"AL-KAWTHAR" : CLARIFYING THE GRAVE ERROR

 

By

Ibn Abdullah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

The assertion that no child of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم died on a 'Eid day is true. It might be new to you, but not to us who are learning from scholars of Sunnah. This is the position of the People of Sunnah from the onset. Your ignorance and blind followership of the self acclaimed scholar is the main problem. In fact, one of them ( one "Kajue Baba" if I can recall vividly) used the statement to attack hadith and its people as if there is an authentically reported hadith on that tale. A brother sent me the screenshot of his post yesterday. Not even a weak or fabricated Hadith can be found for it. They use every opportunity to attack the Sunnah and its people. This is how they celebrate ignorance.

This man made several erroneous comments yesterday. May Allāh guide him. I took my time to watch the video before sleeping last night. One of the most dangerous of his assertions in that gathering that elders ought to have chastised him on the spot was where he denied "الحوض" (the river) that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was promised in Suratul Kawthar. It is one of the fundamentals of the Sunnah for every Muslim to believe in the existence of this river that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was promised by Allāh in Al-janah. Yet, this man was twisting the meaning of the relevant verse. It is the same river that those who follow the Sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would be honoured to drink from. Those who would be denied from drinking from the water are the people of bid'ah. Allāh's aid is sought.

The denial of "Al hawdh" is a great bid'ah that can take a Muslim out of Islām. Yet no one could call this man to order when he was making his empty statements on the Words of Allāh without any proof. One of worse things in the Deen is to be hoarding knowledge where it is essential to spend it.  Allāh says:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِینَ یَكۡتُمُونَ مَاۤ أَنزَلۡنَا مِنَ ٱلۡبَیِّنَـٰتِ وَٱلۡهُدَىٰ مِنۢ بَعۡدِ مَا بَیَّنَّـٰهُ لِلنَّاسِ فِی ٱلۡكِتَـٰبِ أُو۟لَـٰۤىِٕكَ یَلۡعَنُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَیَلۡعَنُهُمُ ٱللَّـٰعِنُونَ)

Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture - those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse [Surah Al-Baqarah 159 |  Saheeh International]

One of the sins of Kabāir nature is to be speaking about Allāh (and His Words) without knowledge. Al-Imām Abu Mūsā Al-Hajāwiy Al-Hambaliy said in his Mandhūmātul Kabāir:

وقول بلا علم على الله ربنا

                      وسب لأصحاب النبي محمد

(And to be talking about Allāh, our Lord without knowledge, and to be abusing the Companions of Muhammad)

It is not surprising that the one who abuses the Companions رضي الله عنهم is the same person who is always talking about Allāh without knowledge. This is the same man that denies the return of Īsā عليه السلام despite many authentic hadiths on it. He denied the Isrāi wal Mi'rāj despite clear cut Qur'ān verses and hadiths. He denied rajm (punishment of stoning) in the Sharī'ah. He rejected the concept of An-Naskh (Abrogation) despite clear texts on it. He condemned hijāb and niqāb and so on. I also  heard that he said the Prophet صلى صلى الله عليه وسلم didn't have mu'jizāt (miracles). There are just too many of his evils. So, until he abuses Sheikh 'Alim رحمه الله before you stand to caution him? He can insult Abu Mūsā Al-Ashhariy and Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنهم and get away with it? He can tamper with the foundations of Islām the way he likes, he is free because he is a son of one of the respected scholars? Subhanallah! Allāh will ask all of us where we stand on his deviations!

The existence of "Al-Kawthar" is established in the words of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. In his explanation of Suratul Kawthar, Ibn Katheer رحمه الله mentioned the hadith of Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْكَوْثَرُ؟

(Do you all know what is Al-Kawthar) We said, `Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said:

فَإِنَّهُ نَهَرٌ وَعَدَنِيهِ رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ،عَلَيْهِ خَيْرٌ كَثِيرٌ، هُوَ حَوْضٌ تَرِدُ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، آنِيَتُهُ عَدَدُ النُّجُومِ فِي السَّمَاءِ، فَيُخْتَلَجُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْهُمْ فَأَقُولُ: رَبِّ إِنَّهُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي، فَيَقُولُ: إِنَّكَ لَا تَدْرِي مَا أَحْدَثَ بَعْدَك

(Verily, it is a river that my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has promised me and it has abundant goodness. It is a pond where my Ummah will be brought to on the Day of Judgement. Its containers are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Then a servant of Allah from among them will be (prevented from it) and I will say: "O Lord! Verily, he is from my Ummah (followers).'' Then He (Allah) will say: "Verily, you do not know what he introduced (or innovated) after you.)'' [Saheeh Muslim, 400 | Sheikh Al-Albāni رحمه الله authenticated this hadith]

Therefore, giving "Al-Kawthar" imaginary meaning is misleading and dangerous. Yes, it is true that the word "Al-Kawthar" is derived from the word "kathrah" (abundance). It means that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was promised abundance of goodness and one of it is the river that is specifically named "Al-Kawthar" and it is the same thing with Al-hawdh as mentioned in the above hadith. This explanation was given by Ibn 'Abbās as reported Imām Al-Bukhari from Sa'eed ibn Jubayr رضي الله عنه

Imam Ahmad رحمه الله also recorded another Hadith from Anas bin Mālik رضي الله عنه where the Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

دَخَلْتُ الْجَنَّةَ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِنَهْرٍ حَافَتَاهُ خِيَامُ اللُّؤْلُؤِ، فَضَرَبْتُ بِيَدِي إِلَى مَا يَجْرِي فِيهِ الْمَاءُ، فَإِذَا مِسْكٌ أَذْفَرُ، قُلْتُ: مَاهَذَا يَا جِبْرِيلُ؟ قَالَ: هَذَا الْكَوْثَرُ الَّذِي أَعْطَاكَهُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَل»

(I entered Paradise and I came to a river whose banks had tents made of pearls. So I thrust my hand into its flowing water and found that it was the strongest (smell) of musk. So I asked, "O Jibril! What is this'' He replied, "This is Al-Kawthar which Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic has given you.'') [Reported by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]

The danger of trying to interpret the Qur'ān without paying attention to the relevant hadiths and understanding of the Salaf (Companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم) is grave. Anyone who doesn't pick his understanding of the Qur'ān verses from hadiths is misguided and would only continue to misguide the ignorant people and his blind-followers. The earlier the better he is strongly checked.