Hadith of Jibril on Islam, Iman and Ihsan: Hadith 2

A stranger walks into the gathering of the Prophet ﷺ. His clothes are brilliant white, his hair jet black, and there is no dust of travel on him, yet nobody knows who he is. He sits knee to knee with the Prophet ﷺ and starts asking questions. This is the Hadith of Jibril, and by the end of it the Prophet ﷺ says the visitor came to teach us our religion.

The Hadith of Jibril

The hadith reached us through Yahya ibn Ya’mur. He and a friend met ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him about people who denied the Divine Decree. In reply, Ibn ‘Umar narrated what his father ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had seen:

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates the same meeting in Sahih al-Bukhari 50, and Abu Dawud records it in Sunan Abi Dawud 4695, graded Sahih by al-Albani.

Islam, Iman and Ihsan: three parts of our religion

At the end, the Prophet ﷺ said Jibril came “to instruct you in matters of religion”. So the three answers together describe the religion:

• Islam is what we do: the two testimonies, salah, zakah, fasting Ramadan and Hajj for those able. Read more in The Bedouin Who Asked About the Five Pillars of Islam.
• Iman is what we believe: in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree, its good and its bad. Iman also shows in our deeds, as the hadith on the branches of iman explains.
• Ihsan is how we worship: as if we see Allah, knowing that He sees us.

What is ihsan? Worship Allah as if you see Him

Of the three answers, ihsan is the shortest and perhaps the hardest:

There are two steps in this answer. The first is to worship as if we can see Allah. If that is hard to reach, the second is still within reach: to remember that He sees us, in every rak’ah and every moment.

I try to remind myself before and during salah that I am standing before Allah and He is looking at me when my mind strays. Though I really need to improve in that aspect and make my salah better.

The Hour and its signs

When Jibril asked about the Hour, the Prophet ﷺ said the one asked knows no more about it than the one asking. Even the best of creation was not given its time; only Allah knows it.

He ﷺ then mentioned two of its signs. What do they mean?

1. “The slave-girl will give birth to her mistress”

Scholars have understood this sign in two main ways. The Mufti of the Federal Territory’s office in Malaysia summarises them in its Irsyad al-Hadith series 425:

• A literal meaning: Imam al-Nawawi, in al-Minhaj, his commentary on Sahih Muslim, says most scholars understood it as slavery becoming widespread. A slave woman bears her master’s child, and that child, as the master’s heir, becomes like a master over his own mother.
• A picture of disobedience to parents: Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, in Fath al-Bari, explained it as children treating their parents the way a master treats his slaves, with disrespect and orders. Later scholars such as Dr Mustafa al-Bugha, in al-Wafi, also read it as a sign of widespread disobedience to parents in a time when conditions are turned upside down.

Both readings describe the normal order of things being reversed, starting inside the family.

2. Barefoot shepherds competing in tall buildings

Abu Hurairah’s narrations make this sign clearer: “When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings” (Sahih al-Bukhari 50). In Sahih Muslim 10 he adds: “when you see barefooted, naked, deaf and dumb (ignorant and foolish persons) as the rulers of the earth”.

Imam al-Nawawi explained that the poor people of the desert will suddenly become wealthy and begin boasting about their buildings (from al-Minhaj, as quoted by HadithAnswers). The concern is not wealth or buildings in themselves, but people competing to show off, and affairs passing to those without the knowledge or character to carry them.

The same answer also notes that the signs of the Hour are ambiguous and nuanced, so we should be careful about matching each one to the news. What the hadith teaches us clearly is to prepare for the Hour, not to guess its date: to honor our parents, and not to let wealth and buildings become a competition.

Reflection: look at how Jibril came to learn and teach: clean, well dressed, sitting close and asking clear questions. Even the way he asked is a lesson in how to seek knowledge, and in how a teacher can answer patiently so that everyone present benefits.

How to put it into practice

The hadith does not give a routine, so these are suggestions:

• Before your next salah, pause and remind yourself that Allah sees you.
• Check your Islam: which of the five pillars needs the most care in your life right now?
• Renew your Iman by learning a little more about one of the six things we believe in.
• Ask good questions when you learn about the religion, as Jibril did.

Key lessons

• Islam, Iman and Ihsan together make up our religion.
• Islam is the five pillars; Iman is belief in Allah, His angels, Books, Messengers, the Last Day and the Divine Decree.
• Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, knowing that He sees you.
• Only Allah knows when the Hour will come; our task is to prepare for it.

Questions people ask

A question to take into your next salah: if you truly felt that Allah is looking at you right now, what would you change?

Save this to Pinterest so you can remember the three parts of our religion