Download PDF: Did You Know – Episode 2

Q:      Who was the first man whose hair and beard turned gray?

A:      It was the Holy Prophet Hazrat Ibraheem – peace be upon him.

(Ibn Asaakir Vol. 2, p. 156)

Q:      What was the reason behind it?

A:      None had grey hair prior to Hazrat Ibraheem – peace be upon him.  Hazrat Ali – may Allah be pleased with him – stated that if the son and father happened to be in the same gathering at that time the newcomer would not know the difference between the son and the father.  Hazrat Ibraheem prayed to Allah Almighty to create a sign through which a father can be distinguished from the son, and his hair and beard had instantly turned grey.

(Ibid)

Q:      Which three Abyssinians are the members of Paradise?

A:      The Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – stated:  Hold tight on to the people of Abyssinia, for three of their men are from amongst the leaders of paradise:

  1. Hazrat Bilaal – may Allah be pleased with him
  2. Hazrat Luqmaan – may Allah be pleased with him
  3. Hazrat Najjaashi – may Allah be pleased with him

(Ibn Asaakir Vol. 3, p. 313)

Q:      The Holy Messenger – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – has stated:  “Four things are not satisfied by four things.”  What are those four things?

A:

عَنْ عَائِشَۃَ رَضِیَ اللّٰہُ عَنْھَا اَنَّ النَّبِیَّ صَلَّی اللّٰہُ عَلَیْہِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:  أربعٌ لا يشبعْنَ من أربعٍ عينٌ من نَظَرٍ وأرضٌ من مَطَرٍ وأُنْثَى من ذَكَرٍ وعالِمٌ من عِلْمٍ

Hazrat ‘Ayesha – may Allah be pleased with her – reported that the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – has stated”

“Four things are not satisfied by four things;

  1. Eyes from looking
  2. The earth from rain
  3. A female from a male
  4. A scholar from knowledge.”

(Tahdheeb Vol. 3, p. 361)

Q:      Who was the blessed Ummati to memorize the Holy Quran in the shortest span of time (7 days)?

A:      When Imam Muhammad Ibn Hasan Shaibaani – may Allah be pleased with him – came to Imam Azam Abu Hanifa – may Allah be pleased with him – to learn Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudance), Imam Azam told him, “It’s of vital importance to become a Haafizul Quran in order to learn Fiqh.”  Imam Muhammad remained absent for seven days and then he visited Imam Azam accompanied by his mother and said, “I have memorized the Quran.”

(Muqaddimah Kitaab Al-Aathaar)

Q:      What is the name of the great Haafizul Hadeeth, that just by looking at whose funeral, 20,000 Jews and Christians embraced Islam?

A:      When the Janazah of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal – may Allah be pleased with him – was taken, 800,000 men and 60,000 women prayed his Janazah Salah, and overwhelmed by the greatness of the honorable Imam, 20,000 Jews and Christians became Muslim.

(Zarqaani Vol. 1, p. 31, Tahdheeb Vol. 2, p. 48)

Q:      What is the reason that Durood is always accepted in the court of Allah Almighty?

A:      Imam Raazi – may Allah be pleased with him – stated:

“Since, Durood is not the action of the Allah’s servants but it’s rather Allah’s action:

اِنَّ اللہَ وَمَلٰٓئِکَتَہٗ یُصَلُّوۡنَ عَلَی النَّبِ

Undoubtedly, Allah and His angels send blessings on the prophet.

(Al-Ahzaab 33, Verse 56)

While we just obey and follow the way of our Master Allah in this action or we interpret Allah’s Durood in our own words, hence, when it’s not one’s personal action but Allah’s, then it’s acceptance in Allah’s court is unquestionable.  It is for this reason that Durood is always accepted in Allah’s court.”

(Tafseer Kabeer)

Q:      Which lifeless object made the Tawaaf of Ka’bah Shareef for forty days?

A:      It was the ark of Hazrat Nooh – peace be upon him.

(Raud Al-Riyaaheen p. 111)

Q:      Why does Shaitan run away when he hears the sound of Azaan?

A:      Shaitan runs away from the sound of Azaan because when the words of Azaan are spoken by a pious person then as far as the sound reaches the entire atmosphere becomes luminous by its Noor, and hence the nature of Noor is chilly and the shaitan is created from fire.  As a matter of fact, the law of repulsion is applied between the two; like the darkness runs away by the presence of light.  It is for this reason that Jinns will not be given the punishment of hell, for this is a friendly environment for them which will not cause any harm to them therefore, they will be given the torment of frosty domain.  They are afraid of cold in the world as well, so much so, that when a slightly cold breeze blows in summer even that becomes a threat to them and they run away.”

(Ibreez p. 204)

Q:      Which four men have ruled over the entire globe?

A:      Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood – may Allah be pleased with him – has stated that two believers and two non-believers were granted the kingdom of the entire world.  The two believers were:

  1. Hazrat Sulaiman – peace be upon him
  2. Hazrat Dhul-Qarnain – may Allah be pleased with him

And the two non-believers were:

  1. Namrood
  2. Bukht Nassar

(Al-Itqaan Vol. 2, p. 424)

Q:      Who amongst the humans was the first to make Hijrah?

A:      Hazrat Ibraheem – peace be upon him – who took Hazrat Loot – peace be upon him – and Hazrat Haajirah – may Allah be pleased with her – along with him and migrated from his homeland towards Al-shaam only for the sake of preserving the Deen.

(Tafseer Qurtubi Vol. 15, p. 95)

Q:      As we know, Hazrat Ilyaas – peace be upon him – will remain alive till the Day of Resurrection.  How did he attain this life?

A:      Once, He fell ill and when he imagined his death in this state and began to cry, Allah Almighty sent Wahy towards him, “Are you crying because you love the world or are you afraid of death or afraid of hell?”  He replied, “The reason for my restlessness is that although there will always be people who are going to chant Your praises and make Your Dhikr but I will not be able to chant Your praises and Your Dhikr, they will fast but I will not be able to fast, they will pray but I will not be able to pray.”  He stated, “I will keep you alive till the Day of Resurrection when there will be none making Dhikr.”

(Tafseer Qurtubi Vol. 15, p. 115)

Q:      There are two angels “Kiraaman Kaatibeen” appointed over everyone who keep on writing their deeds throughout their entire lives but where do they disappear after their demise?

A:      Hazrat Anas Ibn Maalik – may Allah be pleased with him – narrated that Allah Almighty said to the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – that He has appointed two angels over His servants that write the account of their deeds, and when one dies the angels seek permission to ascend into the sky.  Allah Almighty tells them, “My heavens are full of angels that chant My glory.”  They then say, “O Allah, please grant us permission to stay on earth.”  Allah Almighty states, “The earth is also full of angels that chant My praises.”  The angels then ask, “Where do we go?”  Allah Almighty states, “Stay at the grave of my servant and keep on chanting My Greatness and My Dhikr and Glory, and write them in the account of My servant’s book of deeds.”

(Tafseer Qurtubi Vol. 17, p. 12)

Q:      The Merciful Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – has disallowed to kill an ant, frog, woodpecker, bee and shrike (a predatory song-bird of the family lanidae).  What is the reason behind that?

A:      Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Abbaas – may Allah be pleased with him – stated that the Merciful Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him – disallowed for us from killing an ant because it negated the notion of oppression to be attributed to Hazrat Sulaiman – peace be upon him:

حَتّٰۤی اِذَاۤ اَتَوْا عَلٰی وَادِ النَّمْلِ ۙ قَالَتْ نَمْلَۃٌ یّٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوۡا مَسٰکِنَکُمْ ۚ لَا یَحْطِمَنَّکُمْ سُلَیۡمٰنُ وَ جُنُوۡدُہٗ ۙ وَ ہُمْ لَا یَشْعُرُوۡنَ ﴿۱۸﴾

Until when they came to the valley of the ants, one ants said, ‘O ants, enter your houses, lest Sulaiman and his armies may crush you unknowingly.

(Al-Naml 27, Verse 18)

i.e. they would not do so knowingly, for it’s an act of oppression to run over a living body deliberately.

Killing a woodpecker is not permissible because it used to indicate to Hazrat Sulaiman – peace be upon him – for water from beneath the earth’s surface.

The reason behind the impermissibility of killing a frog is that when Hazrat Ibraheem – peace be upon him – was thrown into the fire it was trying to set the fire off by throwing water on it.

(Tafseer Qurtubi, Vol. 7, p. 270)

The bees produce honey which is a means of cure for the mankind, moreover, they recite Durood upon the Holy Prophet – may Allah send peace and blessings upon him.

The reason behind the impermissibility of killing a shrike is that when Hazrat Ibraheem – peace be upon him – went to build Ka’bah Shareef it accompanied him and upon reaching the point where the Ka’bah is built today, he said, “Build the Ka’bah here, O Ibraheem.”

(Tafseer Qurtubi Vol. 13, p. 172)

Q:      Allah Almighty drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea.  What was the wisdom behind it?

A:      It’s narrated from Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Umar – may Allah be pleased with him – that when the river Nile dried up in the time of Pharaoh his people came and complained about it, “Keep the river running for us, O king.”  He replied, “I am not pleased with you.”  The people then returned.  When the people came for the second time and complained about it, “Keep the river running for us, O king.”  He replied the same, “I am not pleased with you.”  The people then returned.  When they visited the third time and complained, “Our animals have died and if you still do not provides us with the water of Nile we will make someone else our God.”  He then replied, “All of you must go and gather in a large field.”  When they gathered in the field, Pharaoh went into seclusion, hidden from people’s eyes and ears.  He placed his face onto the ground, pointing with his forefinger, he said, “O Allah, I have come to You like a disgraceful slave comes to his master, and I know that You know everything, and I also believe that none but You can cause the water to flow in the river Nile.  O Allah, cause the water to run in the river.”  Allah Almighty caused the river Nile to flow with such great rush it had never done before.  People came to Pharaoh and he said, “I have flowed the river Nile for you.”  Everyone then prostrated before him.

Thereafter, Hazrat Jibreel – peace be upon him – came to him and said, “Please grant me honor over my slave.”  Pharaoh asked, “What’s the matter?”  He replied, “I have a slave whom I had appointed upon my other slaves as a leader and also gave him the keys of my treasures.  He has enmity with me and loves my enemy.”  Pharaoh said, “He is a very horrible slave.  If I find him, I will drown him in the Red Sea.”  Hazrat Jibreel – peace be upon him – said, “Give me your verdict in writing, O king.”  He requested for pen and ink, and wrote, “A slave that goes against his master, befriends his enemy and has enmity with his friend should be drowned in the Red sea.”  Hazrat Jibreel – peace be upon him – requested him to stamp and endorse it, and he did and handed over to Hazrat Jibreel – peace be upon him.

When Pharaoh was drowning in the Red Sea Hazrat Jibreel – peace be upon him – placed his writing in front of him and said, “You are being drowned as per the instructions of your own Fatwa.”

(Tafseer Qurtubi Vol. 8, p. 378, Shu’abul Imaan Vol. 4, p. 133)