Asking the Muslim about the state of his heart and his faith

Question

Praise be to Allah.

What is
prescribed for the Muslim is to encourage those he meets to adhere to the
truth in word and deed, and to be patient in doing that and calling people
to it, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“By Al-Asr
(the time).

Verily! Man
is in loss,

Except
those who believe (in Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and
recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all
kinds of good deeds (Al-Maroof )which Allah has ordained, and abstain from
all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar )which Allah has forbidden), and
recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries
which one may encounter in Allah’s Cause during preaching His religion of
Islamic Monotheism or Jihad, etc.).”

[al-‘Asr
103:1-3].

It was
narrated that Abu Madeenah ad-Daarimi, who was a Companion, said: When two
men among the Companions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) met, they would not separate until one of them recited to the
other, “By Al-Asr (the time).Verily! Man is in loss,” then one of
them would say salaam to the other.

Narrated by
at-Tabaraani in al-Awsat, 5124; al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Eemaan,
8693. al-Haythami said in al-Majma‘, 10/233: Its men are the men of
as-Saheeh.

Bilaal ibn
Sa‘d (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

A brother of
yours who reminds you of Allah every time he meets you is better for you
than a brother who puts a dinar in your hand every time he meets you.

End quote from
Hilyat al-Awliya’, 5/225

With regard to
asking about the state of someone’s heart or the level of his faith, there
is the fear that this may lead one to self praise or it may cause the one
who is asking the question to show off in front of people, as if he has a
believing heart and fears Allah all the time. Or it may imply that the one
who is asked is falling short in his duty towards Allah, may He be exalted,
or it may make the one who is asked to try to say good things about himself
to avoid embarrassment, and other negative consequences. Perhaps it is
because of that we did not find such questions mentioned in reports about
the ways and sayings of the early generations; we do not know that they used
to ask about such matters.

With regard to
the well-known hadeeth from al-Haarith ibn Maalik al-Ansaari, which says
that he passed by the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), who said to him: “How are you this morning, O Haarith?” And he
said: I am a true believer this morning, and the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Watch what you say, for everything has a
reality, so what is the reality of your faith?” He said: I have lost
interest in this world, and I spend my night in prayer because of that, and
I spend my day thirsty (i.e., fasting), and it is as if I can see the throne
of my Lord, and it is as if I can see the people of Paradise visiting one
another in it, and it is as if I can see the people of Hell screaming in it.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “O Haarith, you
have realised, so remain steadfast”, three times… This hadeeth was narrated
by at-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer, 3/266; it is a da‘eef (weak)
hadeeth and is not saheeh (sound).

Al-‘Aqeeli
(may Allah have mercy on him) said: This hadeeth does not have an isnaad
that can be proven.

End quote from
ad-Du‘afa’ al-Kabeer, 4/455

Ibn Taymiyah
(may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It has an
isnaad, but this isnaad is da‘eef and cannot be proven.

End quote from
al-Istiqaamah, 1/194

Based on that,
we should refrain from asking such questions that may lead to some negative
consequences; the Muslim should only ask how his brother is in general
terms.

So he should
say to him: How are you? or, How are you this morning? And so on.

Something like
that has been narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him).

It was
narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: An old woman
came to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he was
in my house and the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said to her: Who are you? She said: I am Jaththaamah al-Muzaniyyah. He
said: Rather you are Hassaanah al-Muzaniyyah; how have you been since we
last saw you? She said: We are well, may my father and mother be sacrificed
for you, O Messenger of Allah. When she left I said: O Messenger of Allah,
all of this welcome for this old woman? He said: She used to visit us at the
time of Khadeejah, and loyalty is part of faith.”

Narrated by
al-Haakim in al-Mustadrak, 1/62; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in
as-Silsilah as-Saheehah, no. 216

And Allah knows best.