Death's Door: Preparing For The Inevitable Hereafter

Humanity at Death's Door: Remembering Death and Preparing for the Hereafter

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His servants whom He has chosen. Allah, the Exalted, said in the Book of His revelation — after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

"Every soul shall taste death, but you shall be paid in full on the Day of Resurrection. Whosoever is freed from the Fire and is admitted into Paradise, he has indeed triumphed. And the life of this world is but the enjoyment of delusion."

The Impact of Technology and the Need for Spiritual Retreat

As for the rest of creation — temporarily, we cannot permanently cut ourselves off from it, but we take a temporary break, and we hope to connect with the Creator, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. These devices are with us at all times, and have become an inseparable part of our existence.

The concern of how technology is affecting our brains, the development of our children, our social etiquette, our ability to connect with people, our ability to acquire knowledge, to retain knowledge, our ability to focus — this is something that is of major concern to psychologists, to educationalists, to doctors, to researchers, to scientists, and to anyone interested in preserving the human race and human civilization. This is a major concern. And what are the Islamic teachings regarding this?

Alhamdulillah, we have an I'tikaf with a day of fasting, a day of Ibadah, that is starting insha'Allah tomorrow from Maghrib to Sunday Maghrib. Every year there is a specific theme, and as I was going over the announcements, I thought that this is something I should touch upon — the opportunity we have in Jumu'ah. The topic this year is Humanity at Death's Door. It delves into the spiritual realities of death and our journey towards the hereafter, towards the Akhirah.

The Most Certain Yet Most Forgotten Reality

One of the most ironic facts of our existence is that the most certain thing — the most indisputable reality — is the most forgotten reality. That reality, that haqiqah, concerning which there are no two opinions, there is no ikhtilaf, there is no doubt. It is the most certain thing. Even in a godless, secular society, people typically joke and say that there is no escaping death and taxes.

Taxes, of course, people can have different hacks to get out of. Different techniques. But death is something that no one can escape from. And the reason I said this is the most ironical fact is that despite it being a certain thing that is coming, it is the most forgotten thing. It is that which is least spoken about and that we prepare the least for. In fact, from the beginning of time, historically, there are active efforts to not discuss it, not remember it.

Even when it comes to simple things like city planning — the way cities were planned, there are the residential districts, and then there would be a commercial area, and then there would be a sūr al-balad, which is the defensive wall around the city to protect from outside attackers and invaders, and they would have guard posts and towers. But where would the graveyard be? The graveyard would always be outside the city walls.

So you have the city of the living, and then you have the city of the dead. The qabristan or the maqbara — the graveyard — is something you don't even want to pass by. You want to forget about it.

This is the culture that human beings have. Something that we don't want to remember, don't want to talk about. Whereas Rasulullah ﷺ has taught us that this is something that we have to all prepare for. This is something we should be aware of.

Today being Yawm al-Jumu'ah, the Muslims have a different history, a different legacy. Just as when we are alive we respect our parents and we try to do their khidmah, the Muslims throughout time, on the day of Friday, would make it a point to go and visit the graves of their parents and the graves of their grandparents. Subhanallah, this used to be something that I saw in some of my classmates — there were one or two whose parents had passed away in South Africa, but on the day of Jumu'ah they would regularly go to the graveyard to say salam at their deceased father's grave. And witnessing that left a mark on my mind and my heart that I can recall till today.

So remembering death is something that Rasulullah ﷺ has prescribed. He said: frequently remember death — that which will destroy those pleasures that are taking a person away from preparing for the hereafter.

The Certainty of Death — A Sunnatullah

In the ayah I quoted in the beginning, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions very important fundamental realities of our existence in clear, explicit terms. Without any ambiguity, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

That every soul shall taste death. If there is anyone who would be exempted from going through the pangs of death, it would have been none other than Habibur Rabbil 'Alamin — the most beloved of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Rasulullah ﷺ. But this is something known as a sunnatullah — the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that which He has decreed.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that when He has decreed something, when He has made a sunnah, then there is no way that this sunnah will change. Not that — na'udhu billah — someone will ask Him, "Why did you change it? You promised something and you're going against your promise?" That is absolutely not the case.

Nobody is there to question Allah why He did anything. Rather, He will question everyone else. So this is not an ilzam from anyone, this is not compelling from any other authority or power. Rather, this is an iltizam from Allah that He has adopted upon Himself.

And Allah ta'ala does not break His promises. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made a sunnah that everyone has to go through the pangs of death. Our beloved master Nabi ﷺ, the best of the entire creation, he also went through the pangs of death. And he said:

Verily, death has its pangs. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4449)

When he was taking water, passing it over his forehead as he was having the fever and the headache and the pain, he said: "Verily death has its pangs." So we all have to go through this, and we have to prepare for that day.

Actions Are Judged by Their Endings — إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالْخَوَاتِيمِ

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, one of the hadith that is well-known — and alhamdulillah it should be well-known — is the first hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, and the first hadith in Arba'in al-Nawawī, the first hadith in so many books that we study and that are well-known in the ummah. And that hadith of course is:

Verily, actions are judged by intentions, and every person will have what they intended. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1907)

There is another hadith which is extremely important, and it has a very similar structure. The syntax, the structure of the sentence is very similar. This hadith is:

Verily, actions are judged by their endings. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6607)

That what counts for the a'mal is the ending. The ending counts. Meaning — may Allah protect — if there is someone who has the most sincere, correct niyyah in the beginning, and the action itself is very good and beautiful and correct, but at the end — the end of the amal or the end of the life — if there is some corruption in the niyyah or corruption in the amal, and there are so many different forms of this, then what will count is not the beginning niyyah, what will count in the court of Allah, in the book of deeds, on the Yawm al-Qiyamah, is the khawatim — the ending.

إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ gets a lot of focus and attention, and deservedly so — we don't want to take away from that. But what we can add is that إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالْخَوَاتِيمِ does not get enough attention as it totally deserves. We have to be focused on the khawatim — the end of the amal, the end of our life.

The Du'a for a Good Ending

Regarding amal and life, we see in the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ:

Because Nabi ﷺ mentioned these two things: "Oh Allah, make the best of our amal the last of our amal. And make the best of our days the day we will meet You." But he didn't just say "the last day" — he said يَوْمَ نَلْقَاكَ فِيهِ, which adds so much more depth and connotation and meaning to that day. The day we will meet You. Which is the day we are going to meet Allah — the last day of our life.

And if we have invested in our Akhirah, if we have been working hard for our Akhirah, if we are looking forward to our Akhirah, that will be the best day of our life. As the saying goes:

That death is the bridge that allows — when we cross it — for the lover to meet his beloved. The wisal al-habib — which is the ultimate goal of the lover — is to have wisal of the habib, to meet the Beloved. Subhanallah.

That is why Rasulullah ﷺ said:

Death is the gift of the believer. (Al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim, Hadith 7911; also related narrations in Shu'ab al-Iman of al-Bayhaqi)

Examples of Those Who Looked Forward to Death

I conclude with this — that we see examples of those who invested in the Akhirah. They were looking forward to it. They had a lot of anticipation.

Bilal ibn Rabah on His Deathbed

Bilal ibn Rabah, the mu'adhdhin of Rasulullah ﷺ, was on his deathbed. His loving wife, seeing that he was in the pangs of death, let out a cry and said:

"Oh pain, oh agony!" He was lying on his deathbed, and he grabbed her hand and said:

"No — oh happiness, oh happiness, oh joy! Because now I will meet Muhammad ﷺ and the early Sahabah who have passed away. I have been longing to meet them in the afterlife."

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah at the Battle of Yarmouk

Just as the Sahabi of Rasulullah ﷺ in the battlefield of Yarmouk, as he was giving his life and entering shahadah — Amin al-Ummah, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him), the commander of the army — was gasping as he was dying. The Sahabi asked him:

"Do you have any message you want me to convey to Rasulullah ﷺ in the Akhirah?" So Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Convey my salam to Rasulullah ﷺ, and tell him that all the promises that were made to us in the time of difficulties — in the Battle of Khandaq when we were starving" — and Allah describes that moment:

We had starvation and hunger, and we had cold, we had fear, and we had the enemy surrounding us — we were besieged from outside, and we had the Jews from inside. And Nabi ﷺ had said, as he was striking the stone:

I see from the sparks of the stone that you will conquer the palaces and the treasures of Qaysar (Rome) and Kisra (Persia). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4114)

Abu Ubaidah said to convey to Rasulullah ﷺ:

"Tell him that we have found all those promises to come true. We are witnessing victories upon victories."

Conclusion: Death Is the Gift of the Believer

So this is the gift of a mu'min — death. And it is not something we are afraid of. It is something we look forward to.

Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2683)

Whoever is looking forward to meeting Allah, Allah is also looking forward to meeting him.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfeeq to prepare for that day. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make the last day of our life the best day of our life.

Announcements

Tonight we have guest speaker Mawlana Bilal Hassani Nadwi, who is the Principal and Chancellor of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama in Lucknow. He will have an Urdu talk with simultaneous translation by our teacher Mufti Hassan Sheikh after Isha Salah. This is a special program taking place tonight.

Also, as I was mentioning earlier, please join us for our annual no-tech retreat starting tomorrow, Saturday Maghrib to Sunday Maghrib. This year's theme is Humanity at Death's Door. This is an opportunity for us to reflect on the spiritual realities of death and our journey towards the Akhirah. There are dedicated sessions for brothers, sisters, and a separate youth track for ages 5 to 15. The talks for the youth include the harms of social media, the reality of Qiyamah, the journey of the soul, as well as snacks, gym time, jeopardy, and games and activities. Please register on our website so we can prepare the meals.

We also have the Sister Sierra Series exclusively for sisters of all ages, delving into the life of our most beloved Rasulullah ﷺ. Light refreshments will be served at the end. The next sessions will be on February 16th and 23rd, from 1:30 to 3:15 PM.

We also have a program on Laylatul Bara'ah — the Night of Forgiveness — with our teacher Mawlana Farhan Sharif on Thursday, February 13th after Isha. And a Ramadan Strategic Approach with Mawlana Yusuf Ghosh on Friday, February 14th after Isha. And a Convert Luncheon: Fasting 101 with Qari Suleiman Mahmood on Saturday, February 15th, 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM. All of these programs are leading up to Ramadan, insha'Allah.

We have Qari Mawlana Aftab Alam from Darul Uloom Deoband visiting on Friday, February 21st after Isha.

The weekly programs are continuing on Saturdays. After Fajr, we have our team Fajr program — Tazkiyah and Breakfast. Tuesday Tafsir is continuing with Surah al-Ahqaf. The weekly Urdu Seerah program is on Thursdays after Isha Salah. And Sisters Urdu Thursday Tafsir will be continuing after Dhuhr Salah.

Please continue to pass the donation boxes. Please donate generously for the Masjid expenses. May Allah reward everyone. The sadaqah given on the day of Friday is more rewarding, insha'Allah. Please ensure the boxes reach the other side.

We also have the IKNA Relief Annual Banquet — Seas Have Changed — on Saturday, February 22nd at Shalimar Banquets. Many scholars are coming to speak. Early bird tickets are available until February 9th at iknarelief.org.

We also have a request for du'a. Our musalli brother Tariq Iqbal's father has passed away. We make du'a for his maghfirah. Ameen.