Sahih Muslim 191e — Intercession Corrects a Harsh View

Yazid al-Faqir Narrated from:

This view of the Khawarij (i.e. those who commit major sins and would be eternally doomed to Hell) had obsessed me, and we set out in a large group intending to perform the Hajj and then going to the people (for the propagation of the views of the Khawarij). He (the narrator) said: We happened to past by Medina and found there Jabir b. 'Abdullah sitting near a column narrating to the people (the ahadith of) the Prophet (ﷺ).When he mentioned the inhabitants of Hell, I said: O companion of the Messenger of Allah what is this that you narrate, whereas Allah says:"Verily whomsoever Thou shall commit to the Fire, Thou indeed humiliateth him" (al-Qur'an, iii. 192); andAll those who endeavored to get out of that would be thrown back into it" (al-Qur'an, xxxi i. 20)? So what is it that yousay? He said: Have you read the Qur'an? I said: Yes. He said: Have you heard about the (exalted) position of Muhammad (ﷺ), i.e. to which Allah would raise, him? I said: Yes. He said: Verily the position of Muhammad (ﷺ) is that of great glory and that is by which Allah would bring out whomsoever He would wish to bringout. He then described the Path (the Bridge) and the passing of the people over it, and said: I am afraid I may not have remembered (other things) but this much is still in my memory that people would come out of the Hell after having gone into it, and he said: They would come out of it as if they were the wood of the ebony tree. He (the narrator said: They would enter a river, one or the rivers of Paradise, and would bathe in it, and then come out as if they were (white like) paper. We then turned back and said: Woe be upon you! How can this old man tell a lie against the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)? We turned back (from the views of the Khawarij), and by God every one of us abandoned this (band of Khawarij) except one man. A similar statement has been made by Abu Nu'aim.