The Basin (ḥawḍ)
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Suyūṭī said, “The Basin is mentioned in the reports of some fifty-odd Companions, among them the four rightly guided Caliphs, the major hadith transmitters among the Companions, and others—may Allah be pleased with them all.” End of quote.
Al-Bukhārī and Muslim, and others as well, relate from ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “My Basin is the span of a month’s journey; its water is whiter than milk, its scent more fragrant than musk, and its goblets are like the stars in the sky. Whoever drinks from it will never be thirsty again.”
Muslim also records in his Ṣaḥīḥ from Anas b. Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him): “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) dozed briefly, then raised his head smiling and said, ‘A surah has just been revealed to me,’ and he recited: ‘In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Indeed, We have granted you al-Kawthar,’ until he finished it. He then asked, ‘Do you know what al-Kawthar is?’ They replied, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said, ‘It is a river my Lord has granted me in Paradise, brimming with abundant goodness. My community will come to it on the Day of Resurrection, and its vessels are as numerous as the stars. A servant from among them will be turned away, and I shall say, “My Lord, he is one of my community!” It will be said, “You do not know what he introduced after you.”’ The word ‘turned away’ (yakhtaliju) means that he is driven off and prevented from reaching the Basin.
Al-Qurṭubī said, “Our scholars hold that anyone who apostatises from the religion of Allah or introduces into it something Allah does not approve of and has not permitted is among those expelled from the Basin. The ones most severely driven away are those who break with the body of Muslims—such as the Khārijites, the Rafidites, and the Muʿtazilites in their various factions—for all of them are innovators. The same applies to tyrannical rulers who exceed all bounds in injustice and oppression, who obliterate the truth and humiliate its people; to those who openly commit major sins while making light of disobedience; and to the masses of deviant and sectarian people. Yet this expulsion may be temporary: they may later be admitted after forgiveness, provided the alteration lay in their deeds and not in their beliefs …” End of quote.