This week has been a
difficult week for me. I have had to deal with the internal
turmoils of knowing that Allah's promise is true and knowing
how to apply this to my life.
On sunday night, the two year
old son of a very close friend was killed in a freak accident.
This has actually had me thinking a lot about life and death in
general and my beliefs in specific. I believe Allah prepares us
for our future roles and experieinces. I have always known that
I wanted to raise a good Muslim son who would, inshallah, fight
for the sake of Allah. I also know that inshallah, I want to be
from those good women who are proud to have sons or husbands be
shaheed. Yet, when all this occured, all I could think about
was the fear of losing my son - who is not even born yet. It
made me realize the immensity of the deeds these women have
done in giving up their beloved children for the sake of Allah.
These women raised, taught and played with their children. They
knew the faces and the personalities. They loved these boys,
but they were able to be not just patient with their son's
death but actually happy for the news of shahadah. It made me
wonder if I could one day be the same.
I think about women who spend
a lifetime carefully preparing their sons to be good Muslim
men, good Muslim soldiers, and I wonder if I will ever be able
to finally let go.
Because of this, I decided to
make today's class about death. We all know that we will die.
We know this not only from experience, but also from the words
of Allah and his Prophet, who taught us the actual significance
of this knowledge,
Every soul shall have a taste
of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid
your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire
and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of
Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of
deception. (3:185)
Allah warns us that we are
supposed to care about the next life more so than this life
which is but "goods and chattels". Unfortunately, we are so
attached to this life and the accumulation of wealth (which
includes our families and our children) that we forget the
ultimate purpose. Allah warns,
Rivalry in worldly increase
distracteth you; Until ye come to the graves. Nay, but ye will
come to know! (102:1-3)
I think of the many times in
countless hadiths that I read that people said to our beloved
prophet, "My parents be sacrificed for you." They are not
merely saying insignificant words. This is powerful stuff. My
gut reaction is to fear saying such words, for fear they may
come true. But these companions found it so easy, May Allah
reward them, because of their strong faith in Allah and His
Messenger.
Allah has shown us the way to
true salvation and jannah. It is the way of the previous
Prophets,
And this was the legacy that
Abraham left to his sons, and so did Jacob; "Oh my sons! Allah
hath chosen the Faith for you; then die not except in the Faith
of Islam." (2:132)
It is the way of the seal of
the prophet's Muhammad (SAWS). It is the way detailed in the
Quraan al Kareem,
...And if any of you Turn
back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will
bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be
companions of the Fire and will abide therein. (2:217)
Those who reject Faith, and
die rejecting,- on them is Allah's curse, and the curse of
angels, and of all mankind; (2:161)
It is the complete acceptance
of Allah, His deen and his Qadr. We are supposed to welcome
death as a release from this prison. We are supposed to hope
and pray for the shahadah or at the very least for al Jannah,
so that when we see death, we are neither afraid nor saddened
by it. We can miss those who preceed us, but we should not be
disheartened by the death of someone close to us. If they are
Muslims, we know that Jannah will eventually be theres and
ours, and we shall meet again, inshallah.
The unbelievers of old feared
death. Allah says,
Or like abundant rain from
the cloud in which is utter darkness and thunder and lightning;
they put their fingers into their ears because of the thunder
peal, for fear of death, and Allah encompasses the unbelievers.
(2:19)
And the Jews prayed to avoid
it, wishing for life,
And you will most certainly
find them the greediest of men for life (greedier) than even
those who are polytheists; every one of them loves that he
should be granted a life of a thousand years, and his being
granted a long life will in no way remove him further off from
the chastisement, and Allah sees what they do. (2:96)
I have personally seen the
fear that the non-believers have of death. A group of students
I used to have actually went to the dean to complain that I was
scaring them by having asked them to write an essay on dying.
They were so scared of the prospect they could not even
contemplate it or write about it. may Allah guide them. We have
been commanded by Allah and his prophet to reflect on death. It
is by this reflection that we will realize the true meaning of
life, to worship Allah so He will grant us Jannah.
The Muslim is supposed to
realize that death is simply a passage from this life to the
next, better life. We will be tested. We may suffer a bit, but
we know that as long as we believe and live La ilaha il Allah,
we will see al jannah and experieince it forever. This is the
promise of Allah.
Narrated Mu'adh bin Jabal:
The Prophet said, "O Mu'adh! Do you know what Allah's Right
upon His slaves is?" I said, "Allah and His Apostle know best."
The Prophet said, "To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to join
none in worship with Him (Allah). Do you know what their right
upon Him is?" I replied, "Allah and His Apostle know best." The
Prophet said, "Not to punish them (if they do so)." Sahih
Bukhari: Volume 9, Book 93, Number 470.
We can not fear death. We
must be of those ready to welcome it fighting in Allah's cause.
We must be of those who fight to gain Allah's pleasure and make
His word supreme while not fearing that death may be a
consequence of this fight.
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
Somebody asked, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is the best among the
people?" Allah's Apostle replied "A believer who strives his
utmost in Allah's Cause with his life and property..." Sahih
Bukhari: Volume 4, Book 52, Number 45.
We must recognize that all of
us are born and will die and that the importance and
significance of this lies in our beliefs and in how we live and
die.
How can ye reject the faith
in Allah?- seeing that ye were without life, and He gave you
life; then will He cause you to die, and will again bring you
to life; and again to Him will ye return. (2:28)
We are not to speculate that
our death could be any different that what Allah has ordained,
nor can we assume that we will live a long life. We may die
very old, we may die tomorrow. We must recognize that this is
from the unseen and we must therefore prepare for death.
O you who believe! be not
like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren when they
travel in the earth or engage in fighting: Had they been with
us, they would not have died and they would not have been
slain; so Allah makes this to be an intense regret in their
hearts; and Allah gives life and causes death and Allah sees
what you do. (3:156)
Say: Allah gives you life,
then He makes you die, then will He gather you to the day of
resurrection wherein is no doubt, but most people do not know.
(45:26)
...We bring you out as babes,
then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength;
and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to
the feeblest old age,...(22:5)
...no soul knoweth in what
land it will die. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware. (31:34)
Narrated Abdullah: Allah's
Apostle, the true and truly inspired said, "(as regards your
creation), every one of you is collected in the womb of his
mother for the first forty days, and then he becomes a clot for
an other forty days, and then a piece of flesh for an other
forty days. Then Allah sends an angel to write four words: He
writes his deeds, time of his death, means of his livelihood,
and whether he will be wretched or blessed (in religion). Then
the soul is breathed into his body. Sahih Bukhari: Volume 4,
Book 55, Number 549
Narrated Ibn 'Umar: Allah's
Apostle (p.b.u.h) said, "Keys of the unseen knowledge are five
which nobody knows but Allah . . . nobody knows what will
happen tomorrow; nobody knows what is in the womb; nobody knows
what he will gain tomorrow; nobody knows at what place he will
die; and nobody knows when it will rain." Sahih Bukhari:Volume
2, Book 17, Number 149:
We do not know when we will
die nor do we know when our children or our parents or our
friends will die. We must prepare ourselves and them for this
occuring at anytime and be grateful for whatever Allah ordains.
The prophet warned us,
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Allah's Apostle said, "When carried to his grave, a dead person
is followed by three, two of which return (after his burial)
and one remains with him: his relative, his property, and his
deeds follow him; relatives and his property go back while his
deeds remain with him." Sahih Bukhari:Volume 8, Book 76, Number
521.
Our deeds are all that will
remain with us, so we must be sure that they, inshallah are
good deeds. We must further remember the prophet's saying, "O
Allah! There is no life worth living except the life of the
Hereafter..." (Narrated by Anas in sahih Bukhari: Volume 8,
Book 76, Number 422)
This entire experience has
made me appreciate our purpose on this earth and the scaricity
of time that we have. None of us knows when, where or how we
will die, all we know is that we will die, and after that death
we will be judged and questioned about this life. We must
assure ourselves that we have done all that we can to make this
life a success for ourselves, our family and for our muslim
brothers and sisters.. As Allah says,
These are Allah's limits, and
whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will cause him to
enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them; and
this is the great success. (4:13)
He will put your deeds into a
right state for you, and forgive you your faults; and whoever
obeys Allah and His Messenger, he indeed achieves a mighty
success. (33:71)
May Allah give us the His
Qadr with true hoping for the ultimate success: Jannah. Ameen.