of the Hereafter and makes the reality of death stand before one’s eyes. Go out to the graveyards and look: only Allah can tally those who lie there—or they could be counted only with great difficulty. Just yesterday they were among us, and now they rest in the belly of the earth; you do not know—perhaps before long you will be laid beside them. Thus the visit reminds one of death, exactly as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said.

For this reason the Prophet himself would go to al-Baqīʿ, visit its inhabitants, greet them, and pray for them, saying: “Peace be upon you, abode of a believing people,” meaning, “O dwellers of the abode of a believing people.” It appears—Allah knows best—that he greeted them and they heard him, for there is no benefit in addressing someone who does not hear; they simply do not respond because they are in their graves. He would say, “Peace be upon you, abode of a believing people, and, if Allah wills, we shall surely join you.”

The Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke the truth: every living soul will, by Allah’s permission, follow those who have died. Yet the scholars differed over his words, “and, if Allah wills, we shall join you,” although the matter is certain and beyond doubt. The sound view is that there is no problem here: the conditional clause means that when we do join you, we do so by Allah’s will—whenever He wills, we will catch up with you—for the affair is His affair and the dominion is His dominion. He disposes as He wills in whomever He wills.

Did not Allah say, “You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, Allah willing, in security,” even though that entry was guaranteed? Allah affirmed it with an oath, the lām of emphasis, and the nūn of verification, leaving no doubt that they would indeed enter it.

Therefore, when the treaty of al-Hudaybiyah was concluded on the basis that the Messenger would turn back and not complete his ‘umrah, ʿUmar said to him, “Are you not…"