Ahmad Ibn Hanbal On His Deathbed… ️

Ahmad ibn Hanbal on His Deathbed

Al-Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, as they call him, the Imam of the Sunnah. When he was on his deathbed, and he was about to pass away, his students surrounded him, and they were telling him لا إله إلا الله — they wanted him to say La ilaha illallah before he dies. And suddenly they see Imam Ahmad saying no.

No, no, no, no, no, no. They start to get worried — what is this? Imam Ahmad, the Imam of Ahlus Sunnah, the Imam of the Sunnah and Hadith, he's saying no to La ilaha illallah. They keep saying لا إله إلا الله, لا إله إلا الله, لا إله إلا الله.

What is going on? We don't know what's going on. Suddenly, he stops. He says, was I saying something just now? They said, yes, you were saying no to La ilaha illallah.

The Final Whisper of Shaytan

He says, no — what happened? Well, Shaytan came to me, biting his fingers, and he said, "Oh, Ahmad, you got saved from me. You succeeded." And he wanted me to say, yes, I'm safe.

So I said, no — I'm not safe. Until Allah takes my soul, I'm never safe from you, my friend. You are there at any point. You are ready to take me.

The Danger of Self-Admiration

Shaytan wanted him to start admiring himself — "Oh, I'm a great Imam. I'm so safe. I'm so pious and righteous." So he would get him in the last second. In the last minute before he dies, he'd get him with this grave sin, which is to admire your deeds and to think you are the one who did them.

We are never safe from the threat of Shaytan and from the punishment of Allah.