مصیبت کے وقت مسلمان بھائی کو تسلی دینے کا اجر

Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm narrates, through his father, from his grandfather, that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "No believer consoles his brother in an affliction but that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will clothe him in the garments of honour on the Day of Resurrection."

To console a grief-stricken person at the time of a death or some other severe calamity, to express sympathy with them and to try to lighten their sorrow, is without doubt among the noblest of manners. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) took care to do this himself, and he also instructed and encouraged others to do it.

Qurrah relates that when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would sit in the Prophet's Mosque, some of the Companions would come and sit with him. Among those who sat with him was a man who had a small son; the child would come from behind the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he would seat the boy in front of him. Then it happened that the child died, and in his grief the boy's father did not come to the Prophet's gathering for some days. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked why such-and-such a man no longer came. The people told him that the little son whom he had seen had passed away (and that this was perhaps why he was not coming). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) met the man and asked about the child; he gave the news of his death. The Prophet consoled him and said: "Tell me, which would you prefer: that the child should have lived with you for the whole of your life, or that he should go ahead of you, and when you come to the gate of Paradise he should welcome you and open its gate for you?" The man said, "O Messenger of Allah, I would rather that he went ahead and opened the gate of Paradise." He said: "That is what you shall have." (Reported by Nasa'i)

On such an occasion, the one who offers condolence should console the bereaved family and the relatives in the way taught by the Book and the Sunnah. Today, however, we are heedless of this. Most of us do not even go to offer condolence, and those who do go, instead of giving the family patience and comfort and praying for the deceased, fall into idle talk about this and that.

Likewise, one should recite to them the supplications that have come in the hadith, such as: "Indeed, to Allah belongs what He has taken and to Him belongs what He has given, and everything with Him has an appointed term." (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim)

And one may mention the words that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) spoke on the death of his son Ibrahim: "The eye sheds tears and the heart grieves, but with the tongue we say only what pleases Allah, that is: 'To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. O Allah, reward me in this affliction of mine, and give me something better than that which has been taken from me.' And O Ibrahim, we are grieved at your parting." (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim)

When offering condolence, one should try to lighten the burden of the calamity through words of good and comfort, and to help the bereaved understand by mentioning the sayings of the Companions and the pious predecessors. For example, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say: "Every day it is said that so-and-so has died today and so-and-so has died today, and a day will come when it will be said that Umar has died." The eminent Successor Hasan al-Basri used to say: "O son of Adam! You are in this world for only a few days; every day that passes, a part of you comes to an end." Another of his sayings is: "Allah Most High has placed the rest of the believers in nothing and nowhere other than Paradise."