The translation of Siraat as 'bridge'

4-4-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamualaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh, If the Bridge over Hell is called Al-Jisr (I found this in a hadith if Sahih Muslim), then why is the Siraat translated as the Bridge over Hell in some hadith translations (I thought As-Siraat is the Path)? Please clarify this for me. Jazakallahu khayran Thank you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The translation of As-Siraat as bridge is a correct translation. Firstly, it corresponds to the authentic Hadeeth reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim which was related by Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri regarding the believers seeing their Lord. It is a long Hadeeth and part of it reads: “…Then the bridge will be brought over Hellfire. We [the Companions] said: 'O Prophet of Allaah, what is the bridge? …”

A bridge is considered a path (Siraat), because path is a name given to anything that is walked on.

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 88623.

Allaah Knows best.