TRANSLATOR NOTES
"A fact of this world life" is an expression, which is unknown to the majority of us. One who has knowledge of this life is in fact the smartest and the most successful of all people. On the one hand, worldly life is a fact that nobody can deny. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of it.
AlmightyAllah(
S.W.T.) poses us a basic question:
"What!did
you then think that had created you in vain and that you shall not be returned to us?" (Al-Qur'an 23:115)
In this Divine question two points are clear: One is that "life is a fact" and the other is that "it has a purpose". In many places the Holy Qur'an has made this point clear by giving us examples of past historic events. The wealth ofShaddad
andFir`aun
(Pharaoh), and persons of such categories, perished. They left thisworld ;with
nothing but their own deeds and they are tasting the punishment for the evils they committed.
Some of the verses of the Holy Qur'an havemake
it clear that thisworhtless
world is nothing but play. For example:
"And this life of the world is nothing but a sport and play: and as for the next abode, that most surely is the life - did they but know! "
(Al-Qur'an 29:64) I think we should strive hard, by using whatever means and sources we have, to understand this worldly life.
HADITH AL-QUDSI (SacredHadith
) is one of; thesources
which opens up our eyes, shakes us up, and awakens us so that we may think. For example:
"O Son of Adam!obey
Me to the extent of your deeds towards Me. Disobey Me to the extent of your ability to tolerate the Fire of Hell. Collect wealth in this world according to the length of your stay here. Collect for the Hereafter (Aakhirah
) according to the length of your stay here. Do not think that your death is far and that the Bounties (you receive from Allah) will always be available, or that your sins are hidden." (Al-Hadith
Al-Qudsi
,Hadith
No.13)
The materialistic world has dragged humankind into a race of unlimited desire. This mad search for pleasure, excitement, new sensations and the accumulation of material wealth, results in adisgracerful
life. This drive to experience more and more is the direct and root cause of all family and social problems and manifests itself in genocide, homicide, substance abuse, child abuse and violence towards women. The so-called "civilized" countries of our time have failed to understand this, although they possess sophisticated weapons to defend their values as well as accurate computers. In my view, Islam is the only solution to all of these problems. Not only does it teach that we should be achievers in this worldly life, but it also teaches humankind to have God-consciousness (Taqwa
). THE THREE WAYS OF COMMUNICATION OF ALMIGHTY ALLAH:
AsMawlana
Sayyid
Akhtar
Rizvi
expresses in his book The Qur'an andHadith
:
"According to the Muslims, the Revelations from God can be of three kinds:
a) Al-Qur'an: Where the words and meanings both are revealed from God, and it is meant to be a miracle in itself. Such Revelation is the Qur'an. No other Revelation was meant to be a miracle, challenging the antagonists to bring its 'like' if they can, and prophesying that they can never do it.
b)
Hadith
Al-Qudsi
: Where the words and meanings are both from God, but it is not intended to be a miracle. It is found in the Books of Traditions and generally begins with these words: "The Holy Prophet said that Allah said".
c)Hadith
: Where only the meanings are from God, but the words are of Prophets. Inspirations, and also Traditions of the Prophet of Islam come into this category."
TheHadith
Al-Qudsi
is scattered in the Books of Tradition. Some of the scholars have made attempts to compile them. This presentation ofHadith
Al-Qudsi
has been taken from the bookKalimatullah
by the great scholarAqai
Sayyid
HassanShirazi
. As a child I would listen to my father's speeches and his daily communications. From time to time he used to mention theseHadith
Al-Qudsi
. Consequently, I have been reading them over and over again. This completion of ScaredHadith
has been translated into Urdu by the lateMaulanay
sayid
AliMuhammed
Ijlal
Lakhnavi
of India. I hope that readers will benefit from this translation, and pray for me and for the entire MuslimUmmah
for their unity.
Was Salaam.
S.M. ZAKI BAQRI