Inshallah

Asalaam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. I came across this from Tafsir Ibn Kathir and wanted to remind myself first and also my brothers and sisters in Islam. Sometimes when we plan to do something, we forget to say inshAllah. Here are some good reasons to remember to say ‘ If Allah Wills’. 

(23. And never say of anything, "I shall do such and such thing tomorrow.'')

(24. Except (with the saying), "If Allah wills!" And remember your Lord when you forget and say: "It may be that my Lord guides me to a nearer way of truth than this.'')

[Surah al Kahf 18: 23-24]

Here Allah, may He be glorified, shows His Messenger ( salallahu alayhi wa salam) the correct etiquette when determining to do something in the future; this should always be referred to the will of Allah, the Knower of the Unseen, Who knows what was and what is yet to be and what is not to be, and how it will be if it is to be. It was recorded in the Two Sahihs that Abu Hurayrah ( radhiallahu anhu) said that the Messenger of Allah ( salallahu alayhi wa salam) said:(Sulayman bin Dawud ( alayhi salam to both) said: "Tonight I will go around to seventy women (according to some reports, it was ninety or one hundred women) so that each one of them will give birth to a son who will fight for the sake of Allah.'' It was said to him, (according to one report, the angel said to him) "Say: `If Allah wills'", but he did not say it.  He went around to the women but none of them gave birth except for one who gave birth to a half-formed child.)

 The Messenger of Allah ( salallahu alayhi wa salam) said, (By the One in Whose hand is my soul, had he said, "If Allah wills,'' he would not have broken his oath, and that would have helped him to attain what he wanted. ) According to another report, (They would all have fought as horsemen in the cause of Allah.)  

 At the beginning of this Surah Kahf, the reason why this Ayah was revealed is discussed: Muhammad bin Ishaq mentions the reason why this Surah was revealed. He said that an old man from among the people of Egypt who came to them some forty-odd years ago told him, from `Ikrimah that Ibn `Abbas said: "The Quraysh sent An-Nadr bin Al-Harith and `Uqbah bin Abi Mu`it to the Jewish rabbis in Al-Madinah, and told them: `Ask them (the rabbis) about Muhammad, and describe him to them, and tell them what he is saying. They are the people of the first Book, and they have more knowledge of the Prophets than we do.' 

So they set out and when they reached Al-Madinah, they asked the Jewish rabbis about the Messenger of Allah . They described him to them and told them some of what he had said. They said, `You are the people of the Tawrah and we have come to you so that you can tell us about this companion of ours.' They (the rabbis) said, `Ask him about three things which we will tell you to ask, and if he answers them then he is a Prophet who has been sent (by Allah); if he does not, then he is saying things that are not true, in which case how you will deal with him will be up to you.

Ask him about some young men in ancient times, what was their story For theirs is a strange and wondrous tale.

Ask him about a man who travelled a great deal and reached the east and the west of the earth. What was his story .

And ask him about the Ruh (soul or spirit) -- what is it If he tells you about these things, then he is a Prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit.'

So An-Nadr and `Uqbah left and came back to the Quraysh, and said: `O people of Quraysh, we have come to you with a decisive solution which will put an end to the problem between you and Muhammad. The Jewish rabbis told us to ask him about some matters,' and they told the Quraysh what they were. Then they came to the Messenger of Allah and said, `O Muhammad, tell us,' and they asked him about the things they had been told to ask. The Messenger of Allah said, (I will tell you tomorrow about what you have asked me.) but he did not say `If Allah wills.' So they went away, and the Messenger of Allah stayed for fifteen days without any revelation from Allah concerning that, and Jibril, peace be upon him, did not come to him either.

The people of Makkah started to doubt him, and said, `Muhammad promised to tell us the next day, and now fifteen days have gone by and he has not told us anything in response to the questions we asked.' The Messenger of Allah felt sad because of the delay in revelation, and was grieved by what the people of Makkah were saying about him.

Then Jibril came to him from Allah with the Surah about the companions of Al-Kahf, which also contained a rebuke for feeling sad about the idolators. The Surah also told him about the things they had asked him about, the young men and the traveler.

The question about the Ruh was answered in the Ayah;

(And they ask you concerning the Ruh (the spirit); say: "The Ruh...'') (17:85).

(And they ask you concerning the Ruh.) Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "This was when the Jews said to the Prophet , `Tell us about the Ruh and how the Ruh will be punished that is in the body - for the Ruh is something about which only Allah knows, and there was no revelation concerning it.'

He did not answer them at all, then Jibril ( alayhi salam) came to him and said: (Say: "The Ruh (the spirit) is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.'')

So the Prophet ( salallahu alayhi wa salam) told them about that, and they said, `Who told you this' He said, (Jibril brought it to me from Allah.) They said, `By Allah, no one has told you that except our enemy (i.e., Jibril).'

Then Allah revealed: (Say: "Whoever is an enemy to Jibril (let him die in his fury), for indeed he has brought it (this Qur'an) down to your heart by Allah's permission, confirming what came before it.)'' [2:97].

Hopefully we all inshAllah get in the habit of saying ‘inshAllah’