Aqeedah Tahaawiyyah : Lesson 21
[83] وَالْحَوْضُ الذي أَكْرَمَهُ اللهُ تعالى بِهِ –غِيَاثًا لأُمَّتِهِ- حَقٌّ.
[83] And the Hawd, (the Lake) with which Allaah, the Most High, will honour him as a relief for his Ummah from thirst; this is true.
The Explanation – Point [83]
And from that which the people of the Sunnah and the Jamaa`ah hold as creed and belief, is what is mentioned in authentic reports from Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam, from the affairs of the Resurrection and whatever will occur on the Day of Resurrection, from affairs. So, from that is: Al-Hawd (الحوض – the great Lake or body of water), since the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam informed us that there will be for him a Hawd (Lake)[1] on the Day of Resurrection at the gathering place (al-Mahshar – المحشر), to which his followers will come – those who had eemaan (truly believed) in him and who followed him. So, they will drink from it and when they have taken a single drink from it, they will never again become thirsty afterwards. And this is because the Day of Resurrection is a day which is severe and difficult and a day of severe heat; so it will result in severe thirst.
So therefore, Allaah has made this Hawd (great Lake) as a source of relief from thirst for the nation of Muhammad sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam; and by it, He will bring relief from thirst for them. And as is known, the ghayth (غيث –rainfall) which Allaah sends down from the skies, brings about life for the earth, and it brings about life for the souls. Then likewise, the Hawd (Lake) will be a ghiyaath (source of relief from thirst) by which Allaah will relieve the thirst of the servants when they are in the direst need of water.
And ‘Al-Hawd’ is a place where water is gathered. And he `alayhis–salaatu was-salaam, described it as being a tremendous lake; and that its length is the length of a month’s journey and its width is the width of a month’s journey; and that its drinking vessels would be as numerous as the stars in the sky; and that whoever drinks a single drink from it, then after that he will never ever become thirsty again; and that its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey.[2]
And he, `alayhis–salaatu was-salaam, informed that some people would come to it, but then they will be pushed away and prevented from drinking from it. So the Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam will say,
“O my Lord, my nation, my nation!” So then Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic will say,
“You do not know what things they innovated after you.” So then he, `alayhis–salaatu was-salaam, will say,
“Be away, far away, those who changed and altered!” [3]
And the people of innovations (Ahlul-Bid`ah) which take people astray will be prevented from coming to it to drink: those who are disobedient to Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam, those who disbelieved and turned back upon their heels, those who abandoned the Sunnah, those who went off with their own desires and opinions taking deviated positions – they are the ones who will be prevented from the lake (Hawd) of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam because they altered and changed away from the way of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam. So no one will go to it to drink except one who was a follower of the Sunnah of Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam in his sayings and his actions and his creed and belief.
And some of the people of knowledge, they hold that Al-Kawthar (الكوثر – the plentiful river) which is mentioned in His saying, He the Most High,
We have certainly granted you Al-Kawthar (abundant good and a great river)
(Sooratul-Kawthar (108), aayah 1)
(Some of the scholars hold that this Kawthar mentioned in this aayah) is the Hawd, whereas some of the people of knowledge, they hold that the meaning of the Kawthar is: abundant good. And there is no doubt that the Hawd (great Lake) enters within the ‘abundant good’ because this Hawd (Lake) is indeed something good for this nation.[4]
So this is the Hawd (Lake) of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam; so it is obligatory to have eemaan (truly believe) in it and to hold it as creed and belief, and that the person adheres to the Sunnah so that he can go on drink from the Hawd (great Lake) and not be repelled from it on the Day of Resurrection.
End of explanation of point [83][5],[6]
Footnotes:
[1] From Anas ibn Maalik radiyAllaahu `anhu, that Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said,
“The width of my lake will be like the distance between Aylah and San`aa· in Yemen and it will have as many drinking cups as the number of the stars in the sky.”
Reported by Al-Bukhaaree as hadeeth 6580, and by Muslim.
Translator’s Side Point: They mention that Aylah is a little town on the coast, at the top of the Red Sea – the lowest tip where Palestine is.
[2] From `Abdillaah ibn `Amr radiyAllaahu `anhumaa, who said, “The Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam said,
‘My lake is a wide as a month’s journey, its water is whiter than milk and its smell is better than musk, and its drinking vessels are like the stars in the sky; whoever drinks from it will never ever become thirsty.’”
Reported by Al-Bukhaaree as hadeeth 6579, and by Muslim.
Translator’s Side Point: In [the explanation of] Al-`Aqeedah Al-Wasatiyyah, we had the point that Shaykh Al-`Uthaymeen rahimahullaah made about this hadeeth: there is another hadeeth where the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam mentioned that the drinking vessels around the Hawd (Lake), their number would be like the number of stars in the sky. As for this wording here, there is an addition: that the drinking vessels would be ‘like’ the stars in the sky. This shows an additional point – not only would they be as many as the stars in the sky, but also they will be brilliant like the stars in the sky.
[3] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree as hadeeth 6582, 6584 and 7051, and also reported by Muslim. It is from a hadeeth of Anas radiyAllaahu `anh.
[4] From Sa`eed ibn Jubayr from Ibn `Abbaas radiyAllaahu `anhumaa, that he said about the Kawthar,
“It is the great good which Allaah will give to him.” (The narrator) Aboo Bishr said, “So I said to Sa`eed ibn Jubayr: Then, there are some people who claim that it is a river in Paradise.” So Sa`eed said, “The river which is in Paradise is from the good which Allaah will give to him.”
Hadeeth reported by Al-Bukhaaree as hadeeth 4966 and 6578.
And from Anas ibn Maalik radiyAllaahu `anhu who said,
“Whilst Allaah’s Messenger sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam was amongst us one day he dozed off briefly, then he raised his head and he was smiling. So we said, ‘What has caused you to laugh, O Messenger of Allaah?’ So he said, ‘Just now a soorah has been sent down to me.’ and he recited sooratul-Kawthar.”
The narration in Muslim mentions that he said,
Then he said, “Do you know what Al-Kawthar is?” So we said, “Allaah and His Messenger know best.” So he said,
“Then it is a river which my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has promised me. Upon it there is abundant good and it is a Lake to which my Ummah will come to drink on the Day of Resurrection.”
Reported by Muslim in the Book of the Prayer.
[5] Translator’s Side Point: Shaykh Al-Albaanee (rahimahullaah) made a small point connected to this. He said, “And the ahaadeeth which mention the Hawd (Lake) are very many, so many that they reach the level of being mutawaatir as was clearly stated by a group of the scholars. These narrations are reported by thirty and odd Companions and Al-Haafiz Ibn Katheer he brings their chains of narration in detail in his book: Al-Bidaayah wan-Nihaayah, at the end of his history (at the end of the book – that which will occur on Yawmul-Qiyaamah). And also, Al-Haafiz Ibn Abee `Aasim in his Kitaab As-Sunnah, he brings seven whole chapters (chapters 155-161) and hadeeth numbers: 697-776 (79 hadeeth) and at the end of them he mentions that they are mutawaatir (reported by a huge number of people at every stage of narration) and he said, ‘The narrations which we have mentioned about the Hawd (Lake) of the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam necessitate certain knowledge.’”
[6] Translator’s Side Point: Ibn Abil-`Izz, mentions in his explanation about exactly where the Hawd would be. He makes it clear that it would be before crossing over the Bridge over Hellfire – the place where the people would be gathered (the Mahshar); that is where the Hawd would be. The question may arise: How is that connected to the Kawthar (the river in Paradise)? He answers it, and likewise Shaykh Al-`Uthaymeen rahimahullaah answers the same point in the explanation of Al-Wasatiyyah.
Shaykh Al-`Uthaymeen rahimahullaah, mentioned nine points that we need to know about the Hawd, the second of them was that he said,
“This Hawd (great Lake) will have water pouring into it through two channels which flow from Al-Kawthar (the river in Paradise). The Kawthar is the great, tremendous river which the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam will be granted in Paradise. So these two channels of water will flow down into the Hawd (Lake).
The evidence for this is two hadeeth reported by Muslim; one from a hadeeth of Aboo Dharr and one from a hadeeth of Thawbaan radiyAllaahu `anhumaa.
As part of a longer hadeeth, the hadeeth of Aboo Dharr radiyAllaahu `anh contains the wording that the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam mentioned about the Hawd (Lake) and he said,
“Two channels of water will flow into it from Paradise.”
In the hadeeth of Thawbaan, it contains the wording:
“One of these channels will be of gold and the other one will be of silver.”
Both reported by Muslim.
At-Ta`leeqaat Al-Mukhtasarah `alaa Matn Al-`Aqeedah At-Tahaawiyyah
By Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan hafizahullaah
Pages 91-94 (Point 83)
Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah, in 1426AH
Transcribed by Sideeqa Ali
Points discussed in this excerpt include:
- The Hawd (Lake) that the Prophet sallAllaahu `alayhi wa sallam will be honored with, is true
- Description of the Hawd (Lake)
- Those who will be allowed to drink from it, and those who will be prevented
- Relationship between the Kawthar and the Hawd
Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah
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