عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏ ‏ “‏ بادروا بالأعمال فتناً كقطع الليل المظلم يصبح الرجل مؤمنا ويمسي كافراً ويمسي مؤمنا ويصبح كافراً، يبيع دينه بعرض من الدنيا‏”‏ ‏(‏‏(‏رواه مسلم‏)‏‏)‏‏.‏

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Be prompt in doing good deeds (before you are overtaken) by turbulence which would be like a part of the dark night. A man would be a believer in the morning and turn to disbelief in the evening, or he would be a believer in the evening and turn disbeliever in the morning, and would sell his Faith for worldly goods.” [Muslim].

· The word فتن is a broad term with many meanings such as test, trial, punishment, tribulation, etc. Here it refers to any such sin, tribulation or evil that will prevent a person from doing good deeds.

· “A believer becoming a disbeliever” could either refer to a person rejecting a bounty of Allah, or it could refer to actual disbelief, namely the negation of Imaan.

· A person “selling his religion,” means that one will abandon his religion for the sake of procurring something of this world, by usurping the wealth of his brother, regarding interest to be permissible, deceiving people, etc.

In this Hadith, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has encouraged us to hasten in doing good deeds before the arrival of such a time when it will be difficult to do so. The imagery of a dark night perfectly describes the escalating intensity of tribulations that will appear towards the end of time. According to the scholars, the Imaan of people close to Qiyamah will deteriorate to such an extent that they will be prepared to sell their faith for meagre and paltry gains of this world. One should seek protection in Allah from such tribulations and according to Imam Qurṭubi R, adhere firmly to the faith.

Durood

Ahadith mention in detail so many advantages and merits of sending blessings upon the Holy Prophet by reciting Durood that one can compile a whole book, and many learned people have in fact written books on them.

One Hadith quotes the Holy Prophet ﷺ as saying:

وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «مَنْ صَلَّى عَلَيَّ وَاحِدَةً صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ عشرا» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “If anyone invokes blessing on me once, Allah will bless him ten times.” Muslim transmitted it.

After Allah, the greatest benefactor in the universe upon a Mu’min is Rasulullah ﷺ. Rasulullah ﷺ’s favours upon us far outweigh the favours of anyone else. The demand of these favours is that, amongst others, in showing the greatest love and belief, whenever his Mubarak name is taken, then Durood Sharif should be recited upon him.

In reality, Durood Sharif is a great, lofty and honourable Dua in the presence of Allah which is made for Rasulullah ﷺ in order to show ones Imani link with him. This is such a Dua which is definitely accepted. There is no scope whatsoever for rejection of it.

The benefit of reciting and sending Durood Sharif upon Rasulullah ﷺ accrues to the reciter. Therefore, a person should give due importance to reciting Durood Sharif.