One of the most amazing observations that we have come to learn of in recent years through satellite imagery taken in a time-lapse is how our Earth appears to be exhibiting a “breathing” effect with the change of seasons.
What’s more interesting is what the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in an authentic hadeeth about seasons:
The Prophet ﷺ said,
“In very hot weather delay the Dhuhr prayer till it becomes (a bit) cooler because the severity of heat is from the raging of the Hell-fire. The fire of Hell complained to its Lord saying: O Lord! My parts are eating (destroying) one another. So Allah allowed it to take two breaths, one in the winter and the other in the summer. The breath in the summer is at the time when you feel the severest heat and the breath in the winter is at the time when you feel the severest cold.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]
If we look at the time-lapse animation, it really looks like we are witnessing an effect of breathing on the Earth. This could not have been imagined even a few years ago.
Perhaps some people in the past questioned this hadeeth as to how this was possible when they “clearly know” of the scientific process of seasons. Some gave the hadeeth metaphoric meanings. What would they say today?
In almost all such “controversial” ahadeeth, we should note the following:
1. The matters of ghayb (unseen) are something we must believe in without question because it is purely divine knowledge that the Prophet ﷺ informed us of. “Should not He Who has created know?” (Qur’an, 67:14) When we know the Qur’an is the truth, then why should we have any doubt about this religion?
2. It really is shortsightedness to reject what Allah and His Messenger have said based on some half knowledge that we as human beings have come to learn of. Human beings can never know the full reality of things. The advancement and total knowledge that humans have is less than a drop when compared to the vast ocean of Allah’s knowledge.
3. We know that Paradise and Hellfire have already been created but they are hidden from us just like the many other creations of Allah we cannot see.
4. How silly we become when we question Allah’s revelation and then Allah exposes the truth showing our fallacy and the greatness of His Word. What we know today may become irrelevant tomorrow because of new discoveries. May Allah guide us to be firm upon the religion.
5. The Qur’an and Sunnah are both divine because Allah sent down guidance to the Prophet ﷺ in both these forms. The famous hadeeth about the 5 pillars of Islam is one such example in which Jibreel comes down to teach us the religion. The Qur’an mentions prayer but Allah taught us how to pray through the sunnah.
6. The science of hadeeth that the Muslims developed is one of the miraculous actualizations of Allah’s promise to preserve the religion by preserving the authentic sunnah of His Messenger.
7. Let’s be thankful and grateful to Allah that He has guided us while so many have been left disarrayed in their state of confusion and doubts.
Dr. Bilal Philips