Hadithcore
Sahih Muslim, 121
sahih

It is narrated on the authority of Ibn Shamasa Mahri that he said:

We went to Amr b. al-As and he was about to die. He wept for a long time and turned his face towards the wall. His son said: Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ not give you tidings of this? Did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) not give you tidings of this? He (the narrator) said: He turned his face (towards the audience) and said: The best thing which we can count upon is the testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Verily I have passed through three phases. (The first one) in which I found myself averse to none else more than I was averse to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and there was no other desire stronger in me than the one that I should overpower him and kill him. Had I died in this state, I would have been definitely one of the denizens of Fire. When Allah instilled the love of Islam in my heart, I came to the Messenger (ﷺ) and said: Stretch out your right hand so that may pledge my allegiance to you. He stretched out his right hand, I withdrew my hand, He (the Prophet) said: What has happened to you, O 'Amr? replied: I intend to lay down some condition. He asked: What condition do you intend to put forward? I said: should be granted pardon. He (the Prophet) observed: Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous (misdeeds)? Verily migration wipes out all the previous (misdeeds), and verily the pilgrimage wipes out all the (previous) misdeeds. And then no one as or dear to me than the Messenger of Allah and none was more sublime in my eyes than he, Never could I, pluck courage to catch a full glimpse of his face due to its splendour. So if I am asked to describe his features, I cannot do that for I have not eyed him fully. Had I died in this state had every reason to hope that I would have bee among the dwellers of Paradise. Then we were responsible for certain things (in the light of which) I am unable to know what is in store for me. When I die, let neither female mourner nor fire accompany me. When you bury me, fill my grave well with earth, then stand around it for the time within which a camel is slaughtered and its meat is distributed so that I may enjoy your intimacy and (in your company) ascertain what answer I can give to the messengers (angels) of Allah.

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْمُثَنَّى الْعَنَزِيُّ، وَأَبُو مَعْنٍ الرَّقَاشِيُّ وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ كُلُّهُمْ عَنْ أَبِي عَاصِمٍ، - وَاللَّفْظُ لاِبْنِ الْمُثَنَّى - حَدَّثَنَا الضَّحَّاكُ، - يَعْنِي أَبَا عَاصِمٍ - قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا حَيْوَةُ بْنُ شُرَيْحٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنِي يَزِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي حَبِيبٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شَمَاسَةَ الْمَهْرِيِّ، قَالَ حَضَرْنَا عَمْرَو بْنَ الْعَاصِ وَهُوَ فِي سِيَاقَةِ الْمَوْتِ ‏.‏ فَبَكَى طَوِيلاً وَحَوَّلَ وَجْهَهُ إِلَى الْجِدَارِ فَجَعَلَ ابْنُهُ يَقُولُ يَا أَبَتَاهُ أَمَا بَشَّرَكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِكَذَا أَمَا بَشَّرَكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِكَذَا قَالَ فَأَقْبَلَ بِوَجْهِهِ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ إِنَّ أَفْضَلَ مَا نُعِدُّ شَهَادَةُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِنِّي قَدْ كُنْتُ عَلَى أَطْبَاقٍ ثَلاَثٍ لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي وَمَا أَحَدٌ أَشَدَّ بُغْضًا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنِّي وَلاَ أَحَبَّ إِلَىَّ أَنْ أَكُونَ قَدِ اسْتَمْكَنْتُ مِنْهُ فَقَتَلْتُهُ فَلَوْ مُتُّ عَلَى تِلْكَ الْحَالِ لَكُنْتُ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَلَمَّا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ الإِسْلاَمَ فِي قَلْبِي أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقُلْتُ ابْسُطْ يَمِينَكَ فَلأُبَايِعْكَ ‏.‏ فَبَسَطَ يَمِينَهُ - قَالَ - فَقَبَضْتُ يَدِي ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ مَا لَكَ يَا عَمْرُو ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ قُلْتُ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَشْتَرِطَ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ تَشْتَرِطُ بِمَاذَا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قُلْتُ أَنْ يُغْفَرَ لِي ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَمَا عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ الإِسْلاَمَ يَهْدِمُ مَا كَانَ قَبْلَهُ وَأَنَّ الْهِجْرَةَ تَهْدِمُ مَا كَانَ قَبْلَهَا وَأَنَّ الْحَجَّ يَهْدِمُ مَا كَانَ قَبْلَهُ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ وَمَا كَانَ أَحَدٌ أَحَبَّ إِلَىَّ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَلاَ أَجَلَّ فِي عَيْنِي مِنْهُ وَمَا كُنْتُ أُطِيقُ أَنْ أَمْلأَ عَيْنَىَّ مِنْهُ إِجْلاَلاً لَهُ وَلَوْ سُئِلْتُ أَنْ أَصِفَهُ مَا أَطَقْتُ لأَنِّي لَمْ أَكُنْ أَمْلأُ عَيْنَىَّ مِنْهُ وَلَوْ مُتُّ عَلَى تِلْكَ الْحَالِ لَرَجَوْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ ثُمَّ وَلِينَا أَشْيَاءَ مَا أَدْرِي مَا حَالِي فِيهَا فَإِذَا أَنَا مُتُّ فَلاَ تَصْحَبْنِي نَائِحَةٌ وَلاَ نَارٌ فَإِذَا دَفَنْتُمُونِي فَشُنُّوا عَلَىَّ التُّرَابَ شَنًّا ثُمَّ أَقِيمُوا حَوْلَ قَبْرِي قَدْرَ مَا تُنْحَرُ جَزُورٌ وَيُقْسَمُ لَحْمُهَا حَتَّى أَسْتَأْنِسَ بِكُمْ وَأَنْظُرَ مَاذَا أُرَاجِعُ بِهِ رُسُلَ رَبِّي ‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 1, Hadith 228
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Book 1, Hadith 220 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
The true believer combines fearing Allah’s punishment by avoiding prohibitions with hoping for His mercy by performing righteous acts. The Prophet’s Companions showed the best examples of this behavior. In this hadith, Abderrahman ibn Shemasa Al-Mahry narrated that they visited Amr ibn Al-‘As when he was on his deathbed. He was weeping for a long time out of fearing Allah and remembering the Day of Resurrection despite his honor of companying the Prophet ﷺ and outstanding courage in defending Islam. It was the ongoing state of the righteous people that they used to fear Allah and weep due to their ‘dereliction,’ no matter how great their obedience was. Amr turned his face to the wall lest the attendants may have distanced himself from communing with Allah and contemplating the Hereafter’s expected events. He also wanted to conceal his grief, sorrow, and tears. To relieve his sadness and calm him down, his son Abdullah repeatedly reminded him of the Prophet’s glad tidings to him. In the narration of Ahmad, “He was reminding him of his companionship of the Prophet ﷺ and conquering the Levant.” Then Amr turned his face and said to them that the best thing he had for the hereafter was the belief in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. Afterward, he divided his lifetime into three phases: (1) It was the period of his disbelief. He deeply hated the Prophet ﷺ and his highest desire was to have a chance to kill him. He confirmed that if he had died in that state, he would have entered Hell forever, (2) It was his period of embracing Islam, accompanying the Prophet ﷺ, and doing righteous deeds. On that day, Allah instilled faith in his heart, he went to the Prophet ﷺ after Al-Hudaybeya Treaty to pledge allegiance to him and promise to follow him and support Islam. He extended his hand then withdrew it. When the Prophet ﷺ asked him about the reason, he confirmed that he had a condition before taking that important step. He wanted his misdeeds to be forgiven. To answer hi, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned three matters that erase one’s previous misdeeds and his disbelief, the most severe sin: (1) Islam, (2) Emigration: It was obligatory to preserve one’s religion by migrating from Mecca to Medina during the Prophet’s lifetime, and (3) The accepted pilgrimage. In the two Sahihs, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Whoever performs pilgrimage for Allah's sake and neither has sexual relations (with his wife) nor does evil, he will return as if he were a newborn (free from all sins).” At this stage, the Prophet ﷺ was his most beloved and respectable one to the extent that he was not able to catch a full glimpse at the Prophet’s face due to utmost respect. Additionally, he could not describe him for the same reason. He confirmed that if he had died in that great state, he would have hoped to be among the people of Paradise, (3) It was the stage of having political responsibilities after the Prophet ﷺ died. He described those events of that period that he did not know what they held in store for him. He did not know whether he would be rewarded or punished for that period. He conquered and then was appointed as a ruler of Egypt for ten years and three months throughout Omar’s, Othman’s, and Mu’aweya’s caliphates. He participated in Mu’aweya’s war against Ali ibn Abi Taleb. Finally, he advised the attendants and his family to neither let any female mourner nor fire accompany his funeral. A female mourner is a woman used to raise her voice and cry while counting the deceased’s virtues. As for accompanying the deceased with fire, it may mean one of the following possibilities: (1) It was a habit that some followed as an optimism that the deceased would be saved from Hell, (2) It was an act of the pre-Islamic times, or (3) It was a habit of reprehensible proudness. Afterward, he advised them to throw the earth gently over his grave and stand around it for the space of slaughtering and distributing a camel’s meat so that he enjoyed their intimacy while he was answering the grave’s angels. This hadith contains the following benefits: (1) It shows the high prestige of Islam, migration, and pilgrimage, for each can remove one’s previous misdeeds, (2) It is forbidden that a deceased is followed by a mourner or a fire, (3) It clarifies how deeply the companions respect and revere the Prophet, (4) To die having good thought of Allah, a dying person has to be reminded for his righteous deeds and Quranic verses and Prophetic hadith talking about virtues of hope and forgiveness. We have to give him glad tidings of what Allah has prepared for Muslims, (5) A true believer always fears Allah, regardless of his abundant righteous deeds, (6) It proves that there will be two angels in the grave to ask everyone certain questions about Islam, (7) It urges us to stay around the grave a little after burial to comfort the deceased and supplicate Allah for his steadfastness, and (8) It shows that we should throw the earth gently over the grave and avoid sitting on it..
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