A hadith Ibn Taymiyah considered very important

Abdur-Rahman ibn Sumurah said: "The Messenger of Allah (SAW) came out to us one day. He stood before us and said, 'Last night I saw something amazing...

I saw a man from among my ummah to whom the Angel of Death came to seize his soul, but his honoring of his parents came and kept the Angel of Death away from him.

I saw a man whose torment in the grave was about to come upon him, and his wudoo came and saved him from that

I saw a man from among my ummah whom the devils had seized, but his remembrance of Allah came and banished the devils from him.

I saw a man from among my ummah whom the angels of torment had seized, but his prayer came and saved him from them

I saw a man from among my ummah tormented by thirst. Every time he approached the Cistern he was pushed back, then his Ramadan fasting came and gave him to drink and quenched his thirst

I saw a man from among my ummah, and I saw the prophets sitting in circles. Every time he approached a circle he was repulsed, then his doing ghusl to clean himself from janaabah came, took him by the hand and brought him to beside me

I saw a man from among my ummah in front of whom was darkness, behind him was darkness, to his right was darkness, to his left was darkness, above him was darkness and beneath him was darkness. He was stumbling in the darkness, then his Hajj and Umrah came and brought him out of the darkness into the light

I saw a man from among my ummah trying to protect himself with his hands from the flames and sparks of the Fire, then his sadaqah (charity) came and formed a barrier between him and the Fire, and shielded his head

I saw a man from among my ummah speaking to the believers but they did not speak to him. Then his uploading of family ties came and said, 'O' Muslims he used to upload ties of kinship, so speak to him.' Then the believers spoke to him and shook hands with him and he with them.

I saw a man from among my ummah whom the guards of Hell had seized, then his enjoining of what was good and forbidding of what was evil came and saved him from them, and brought him to be with the angels of mercy

I saw a man from among my ummah kneeling down, with a screen between him and Allah. Then his good manners and attitude came and took him by the hand, brought him before Allah

I saw a man from among my ummah whose record of deeds had come to him from his left. But his fear of Allah came, took his record and placed it in his right hand

I saw a man from among my ummah whose balance was light, but his children who died in infancy came and made his balance heavy

I saw a man from among my ummah teetering at the edge of Hell, but his hope in Allah came and saved him from that, and he moved on.

I saw a man from among my ummah who had been thrown into the Fire, then his tears that he had wept for fear of Allah came and saved him from that

I saw a man from among my ummah standing on the siraat (bridge over Hell), trembling like a leaf in a violent wind. Then his positive thinking of Allah came and made him steady and enabled him to cross

I saw a man from among my ummah crawling across the siraat, sometimes on his stomach and sometimes on all fours, clinging on. Then his sending blessings upon me came and made him stand on his feet, and saved him

I saw a man from among my ummah who had reached the gates of paradise, but the gates were locked and he was shut out. Then his testimony that there is no god except Allah came and opened the gates for him, and admitted him to Paradise."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is narrated by Al-Haafiz Abu Moosa al-Madeeni in Al-Targeeb fi'l-khisaal al-munjiyah wa'l-Tarheeb min al-Khilaal al-Murdiyah. His book is based on this hadith, on which it is a commentary. He said, this hadith is hasan jiddan, and it is narrated from Sa'eed ibn al-Musayyid by 'Amr ibn Aazar and 'Ali ibn Zayd ibn Jad'aan and Hilaal Abu Jablah.

Taken from the book 'The world of Jinns and Devils' by Umar S. al-Ashqar.
[Dr. ‘Umar Sulaymân al-Ashqar is a professor in the Faculty of Islamic Law at the University of Jordan. He was a student of several eminent scholars such as Shaykh ibn Bâz and Shaykh al-Albâni.]