The Key to Knowledge
A Bedouin’s questions and the Messenger’s answers
Part 4
Adnan Chishti Attari Madani
Questions were asked to the final Prophet of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم by his Bedouin Companions رَضِیَ اللهُ عَنْهُم, who hailed from the villages and country sides of Arabia. 12 such questions have been discussed in the previous 3 instalments, along with their respective answers.
3 more are hereby mentioned.
1. What kinds of fruit are in Paradise?
ʿUtbah b. ʿAbd Sulamī رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ explains:
Once, a Bedouin came to Allah’s Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and asked the following question, مَا حَوْضُكَ هَذَا الَّذِي تُحَدِّثُ عَنْهُ – “The Pond you mention; what is it like?”
He explained, “It is like the distance from Bayda to Busra. For me, Allah shall cause it to extend to Kurāʿ. No human knows where its ends are.
ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ called the takbīr (i.e said Allahu akbar). The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم then said, “The poor who fought in the way of Allah shall come to me at the Pond of Kawthar. I have certainty that Allah will make me reach the kura and I will drink from it.”
Allah’s Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّمcontinued:
إِنَّ رَبِّي وَعَدَنِي أَنْ يُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ مِنْ أُمَّتِي سَبْعِينَ أَلْفًا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
As promised to me by Allah, 70,000 of my nation shall enter Paradise without accountability. ثُمّ يَشْفَعَ كُلُّ أَلْفٍ لِسَبْعِينَ أَلْفًا Then, every 1000 shall intercede for 70,000, and Allah shall place three more groups therein.
Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb called takbīr again and said, “Allah shall certainly accept the intercession of the first 70,000 for their ancestors and families. I hope for Allah to include me amongst one of the three groups at the end.”
The Bedouin then asked ˹regarding Paradise˺, يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ - “O Messenger of Allah, does it have fruit in it?” The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّمreplied:
نَعَمْ وَفِيهَا شَجَرَةٌ تُدْعَى طُوبَى هِيَ تُطَابِقُ الْفِرْدَوْسَ
Yes, and it has a tree within called Ṭūbā, which encompasses Firdaws.
The Bedouin then asked, أَيُّ شَجَرِ أَرْضِنَا تُشْبِهُ - “What tree of our land does it resemble?”
The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم explained, لَيْسَ تُشْبِهُ شَيْئًا مِنْ شَجَرِ أَرْضِكَ - “It is not like any tree of your land. Yet, have you ever been to Syria?” The latter said, “I have not, O Messenger of Allah.”
The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم stated:
فَإِنَّهَا تُشْبِهُ شَجَرَةً بِالشَّامِ تُدْعَى الْجَوْزَةُ تَنْبُتُ عَلَى سَاقٍ وَاحِدٍ، ثُمّ يَنْتَشِرُ أَعْلَاهَا
It resembles a tree in Syria known as the jawzah (walnut tree). It grows with a single trunk whilst its branches spread.
فَمَا عِظَمُ أَصْلِهَا - “How long are its roots?”, the Bedouin asked regarding Ṭūbā. The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم explained, “If a camel you brought up began walking at the age of four, it shall not reach the trees end until its ribs break from old age.”
The Bedouin then asked, فِيهَا عِنَبٌ - “Does it have grapes in it?” The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, “Yes.”
فَمَا عِظَمُ الْعُنْقُودِ مِنْهَا - “How big is a cluster of its grapes?”, the Bedouin inquired.
The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم responded, “It is as large as the distance covered by gharāb abqaʿ[1] flying for a month without falling, stopping, or tiring.”
The Bedouin asked, وَمَا عِظَمُ الْحَبَّةِ مِنْهُ - “And how big are the grapes of Paradise?”
The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked in return, هَلْ ذَبَحَ أَبُوكَ تَيْسًا مِنْ غَنَمِهِ عَظِيمًا - “Has your father ever slaughtered a large wild sheep from his flock?” The Bedouin replied. “Yes”. He further asked, “Did he remove its skin, give this to your mother, and say, ‘Clean and make leather from this. Then make from this a large waterskin so we may let our animals drink as we please?”
The Bedouin said, “Yes.”
فَإِنَّهُ كَذَلِكَ - “The seeds of those grapes are like this”, the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم declared.
فَإِنَّ ذَلِكَ يَسَعُنِي وَيَسَعُ أَهْلَ بَيْتِي - “Will that seed suffice me and my household?”, the Bedouin ended with. The Prophet صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم said,وَعَامَّةَ عَشِيرَتَكَ - “In fact, the entirety of your family.”[2]
2. Are diseases contagious?
Narrated by the Companion Abu Hurayra رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ; Allah’s Messenger صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, لَا عَدْوٰی وَلَا صَفَرَ وَلَا ھَامَّۃَ - “No disease is contagious. Safar is nothing, and hāmma is nothing.”
A Bedouin exclaimed, “O Messenger of Allah!”
فَمَا بَالُ إِبِلِي، تَكُونُ فِي الرَّمْلِ كَأَنَّهَا الظِّبَاءُ، فَيَأْتِي البَعِيرُ الأَجْرَبُ فَيَدْخُلُ بَيْنَهَا فَيُجْرِبُهَا
“Then what of my camels, which are like deer upon sand? They come across a camel with mange and all become infected.”
The Messenger of Allah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم asked, فَمَنْ أَعْدَى الأَوَّلَ - “Then who conveyed disease to the first ˹camel˺?”[3]
Commentary
Arabians once believed in ʿadwā, which was the transmission of disease from the sick to the healthy. They also believed this to be true about mange/rashes. This was the reason behind the Bedouin’s questions, as healthy camels became infected after being around a camel with mange, and he considered there to be a link between the two.
This was clarified by the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. He asked, “Then who conveyed disease to the first?” He clarified that the first was not infected by another camel, but instead became unwell because Allah willed it to be. The other camels also contracted mange due to this, not from being around one another.
3. What are the major sins?
The Companion Abdullah b. Umar رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ narrates:
جَاءَ أَعْرَابِيٌّ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - “A Bedouin came to the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and asked, يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا الكَبَائِرُ - “O Messenger of Allah, what are the major sins?” He replied, الإِشْرَاكُ بِاللَّهِ - “To associate partners with Allah.”
ثُمَّ مَاذَا - “And after that?”, the Bedouin asked.
ثُمَّ عُقُوقُ الوَالِدَيْنِ - “Disobeying one’s parents.”
The Bedouin then asked of the gravest sin after these two, to which the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, اليَمِينُ الغَمُوسُ - “To take false oaths.”[4]
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