Khutbah on Death
 

"Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath power; He Who created
Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and he is the Exalted in Might,
Oft-Forgiving;..." (67:1-2)

The subject of Death is very important to all of us. Every one of us has to die. In this regard Allah
mentions in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Zumar that everyone has to die including the Prophet himself:

"Truly thou wilt die (one day), and truly they (too) will die (one day):" (39:30)

No one Knows when and where he or she will die. No one even knows how he will die. In this
respect Allah says in the Qur'an :

"Nor does any soul know what it will earn on tomorrow: Nor does any soul know in what land it will
die. Verily with God is all knowing and is acquainted (with all things)" (31:34)

It is understood that Allah is the One Who gives life, and it is He Who takes off life. While life and
death are from Allah, we have to remember that they are to take place with the permission of Allah
alone. Each one's life and death are decided by Allah. It is stated in the Qur'an in Surah Al-Imran :

"Nor can a soul die except by God's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a
reward in this life, We shall give it to him, and if any do desire a reward in the hereafter, We shall
give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those who (serve us with) gratitude." (3:145)

Allah causes us to die daily at night during our sleeping. Then He makes us to wake up from our
temporary death to praise Him and to serve Him. The Qur'an states:

"It is God that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep;
those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life) but the
rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed. Verily in these are signs for those who reflect."
(39:42)

Allah has assigned an angel responsible for taking our souls out of our flesh. The angel's name in the
Qur'an is (ca_ GacfJ): Angel of Death.

The life of a Muslim on this earth is a short one, but his deeds and actions are eternal if he knows
how to channel them in the right directions. As far as the life span of a Muslim is concerned, our
beloved Prophet (pbuh) said:

"Narrated by Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) saying that the Prophet said:

"The life span of my followers are between sixty and seventy. Very few of them do excede this age."
Reported by Tarmizi

While the life span of a Muslim is short, and while the deeds and actions do stop normally after
death, a Muslim may continue to earn rewards for certain things even after his death. These are
perpetual charity, a useful knowledge, a good child that prays for him, a mosque that he built,
teaching Qur'an to another person, a house he built for public use, a water fountain or a river that he
let for rent and made it free for people, or a charity that he gave during his life while he was in good
health. All these and similar others are the ones that may follow him even while he is in the grave. In
this respect, the Prophet said:

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) saying that the Prophet said:

"When a child of Adam dies, his deeds are over except through three things: a perpetual charity, a
useful knowledge, or a good child to pray for him."

Life in this world is a temporary one. The real life is the one hereafter. In this respect the Qur'an
states :

"What is the life of this world but an amusement and play? But verily the Hereafter, that is life indeed, it they but knew." (29:64)

We are here on a trial basis, we are here on a temporary basis, and we are here for a passage to
heaven and paradise. The real life of an eternal rest is that of the hereafter.

Remember that death is a process of rest for both the believers and the wicked. We hope and pray
that we Muslims obey Allah in our private and public lifes. We hope and pray that Allah will be
happy with us. We pray that when death comes to us, we are ready to face it with courage. We
hope that when we die, we will die as loving sincere Muslims.

Bukhari and Muslim reported from Abu Qatadah that once, when the Prophet passed by a funeral, he said: "He is (now) in peace secure from others and others are in peace secure from him." The people asked: "O Allah's Messenger! Who is in peace and from whom are others in peace?" He said: "A believing servant (of Allah) is relieved from afflictions of this world upon his death, while upon the death of a wicked person, other people, land, trees, and animals are rid of his evil."