Bismillah
Abu Sa’eed al Khudree (رضى الله عنه) reports that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “when the believers cross the Hellfire, they will be stopped at a small arched bridge (Qantarah) before entering the paradise and will be given retribution for injustices between them until they become purified. (Then) they will be permitted to enter Jannah. So, by the One in Whose Hands is my soul, they will know their way to their homes in Jannah, better than they know their ways to their homes in dunya.” [Saheeh Al-Bukhari] [1]
Al-Qantarah is a small bridge after the Siraat that the believers will have to cross before entering Jannah. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) will ask the believers to settle their issues here.
There is a hadith narrated in Mustadarak al-Haakim with an authentic chain that states that there will be two men from this Ummah that will come before Allah (عز و جل). One man will say, “so and so has transgressed against me and I want from his good deeds.” Allah will tell him, “do you see this great palace in paradise?” And the man will look at the palace, and Allah will say to him, “it will belong to you if you forgive your brother today.” And the man will forgive him. Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said at the end of this hadith: اتقوا الله وأصلحوا ذات بينكم ، فإن الله يصلح بين المؤمنين meaning “safeguard yourselves from Allah, and reform and reconcile amongst yourselves, indeed Allah will reconcile between the believers (on the Day of Judgment).” [2]
If Allah will reconcile among you on that Day, our role today should be to reconcile between ourselves.
Imagine a person standing at the Qantarah, right before the gates of Jannah. Then they are dragged back to Hell because they lost their good deeds. What would you call this person? Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) called him a “muflis”, one who is bankrupt.
He (صلى الله عليه و سلم) asked the Companions, “do you know who the bankrupt is?” His Companions replied, “The bankrupt among us is one who has neither money with him nor any property.” The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said, “The real bankrupt of my Ummah would be he who would come on the Day of Resurrection with much of prayer, of fasting, and sadaqah, but he will find himself bankrupt on that Day as he will have exhausted the funds of virtues–because he reviled others, brought calumny against others, unlawfully devoured the wealth of others, shed the blood of others, and beat others; so his virtues would be credited to the account of those who suffered at his hand. If his good deeds fall short to clear the account, their sins would be entered in his account and he would be thrown in the Hellfire. [Saheeh Muslim] [3]
Any sin that is related to someone else is very serious in Islam, so why would anyone with any bit of intellect allow themselves to become a muflis? Remind yourself of the muflis in the hadith. He had mountains of good deeds but because he wronged others, those good deeds did nothing for him. How about the few deeds we have? Why give them up when they are so little?
Imagine the pain of standing before Jannah, being able to see its gates after just having passed the Siraat, and yet being dragged back to the Jahannam because he could not control his tongue or hand. Surely, the Fire will be even more painful after having been so close to Jannah.
Seek forgiveness of those whom you have wronged today, before the Day comes when the currency will be good deeds.
May Allah protect our deeds from being wasted, and may He make us among those whom other Muslims are safe from their tongue and hand. Ameen.
And Allah knows best, and for Him is all praise.
Waleed Basyouni. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rays of Faith. University of Maryland, Maryland. March 2007.
[1] أن أبا سعيد الخدري رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يخلص المؤمنون من النار فيحبسون على قنطرة بين الجنة والنار فيقص لبعضهم من بعض مظالم كانت بينهم في الدنيا حتى إذا هذبوا ونقوا أذن لهم في دخول الجنة فوالذي نفس محمد بيده لأحدهم أهدى بمنزله في الجنة منه بمنزله كان في الدنيا
[2] فعن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه قال : بينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم جالس إذ رأيناه ضحك حتى بدت ثناياه ، فقال له عمر: ما أضحكك يا رسول الله بأبي أنت وأمي ؟ فقال : رجلان من أمتي جثيا بين يدي رب العزة ، فقال أحدهما : يا رب خذ لي مظلمتي من أخي ، فقال الله ـ تبارك وتعالى ـ للطالب : فكيف تصنع بأخيك ولم يبق من حسناته شيء ؟ قال : يا رب فليحمل من أوزاري ، قال : وفاضت عينا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بالبكاء ثم قال : إن ذاك اليوم يحتاج الناس إلى من يُحمل عنهم من أوزارهم ، فقال الله تعالى للطالب : ارفع بصرك فانظر في الجنان ، فرفع رأسه فقال : يا رب أرى مدائن من ذهب وقصور من ذهب مكللة باللؤلؤ… لأي نبي هذا ؟ أو لأي صديق هذا ؟ أو لأي شهيد هذا ؟ قال : هذا لمن أعطى الثمن ، قال : يا رب ومن يملك ذلك ؟ قال : أنت تملكه ، قال : بماذا ؟ قال : بعفوك عن أخيك، قال : يا رب فإني قد عفوت عنه ، قال الله عز وجل : فخذ بيد أخيك فأدخله الجنة ، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عند ذلك ” اتقوا الله وأصلحوا ذات بينكم ، فإن الله يصلح بين المؤمنين ” رواه الحاكم وقال : صحيح الإسناد
[3] عن أبي هريرة أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال أتدرون ما المفلس قالوا المفلس فينا من لا درهم له ولا متاع فقال إن المفلس من أمتي يأتي يوم القيامة بصلاة وصيام وزكاة ويأتي قد شتم هذا وقذف هذا وأكل مال هذا وسفك دم هذا وضرب هذا فيعطى هذا من حسناته وهذا من حسناته فإن فنيت حسناته قبل أن يقضى ما عليه أخذ من خطاياهم فطرحت عليه ثم طرح في النار