607 — Abū al-Qāsim al-Baghawī, Abd Allah ibn Muhammad, narrated to us, saying: Hudba ibn Khālid narrated to us, saying: Hammād ibn Salama narrated to us, from Alī ibn Zayd, from Umāra ⦗1016⦘ al-Qurashī, from Abū Burda ibn Abī Mūsā, who said:

I came as a delegate to al-Walīd ibn Abd al-Malik, and Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz was the one attending to my needs. Once my needs had been met, I went to him, bade him farewell, and offered him greetings of peace. I then departed, but remembered a hadith my father had related to me after hearing it from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Because of the favor Umar had shown me by attending to my needs, I wished to relate it to him, so I returned. When he saw me, he said, “Some need has surely brought the elder back.” When I drew near, he asked, “What brought you back? Have your needs not been met?”

I replied, “Indeed they have. However, I heard a hadith from my father that he had heard from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and I wished to relate it to you because of the favor you have shown me.”

He asked, “What is it?”

I said: My father related to me, saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say:

“When the Day of Resurrection comes, whatever each group worshipped in this world will be represented before them. Every group will then go to whatever they worshipped in this world, while the people of tawhīd (affirming Allah’s oneness) will remain. They will be asked, ‘What are you waiting for, now that everyone else has departed?’ They will reply, ‘We have a Lord whom we worshipped in this world, though we never saw Him.’”

He continued ⦗1017⦘: “‘Will you recognize Him when you see Him?’ They will answer, ‘Yes.’ It will be asked, ‘How will you recognize Him when you have never seen Him?’ They will reply, ‘There is nothing like Him.’ The veil will then be lifted for them, and they will gaze upon Allah, Mighty and Majestic, whereupon they will fall down before Him in prostration. Some people will remain whose backs are like the horns of cattle. They will wish to prostrate but will be unable to do so. This is the statement of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: ‘On the Day the Shin will be bared, and they will be called to prostrate themselves, but they will be unable’ [al-Qalam: 42]. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will then say, ‘Raise your heads. I have placed in the Fire, in place of each one of you, a man from among the Jews and Christians.’”

Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz then asked, “By Allah, besides whom there is no god, did your father truly relate this hadith to you after hearing it from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace?” Abū Burda swore three oaths to him that it was so. Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz then said, “I have never heard any hadith concerning the people of tawhīd that is dearer to me than this one.”