what he loves for himself; and the ḥadīth, “By Allah, he does not believe, by Allah, he does not believe, by Allah, he does not believe—the one whose neighbor is not safe from his harm,” and the ḥadīth, “The adulterer is not a believer while he is committing adultery,” and many others besides.
Scholars have differed over how these texts are to be understood.
Some held that we should keep silent about them and let them stand exactly as they came, for their purpose is to deter and frighten, so they should retain their full force of awe and warning. Others offered interpretations.
The soundest of those interpretations is the one put forward by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, who explained that faith (īmān) is of two kinds:
A. A kind that prevents entry into the Fire altogether; and
B. A kind that does not prevent entry, but does prevent eternal residence therein.
Whoever perfects his faith and follows the Prophet’s complete path and guidance, his faith will keep him from entering the Fire.
He added that every matter possesses conditions and impediments; a thing is only realised when its conditions are fulfilled and its impediments are absent. Thus, when punishment is attached to an act, that act becomes a cause for punishment so long as no impediment is present to block it. The greatest of all impediments is the existence of faith, which keeps a person from abiding forever in the Fire.
Hadith Three
ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “When the Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him – fell ill, some of his wives mentioned a church they had seen in Abyssinia called ‘Māriyah.’ Umm Salamah and Umm Ḥabībah had travelled to Abyssinia and spoke of its beauty and the images (1) it contained. The Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him – then raised his head and said:
‘Those people, whenever a righteous man among them died, would build a place of worship over his grave and then fashion those images inside it. They are the worst of creatures in Allah’s sight.’
Unfamiliar terms:
• ishtakā – from shakwā; here it means “to fall ill.”
• kanīsa – a church; plural kanāʾis.
• shirār – plural of sharr (“evil, wicked”); a descriptive adjective like “vile” or “base.”