fasting nor Hajj, except for elderly men and women who say, ‘We knew our forefathers saying, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.”’ They know neither prayer, zakat nor Hajj. He then said, ‘Nor fasting. It will save them from the Fire.’”

This principle is also supported by what al-Bukhārī and Muslim narrated in their Sahīh collections from Abū Hurayrah: the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“A man—who had never put forward a single good deed—instructed his family to burn him when he died, then scatter half of him over the land and half over the sea. For, by Allah, if Allah had power over him, He would punish him as He had never punished anyone in all creation. When the man died, they did as he had instructed. Allah then commanded the land to gather what it contained, and commanded the sea to gather what it contained. Then He said, ‘Why did you do this?’ He replied, ‘Out of fear of You, my Lord, and You know best.’ So Allah forgave him.”

Another wording states:

“A man had sinned excessively against himself. When death approached him, he instructed his sons, saying, ‘When I die, burn me, then grind me to powder and scatter me over the sea. By Allah, if my Lord has power over me, He will punish me as He has never punished anyone.’”

He said: “They did that to him. Then Allah said to the earth, ‘Give back what you have taken,’ and there he stood. He said to him, ‘What prompted you to do what you did?’ He replied, ‘Fear of You, my Lord’—or he said, ‘Dread of You.’ So he was forgiven on that account.”

Another transmission states:

“Allah said to everything that had taken any part of him, ‘Give back what you have taken of him.’”

Al-Bukhārī also related this account through Hudhayfah and 'Uqbah ibn 'Amr, from Hudhayfah, who reported that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

“There was