Tuesday 15 November 2011

The meaning of the hadeeth “Souls are like conscripted soldiers”

 

A'ushu mina Eshaytan errajim
Bismi Allahi Errahman Errahiim
Assalam Alaikum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuh
Dear Imam
I am a revert and my homepage is at : …………..
I have found the Haadith below and i have asked an Uztazah about it. I
send you her answer.
I am very troubled about the Haadith and the answer I received concerning
what this Haadith really means.
Please, could you tell me more about this matter and if there are other
Haadiths confirming it?
Jazakallahkhairan
May Allah Taalah reward you for your efforts in His Deen
 <<Sahih Muslim Hadith 6376 (the Alim CD for WINDOWS)
Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) said: Souls are troops collected
together and those who familiarised with each other (in the heaven from where these come)
would have affinity with one another (in the world) and those amongst them who opposed
each other (in the Heaven) would also be divergent (in the world).
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah the hadith doesn't say "humans were alive
before being born". Only the souls were in heaven.
This heaven is not the one people with good deeds go to in the hereafter.
It is somewhere that we do not know. It's in the Lohmahfuz....only Allah knows. In simple
words this place is like a "bank" where the souls created by Allah were placed.
So when a woman is pregnant, at the point where Allah gives the soul to the creation in
the womb, He will take one of these souls. So, there were good and bad souls. Let say, the
bad soul is given to the creation, the baby is born and become a bad person. However, this
grown up person can have a change in his/her destiny due to his/her deeds in his life.
This is where the du'a plays a major role. The du'a and the inten

Praise be to Allaah.

Imaam al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him)
reported in his Saheeh that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her)
said: “I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saying:
‘Souls are like conscripted soldiers; those whom they recognize, they get along with,
and those whom they do not recognize, they will not get along with.’” (Saheeh
al-Bukhaari, Kitaab Ahaadeeth al-Anbiyaa’, Baab al-Arwaah junood mujannadah).

Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his
commentary on the hadeeth: “Concerning the phrase ‘Souls are like conscripted
soldiers…’ al-Khattaabi said: ‘This may refer to their similarity as
regards good or evil, righteousness or corruption. Good people are inclined towards other
good people, and evil people are similarly inclined towards other evil people. Souls feel
affinity with others according to the nature in which they were created, good or evil. If
souls’ natures are similar, they will get along, otherwise they will not be on good
terms with one another. It could be that what is being referred to is the beginning of
creation in the realm of the unseen when, it is reported, souls were created before
bodies, and used to meet one another and express their pessimism about the future. When
souls have entered bodies (come to the physical realm) they may recognize one another from
the past, and may be on friendly terms or otherwise based on that past experience.”

Someone else said: “What it means is that when souls are created,
they are made in two parts, and when the bodies in which the souls reside meet in this
world, they either get along together or do not, based on the way in which these souls are
created in this world.”

I say that this is not contradicted by the fact that some people who do
not like one another at first may get along well later on, because the hadeeth is probably
speaking about the moment of first meeting, which has to do with the original creation and
nothing else. If they dislike one another at first but later come to like one another, it
is because of something new, a new quality that makes them love one another after the
initial dislike, such as a kaafir becoming a Muslim or a sinner being reformed.

The phrase “conscripted soldiers” refers to different types
or classifications, or groups brought together. Ibn al-Jawzi said: “What we learn
from this hadeeth is that when a person finds that he feels dislike towards someone who is
known to be virtuous or righteous, he should try to find out the reason for that so that
he can make the effort to rid himself of something undesirable. The opposite (if a person
finds himself liking someone who is known to be evil) also applies.” Al-Qurtubi said:
“Although they are all souls, they differ in different ways, so a person will feel an
affinity with souls of one kind, and will get along with them because of the special
quality that they have in common. So we notice that people of all types will get along
with those with whom they share an affinity, and will keep away from those who are of
other types. [“Birds of a feather flock together” – Translator]. We may
also note that within any given group or type, people may get along with some and dislike
others, and this is in accordance with issues or qualities that form the basis of love or
hate.”

We have narrated a mawsool report in Sunan Abi Ya’laa, at
the beginning of which is the story narrated from ‘Amrah bint ‘Abd al-Rahmaan,
who said: “There was a woman in Makkah who liked to joke, and she came and stayed
with a woman in Madeenah who was like her. When ‘Aa’ishah heard about this, she
said, ‘My beloved spoke the truth. I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) saying…’ and mentioned a similar hadeeth.”

The hadeeth was also narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh, 4773.
Al-Nawawi said: “With regard to the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him), ‘Souls are like conscripted soldiers; those whom they recognize,
they get along with, and those whom they do not recognize, they will not get along
with’, the scholars said that the meaning is groups gathered together, or different
types. As for them getting along, this happens because of something in common between them
that Allaah has created. It was said that they are similar attributes that Allaah has
created in them, or that they were created in a group and then dispersed in their bodies,
so people who have similar characteristics will like one another, and those who do not
have similar characteristics will not like one another. Al-Khattaabi and others said: this
getting along with one another has to do with what Allaah decreed from the outset about
the ultimate destiny of souls, whether they will be among the blessed [in Paradise] or the
doomed [in Hell]. Souls are of two opposing kinds, and when they meet in this physical
world, they will either love or hate one another depending on the way they were created.
Good souls will be inclined towards other good souls, and evil souls will be inclined
towards other evil souls. And Allaah knows best.

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