What have you prepared for the Hour?
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a man asked the Prophet ﷺ about the Hour:
مَتَى السَّاعَةُ؟
“When is the Hour?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
وَمَاذَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا؟
“What have you prepared for it?”
The man said that he had not prepared a great deal of extra prayer or fasting, but:
وَلَكِنِّي أُحِبُّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
“But I love Allah and His Messenger.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
أَنْتَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ
“You will be with those whom you love.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)
The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were over the moon when they heard this reply from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
This is a very beautiful and important hadith. The scholars of hadith did not identify exactly who this man was. Often, when a hadith says that “a man came” or “a Bedouin came”, the person is not someone well known to the community.
We see something similar in the famous Hadith Jibril. Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) described how a man entered upon the Prophet ﷺ:
شَدِيدُ بَيَاضِ الثِّيَابِ شَدِيدُ سَوَادِ الشَّعَرِ لَا يُرَى عَلَيْهِ أَثَرُ السَّفَرِ وَلَا يَعْرِفُهُ مِنَّا أَحَدٌ
His clothes were intensely white, his hair intensely black, there were no signs of travel upon him, yet none of them knew who he was. If he had been a traveller, you would expect to see the dust of the journey upon him. But he appeared extremely clean, almost as though his house was next to the mosque, yet nobody recognised him. Who was he? It was Jibril (peace be upon him). So here we have another man coming to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asking:
“Ya Rasulullah, when is the Hour?”
In my opinion, there is an art to asking. There is no silly question. You can ask, and then you receive an answer.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ could have replied differently, because this was not the first time he had been asked about the Hour. Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَىٰهَا
“They ask you about the Hour: when will it arrive?”
(Surat al-A‘raf, 7:187)
He was asked this question many times. Even Jibril (peace be upon him), in that famous hadith, asked the Prophet ﷺ about the Hour. The Prophet ﷺ replied:
مَا الْمَسْئُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِلِ
“The one being asked knows no more about it than the one asking.”
(Sahih Muslim)
In other words, the knowledge of exactly when the Hour will come belongs exclusively to Allah.
So the Prophet ﷺ could simply have said to this man: “I do not know when the Hour is. Allah knows.” End of story. That would have answered the question. But this is not the way the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught. He wanted to teach the man, those who were listening to him, and us, what the more important question was. He shifted his attention from something that he could do nothing about to something that he could do something about.
What is within your control?
Instead of asking about the timing of the Hour, which is beyond your control, the Prophet ﷺ redirected him towards something within his control.
In our lives, there are things which we have control over and things which are beyond our control.
Allah says:
لَا يُكَلِّفُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.”
(Surat al-Baqarah, 2:286)
The things which are beyond your control are not what you will be held responsible for. It is raining. That is not under my control. I will not be asked why it was raining. But perhaps you did not attend the mosque early. You missed the salah. You came late. Why? “I was busy, busy, busy.” Allah knows whether you were really busy or “busy”. So there are things over which we have no control, and there are things over which we do have control.
When will the Hour come? You have no control over that. So the Prophet ﷺ shifted the man’s attention towards what he could actually do.
وَمَاذَا أَعْدَدْتَ لَهَا؟
“What have you prepared for it?” Now the attention has moved from simply waiting for the Hour to asking what action has been taken in preparation for it. This is activism. The Prophet ﷺ is teaching us to be active rather than passive.
There is a well-known report attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) in which he saw people sitting in the mosque and asked them why they were there. They said that they were people of tawakkul. He challenged this understanding and reminded them that the sky does not rain gold and silver. Take action. Do not be passive. So when the Prophet ﷺ asked: “What have you prepared?” this is the question which we should all be asking ourselves.
What have I prepared for the Hour?
Do not inflate your CV. The man was humble enough to say that he had not prepared very much. He was fulfilling his obligations, but he did not have a huge amount of extra prayer and fasting. He did not want to make things up in front of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He did not want to inflate his CV and put things on it that he had never actually done. You want to get the job, but you do not lie on your CV. “What have you prepared?” “Not that much.” He was doing his obligations. That is the bare minimum, which is fine. But then, paraphrasing the Companion, it is as though he said: “I can tell you one thing:
I truly love Allah and His Messenger.”
He told the Prophet ﷺ about his internal action rather than simply the external actions of salah and fasting. He shared his feelings. And sometimes we do not share our feelings, which is not good. You love your children. Tell them that you love them. Do not express your love only by giving them money, buying them things or giving them toys. Express your love to them before it is too late.
The Prophet ﷺ once kissed his grandson al-Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) in front of al-Aqra ibn Habis.
Al-Aqra said, “I have ten children and I have never kissed any of them.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
مَنْ لَا يَرْحَمُ لَا يُرْحَمُ
“Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)
So express your love.
This man said:
“I truly love Allah and His Messenger.”
What does loving Allah actually mean?
What does truly loving Allah and His Messenger ﷺ mean in practice? Love is not a hollow word which we use simply to describe a feeling. True love comes with sacrifice. When you love Allah, you sacrifice your rest, your sleep, your money and your effort in order to please Allah Almighty. “I love Allah, but I never pray Fajr on time.” “I love Allah, but I never pay my zakat.” “I love Allah, but I keep using foul language.” What kind of love is this? It is hollow love. True love makes us compliant with what pleases Allah Almighty.
In large companies you have a compliance officer. In the Shariah we also have compliance. It is muraqabah: observing your relationship with Allah Almighty.
Jibril (peace be upon him) asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
“Tell me about ihsan.”
The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ
“To worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you do not see Him, then indeed He sees you.”
(Sahih Muslim)
This is the compliance which we have in the Shariah. It is ihsan compliance. The CCTV is 24/7. You do things while observing your relationship with Allah Almighty. You do not do them simply to fulfil your desires. You do not do them to gain approval from people, acknowledgement, attention, likes or followers. You do them because they are the right thing to do and because they please Allah Almighty. So when asked “What have you prepared for the akhirah?” If you say, “I am doing my obligations, but I love Allah and His Messenger,” it means: I am willing to do what pleases Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. And this willingness translated into action is what we need.
This is why the Prophet ﷺ shifted the man’s attention from things over which he had no control to the things over which he did have control: his actions, his intentions and the purity of those intentions.
Are we seeking Allah’s pleasure and approval, or are we seeking people’s attention, likes and followers?
“You will be with those whom you love”
Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered the good news to this man, and to everyone who is in that same boat. And I guess almost all of us are in that boat. We are doing our obligations. We have plenty of shortcomings. We are trying our best. But truly, we love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
أَنْتَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ
“You will be with those whom you love.”
In another narration, when the Companions heard this, they asked:
وَنَحْنُ كَذَلِكَ؟
“And will we be likewise?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
نَعَمْ
“Yes.”
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
فَفَرِحْنَا يَوْمَئِذٍ فَرَحًا شَدِيدًا
“We were filled with immense joy that day.”
This is why the Companions were over the moon when they heard these words from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They understood that this was not only good news for the man who had asked the question. It was good news for every believer whose heart genuinely loves Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ also expressed the same principle in a concise statement narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him):
الْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ
“A person will be with those whom he loves.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)
This gives us hope. We may look at our worship and see shortcomings. We may look at ourselves and know that we have a long way to go. But if our love for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ is genuine, that love should push us towards obedience, towards improving ourselves, and towards following the Prophet ﷺ more closely.
This gives us hope. But then we need to take it a step further. We need to improve ourselves and improve our character. We need to add to our obligations the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Because love leads to more compliance.
In the famous Hadith Qudsi, Allah Almighty says:
وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَضْتُ عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ
“My servant does not draw near to Me with anything more beloved to Me than that which I have made obligatory upon him. And My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary deeds until I love him.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari)
The man said that he loved Allah and His Messenger. But is it mutual love? Does Allah love you as well? How do I know? The hadith gives us the answer. You love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. What is the proof of that love? You consistently fulfil the obligations, and then you add the Sunnah and the nawafil. This is the sign of loving Allah. And in return, you receive Allah’s love.
The Hadith Qudsi continues:
فَإِذَا أَحْبَبْتُهُ كُنْتُ سَمْعَهُ الَّذِي يَسْمَعُ بِهِ، وَبَصَرَهُ الَّذِي يُبْصِرُ بِهِ
“When I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears and his sight with which he sees…”
It means that you reach that very special station of those whom Allah loves. So it starts with action: loving Allah through fulfilling the obligations which He has made incumbent upon us. Then we move to the next level by preserving those obligations and adding the complementary Sunnah and nawafil.
And this takes us back to the words of the Prophet ﷺ:
أَنْتَ مَعَ مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ
“You will be with those whom you love.”
In another narration, when the Companions heard this, they asked:
وَنَحْنُ كَذَلِكَ؟
“And will we be likewise?”
The Prophet ﷺ replied:
نَعَمْ
“Yes.”
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
فَفَرِحْنَا يَوْمَئِذٍ فَرَحًا شَدِيدًا
“We were filled with immense joy that day.”
This is why the Companions were over the moon when they heard these words from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They understood that this was not only good news for the man who had asked the question. It was good news for every believer whose heart genuinely loves Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ also expressed the same principle in a concise statement narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him):
الْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ
“A person will be with those whom he loves.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)
This gives us hope. We may look at our worship and see shortcomings. We may look at ourselves and know that we have a long way to go. But if our love for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ is genuine, that love should push us towards obedience, towards improving ourselves, and towards following the Prophet ﷺ more closely.
Translating love into action
Part of our iman is to love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. In fact, it is one of the main pillars of iman: to love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. But sometimes we do not know how to translate our love into action. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us how to translate our love into action, rather than simply pretending or claiming that we love Allah Almighty and His Messenger ﷺ. If you have a claim, you have to prove it. And the proof of any claim is your action. So we need to ask ourselves all the time:
If I really love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, then I have to please Allah Almighty.
The Prophet ﷺ described how he will be at the Hawd on the Day of Judgement, waiting for his ummah.
He said:
أَلَا وَإِنِّي فَرَطُكُمْ عَلَى الْحَوْضِ أَنْظُرُكُمْ، وَإِنِّي مُكَاثِرٌ بِكُمُ الْأُمَمَ فَلَا تُسَوِّدُوا وَجْهِي
“I will be ahead of you at the Hawd, waiting for you, and I will take pride in your great number before the other nations, so do not bring disgrace upon me.”
He described how some people would be taken away.
The Prophet ﷺ would say:
يَا رَبِّ أَصْحَابِي
“My Lord, my companions!”
And he would be told:
إِنَّكَ لَا تَدْرِي مَا أَحْدَثُوا بَعْدَكَ
“You do not know what they changed after you.”
In the narration in Musnad Ahmad, the Prophet ﷺ said:
فَلَا تُسَوِّدُوا وَجْهِي
“Do not bring disgrace upon me.”
Do not embarrass me on the Day of Judgement. When we hear this, we feel sorry. Yes, Ya Rasulullah ﷺ. Some of us have done things which would embarrass you. So make sure that you are not among those who will embarrass the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Make sure that you are among those whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will be proud of on that Day. That he will say, “He is from my ummah.” May he be proud of us, inshaAllah.
May Allah make all of us among those whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will be proud of on the Day of Judgement, and among those who will be with the ones whom they truly love. Ameen.
Based on the Khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 25th September 2026