Question: Wherever they see the word hidayah in the Qur’an, some people, somehow, say it means a soul’s reaching Allah before death. Actually, are there any verses or hadith that are in accordance with this definition? What is “reaching Allah”?
ANSWER
No, there is not such a Qur’anic verse or a hadith. Nor did any Islamic scholars say such a thing.  

Hidayah has these senses: the true path, the righteous path, Islam. Its opposite is dalalah [going astray, deviating]. Hidayah is to enter the right path after seeing right as right and wrong as wrong; it is to turn away from dalalah and wrong path, to have iman, and to become a Muslim.

Al-Hadi and al-Mahdi, two of the Beautiful Names of Allah, denote the One who provides hidayah, who guides to the right path.

There is not such an expression as “reaching Allah,” but there is such an expression as “meeting with Allah,” which does not mean “a soul’s reaching Allah before death.”

Some Qur’anic verses in which the word hidayah appears say (what means):

(Inna hudallaahi huwal hudaa = Allah’s path of hidayah [Islam] is the true path through and through.) The proper English translation of this ayat is:

(The true path is only Allah’s path.) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 120]  

(In-nalhudaa hudal-laahi = The true path is without doubt Allah’s path.) [Surat-u Al-i ‘Imran, 73]

(Ulaaikal-ladheena hadaahumul-laahu = Those are the ones whom Allah has guided to hidayah [whom Allah has guided to the true path.) [Surat-uz-Zumar, 18]

(Wal-ladheena-h-tadaw zaadahum hudaa = Allah increases the hidayah of those who have attained it [who have entered the true path].) [Surat-u Muhammad, 17]

(Wa man yu’min bil-laahi yahdi qalbahuu = Whoever believes in Allah, Allah guides his hearth towards hidayah [truth].) [Surat-ut-Taghabun, 11]

(Wa yazeedul-laahul-ladheena-h-tadaw hudaa = Allah increases the hidayah of those who have attained it [who have attained iman].) [Surat-u Maryam, 76]

(Wallaahu yahdee man yashaau ilaa siraatin mustaqeem = Allah provides hidayah for whom He wills to the right path [makes him reach the right path].) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 213]

(Sayahdeehim = He makes them reach hidayah [makes them reach the right path].) [Surat-u Muhammad, 5]

(Hadaanaa li haadhaa wa maa kunnaa li nahtadee = If Allah had not given us hidayah, we could not have attained it on our own.) [Surat-ul-A’raf, 43]

(Ulaaikalladheena-sh-taraw-ud-dalaalata bil hudaa = Those are the ones who have bought aberration instead of truth.) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 175]

(Innaka laa tahdee man ahbabta wa laakin-nallaaha yahdee man yashaau = You cannot make whom you like reach hidayah [you cannot make whom you like a Muslim]. But Allah gives hidayah to whom He wills.) [Surat-ul-Qasas, 56]

(Wallaahu laa yahdil qawmazzaalimeen = Allah does not guide the zaalimeen to the hidayah.) [Surat-ut-Tawba, 19]

(Laysa ‘alayka hudaahum = It is not your duty to make them reach hidayah.) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 272]

In addition to them, some pertinent hadith-i sharifs are as follow:

(Each of my As-hab is like a star in the sky. If you follow any one of them, you will attain hidayah. Disagreement among my companions [their different ijtihads] is a mercy for you.) [Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Ibn Asaqir, Hatib, Daylami, Darimi, Munawi, Ibni ‘Adiy]

(My Lord revealed: “O My Messenger! Your As-hab are like celestial stars. Some of them are more luminous. He who follows any one of them is on hidayah.) [Daylami]

(He who makes a person attain hidayah [who makes a person have iman] goes to Paradise.) [Bukhari]

(Join the suhba of those pious scholars who strive to make people attain hidayah and keep them away from dalalah.) [I. Mawardi]

What does hidayah mean?
Question: Islamic scholars have translated the word hidayah as the true path for 14 centuries. But hidayah means reaching Allah in this world, doesn’t it?
ANSWER
It never does. By saying so, you are accusing all Islamic scholars of giving wrong meaning (never!) to hidayah. However, Allahu ta’ala declares, “If you do not know, ask scholars.” Our master the Prophet states, “Scholars are my and the other prophets’ inheritors.”

Thus far, none of the Islamic scholars has declared the meaning of that word to be reaching Allah. Of such scholars as the founders of four madhhabs (namely, Imam-i A’zam, Imam-i Malik, Imam-i Shafi’i, Imam-i Ahmad), great scholars within madhhabs (such as Imam-i Ghazali, Imam-i Rabbani, Imam-i Abu Yusuf, Imam-i Muhammad, Imam-i Nawawi) or other awliya’ with hundreds of wonders (such as Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gailani, Junayd al-Baghdadi), which one said hidayah meant to reach Allah? Which mufassir wrote in his tafsir book that hidayah was to reach Allah? Out of thousands of scholars, even one scholar cannot be put forth.

What is the reason for the animosity towards Islamic scholars? Isn’t the reason for it that they explained hidayah as Islam and that they conveyed the commandments and prohibitions of the religion exactly as our master the Messenger of Allah communicated? Why do they not turn to Islamic scholars instead of heretics?

Has the religion of Islam come incompletely until today? Some aberrant people say, “Islam had been incomplete until our master came. He completed it.” Has Islam come to us deficiently for 1,400 years? Or did Allahu ta’ala communicate it incompletely (never!)? Or did our master the Prophet communicate and explain it incompletely (never!)?

Hidayah does not mean a path. That is, it does not mean a path or a bridge. Hidayah means Islam. Islam, on the other hand, means the true path shown by Allahu ta’ala. Therefore, hidayah is explained to be the true path. Its antonym is dalalah, deviating.

Hidayah is to see right as right and wrong as wrong and to enter the right path; to keep away from deviating and false path; to have iman and to become a Muslim.

Hidayah is the religion and the path that Allahu ta’ala wants. Since the word path explains it well, all Islamic scholars declared hidayah to be path. All the translations of the Qur’an on the market, true and wrong ones alike, have given hidayah the meaning of true path, that is, they have said that it is Islam. They have not fabricated such an odd meaning as “reaching.”

Hidayah is to become a Muslim and to accept the religion of Islam. Islam itself is the true path. Then hidayah means the true path. Two Qur’anic verses say (what means):

(Whomever Allah wills to guide to hidayah, He expands his breast for Islam.) [Surat-ul-An’am, 125]

Two hadith-i sharif say:

(Allahu ta’ala has sent me as compassion and hidayah for the worlds.) [Abu Nu’aym]

(It is not within my power to give hidayah. Shaitan, on his part, shows what Allahu ta’ala has prohibited as being ornate and enticing. But it is not within his power to make one deviate, either.) [I. ‘Adiy]

The number of the fundamentals of iman is not seven

Question: Is it true to say, “It is iman to have faith in a soul’s being reached Allah. The fundamentals of iman are seven. Sharr (evil) is not from Allah but from nafs”?
ANSWER
Saying that evil is from nafs means that there are associates in Allah’s Attribute of Creativeness. Allahu ta’ala sends us afflictions owing to our sins, but we do not create these afflictions. We deserve them; as a result, Allahu ta’ala punishes us. Allah does not oppress His born slaves.

The Qur’an al-karim says (what means):
(If any good reaches them, they say, “This is from Allah,” but if any evil reaches them, they say, “This happened because of you.” Say: “Kullun min ‘indillaah [All things are from Allah].” What is the matter with these people that they do not understand what they are told?) [Surat-un-Nisa, 78]

Question: Isn’t there the expression “reaching Allah before death” at the end of the Arabic hadith of iman? Have the translators not added this part?ANSWER
There has not been a lie of this kind. One cannot reach Allah before death.

The hadith of iman in Arabic is as follows:

(Amantu bi’llahi wa mala’ikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-yawm-il-akhiri wa bil-qadari khairihi wa sharrihi minallahi ta’ala walba’thu ba’d-al-mawt haqqun ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ’abduhu wa Rasuluhu.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai]

Sharrihi minallahi ta’ala = Sharr is from Allah.

How can one deny this well-known hadith?

Its English translation is the following:

(I have belief in Allah, in His angels, in His books, in His prophets, in the Last Day [that is, to have belief in Paradise, Hell, Judgement, Mizan], in qadar and that good (khair) and evil (sharr) are from Allahu ta’ala, in death and Resurrection. I bear witness that there is no ilah except Allah and that Muhammad “alaihisslam” is His born slave and Messenger.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai]

Question: In the seventh and eighth verses of Surat-u Yunus, is it not said, “If one does not will to reach Allah, then one goes to Fire”?
ANSWER
The scholars of tafsir explain the meaning of “meeting Allah” as in the following:

(Those who [deny the Resurrection after death] do not expect to meet Us [to be questioned], who are content with [as they are heedless of the Hereafter] and take comfort [preferring this world to the next] from worldly life, and who are unaware of Our aayaat [proofs that show the existence of the Creator] will go to Hell because of what they have committed [because of their sins].) [Surat-u Yunus, 7-8]

(To deny meeting with Allah after death is to deny the Rising after death. One cannot meet Allah before death.)

Question: In the 79th verse of Surat-un-Nisa’, is it not said, “Good is from Allah; evil is from your nafses”?
ANSWER
Our nafses are not a creator. They can’t create evil or good. The Creator of everything is Allahu ta’ala alone. As a matter of fact, the Qur’an al-karim says (what means):

(The Creator of everything is Allah.) [Surat-uz-Zumar, 62; Surat-ul-Mu’min, 62]

(Your Lord creates whatever He wants, chooses whatever He wills. They do not have the right to choose.) [Surat-ul-Qasas, 68]

(He who does not believe that qadar, good and evil are from Allah is not a Mu’min [Believer].) [Tirmidhi]

Denying the meeting with Allah

Question: In the Qur’an, it is declared, “He who denies the meeting with Allah becomes a kafir [disbeliever].” What is “meeting with Allah”? Those who claim that the fundamentals of iman are seven say, “A person who does not accept meeting Allah in this world becomes a disbeliever.” What do they mean?
ANSWER
Islam has not been sent lately. There is not any unknown matter in it, either. This religion has an Owner and a Prophet, who have commandments and prohibitions. It would be disbelief to eliminate the Messenger of Allah, to disbelieve what he communicated, and to disapprove his explanations.

The Messenger of Allah and his inheritors clarify the meaning of meeting Allah as follows:

“Denying the meeting with Allah is denying the Rising, Jannat, and Jahannam, that is, denying the Hereafter.”

The Qur’an al-karim says (what means) about liqa-al-laah, that is, the meeting with Allah:

(The explanations given in square brackets are quoted from such dependable books as Baydawi, Jalalayn, Madarik, and Qurtubi.)

(He who wants to meet [to attain Allah’s consent by hoping His mercy and fearing His torment] Allah must know that that time [the Hereafter] appointed by Allah will certainly come.) [Surat-ul-‘Ankabut, 5] (The meeting day is the Hereafter.)

(O Man! You are striving hard for your Lord. In the end, you will meet Him [in the Hereafter].) [Surat-ul-Inshiqaq, 6] (You will encounter the requital for what you have done, whether good or bad.) [Baydawi]

(It is said, “Today [on the Day of Resurrection], We forget [punish] you as you forget [disbelieve] that you will meet with this day [Day of Resurrection]. Your abode is the Fire, and there are no helpers for you [no one can save you from the torment of Hell].) [Surat-ul-Jathiyah, 34]    

(Taste the retribution for your forgetting [for your disbelieving] the meeting with this day! Accordingly, We too have forgotten you [We have subjected you to torment]. Suffer the eternal torment in return for what you have done!) [Surat-us-Sajda, 14] (It is stated that denying the meeting with the next world is denying the Resurrection after death.)

(Those who deny their meeting with Allah [who deny the Resurrection after death] have indeed become losers. When the Day of Resurrection comes upon them suddenly, they bear their sins on their backs and say, “Woe to us because of our misdeeds in the world.” Look! How bad the sins they bear.) [Surat-ul-An’am, 31]

(They say, “When we are lost in the earth [after death], will we really be created anew?” In fact, they deny the meeting with their Lord [they deny the Resurrection].) [Surat-us-Sajda, 10] (It is stated that denying the meeting with Allah is denying the Resurrection after death.)

(Take refuge in Allah and seek His help through patience and salat. Certainly, salat is hard, except for those who believe in meeting and returning to their Lord and who fear Him.) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 45-46]

(As is the case with the verse “To Allah we belong and to Him we will return,” the meaning of “returning to” in the above-mentioned verse is the Rising from graves.)

(As for those who knew that they would meet Allah [His compassion, His help] said, “Many a small group defeated a big group by Allah’s permission. Allah is with the patient.”) [Surat-ul-Baqara, 249]

(Allah directs all affairs, explains the aayaat in detail so that you firmly believe the meeting with your Lord.) [Surat-ur-Ra’d, 2] (The Resurrection and the life in the next world are two facts.)

(Those who disbelieve in Allah’s aayaat and the meeting with Him are the ones who despair of His Mercy. There is a bitter torment for them.) [Surat-ul-‘Ankabut, 23]

(Have they not ever contemplated within themselves that Allah has created the heavens, the earth and what is between them only with truth and for an appointed time? Truly, many among people disbelieve in the meeting with their Lord.) [Surat-ur-Rum, 8] (It is said in this verse that there are people who disbelieve in the Resurrection after death.)

(Surely, they [disbelievers] are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord [about the Resurrection after death].) [Surat-u Fussilat, 54]

(Likewise, the meaning of the meeting with Allah in this verse is the Resurrection after death.)

(Whoever wants to meet his Lord [to attain His consent in the Hereafter], let him do pious deeds and not associate anything in the worship of His Lord.) [Surat-ul-Kahf, 110]

Now, let us have a look at the explanations of our master the Messenger of Allah concerning the meeting with Allah:

(I am astonished by a Believer who bemoans his illness. If he knew the reward he would earn due to his illness, he would wish that he remained ill until he met Allah after his death.) [Tabarani]

(Jannat becomes wajib for a person who worships Allahu ta’ala with ikhlas and who meets Him without associating any partners with Him. On the other hand, Jahannam becomes wajib for a person who meets Allah by associating a partner with Him.) [Hakim] (This means to say that a disbeliever, too, meets Allah; that is, he/she will be resurrected.)

(The thawab recorded for a Muslim’s every good deed is from ten to seven hundred times, while every sinful deed of his is recorded as one sin. It continues so until the meeting with Allah [until the Resurrection].) [Muslim]

(A trader used to say to his debt collector, “Do not take the debt of a poor person who is unable to pay it. Be tolerant with him.” When he met Allah [in the next world], Allah was tolerant with him and forgave him.) [Bukhari]

(For a Believer, there is no comfort before he meets Allah [before he dies].) [Muslim]

(If a Muslim says, “Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi wa astaghfirullah wa atubu ilayh,” this saying of his is hung on the Arsh. None of the sins of its sayer removes it from there, and it stays there sealed as it has been said.) [Tabarani]

(Afflictions are with a Believer’s body, with his property, and with his children until he meets Allah [meets the next world] without having any sins.) [Hakim]

(The Believer who is the most envied is the one whose load is light, who performs salat correctly, who is patient with a little sustenance that suffices him until he meets Allah [meets the next world], who carries out the duties commanded duly, who is not much known among people, whose punishment is inflicted in this world, and whose bequest and criers left behind are a few.) [Tirmidhi, Ibni Maja]

(My Allah! Sever my ties of necessity from this world until I meet You [meet the next world].) [Abu Nu’aym]

(I want to meet my Rabb by not having anybody’s right on me.) [Abu Dawud]

(On the Day of Resurrection, Allahu ta’ala addresses Muslims, “Did you use to long for meeting Me?” They say, “Yes, we did.” Allahu ta’ala asks, “Why?” They answer, “We used to expect that You forgave us.” Allahu ta’ala declares, “Then I forgive you.”) [Imam-i Ahmad]

(Allahu ta’ala declared, “There are two joyous occasions for the fasting person: one is at the time of breaking his fast and the other is at the time of meeting Me with his fast.”) [Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai]

(Every passing day becomes worse than the day preceding it. It continues so until you meet your Lord [until the Day of Resurrection].) [Bukhari]

(Allahu ta’ala declared: “I, too, want to meet a slave of Mine who wants to meet Me. I do not want to meet a slave of Mine who does not want to meet Me.”) [Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Darimi]

Our blessed mother Hadrat Âisha narrates:

The Messenger of Allah stated, “Whoever wants to meet Allah, Allah wants to meet him, too. Whoever does not want to meet Allah, Allah does not want to meet him, either. I said [because she knew that people meet Allah only when they die], “Oh Messenger of Allah! Is the reason he does not want to meet Allah because he does not like death? If so, we all do not like death.” The Messenger of Allah declared:

(No, it is not so. When a Believer is given the good news of Allah’s compassion, His consent and Paradise, he wants to meet Allah [he does not consider death to be bad]. Then Allah, too, wants to meet him. However, when a disbeliever is given the news of Allah’s torment and His wrath, at that moment, he does not like to meet Allah. Allah does not like to meet him, either.) [Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibni Maja]

All the above-mentioned hadith-i sharifs, without any exception, show that the meaning of meeting Allah is the Rising after death.