it—and disobedient to Allah as well, for disobeying the Messenger is disobeying Allah. The Exalted has said, “Whoever obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allah,” and, “Whoever defies Allah and His Messenger has gone far astray.” The Messenger never speaks from his own whim; he speaks because he is the Messenger of the Lord of all worlds.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—next cites the hadith of ʿUmar ibn Abī Salama, the foster-son of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. ʿUmar was the son of Umm Salama. Umm Salama’s husband, Abū Salama, Allah be pleased with him, passed away; she loved him deeply, for he was her cousin. The Prophet ﷺ was present at his deathbed. When the Prophet entered, Abū Salama’s gaze had become fixed—his eyes were wide open. The Prophet ﷺ said, “When the soul is seized, the eyes follow it,” because, by Allah’s leave, the soul is a delicate, light entity that departs from the body. We cannot perceive it, but the dying person can; he sees his own soul leaving his frame. The Prophet repeated, “When the soul is taken, the eyes follow it.”

On hearing these words, some of Abū Salama’s relatives broke into loud cries, realizing that he had died. They raised their voices as people used to do, for in the pre-Islamic days when someone died they would call out for woe and ruin.