of hearts, make my heart steadfast upon Your religion. O Director of hearts, direct my heart toward Your obedience.” Such was the Prophet ﷺ.

We also learn from this ḥadīth that we must never despair, nor should we lose hope for anyone we find in disbelief or in open sin; perhaps Allah will guide him at the very last moment and he will die upon Islam. We ask Allah to keep us firm with the firm word in this life and in the Hereafter, and to cause us to die in faith by His grace and bounty.

2/397 – On his authority it is reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Hell will be brought forth on that Day with seventy thousand reins; each rein will be pulled by seventy thousand angels.” Related by Muslim.

3/398 – Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The lightest punishment suffered by any inhabitant of the Fire on the Day of Resurrection will be for a man under whose arches two coals are placed, from which his brain boils. He will think that no one is being punished more severely than he, yet he is the least tormented of them.” Agreed upon.

4/399 – Samura ibn Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said, “Among them are those whom the Fire engulfs up to their ankles, among them are those it reaches up to their knees, and among them are those it reaches to…”