Al-Fuyūđāt al-Malakiyyah Li Muĥibb al-Dawlat al-Makiyyah Commentary of Al-Dawlatal-Makkiyyah Bi al-Māddat al-Ghaybiyyah Imām Aĥmad Riđā Khān al-BareylwīrađiyAllāhu ánhu Example number 8 from the discussion: Ittisā’ al-Şaghīr Lī al-Kabīr al-Kathīr (Expanding the small for the large) Itis recorded in Tirmidhī that Sayyidunā ‘Abdullāh Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘ĀşrađiyAllāhu ánhumā narrates that the beloved of Allāh şallAllāhu álayhi wasallam came out carrying two books. He said about the book which was in his right hand, “This book is from Lord of the worlds. It contains the names of those who will enter Paradise, and the names of their fathers and tribes. The total (number) has been written at theend. Thus there will be no increase or a decrease.” Then he said about the book which was in his left hand, “This book is from Lord of the worlds. It has the names of those who will enter hell, including the names of their fathers and tribes. The total (number) has been written at the end. Thus there will be no increase by a man or a decrease.” This Ĥadīth doesn’t seem to be of great importance. But if we were to ponder deeply, then we would understand how great vastness and enormity has been enclosed in a small container. Let us assume there is a book of 500 pages (1000 sides). On every page there are 50 lines, and on each lines are written 10 names of the dwellers of Jannah: Abū Bakr Ibn Quĥāfah Taymī, ‘Umar Ibn al-Khaţţāb ‘Adawī, ‘Uthmān Ibn ‘Affān Umawī,‘Ali Ibn Abī Ţālib Hāshimī, Ţalĥah Ibn ‘Ubadullāh Taymī, Zubayr Ibn ‘Awām Asadī,‘Abd al-Raĥmān Ibn ‘Awf Zuharī, Sa’īd Ibn Zayd ‘Adawī, Abū ‘Ubaydah In JarrāĥFahrī… If we were to write names like this in that (imaginary) book, we would only be able to write 500,000 names. The question is how many will enter Jannah? Let us go through some Aĥadīth: 1. Narrated by Sayyidunā ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbās rađiyAllāhu ánhumā that the Prophet of Allāh şallAllāhu álayhi wasallam said, “All the nations were shown to me and I saw a Prophet with asmall group, and a Prophet with one or two men, and a Prophet with no one at all. Then an enormous mass was shown to me and I thought that they were my community. I was told, ‘This is Musa and his community, but look to thefurthest horizon,’ and there was an enormous mass. It was said to me, ‘This is your community. Among them are seventy thousand (70,000) who will enter the Paradise without reckoning or punishment.’” (Mentioning who they will be the Prophet şallAllāhu álayhiwa sallam said) “They are those who do not make charms or ask others forcharms, and do not seek omens. They trust in their Lord.' 'Ukkāshah Ibn Muĥsin stood up and said, “Ask Allah to make me one of them.” He said,“You are one of them.” Then another man stood up and said, “Ask Allah to makeme one of them.” He said, "'Ukkāshah beat you to it.” (Şaĥiĥayn) 2. Narrated by Sayyidunā Sahl Ibn Sa’ad rađiyAllāhu ánhu that the Prophet of Allāh şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam said, “Verily! 70,000 or 700,000 of my followers will enter Paradise altogether; so that the first and the last amongst them will enter at the same time, and their faces will be glittering like the bright full moon.” 3. Prophet şallAllāhuálayhi wa sallam said, “My Lord promised me that seventy thousand of my Ummah will enter Paradise without being brought to account or being punished; with each thousand of them will be another seventy thousand, plus three ‘Handfuls’ of the ‘Handfuls’ of my Lord, may He be glorified.” The total thus from this Ĥadīth who will enter Jannah without reckoning is 4,900,000 (4.9 Million) and how many will be in the‘Handful’ of Allāh? Only He Knows best! 4. It is recorded in Tirmidhī and Aĥmad that Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Şiddīq rađiyAllāhu ánhu narrates: “Seventy thousand will enter Jannah without reckoning, whose faces will shine like the full moon and their hearts will be like one. Then I requested an increase (of those who will enter Jannah reckoning). Thus with every one (of the 70,000), a further 70,000 will enter Jannah without reckoning.” The total from this Ĥadīth comes to 4,900,000,000 (4.9 billion). So taking this number of those who will enter without being brought to account, we would need 809,000 of those (imaginary) books. How many in total will enter Jannah? ‘Imām‘Abd al-Wahhāb al-Sha’rānī rađiyAllāhu ánhu writes in thirtieth discussion of his book, Al-Yawāqīt Wa al-Jawāhir Fī ‘Aqāid al-Akābir, that his friend,Sayyidunā Afđal al-Dīn rađiyAllāhu ánhu mentioned to him how Allāh disclosed to him the total number of people who will enter Jannah. The number was: 1485000000000000000000003296700000000000000000001829668500000 If we were to write the names of all these people using the initial imagery book we mentioned at the very beginning, then we would need 2970000000000000000000006593400000000000000000003659337books! (Look at the God-Gifted intelligence of Sayyidī Imām Aĥmad Riđā Khān rađiyAllāhu ánhu, who is working with such numbers without any calculator!) Now understand how Allāh gathered all this in one hand of his Beloved şallAllāhuálayhi wa sallam. This is the number of those who will enter Jannah, what about those who are destined to enter Hell (Allāh forbid)? 1. Allâh will say, "O Ādam (Álayhi’s salām)!" Prophet Ādam will reply,"I respond to Your call, I am obedient to Your commands, and all good isin Your Hands." Then Allâh will say to him, “Send forth the people of theFire.” Prophet Ādam álayhi’s salām will say, “How many are the people of the Fire?” Allâh will say, "Send forth ninety-nine out of every hundred [of your descendants]". The companions rađiyAllāhu ánhum asked, “O Messenger of Allâh (şallAllāhu álayhi wasallam), who amongst us will be that man (one in a thousand)?" He said, “Be of good cheer: the thousand will be from Ya'jūj and Ma'jūj (Gog and Magog) and the one will be from among you”. Then he said, "By Him in Whose hand is my soul, I hope that you will be one third of the people of Paradise." We praised and glorified Allâh and then he said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I hope that you will be half ofthe people of paradise, as you are among the nations like a white hair on the hide of a black bull”. (Bukhārī) 2. In another narration Allāh will say, “Out of every thousand, take nine hundred and ninety-nine (999). At that time,children's hair will turn grey and every pregnant female will spontaneously abort and you will see the people looking as if they are drunk, although they are not, but Allâh's punishment will be most severe.” (Bukhārī, Muslim andBayhaqī) Thus when we have mentioned the total number of the dwellers of Jannah, we will multiply this number by 999 (from the above Ĥadīth) to give us the total of those who will enter Hellfire. It comes to: 1483515000000000000000003293403300000000000000001827838831500000 How many books we need to write the names of this people? And how would we determine the number of black hair of a bull? It is for this reason Allāh disclosed thenumber of dwellers of Jannah to Sayyidī Afđal al-Dīn rađiyAllāhu ánhu! Then we can understand the beauty of this miracle, that Allāh brought all this information into the hands of his beloved şallAllāhu álayhi wa sallam! This is a fine example of how great vastness and enormity has been enclosed in a small container! And Āllah is All-Powerful. (End of discussion)
