prayer will be summoned from the Gate of Prayer; whoever is of the people of charity will be summoned from the Gate of Charity; whoever is of the people of jihad will be summoned from the Gate of Jihad; and whoever is of the people of fasting will be summoned from the Gate of al-Rayyān.” He thus mentioned four gates.

Abu Bakr then said, “Messenger of Allah, the one who is called from any single gate will surely be at ease, but will anyone be called from all of these gates together?” He replied, “Yes, and I hope you will be one of them, O Abu Bakr.” We ask Allah for His bounty.

This indicates that Abu Bakr will be called from every gate, for he excelled in prayer, charity, jihad, and fasting—he had a share in every form of goodness. May Allah be pleased with him and join us with him in the gardens of bliss.

At this point I wish to draw attention to an important matter. Some students assume that the shade mentioned in the ḥadīth—“in His shade on the Day when there is no shade but His”—is the shade of the Lord Himself, Mighty and Exalted. This is a very serious misunderstanding, one that only the most uninformed could entertain. Everyone knows that on that Day people will be standing on the earth and that shade is cast in relation to the sun. If, hypothetically, the shade were that of the Lord Himself—glorified be He—it would entail that the sun is positioned above Allah, with Him standing between it and the people. Such a notion is impossible, for Allah, exalted be He, is