Abu Hurayah (May Allah be pleased with him) narrated from Prophet (ﷺ) “Seven will be shaded by Allah Almighty on the day when there will be no shade besides his shade.

1- a just ruler

2- a youth that grows up worshiping Allah

3- a man whose heart is attached to the mosque

4- two who love each other for the sake of Allah they meet on the basis of it and separate on it

5- a man who is invited by high position and beauty and he replies, “Indeed I fear Allah.”

6- A man who gives charity and hide so much so that his left hand is unaware of what his right hand gave and

7- a man who remembers Allah in private and his eyes become filled with tears.

How are the above seven interlinked to each other?

Does the number seven have any special importance and does this hadith refer to man only.

Also, is the throne of Allah existing or does it refer to the dominion of Allah as believed by some groups?

The hadith described seven categories of people and these categories are all linked by common factors. Among them is love and fear of Allah and the desire to hide one’s acts of righteousness from people. They are linked together also with regards to how each one is a product of another that the Imaam who is aadil or righteous, he then establishes an environment of righteousness, then young people will grow up worshiping Allah, and those who grow up worshiping Allah will be attached to the mosques and those who will be attached to the mosque they will develop among themselves love for each other for the sake of Allah and if they are called by a woman who has beauty and money, and she calls them to corruption, they will have the strength of character and faith to reply in rejection and say indeed we fear Allah. And those who have reached this level of fear of Allah when they do righteous deeds they do them not seeking the admiration and praise from others, so they willingly give charity without anyone knowing who gave the charity. And furthermore, such people with these characteristics will indeed worship Allah privately; remember Allah and their eyes become filled with tears.

Now when we look at the hadith, it seems to refer to men, a just male ruler and then a male youth worshiping Allah so on and so forth. The men or male terms are used throughout the hadith. However the reality is that ahadith of this nature as well as verses of the Qur’an which address similar issues are not restricted to men but include women at the same time and this is a basic factor which is found in Arabic language in which we commonly use male terms to include both males and females. So, it is only where the term has aspects which are only applicable to males that it is restricted to males but in general it addresses both male and females.[1]

Furthermore, the number seven, though Prophet (ﷺ) has said that there are seven who will be in the shade of Allah on the day when there will be no other shade, the reality is that number has no special significance. We can find many references to “seven” mentioned in Qur’an, whether it’s 7 times around the Kaba’ah or between Safa and Marwa, also when the child reaches the age of seven he/she should be taught Salaah and so on and so forth. There are many mentions of seven; sometimes that seven has some particular relevance to that circumstance and on other occasions it’s just a number which is mentioned and we know it’s just a number because of the fact that there are many other narrations like the one by Abu Basheer in which he mentions from Prophet (ﷺ) that, whoever gives time to a debtor (when anyone owes him money) or when the debtor is in difficulty and so the lender excuses that person altogether and cancels off his debt, these two people will be shaded by Allah on the day where there will be no shade except His[2]. So these are the two other categories which are not mentioned by Rasoolluah (ﷺ) in this hadith. From that scholars have concluded that the number seven does not have any particular significance here. Furthermore, we have Ibn Hajr Al-Askalani[3] who found another 10 cases in an authentic narration which are also categories of people included in shade of Allah’s throne.

The hadith goes on to say, “seven who will be shaded by Allah Almighty in His shade”; this caused confusion for some people. Does Allah have a shade? Allah having a shade is likening Him to His creatures; to get shade you have to have light on one side and you are in between the light and you get a shade. So this has become an issue. However, what we understand is that there are other narrations of this hadith in which Allah clarifies, as in the narration of Salman (رضى الله عنه), that it was not in Allah but ‘fee zilli arshih’ (in the shade of His throne). So, what we are talking about is at that time, on the day of judgement, people standing before Allah, they have been resurrected, the earth becomes flat, they are all standing and Allah will bring the sun close. The sun will become so close that it will be described as being a mile away’[4] and this is the source of immense heat. And at that point the heat becomes so intense that everybody is sweating; and everybody will be sweating according to their deeds. Those who have a lot of good deeds then their sweat only goes up to their ankles. Those whose good deeds are less it will go up to their knees or waist. Those whose evil deeds are many they will be drowning in their sweat. This will be the day when everyone will desire the shade of Allah’s throne. But still the concept of shade of Allah’s throne, for those who have difficulty accepting how Allah described Himself and often, they   have difficulty understanding the things which belong to Him. They explain that the throne of Allah is His dominion, His authority and His rule. Groups like the Mutazilites and the Kharajites and the Ashrites[5] explained away Allah’s throne saying that Allah does not have a throne, what He is referring here is His dominion. However, those are on the correct path who didn’t deviate from the way on which Qur’an, Sunnah and hadith as understood by the Messenger (ﷺ), by his companions (رضى الله عنهم), those who stayed on that path, they maintain that Allah has a throne as He said. However, they avoided getting in argument about how is His throne?

In explaining how His throne is, it is enough for us to know as Prophet (ﷺ) explained that the foot stool, the kursi, mistakenly translated as the throne also in Ayatul Kursi. The kursi if we compare the whole of the universe, that is, everything created to the kursi; it is like a brass ring throne in the middle of the dessert.[6] And the kursi in comparison to the arsh, the throne, is like the same brass ring thrown in the middle of the desert. So, the whole of creation in relationship to the kursi is insignificant. And the kursi in relationship to Allah’s throne is also like brass ring in the desert. So what are we, what are His creations, like in relationship to Allah’s throne? Virtually, nothing!

Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned in the hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah (رضى الله عنه),

“If you ask Allah ask Him for Jannat-ul-firdos, as it is the middle and the highest point of paradise from which the rivers of paradise spring forth and above it is the throne of the most Merciful.”[7]

Now if we take as those rationalists would have taken that the throne of Allah is His dominion, are we saying that Allah’s dominion is above paradise, is this the position of His dominion? Or if we take the verse

“- and His Throne had been upon water..”[8]

We say His dominion is above the water.

“And they will bear the Throne of your Lord above them, that Day, eight [of them].” [9]

Are we saying that the Allah’s dominion will be carried by eight angels on the day? Hence, we can see this idea of explaining away Allah’s throne as His dominion is clearly in error. It is the throne of Allah.

References:

[1] This is because the issue dealt with are general issues and thus they apply to both males and females. And this is a basic Arabic principle dealt with in books of Foundations of Islamic Jurisprudence. See Raudhatul Nadthir w ajunnatul Munathir, Ibn Quddamah, Vol2, pp. 44

[2] Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 117

[3] One of his famous works is the Fathul Bari fi Sharh Bukhari explanation of ahadith found in Sahih Bukhari)

[4] This is from a famous Hadith found in Sahih Bukhari:236/60/6

[5] These are some of the deviant Muslim sects who through their ignorance of the Attributes and Names of Almighty Allah went astray; see Sects and Creeds, IbnHazm

[6]Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas said, "If the seven heavens and the seven earths were flattened and laid side by side, they would add up to the size of a ring in a desert, compared to the Kursi.'' Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Imran, Ayatul Kursi

[7] Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 56, Hadith 8

[8] Surah Hud, 11: 7

[9] Surah al-Haqqah, 69: 7