The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) said: "There are seven whom Allah will shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no shade except His Shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques; two men who love each other for Allah's sake, meeting for that and parting upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position (for illegal intercourse), but be says: 'I fear Allah', a man who gives in charity and hides it, such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears.'" (Abu Hurairah & collected in Saheeh al- Bukhari (English trans.) vol.1, p.356, no.629 & Saheeh Muslim (English trans.) vol.2, p.493, no.2248)

In this beautiful Hadith, the Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
spoke about small acts of worship which result
in such a huge reward: shade on the Day
when there will be no shade except His Shade.
This may not seem like much at first but then
reflect upon the following Hadith: 'On the Day of Resurrection, the sun would draw so
close to the people that there would be
left a distance of only one mile. The
people will be submerged in perspiration
according to their deeds, some up to
their ankles, some up to their knees, some up to the waist and some would
have the bridle of perspiration and,
while saying this, the Messenger of
Allah put his hand towards his
mouth.' (al Miqdaad ibn Aswad & collected in Saheeh Muslim (Eng. trans) vol.4, p.1487-8,
no. 6852}. And in another Hadith, some will be submerged
in sweat 'seventy arm-lengths in the
earth.' (Abu Hurairah and collected in Saheeh
al-Bukhari (Eng. trans.) vol.8, p.353, no.539)
and Muslim (Eng. trans.) vol.4, p.l487,
no.6851) So who would want more then, on this Day,
than to be under the Shade and protection of
Allah Azza wa Jall? Let us examine now the characteristics and
virtues of these seven categories of people
who will be worthy of such an exalted position
on the Day of Gathering:

1. 'A Just Ruler' The concept of Justice in Islam is very
important and it is something which the Muslim
- Ruler and the ruled - must apply in all matters
without exception. Justice means to give each
the right he deserves: Muslim or non-Muslim,
relative or stranger, friend or enemy. Allah says: '...And do not let hatred cause you to act unjustly, that is nearer to piety (al-Maa'idah . Unfortunately, even if we admit this in theory,
we quickly forget it in practice. So we find that
when we speak about our friends and loved
ones, we praise them beyond reason and
when we speak about those whom we hold
difference with, we can find no good in them and we just capitalize on their bad points. This
is far removed from the justice which Allah
loves and gives great reward for, as
mentioned in the following Hadith: 'The doers of justice will be on thrones of light at
Allah's Right Hand - and both of Allah's
Hands are Right Hands" - those who were just in their Ruling, with their families and in all
that over which they were given authority. The Prophet assigning to Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud
the open spaces in Madina between the
dwellings and palm gardens of the Ansar, and
when the Banu Abd Ibn Zuhrah said, "Remove from us the son of Umm Abd
(Ibn Mas'ud)," replying, 'Why then did Allah send me? Allah does not bless a
people among whom a weak man is not
given his right.'" (Baghawi transmitted it in Sharh as-Sunnah. Sunan at-Tirmidhi no.3003) The concept of justice is most important for
the Ruler, since he is in charge of his people
and the primary disposer of justice in the land.
For this reason, the Ruler is given special
mention as one of the seven who will be
honored with Allah's Shade.

2 'A youth who grew up in the worship of
Allah' The great scholar, Ayyoob as-Sakhtiyaanee
(d.131H) said, "From the success of a youth is that Allah guides him to a
scholar of the Sunnah. (Hasan - Reported in Sharh Usoolis-Sunnah of al-Laalikaa'ee
no.30). Indeed, it is a great blessing from Allah for a
youth to be guided towards worship and be
befriended by the righteous, since it is in youth
that a person is most vulnerable to the
temptations of life and liable to drift away from
the Islamic Path. This becomes apparent when we look at society around us and we see that
most of the worldly distractions, such as
music, games, clubs, fashion etc. are all
specifically targeted at the young. "You're only young once!" they are told, which is why many Muslims nowadays waste their
youth thinking that they will pray, wear Hijaab
and go to Hajj, etc. when they are old, as if
they have a guarantee of longevity from Allah!
How well we would do to heed the Prophet's
advice when he said: 'Take benefit of five before five: your youth before your old
age, your health before your sickness,
your wealth before your poverty, your
free time before you are preoccupied
and your life before your death.' Sahih - Narrated by Ibn Abbaas & collected in al-
Haakim & others. Authenticated by Shaikh
'Alee ibn 'Abdul Hameed in Forty Hadith of the
Call and the Caller.

3. 'A man whose heart is attached to the
mosques' There is great encouragement in the Sunnah
for men to pray in the mosques and the reward
associated with it is tremendous. Not only does
it make the person eligible for Allah's Shade on
the day of Judgment, but, 'he does not take a
step towards the mosque except that because of it, he is raised by one rank and one sin is
removed from him. Then when he prays, the
Angels do not cease supplicating for him (for)
as long as he remains at his place of Prayer
(sayings): O Allah send blessings upon him, O Allah have mercy upon
him...' (Abu Hurairah & collected in Sahih al- Bukhari (Eng. trans.) vol. 1 p.352 no.620). It must be emphasized here however, that all
the Hadith encouraging the men to be attached
to the mosques are not intended to lead one to
the conclusion that Islam is a religion which
should be confined to the mosques, as many
people imagine. Nonetheless, the mosque should be at the heart of the Muslim
community, and the role of those in authority of
the mosques is vital here. They are the ones
mainly responsible for making the mosque a
welcome refuge for the Muslims, rather than
an arena for politics and power struggles as many seem to have become these days. And
we seek Allah's refuge from this!

4. 'Two men who love each other for
Allah's sake, meeting for that and
parting upon that' Having mutual love for the sake of Allah is one
of the great doors leading to the good of the
Hereafter and a cause of tasting the
sweetness of Eemaan in this world. Loving one
another for Allah's sake means that the Muslim
does not love another except for the correctness of his Deen. So it does not matter
what the person looks like, what he wears,
how rich or poor he is, where he comes from,
or what the color of his skin is - perhaps you
dislike everything about him, but you love him
for his Eemaan: this is loving for Allah's sake. 'Allah, the Mighty and Magnificent says:
'Those who have mutual love for the
sake of My Glory will have pillars of
light and will be envied the Prophets and
martyrs.' (Sahih - Collected in Sunan at- Tirmidhee & Musnad Ahmad: 5/336-7). Subhan Allah! Imagine being envied by Allah's
chosen Messengers and those who were slain
in His Path! Such is the reward of those who
love one another for Allah's sake.

5. 'A man who is called by a woman of
beauty and position but he says: 'I fear
Allah' This world is full of temptations which lead to
burning in the Fire and amongst them is that
which comes from women. Many a man has
led his soul into destruction on account of the
lure of a woman which is why the Prophet
warned his Ummah specifically about this. He said, "The world is sweet and green and verily Allah is going to install you as
successors upon it in order to see how
you act. So avoid the allurement of
women: verily the first trial for the
Children of Israa'eel was caused by
women." (Aboo Sa'eed al-Khudree & collected in Saheeh Muslim (Eng. trans.) vol.4,
p.1432, no.6606) The most important provision which we need to
protect ourselves from this and all other
temptations in life is the fear (khawf) of Allah.
This fact is alluded to in the following Quranic
Ayah: "And as for him who feared standing before his Lord and restrained
himself from impure evil desires, verily
Paradise will be his abode." (an- Naazi'aat:40-41)

6. 'A man who gives in charity and hides
it, such that his left hand does not know
what his right hand gives in charity' This describes the type of person who goes to
great lengths to protect himself from ar-Riyaa.
Ar-Riyaa means to do deeds in order to earn
the praise and recognition of people. This sin
destroys all the benefits that lie in righteous
deeds and brings on a serious punishment for the one who commits it. It is particularly
dangerous because it is in man's nature to
desire and enjoy the praise of others. Thus,
great care has to be token to ensure that one's
intentions begin and remain pure whenever
good actions (such as charity) are being done. Not like what we see today where we have
mosque notice boards announcing who gave
what to whom, why and when! Allah warns: "O you who believe! Do not render vain
your charity by reminders of your
generosity or by injury, like him who
spends his wealth to be seen of men
and he does not believe in Allah nor in
the Last Day." (al-Baqarah:264). May Allah preserve us from this.

7. 'A man who remembered Allah in
private and so his eyes shed tears.' Our noble Prophet (p.b.u.h.) informed us: "If you knew what l knew, you would laugh
little and weep much." (Aboo Hurairah and Anas & collected in Saheeh al-Bukhari (Eng.
trans.) vol.8, p.326-327, nos.492 and 493) Crying is not a sissy thing to do. The Prophet,
who was the best of all creations, would weep
as would all of his Companions. Tears are a
genuine expression of fear of Allah's
Punishment and of our sincere love and awe
of Him. But how often do we remember Allah in seclusion and are then moved to tears? How
much do we laugh and how little do we weep?
The Prophet said, 'There is nothing more beloved to Allah than two drops and two
marks: A tear shed due to fear of Allah,
and a drop of blood spilled in the path of
Allah. And as for the two marks, then a
mark caused in the path of Allah, and a
mark caused by fulfilling one of the duties made obligatory by Allah." (Hasan - collected by at-Tirmidhee and al-Mishkaat:
3837)

Thanks for this piece, may ALMIGHTY give you more strength

MUMMY18100:
Thanks for this piece, may ALMIGHTY give you more strength

ameen and you too.