Narrated Anas bin Malik: A man said, "O Allah's Prophet! Will a Kafir (disbeliever) be gathered (driven prone) on his face?" The Prophet said, "Is not He Who made him walk with his legs in this world, able to make him walk on his face on the Day of Resurrection?" (Qatada, a sub-narrator said: Yes, (He can), by the Power of Our Lord!")
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
(1)
The command of Allah, the Exalted, is:
"On the Day of Resurrection, We shall gather them (the disbelievers) on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be Hell." ( Bani Isra'il: 17/97)
In view of this verse, the Companion asked the question, and the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave its answer.
(2)
In any case, there is a correspondence between the law of reward and punishment and human actions. For example, if a person remained heedless of Allah, the Exalted, in the world, then on the Day of Resurrection, Allah, the Exalted, will neglect him. Whoever closed his eyes to the remembrance of Allah, the Exalted, in the world, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah, the Exalted, will raise him blind.
Similarly, when the disbeliever did not prostrate to Allah in the world, in order to manifest his humiliation and disgrace, he will be made to walk on his face on the Day of Resurrection.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah) has explained this wisdom.
(Fath al-Bari: 11/465)
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 6523
Maulana Dawood Raz
Hadith Commentary:
One of the scenes on the Day of Resurrection will be that the disbelievers and polytheists will be made to walk on their faces, which will be a manifestation of their utmost humiliation and disgrace.
Allahumma la taj‘alna minhum, ameen!
Source: Sahih Bukhari: Commentary by Maulana Dawood Raz, Page: 4760
Shaykh Abdul Sattar al-Hammad
Hadith Commentary:
➊
Those disbelievers who did not bow before Allah in the world will, on the Day of Resurrection, be forced by Allah Almighty to walk on their faces in order to humiliate and disgrace them.
Just as in the world a person protects himself from the harm of the path with his feet, on the Day of Resurrection he will try to protect himself with his face.
(Fath al-Bari: 11/465)
➋
In the Noble Qur’an, choosing a path other than the straight path (sirat al-mustaqim) has also been described in these words as a parable, as Allah the Exalted says:
“Is he better guided who walks fallen on his face, or he who walks upright on a straight path?”
(al-Mulk: 22)
One who walks fallen on his face can see nothing to his right or left, nor in front or behind, nor is he safe from stumbling. Can such a person ever reach his intended destination? Certainly, he cannot reach it.
Source: Hidayat al-Qari: Commentary on Sahih Bukhari, Urdu, Page: 4760
Shaykh Maulana Abdul Aziz Alvi
Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: Many things are considered strange as a result of comparing the conditions of the Day of Judgment to the conditions of this world, and due to disregarding the divine power. However, it is not correct to compare the conditions of the Hereafter to those of this world, just as it is not correct to compare the life of this world to the life in the mother's womb. Similarly, attempting to understand something while ignoring divine power leads to confusion and objections. If one keeps divine power in view, then no kind of confusion, doubt, or suspicion arises.
Source: Tuhfat al-Muslim: Commentary on Sahih Muslim, Page: 7087