Appendix Two: The Sources of the Evidence
These are all the hadith this book takes as evidence, arranged by the books they come from: the wording of each one, the book it is in, its number there, who narrated it, and the ruling on it. Anyone who wants to check will find the place in front of him.
Evidence One — Intention changes what is merely allowed
«إنَّما الأعمالُ بالنيّاتِ، وإنَّما لكلِّ امرئٍ ما نوى»
Deeds are judged by the intentions behind them, and every person will have only what he intended.
Evidence Two — The stranger and the traveller passing through
«كنْ في الدنيا كأنَّك غريبٌ أو عابرُ سبيل»
Be in this world as though you were a stranger, or someone passing through on a journey.
Evidence Three — The scale that multiplies
«إنَّ اللهَ كتبَ الحسناتِ والسيّئاتِ ثمَّ بيَّن ذلك: فمَن همَّ بحسنةٍ فلم يعملْها كتبها اللهُ عندَه حسنةً كاملة، فإن هو همَّ بها فعمِلها كتبها اللهُ له عشرَ حسناتٍ إلى سبعِمئةِ ضِعفٍ إلى أضعافٍ كثيرة. ومَن همَّ بسيّئةٍ فلم يعملْها كتبها اللهُ عندَه حسنةً كاملة، فإن هو همَّ بها فعمِلها كتبها اللهُ له سيّئةً واحدة»
God has written down good deeds and bad ones, and then made the reckoning plain. Whoever intends a good deed and does not do it, God writes it down for him as one complete good deed; and if he intends it and does it, God writes it down as ten good deeds, up to seven hundred times over, and more still. And whoever intends a bad deed and does not do it, God writes it down for him as one complete good deed; and if he intends it and does it, God writes it down as one bad deed only.
Evidence Four — What turns back and what stays
«يتبعُ الميّتَ ثلاثةٌ، فيرجعُ اثنانِ ويبقى معه واحد: يتبعُه أهلُه ومالُه وعملُه، فيرجعُ أهلُه ومالُه ويبقى عملُه»
Three things follow the dead person: his family, his wealth and his deeds. Two of them come back, and one stays with him: his family and his wealth return, and his deeds remain.
Evidence Five — The set course
«أمَّا بعدُ، فإنَّ خيرَ الحديثِ كتابُ الله، وخيرَ الهدى هدى محمّدٍ ﷺ، وشرَّ الأمورِ مُحدَثاتُها، وكلَّ بدعةٍ ضلالة»
The best of speech is the Book of God, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace be upon him. The worst of matters are those newly invented, and every innovation in religion is going astray.
Evidence Six — What does not stop when your time stops
«إذا ماتَ الإنسانُ انقطعَ عنه عملُه إلا من ثلاثة: إلا من صدقةٍ جارية، أو علمٍ يُنتفَعُ به، أو ولدٍ صالحٍ يدعو له»
When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: an ongoing charity, knowledge people benefit from, or an upright child who prays for him.
Evidence Seven — What is looked at in the marking
«إنَّ اللهَ لا ينظرُ إلى صُوَرِكم وأموالِكم، ولكن ينظرُ إلى قلوبِكم وأعمالِكم»
God does not look at your outward forms or your wealth; He looks at your hearts and your deeds.
Evidence Eight — A hand stretched out by night and another by day
«إنَّ اللهَ عزَّ وجلَّ يبسطُ يدَه بالليلِ ليتوبَ مُسيءُ النهار، ويبسطُ يدَه بالنهارِ ليتوبَ مُسيءُ الليل، حتى تطلعَ الشمسُ من مغربها»
God stretches out His hand by night so that the one who did wrong by day may turn back to Him, and stretches out His hand by day so that the one who did wrong by night may turn back to Him — until the sun rises from where it sets.
Evidence Nine — A paper erased at the end of the road
«كان فيمَن كان قبلَكم رجلٌ قتلَ تسعةً وتسعينَ نفسًا، فسألَ عن أعلمِ أهلِ الأرض، فدُلَّ على راهب، فأتاه فقال: إنَّه قتلَ تسعةً وتسعينَ نفسًا، فهل له من توبة؟ فقال: لا. فقتلَه فكمَّل به مئة. ثمَّ سألَ عن أعلمِ أهلِ الأرض، فدُلَّ على رجلٍ عالم، فقال: إنَّه قتلَ مئةَ نفس، فهل له من توبة؟ فقال: نعم، ومَن يحولُ بينَه وبينَ التوبة؟ انطلقْ إلى أرضِ كذا وكذا، فإنَّ بها أُناسًا يعبدونَ اللهَ فاعبدِ اللهَ معهم، ولا ترجعْ إلى أرضِك فإنَّها أرضُ سوء. فانطلقَ حتى إذا نصَفَ الطريقَ أتاه الموت»
Among those before you was a man who had killed ninety-nine people. He asked for the most learned person on earth and was directed to a monk. He told him he had killed ninety-nine, and asked whether repentance was open to him. The monk said no — so he killed him too and completed a hundred. Then he asked again for the most learned person on earth and was directed to a scholar. He told him he had killed a hundred, and asked whether repentance was open to him. The scholar said: yes — and who could stand between you and repentance? Go to such and such a land, where there are people who worship God; worship God with them, and do not return to your own land, for it is a bad land. So he set out; and when he had covered half the road, death overtook him.
And the rest of it in Muslim: the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him, so they were told to measure the distance between the two lands; he was found nearer to the land he had set out for, and was taken by the angels of that land.
Evidence Ten — What the hall is worth to the One who owns it
«الدنيا سِجنُ المؤمن، وجنّةُ الكافر»
This world is a prison for the believer and a garden for the one who denies.
Evidence Eleven — The two papers: ease and hardship
«عجبًا لأمرِ المؤمن! إنَّ أمرَه كلَّه خير، وليس ذاك لأحدٍ إلا للمؤمن: إن أصابتْه سرّاءُ شكَر فكان خيرًا له، وإن أصابتْه ضرّاءُ صبَر فكان خيرًا له»
How remarkable is the case of the believer! Every turn of his affair is good for him, and that belongs to no one but the believer: if ease comes to him he is grateful, and that is good for him; and if hardship comes to him he endures, and that is good for him.
Evidence Twelve — The four items on the paper
«لا تزولُ قدما عبدٍ يومَ القيامةِ حتى يُسألَ عن عمرِه فيمَ أفناه، وعن عِلمِه فيمَ فعَل، وعن مالِه من أينَ اكتسبَه وفيمَ أنفقَه، وعن جسمِه فيمَ أبلاه»
On the Day of Rising no servant's feet will move from where they stand until he is asked about four things: about his lifetime and how he spent it; about his knowledge and what he did with it; about his wealth, where he earned it and where he spent it; and about his body and how he used it up.
Evidence Thirteen — The rider under the tree
«ما لي وللدنيا! ما أنا في الدنيا إلا كراكبٍ استظلَّ تحتَ شجرةٍ ثمَّ راحَ وتركَها»
What have I to do with this world? I am in this world only like a rider who shaded himself under a tree, then moved on and left it.
Evidence Fourteen — The shrewd man and the helpless one
«الكيِّسُ مَن دانَ نفسَه وعمِلَ لما بعدَ الموت، والعاجزُ مَن أتبعَ نفسَه هواها وتمنّى على الله»
The shrewd person is the one who calls himself to account and works for what comes after death; and the helpless one is he who lets his own cravings lead him and then counts on God for the rest.
Evidence Fifteen — Going over your account before it is laid out
«حاسِبوا أنفسَكم قبلَ أن تُحاسَبوا، وتَزيَّنوا للعَرضِ الأكبر، وإنَّما يخِفُّ الحسابُ يومَ القيامةِ على مَن حاسبَ نفسَه في الدنيا»
Call yourselves to account before you are called to account; and make ready for the great presentation. The reckoning on the Day of Rising will be light only for the one who called himself to account in this world.
This is a report that stops at Umar ibn al-Khattab — a Companion's words, not the Prophet's; al-Tirmidhi narrates it directly after the hadith before it, and it has been described that way in this book everywhere it appears.