Aḥmad also said: Yūnus ibn Muḥammad related to us; Ḥarb ibn Maymūn, Abū al-Khaṭṭāb al-Anṣārī, related to us; from al-Naḍr ibn Anas; from Anas, who said:

The Prophet of Allah ﷺ told me:

“I shall be standing, waiting for my community until they have crossed the Ṣirāṭ. Then Jesus son of Mary—peace be upon him—will come to me and say, ‘O Muḥammad, the prophets have now come to you, asking—or he said: gathering around—you. They are calling upon Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to disperse all the nations to whatever place Allah wills, because of the anguish they are suffering. All creatures will be bridled by their sweat: for the believer it will be no more than a slight cold, whereas the disbeliever will be overwhelmed by it as though overtaken by death.’

He will add, ‘Wait until I return to you.’ So the Prophet of Allah ﷺ will go and stand beneath the Throne, experiencing what no near angel (1) nor any commissioned prophet has ever encountered. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will then reveal to Gabriel: ‘Go to Muḥammad and tell him: Raise your head, ask and you will be granted, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will thereupon intercede for my community, and it will be said: ‘Bring out one person from every ninety-nine.’ I shall keep going back and forth to my Lord—Mighty and Majestic—and every time I return my intercession will be granted, until Allah—Mighty and Majestic—finally says: ‘O Muḥammad, admit into Paradise, from among My creation and from your community, whoever said: Lā ilāha illā-llāh even once, sincerely, and died holding fast to that.’ ” (2)

Imam Aḥmad also transmitted—through the chain of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥakam al-Bannānī, from ʿUthmān, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah and al-Aswad, from Ibn Masʿūd—a lengthy ḥadīth in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Indeed I shall stand at the Praised Station on the Day of Resurrection.” A man from the Anṣār asked, “Messenger of Allah, what is the Praised Station?” He replied, “That will be when you are brought barefoot, naked and uncircumcised. The first to be clothed will be Abraham. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will say, ‘Clothe My intimate friend,’ and two white cloaks will be brought for him; he will put them on and then sit facing the Throne. Next my own garments will be brought, and I shall put them on; then I shall stand at His right, at a station that no one else will occupy, and the earliest and latest peoples will envy me for it.” He added, “A channel will be opened for them from al-Kawthar to the Basin…” He went on to narrate the rest of the ḥadīth describing the Basin, which will be mentioned shortly (3).

We have likewise cited in al-Musnad al-Kabīr—on the authority of Ḥaydah, the Companion—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“You will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked and uncircumcised; the first to be clothed will be Abraham the Friend. Allah, Exalted is He, will say, ‘Clothe My Friend so that mankind may recognize his rank,’ and thereafter people will be clothed in proportion to their deeds.” (4)

Imam Aḥmad also said: ʿAffān related to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah related to us; Thābit related to us; from Anas ibn Mālik:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The Day of Resurrection will seem interminably long for people, so they will say to one another, ‘Let us go to Adam, the father of humankind, that he may intercede for us with our Lord—Mighty and Majestic—to judge between us.’ [They will come to Adam and say, ‘O Adam, you are the one whom Allah created with His own Hand and made to dwell in His Garden; intercede for us with your Lord so that He may judge between us.’ He will reply:] ‘I am not in a position to do that…’ ”