The hadeeth about the virtue of the Basmalah and that it protects against the 19 guards of Hell

The hadeeth about the virtue of the Basmalah and that it protects
against the 19 guards of Hell
Praise be to Allaah.
This report was mentioned by al-Qurtubi in al-Jaami' li Ahkaam
al-Qur'aan (1/92) and Ibn Katheer in his Tafseer (1/18), narrated from
Wakee' from al-A'mash from Abu Waa'il from Ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be
pleased with him); it is thewords of Ibn Mas'ood, not of the Prophet
(blessings of Allaah be upon him).
This isnaad is saheeh from Wakee' to Ibn Mas'ood.
Although al-A'mash is mudallis, what he narrated from those with whom
he spent a great deal of time and narrated a great deal from them,
such as Ibraaheem al-Nakha'i and Abu Waa'il, may be accepted.
Al-Dhahabi said in his biography of al-A'mash in Mizaan al-I'tidaal (2/224):
He is mudallis (i.e., gives a false impressions concerning the
narration of the hadeeth, using ambiguous words to give the impression
that he heard it directly from his Shaykh when that is not the case),
and sometimes he narrates in this mannerfrom a weak narrator without
realising it. When he says haddathana [he told us], there is no
problem with that, but when he says 'an [narrating from], there is the
possibility of tadlees except in the case of narration from the
shuyookh from whom he narrated a great deal, suchas Ibraaheem, Abu
Waa'il [in the printed version it says "Ibn Abi Waa'il" but this is an
error; the word "Ibn" is a mistake] and Abu Saalih al-Sammaan. His
narration from these shaykhs is to be understood as meaning that he
heard directly from them and there is no interruption in the chain.
End quote.
But there remains the issue of the narrators who come after Wakee'.
Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Katheerdo not mention the isnaadin its entirety,
and perhapsit is because of this that al-'Allaamah Ahmad Shaakir
omitted it from hisabridgement of Ibn Katheer's Tafseer which is
entitled 'Umdat al-Tafseer,in the introduction to which (1/11) he
stated that he omitted every weak or problematic hadeeth.
But al-Suyooti attributed itin al-Durr al-Manthoor (1/26) to Wakee',
and Imam Wakee' ibn al-Jarraah wrote a well known Tafseer.
See: al-Majma' al-Mu'assis by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (p. 113)
If that is proven, then the isnaad is saheeh, and the report from Ibn
Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) is saheeh.
And Allaah knows best.

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What is meant by profaning the names of Allah and types of profanation

What is meant by profaning the names of Allah, may He be exalted?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The scholars have mentioned different types of profaning the names of
Allah, may He be exalted, all of which involve distorting the meaning
in a way other than the way it should be understood. There are several
types:
1.
Denying any of His names or the attribute to which aname refers. For
example: those who deny that the name ar-Rahmaan (the Most Gracious)
is one of the names of Allah, may He be exalted, as the people of the
Jaahiliyyah did.
Or they may affirm the name but deny the attribute to which it
refers,as some of the innovators said that Allah, may He be exalted,
is Merciful without mercy, All-Hearingwithout hearing.
2.
Calling Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, by a name by which He
did not call Himself.
The reason why this is profanation is that the names of Allah, may He
beglorified and exalted, are limited to what is mentioned in the texts
of the Qur'an and Sunnah, and it is not permissible for anyone to call
Allah, may He be exalted, by a name by which He did not call Himself.
This comes under the heading of speaking about Allah without
knowledge, and transgressing against the rights of Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted. This is what some of the philosophers did, when
they called God the primary cause, and as the Christians did when they
called Allah, may He be exalted, the Father, and soon.
3.
Believing that these names refer to attributes of created beings, and
hence thinking that this points to likening Allah to His creation.
The reason why this is profanation is that the onewho believes that
the names of Allah, may He beglorified and exalted, point to likening
Allah to His creation has misinterpreted them and distorted them from
the correct meaning. He has understood the words of Allah and the
words of His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as
pointing to kufr (disbelief), because likening Allah to His creation
is kufr, as it is a rejection of the words (interpretation of the
meaning): "There is nothing like unto Him, andHe is the All-Hearer,
the All-Seer" [ash-Shoora 42:11] and "Do you know of any who is
similar to Him?" [Maryam 19:65]. Na'eem ibn Hammaad al-Khuzaa'i, the
shaykh of al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on them both)said: The one
who likens Allah to His creation has committed an act of kufr, and the
one who denies any attribute that Allah has ascribed to Himself has
committed an act of kufr; there is nothing in the attributes that
Allah has ascribed to himself that is similar to the attributes of His
creation.
4.
Deriving names of idols from the names of Allah, may He be exalted,
such asderiving the name al-Laat from al-Ilaah (the God), and al-'Uzza
from al-'Azeez (the Almighty) and Manaat from al-Mannaan (the
Benefactor).

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: 1. 'Any disaster that strikes you is through what ...

There is an important characteristic of the lower self of a man. When something good befalls onone; when he receives goodness and kindness from the people around him; when things go the way he wants them to go, in a way that would cheer him up and make him happy; he feels rather complacent. He believes that the beautiful things going on around him and the benevolence he receives are taking their sources from him. He thinks the reason why things go well for him andwhy course of events go the way he hoped them togo, is because he strives a lot and because he is a good person who makes agreat effort in many subjects and because he acts reasonable and precautious. In other words, he is of the idea that he had earned all the good things befalling on him to the smallest detail.
However when the sameperson faces things that he doesn't want to face; when goodness and benevolence is not anymore offered to him by people around him; when things do not givethe results he wants them to give; when the blessings in his life lessen and some difficulties and troubles arise; he would not thinkthat "all those, again to the smallest detail, befallon him because he earned them all himself". On the contrary, he believes that he did not deserve any of those things happening to him, he feels hard done-by and wronged. He even thinks that all these things befall on him because he has been too good towards everyone and thus he livesin the psychology of a person "being wronged".
Most of the time, a person living through these things would not stop to think: "Could there be something wrong with me? Could itbe that I have some wrong beliefs and a wrong point of view? Dothe things that befall on me have something to do with such wrong beliefs I have or with mymorality? Would the goodness and beauties in my life be any different if I acted somehow different? Could it be that I have been experiencing all these because I earned them due to the flaws I have in my morality?"
Had he been thinking like this even for a very short time; and instead of looking for the problem inother details, had he sincerely censured himself;he would have realized the truth which in fact is very evident.
Allah revealed in the Qur'an that: "Any disaster that strikes you is through what your own hands have earned" (Surat Ash-Shura: 30)
This verse gives a person the true point of view with which he could evaluate the things he is experiencing in a correct and sound manner. In another verse Allah informs us that; "Those who do good will have the best and more" (Surah Yunus: 26). When aperson keeps his heart pure and sincere; when helooks at every event in his life by searching the approval of Allah; as long as he thinks by the morality of the Qur'an andapproach people only through this point of view stemming from the Qur'an; Allah would definitely "increase the beauties in such a person'slife".
If he is harboring any evil in himself, if he does not think purely by the Qur'an and if he is adding a little bit of the moral values of ignorance in his approach, if he evaluates the incidents taking place not by the Qur'an but by the rules and value judgmentsof the ignorance, it is natural for the things that befall on him and the things he experiences to be just like that. Whateverhe manifests spiritually would somehow reflect onhis life.
It is very important not to forget this truth, which has been very explicitly revealed in the Qur'an. Man is very prone to think continuously well of himself; he adopts a wrong point of view by thinking that he earned allthe good things that befallon them but that he neverdeserved (Allah is beyond such claims) the troubles he experiences. To think on these verses of the Qur'an is in fact sufficient for him to see that these suggestions of his lower self are not true.
Allah is All-Compassionate and Most Merciful. His Mercy extends to all things. Allah is the One Who loves His servants infinitely, Who continuously bestows goodness and beauty on them through concealed and overt means. Every moment of a person's life is full of thousands of details in which he can seethe love of Allah. And Allah is the Owner of the Infinite Justice. Allah shows His Mercy even on aperson who has committed the worst evils on earth and shows him the ways to salvation. Allah creates new means every moment for man and inspires his consciencewhat is right for him, to abstain from doing wrong,feel remorse and desist.

Your Suffering is Nought

1.) The Ambiyaa (AS), including Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alayhi
wasallam) faced the worstof tests and trials. Thereafter the Sahabah –
e- Kiraam (RA) and accordingly many others who were close and beloved
to Allah Ta'ala.
Their lives offer us consolation and comfort that what we go through
is small in comparison.
Their tests were not 'small'. Their tests were great. ...Our tests are
small in comparison.
No one has placed you on hot, burning desert sand, and demanded that
you renounce Islam – and that too, repeatedly, day in andday out.
No one is branding your head with a hot iron rod.
No one is dragging your body over smouldering charcoal.
- as was done to the Companions (RA).
2.) The Sahabah (RA) sacrificed their lives for theDeen of Islam – for
Islam to reach us. They wrote the history of Islam with their blood.
Their whole life was proof of deep love, sincere commitment and humble
submission.
We cannot even sacrifice our sins. And we engage inthose sins using
the bounties of sight, hearing, health, strength, money – all of which
is from Allah Ta'ala.
There is just no comparison.

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