sitting at the base of the tree was Abraham and the little children around him were the offspring of the people. And the one who was kindling the fire was Malik, the gate-keeper of the Hell-fire. And the first house in which you have gone was the house of the common believers, and the second house was of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Raise your head.’ I raised my head and saw a thing like a cloud over me. They said, ‘That is your place.’ I said, ‘Let me enter my place.’ They said, ‘You still have some life which you have not yet completed, and when you complete (that remaining portion of your life) you will then enter your place.’ “

First thing to notice is that Prophet (SAW) used to chit-chat with his companions after Fajr prayer, asking them about the dreams they saw and if they visited any sick person or not [from another narration].. What do we do after Fajr? Try not to sleep again? O_o

Coming to the Prophet (SAW)’s dream..

1. Dreams of Prophets are true. They’re not ‘just dreams’.
   You might ask how he went to the Sacred Land in an instant if it was real? Well, if the Prophet (SAW) said it, that’s how it is. We believe.
2. Prophet (SAW) was shown people being punished for certain deeds. There’s always a relation/similarity between the crime and the punishment, if you notice.
   The liar gets his mouth torn off. He used to lie with it.
   The one who forgot the Quran (literally and figuratively) gets his head crushed. He used to give preference to his brain, his logic, his reason above the Quran. He thought he didn’t need it in his life.
   The adulterers are thrown into the fire naked. They crossed limits that were set by Allah in this dunya regarding modesty and chastity.
   The one who used to deal with riba (interest) is lying in a river of blood and gets hit by stones if he tries to come out of it. He used to eat of the haram in dunya. His blood, body and muscle were made up of the haram intake (hence the river of blood). And he used to eat what was harmful for him (hence the pelting of stones).
   [Note: I’ve linked up the relations between the mentioned crimes and punishments using my own reasoning. Took help from others as well.. But these could be wrong. If I come across better reasoning, I’ll update the post inshaAllah.]
3. Maalik (an angel) is the gate-keeper of Hell. FYI.
4. Martyrs get better places in Jannah than the common believers. May Allah make us among the martyrs. <3
5. Prophet (SAW) wasn’t shown his place in Jannah. Surprise surprise! :D

Wassalam.

Justified (Hadith No. 234)

Salam,
Bismillah.

Hadith no 230, 231, 232 and 233 are repeats. Read here.

Volume 1, Book 4, Number 234:

Narrated Abu Qilaba:

Anas said, “Some people of ‘Ukl or ‘Uraina tribe came to Medina and its climate did not suit them. So the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) camels and to drink their milk and urine (as a medicine). So they went as directed and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of the Prophet and drove away all the camels. The news reached the Prophet early in the morning and he sent (men) in their pursuit and they were captured and brought at noon. He then ordered to cut their hands and feet (and it was done), and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, They were put in ‘Al-Harra’ and when they asked for water, no water was given to them.” Abu Qilaba said, “Those people committed theft and murder, became infidels after embracing Islam and fought against Allah and His Apostle .”

Some people try to prove Prophet (SAW) a tyrant and unjust person by highlighting this incident, saying that the punishment was harsh. But do they not see the intensity of the crimes committed? Theft, murder, reverting back to infidelity and waging war against Allah and His Apostle (SAW). Prescribed punishments (respectively) are: cutting off hands, death sentence, death sentence and death sentence. So all in all, it was a just and justified punishment, and obviously kept the potential enemies from doing anything silly afterwards.

Wassalam.