Nasai

(1) From this blessed hadith it is established that the people of faith, that is, the believers, will intercede. Their intercession is true, and moreover, their intercession will be accepted.

(2) This hadith also establishes the virtue of mutual love, that on that Day, when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit, the believers will dispute in the court of Allah on behalf of their Muslim brothers. The thing that will motivate them to do so will be the mutual love which they used to have for each other for the sake of Allah’s pleasure.

(3) Due to the differences and variations in sins and evil deeds, there will also be differences among the inhabitants of Hell. Some will be in the most severe levels of Hell, and some in lesser degrees; some people will have fire up to their shins, and some up to their ankles.

(4) From this hadith it is also known that shirk (associating partners with Allah) is the greatest of all sins. There is no sin greater than this. That is why shirk will never be forgiven under any circumstance. As for all other major sins, their forgiveness is possible. After death, there is no forgiveness for shirk, therefore the polytheists and disbelievers will remain in Hell forever. The majority of the scholars have deduced from this very noble verse that even the forgiveness of a murderer is possible. Like other major sins, it too is under the will of Allah; if He wills, He may forgive even the one who has committed unjust murder. This is the truth, whereas Abdullah (radi Allahu anhu) did not hold the view that such a murderer could be forgiven. It is said that he retracted from this view, but in light of research, establishing his retraction is difficult. And Allah knows best.

(6) “They will recognize them”—that is, the fire will not touch their faces, as is understood from the subsequent text, because the face is the place of prostration. They will be those who performed prayer. The fire will not touch the places of prayer, nor will it be able to cause any harm to them.

(7) “We have taken out”—the purpose is that there are still many other believers burning in the fire. The command will be given to take them out as well.

(8) The aim of the Imam (rahimahullah) is to establish the increase and decrease in faith (iman), which is clear from the hadith (equal to a dinar, half a dinar, or a particle). Those who do not accept increase and decrease in faith attribute this increase and decrease to actions, even though they consider faith itself to be pure in the heart. The effect of actions, however, is upon the limbs.

(9) “Dinar” was a gold coin whose weight, according to the present era, is four mashas and four ratis, and in grams, it amounts to 4.374 grams.

(10) By “particle” (dharr), what is meant is a particle of dust. Some have also interpreted it as meaning an ant. And Allah knows best.

Commentary:

➊ On the Day of Resurrection, the greatest intercession (shafa‘at kubra) is reserved exclusively for Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, but other noble prophets (anbiya’ kiram alayhimussalam) and believers (mu’minin) will also be granted permission to intercede, each according to their rank.

➋ No prophet or saint (wali) can, of their own will, save any sinner from Hellfire; rather, these noble personalities will supplicate to Allah Ta‘ala and make requests on behalf of their sinful brothers. Then, for whomever Allah wills, He will accept the intercession and grant them salvation from Hellfire.

➌ Sinful believers will be recognized in the Fire of Hell by their faces, that they are believers. In one hadith it is stated: “The righteous believers will recognize the sinners by the marks of prostration (sujud) on their foreheads.” (Sahih Bukhari, Kitab al-Riqaq, Chapter: The Bridge over Hell, Hadith: 6573) From this, the importance of prayer (salah) is also understood.

➍ The sinful will be punished in Hell according to the degree of their sins, some more and some less.

➎ The faith (iman) of all believers is not equal; rather, it increases and decreases.

➏ Allah’s mercy is so vast that even the one with the least amount of faith will attain salvation. However, the polytheists (mushrikin) will not be granted salvation. As for the good deeds they performed with sincerity, their recompense will be that their punishment will be lessened, but the punishment will remain everlasting.

➐ From this, Allah’s justice is established, in that even the disbelievers (kuffar) will not be kept at the same level of punishment, and His mercy is also manifest, in that for a small amount of good deeds, a greater reward will be given.