Azami 85

Bukhari related it in the Book of Tawhid (7487), and Muslim in the Book of Faith (94), both of them from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who said, Ghundar (Muhammad bin Jafar) narrated to us, Shuba narrated to us, from Wasil al-Ahdab, from Marur bin Suwayd, who said, I heard Abu Dharr narrating from the Prophet , and he mentioned the hadith, and the wording of both is the same.Both of them, Bukhari (5827) and Muslim, also relate it through another route, from Abdul-Warith, from Husayn al-Muallim, from Abdullah bin Burayda, from Yahya bin Yamar, who narrated to him that Abu Aswad Duali narrated to him, that Abu Dharr narrated to him, saying, I came to the Prophet while he was wearing a white garment and was asleep. Then I came to him again after he had woken up, and he said, "There is no servant who says, there is no god but Allah, and then dies upon that, except that he enters Paradise." I said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft?" He said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft." I said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft?" He said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft." I said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft?" He said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft, in spite of the nose of Abu Dharr." And whenever Abu Dharr narrated this hadith, he would say, "Even if it displeases the nose of Abu Dharr."Abu Abdullah (Bukhari) said, "This applies at the time of death, or before it, if he repents and feels remorse and says, there is no god but Allah, he will be forgiven." His statement "if he repents" refers to repenting from disbelief, and his statement "and feels remorse" refers to feeling remorse over sins and transgressions. The meaning of the hadith is that whoever dies upon monotheism and has repented from sins will enter Paradise straightaway.Ibn Hajar says, "As for one who becomes entangled in the sins mentioned and dies without repentance, the apparent meaning of the hadith is that he too is included in this. However, the doctrine of the people of the sunnah is that his matter rests with Allah's will, and this is supported by the hadith of Ubada bin Samit, 'Whoever commits any of these and is not punished for it in this world, then his matter rests with Allah. If He wills, He punishes him, and if He wills, He forgives him.' This explicit statement takes precedence over the ambiguous one, and both of them refute the innovators among the Kharijites and the Mutazilites who claim that whoever dies having committed major sins without repentance is necessarily doomed to remain in the Fire forever." End of quote.Then Ibn Tin relates from Dawudi that Bukhari's statement contradicts the apparent meaning of the hadith, for if repentance were a condition, the Prophet would not have said, "Even if he committed fornication and theft." He said, rather, the intended meaning is that he will enter Paradise, whether straightaway (that is, even if he committed fornication and theft) or after that. End of quote.Ibn Hibban points to this same meaning in his Sahih (1/446), namely that whoever does not associate any partner with Allah and then dies will inevitably enter Paradise, even if he is punished for a known period before entering it.