Intercession, Al-Hawd (the Basin) and Al-Kawther (river in Paradise):
Intercession is a controversial topic, some Muslims even denied it. But this subject should be understood as Allah intended if we want to clear our religion and our deeds in this world.
To understand intercession as those followers of Sunnah and Jama’a and our ancestors did, we will give an example knowing that to Allah is the greatest example: If a school year started in any university, college or school and one of the students at the very first day, instead of going to ask about the timetable; the curricula; the teachers; the subjects that he is going to learn and the books; he went and asked for the marks of passing the exams which are going to be held at the end of the year? what do we describe such a student? He is simply not eligible for this study. Such are some of the Muslims who depend on the intercession but do not work hard to earn it. They would steal, fornicate and kill and then would depend on the intercession. Intercession to them is like the passing marks for that student we mentioned in our example. This is why I say, we must understand the Qur’an as Allah intended it, and we should correct those concepts before reviewing the issue of intercession.
Definition of Intercession:
Linguistically intercession is asking or interceding to remove or reduce punishment. Actually, intercession is a word derived from alshaf’e ‘even’(the opposite of al-watr) ‘odd’. We have said in a previous episode that if a person goes to a debtor alone, he would be ‘odd’ so he takes someone to intercede for him to be ‘even’. If we want to take someone to intercede for us, this interceder should be highly ranked with the one to be interceded to. Mohammad (PBUH) is the owner of the greatest intercession, thus we must take any sayings about intercession from his mouth (PBUH) to correct the concepts of some people.
The Pillars of Intercession:
Intercession has pillars, it entails the presence of an interceder allowed to intercede, a person to intercede for, and someone to be interceded to i.e. Allah SWT Who can accept or reject the intercession without any comment on his verdict. He gives permission for intercession, and He raises the rank of the interceder and the one to be interceded for. We should understand these things very well and have absolute faith in them.
If we talk about the one to be interceded for; we say he should work before seeking intercession. The Prophet (PBUH) will not intercede for anyone who made any innovation after him. The evidence for this is in the text of a noble Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira; Ibn Abbas; Ahmad and Anas, in several narrations:
‘When the Hour of Judgment comes, the first to be donned beautiful garments is Ibrahim, then men of the nation of Mohammad will be brought and taken to the one on the left (Hellfire), then (PBUH) would say: ‘My nation, O Lord’ and he will be told, “you do not know what they innovated after you”.
Intercession then is rejected for innovators in the nation. Therefore we should pause at the one for whom intercession is sought, and know that not everybody will deserve intercession, and that even if the Prophet (PBUH) interceded he would be denied because those people have innovated things after him (PBUH). Even the non-Muslims will ask for intercession. Intercession on the Day of Judgment is the greatest intercession granted, when the accounting starts, to the Prophet (PBUH) with Allah’s permission.
Before talking about intercession, let’s talk about what it would be for, which is a major issue. Let’s ask what will the Prophet (PBUH) intercede for? If it is understood that He will intercede for fornication, robbery and penalties; then that would be a misconception. We can take that from the Hadith about the woman from Makhzoum who has stolen and Quraysh made Osama Bin Zaid intercede for her because they knew his standing with the Prophet (PBUH), but the Prophet (PBUH) asked him, ‘Do you dare intercede in a limit set by Allah?’ These words were enough for Osama, and the nation does not know what they did to Osama. He never replied because he understood the warning of the Prophet (PBUH) to him. What to be interceded for is then a very serious issue; and the Prophet (PBUH) can never intercede for a limit set by Allah.
As for the intercession itself, we must understand that deeds come before intercession. The Prophet (PBUH) is the owner of the greatest intercession and of the special one, and yet He is the one who tells his nation: ‘Read the Qur’an, as it will come as your interceder’. He did not tell us: I will come as your interceder.
Therefore we say: do whatever entitles you for the intercession; as the Prophet (PBUH) said, “The five prayers; a Friday to the next Friday and Ramadan to next Ramadan are atonements to what is between them as long as the grave sins are avoided’“
The Prophet (PBUH) knows that man can do well and can do wrong, he said, ‘Every son of Adam is a wrongdoer; and the best wrongdoers are those who repent’. Allah SWT in Surat Al-Najm says, “Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (illegal sexual intercourse, etc.) except the small faults…” Allah said after that, “Verily, your Lord is of vast forgiveness.”
Therefore we must think of repentance before we depend on intercession, we should not die sinners and then say the Prophet (PBUH) will intercede for us. We must understand intercession as Allah meant it to be. The Prophet (PBUH) teaches us for whom the intercession will be. In an authentic Hadith in Bukhari and Ahmad, ‘The Prophet (PBUH) is asked who will be the luckiest person to receive your intercession on the Day of Resurrection. He said, ‘The luckiest person to receive my intercession on the Day of Resurrection; is the one who said there is no god but Allah sincerely from his heart’ and in another narration, ‘He who witnesses that there is no God but Allah sincerely from his heart’.
Whether it was who ‘said’ or who ‘witnessed’ he will be the luckiest person to receive his intercession on the Day of Resurrection. Here, some people will have a misconception, as they will depend on the Hadith that says, ‘He who says there is no God but Allah will enter Paradise’, and on a narration by Muslim, ‘He who dies knowing full well that there is no God but Allah will enter Paradise’. The word ‘knowing ‘ here is meant for knowing and working; and this is an important issue because we should not depend solely on the intercession and say that we think the best of Allah, because the Prophet (PBUH) when they told him ‘we think the best of Allah’, said, ‘they lied; if they thought the best of Allah they would have done the best deed.’
In a previous episode we mentioned the attitude of Dr. Al-Qaradawi when he defended Dr, Mustafa Mahmoud who set aside the weak Hadiths about intercession. The Sheikh said in defense that people have been too dependent on the intercession and have neglected to work.
We do not deny intercession, to the contrary we say it is a truth, but we are only asking who will deserve the intercession? And for what will it be? And how will it be? We must know that the intercession is not absolute for all people. When a man does wrong he must repent to Allah first before he depends on the intercession, and because of his repentance; Allah will change his bad deeds into good ones. This is for the grave sins which Allah stated in Surat Al-Furqan, (68) “And those who invoke not any other illah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such life as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse_ and whoever does this shall receive the punishment.”. After that He said, (70) “Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
These people committed sins and then repented so they deserve the intercession, because they have known the good taste of sins, and here we are asked: does a sin have a good taste? And we say: yes, only known to the sinner, and yet they gave up this good taste because of their fear of Allah SWT!
Let’s go back to the person who said there is no god but Allah, did he say it and slept, or did he say it and worked according to it? Working on it is important before depending on the intercession. If we knew, witnessed and said that there is no god but Allah, understanding its meaning, can we disobey Allah SWT under His sky knowing that He is the All-Hearer, the All-knowing, the Most Observing and the Most Dominant? Even if we could hide our sins from all people, can we really hide them from Allah?
Al-Kawthar:
There is a noble Hadith by the Prophet (PBUH) which tells us while the Prophet (PBUH) was with his companions he had a nap, and when he woke up was smiling. His companions asked him: why are you smiling, he told them: Surat Al-Kawthar was revealed to me, and asked them: do you know what Al-Kawathar is? They replied: Allah and His messenger know best. He said: Al-Kawathar is a river in Paradise promised to me by My Lord.
The problem of this river is that all Muslims will reach it, but some will be taken away to the left (Hellfire), the Prophet (PBUH) would say: But he is one of my companions! and He would be told: You do not know what he had innovated after you’. In another Hadith, the Prophet (PBUH) was asked: How would you know your people? He said: ‘You will be gathered with white faces (Ghurr) and with white hands and feet (Muhajjaleen) from ablution’.
IF we look into Surat Al-Kawathar which is a very short one but with very great meaning, we find that it comes between Surat Al-Ma’oun and Surat Al-Kafiroun, and that is a meaningful arrangement by Allah SWT. Let’s look first into Surat Al-Ma’oun which has the following verses:
1- “Have you seen him who denies the Recompense?”
2- “That is he who repulses the orphan (harshly).”
3- “And urges not the feeding of (the poor).”
4- “So woe unto those performers of (prayers) (hypocrites).”
5- “Who delay their (prayer) from their stated fixed times.”
6- “Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men).”
7- “And refuse Al-Ma’un (small kindnesses e.g. salt, sugar, water, etc.)”
It seems as if Allah SWT wants to draw our attention that a person who repulses an orphan is like a person who denies the whole religion. Religion should be taken as a whole, and thus Allah SWT gave the example of someone who repulses an orphan as someone who denies religion totally.
These verses require us to reread the Qur’an according to Allah’s intention for us.
In Surat Al-Ma’un we find that it describes the maximum of meanness in its verses, and then we shift to the description of the maximum of giving in Surat Al-Kawthar.
So it seems that the person who denies religion is an example of how faith is applied, it is either he understands religion or he doesn’t. A person cannot say I understand religion while his deeds contradict it and do not indicate it.
We also notice in the verses:
4- “ So woe unto those performers of (prayers) (hypocrites).”
5- “Who delay their (prayer) from their Stated fixed times.”
That some people said thanked Allah for saying ‘from’ and not saying ‘in’. They forgot that Allah SWT in the beginning of the verse has affirmed their praying by describing them as those who delay their prayers. So the state of their prayer is one of two, either they pray absent-mindedly or they delay their prayer.
Allah Has praised those who perform prayers in Surat Al-Mu’minun:
1- “Successful indeed are the believers.”
2- “Those who offer their (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness.”
Solemnity and submissiveness in prayer mean that the person praying; when he enters the state of prayer, throws the whole world behind his back and totally submits to his Lord. The preposition ‘from’ here means ‘in’, and it is a usual practice in the Holy Qur’an for prepositions to replace one another.
Let’s take another example for prepositions, in Surat Al-Jumu’ah :
8- “O you who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the (prayer) on the day of Friday, come to the remembrance of Allah {Jumu’ah religious talk (khutbah) and (prayer)} and leave off business and (every other thing), that is better for you if you did only but know!”
The preposition (on) here means (in), which means that a Muslim should prepare himself on that day to attend the Friday prayer, and should not, for example, set a date with someone at the time of the prayer. Anyway, whether the preposition was (from) or (in), the verse confirms the praying status, “So woe is unto those performers of (prayers) (hypocrites).”
This is very serious because it was followed by the verse, “Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men).”
This means those who pray to be seen by people, and not for Allah SWT. Followed by the verse, “And refuse Al-Ma’un (small kindnesses e,g. salt, sugar, water, etc.)”
Those who refuse to give any alms or help.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Prayer is light, charity is proof, patience is illumination and the Qur’an is evidence against you.’ This means that prayer is a light for the believer, and charity is a proof that indicates his true faith in Islam.
Then after the verse, “And refuse Al-Ma’un (small kindnesses e,g. salt, sugar, water, etc.)”
Another verse comes from Surat Al-Kawthar, (1) ”Verily, We have granted you (O Muhammad) Al-Kawathar (a river in Paradise).”
Scholars differed in interpreting the word Al-Kawthar; the linguists said Al-Kawthar is a multitude of bounties from Allah.
It is also the river promised by Allah SWT to His Prophet (PBUH). Others said that the river is Kawthar, being religious is Kawthar, Islam is Kawthar, Faith is Kawthar, wisdom is Kawthar and the Qur’an is Kawthar. This means that Allah has given His Messenger everything. HE then asked him to, (3) ”Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice (to Him only).”
Many scholars said the sacrifice in this verse means the one performed after Eid Prayer. We say that this is one of the meanings of this verse, which can also means pray to your Lord and sacrifice to your Lord, because the Arabs pre-Islam used to sacrifice to their idols and not to Allah SWT, that is why we are asked to mention Allah’s Name when we sacrifice.
3- ”For he who makes you angry (O Muhammad),- he will be cut off (from every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter).”
A cut off; in linguistics, is a person without any sons. When the sons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) died, the non-believers headed by Al-Walid Bin Al-Mughira said that Mohammad was a cut off. The verse then was revealed to show that Al-Walid actually was the one cut off and not Muhammad (PBUH), this became evident from the fact that Khalid son of Al-Walid embraced Islam and he defended Muhammad (PBUH) not his father!! He Defended Islam and promoted it. The same goes with Omar son of Al-Khattab, those fathers were the ones cut off and not the Prophet (PBUH). Allah SWT has raised high the rank of His Messenger (PBUH) as the verse in Surat Al-Sharh states:
4- ”And raised high your fame”
So the verse confirms that Al-Walid although he had a son was the one cut off when his son Khalid embraced Islam, while Muhammad (PBUH) although he had no sons is the one whom Allah had raised high his fame in all worlds , and therefore he was not a cut off.
Then we notice how the ending of Surat Al-Kawthar conforms to the beginning of Surat Al-Kafirun, “For he who makes you angry (O Muhammad),- he will be cut off (from every good thing in this world and in the Hereafter).” “Say (O Muhammad) ‘O disbelievers (in Allah, in His Oneness, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, in the Day of Resurrection and in destiny etc.)!”
And if we looked into the beginnings of the last Chapters in the Qur’an we would notice something strange!
From the verse, “Say (O Muhammad): ‘O disbelievers in Allah’“
To, “When comes the Help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad against your enemies) and the conquest (of Makkah),”
And, “Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (an uncle of the Prophet), and perish he!”,
And, “Say (O Muhammad):’He is Allah, (the) One.”,
And, “Say ‘I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of the daybreak.”,
And, “Say: ’I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of mankind.”.
It seems Allah is reassuring them of His bounties.
Both Surat Al-Kafirun and Surat Al-Masad, confirmed their disbelief and the truthfulness of the Qur’an revealed to the Prophet (PBUH)because if they only embraced Islam even in hypocrisy they would have proven the Prophet (PBUH) and the Qur’an to be wrong, but they did not do it even in hypocrisy, because Allah has ordained their disbelief.
When we move to Surat Al-Ikhlas, we notice that the oneness of Allah in Qur’an came in the negative and not in the positive as is the norm of Allah in his universe where everything is built on both negativeness and positiveness. When someone wants to embrace Islam we ask him to say: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. We do not ask him to say Allah is One! But the verse, “Say (O Muhammad):’He is Allah,(the) One.”
Came after the ending of Surat Al-Masad, “In her neck is a twisted rope of Masad (palm fiber).”
To announce that He Who said, “Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he!”
His verdict cannot be contradicted by no one and it will always be done!
The Chapters from Al-Kawthar to Al-Nas mention the bounties of Allah SWT, to prove to His Prophet (PBUH) that He did not give him Al-Kawthar, or the intercession only but gave him unlimited bounties as well.
Let us ask a question here: If I disobeyed Allah, can I depend on the intercession or should I resort to repentance? Of course I should quickly repent, because as we said before, the luckiest person to receive the intercession of the Prophet (PBUH) on the Day of Judgment is the person who witnessed that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger sincerely from his heart, and whose deed had been done accordingly. Can he then steal or fornicate or kill? We repeat that the intercession is a truth, and the greatest intercession is the one granted by the Prophet (PBUH) at the start of the account on the Day of Resurrection. In one noble Hadith we are told that people will resort to Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa and Issa to intercede for them before Allah SWT, but each of them will ask the people to go to someone else until they (the people) reach Muhammad (PBUH) who will say: I am for it, I am for it!
Al-Hawd (The Basin), Al-Kawthar and the Qur’an are all bounties given by Allah to His Messenger (PBUH), who would intercede on the Day of Resurrection, as it is a day that goes beyond our conception and vision. Faith is not mere words said by mouth. Allah says, “The Bedouins say: ‘we believe. Say: ‘You believe not but you only say, ‘we have surrendered (in Islam),’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts.”
Allah did not say (faith did not enter your hearts), but used the words (not yet) because ‘did not’ imply the absolute denial, while ‘not yet’ although negative still expects the matter to happen, and this is Allah’s Mercy. What bring faith into hearts are the deeds. There is a difference between Islam and Iman (faith). The Islam mentioned in the verse means the Islam of belief and of the message, while faith is the thing that settles in the heart and is made true by deeds. If Islam was acceptance, faith then is application; (zakat, prayer, fasting, Hajj, charities and recitation of the Holy Qur’an). Fasting and the Qur’an come to intercede for the one who performed them on the Day of Judgment, as our Prophet (PBUH) told us: ‘Read the Qur’an for it comes to intercede for its reader’. The person who receives the intercession of the Qur’an also receives the intercession of the Prophet (PBUH). The Qur’an would say: ‘I have prevented him from sleep at night, Allow me intercede for him, and the fast would say: ”I have deprived him from food during the day, Allow me intercede for him, and intercession will be granted’
Let’s recap intercession, intercession is a truth, but each Muslim should pause at the concept of intercession as it is for the Prophet (PBUH), and while good deeds are given to those who deserve them intercession is not given for the limits set by Allah SWT or for grave sins, and it is undertaken by the interceder at the permission of Allah.
Each deed performed to gain nearness to Allah will intercede for the doer. We have in the Hadith on the merit and virtue of Surat Tabarak, ‘In the Qur’an there is a Surah of 30 verses; which continued to defend its reader until it saved him from the punishment in the grave’.
So this Surah defends only who read it and understood its meaning. The reader understands that when he reads “Blessed is He”, he should contemplates its meaning and Glorifies Allah Who Has No Parallel as He is the All-Hearer, All-Seer and the All-Dominant, and thus he cannot and should not disobey Him.
Then He reads “in Whose Hand is the dominion” the root of which is “For whom is the dominion Today” and the branch of which is “The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection).”
The reader should think that the day will come when he will be on the Day of Judgment and Allah would ask: ”For whom is the dominion today?” “(Dominion) is for Allah The One and The Subduer”, and should ask himself am I ready for that day, and for that account?
Then when he reads, “Who has created death and life”, he should think that death is a creature, and life is for trial. This is how we should contemplate the verses in order for the Surah to defend its readers.
A question by the presenter asked the doctor about the issue of the permission for not fasting which was discussed by him in previous episodes, because it has raised many questions from the viewers and he asked the Doctor to talk about it again.
The Doctor replied by saying that these were the words of Allah not his words, and the verse in Surat Al-Baqara is very clear, (184) “{Observing (fasts) for a fixed number of day, but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up) from other days. And as for those who can fast with difficulty, (e.g. an old man, etc.), they have (a choice either to fast or) to feed a (poor person for every day). But whoever does good of his own account, it is better for him. And that you fast. It is better for you if only you knew.”
The permission is given for whom who would take it, but it was followed with, “And that you fast. It is better for you”.
Let’s give an example, and the greatest example is for Allah. Let’s assume that I have a driving license in my pocket while I’m driving, will the policeman stop me because I’m not using it? It is true that the sick and the traveler are given permission not to fast, but if they can fast, it would be better for them for they will be applying the verse, “And that you fast. It is better for you”, and Allah SWT likes his permissions to be taken just as He likes His orders to be obeyed.
Then, there is the matter regarding Pharaoh embracing Islam which I want to draw your attention to. In the advertisement of the program, a part of is displayed where I say: (Do you know that Pharaoh has embraced Islam).The viewer would think that this is strange, but the fact is that we have reviewed the subject completely, so it is not right to clip out a part of it to display it as advertisement.
We repeat the story of Pharaoh and say that when he was about to drown he said, “I believe that (non has the right to be worshipped but) He, in Whom the Children of Israel believe”.
But Allah rejected his repentance and said, “Now (you believe) while you refused to believe before”.
The Pharaoh then did embrace Islam, but did Allah accept his Islam? No, because he only embraced it to win over the Children of Israel as evident from his own words. It is said that Pharaoh has asked Musa (AS) ‘Moses’ to save him 70 times, but Musa (AS) refused to do so, and Allah SWT told Musa (AS) Pharoah has asked for your help 70 times, and still you did not save him, if he only asked for my help once, by My Glory I Would Have been All-Near, and All-Hearer.
Allah SWT says, “ I am so self-sufficient that I am in no need of having an associate. Thus he who does an action for someone else’s sake as well as Mine will have that action renounced by Me to him whom he associated with Me.”
Let’s take the description of repentance from the Hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) and each one has a reference from the Qur’an. The Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘Allah, the Lord of honor and glory, will accept the repentance of His servant till his death-rattle begins.’
He also told us, ‘Ask Your Lord’s Forgiveness and repent to Him, for I repent to Him more than 70 times each day’
In another narration, ‘more than 100 times’.
But we may ask what did the Prophet repent from, when Allah has forgiven his past and future sins?
We say he repented to return to Allah, and not from sins and disobedience. At sunset he would say the following supplication:
O Allah, Thou are my Lord! There is no god but Thee, It is Thee Who
created me, and I am Thy servant, I am faithful to my covenant and
my promise to Thee to my best ability, I seek refuge with Thee from
all the evil I have done, I acknowledge before Thee all the
blessings Thou have bestowed upon me, and I confess to Thee to
forgive my sins, for nobody can forgive sins but Thee.’.
It seems that the bounties entail the return to Allah in thankfulness and gratitude.
If we look at the beginning of the Qur’an, we find Allah saying, “In the Name of Allah The Most Beneficent the Most Merciful”, (for those who consider this the beginning of the Surat Al-Fatiha), and his saying, “All the praises and thanks be to Allah, the Lord of Al-Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that exists).”
We say: O you, who have committed whatever you committed of disobedience even if they reached the sky in multitude, if you came to Allah with sins as much as all the sand on earth, Allah would meet you with that much forgiveness.
And we also remind him of the verse, “Say: ‘O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)!! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful”.
All this guide us to be resort to repentance first, and then to intercession.
Let us remember the verse, “Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) except the small faults,…”
Followed by, “Verily, your Lord is of vast forgiveness.”
A person should do his best, and if he did wrong he should repent to Allah, for if his sins were small faults he can ask for the intercession, but we must realize that the intercession is not for the grave sins. The Prophet (PBUH) told us in one Hadith, ‘Leave what you doubt to what you do not doubt’. Therefore we must take precautions.
A question by the presenter: Is there repentance for disobeying one’s parents and for fornication?
No sin is without repentance. We should always remember the verse, “Verily, Allah forgive not that partners should be set up with Him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases.”
Even a disbeliever has the chance of repentance if he but proclaimed the Oneness of Allah , for Islam erases what precedes it, and repentance erases what precedes it. All should know that we are not guards at the doors of Paradise or Hellfire to allow anyone to enter or deny anyone entry. The acceptance of repentance is from Allah SWT, and He said, “Those Allah change their sins into good deeds”.
This verse indicates to us that not only do Allah Forgive us, but He also changes our sins into good deeds, if someone has one million sins he will have ten million good deeds!! So we tell the one who is disobeying his parents to repent, do his best to please his parents and to repent from fornication and never go back to it.
The episode was broadcasted in 6.6.2004