The New Realm | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Opening

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَعَلَى آخِرَةِ الْمُتَّقِينَ، وَصَلَاةُ وَسَلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ. سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ، الَّذِي اسْمُهُ مَكْتُومٌ فِي الْإِنْجِيلِ وَالتَّوْرَاةِ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

فَقَدْ قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ الْعَزِيزِ، بَعْدَ أَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ:

And the Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Sufyan: "I have come to you with the honor of this world and the next. Accept Islam and be at peace."

Preparing for What We Cannot See

Dear brothers and youngsters and sisters in Islam, one of the things that we often find ourselves saying is: how is it possible for us to prepare for a time, in an area, a place that we can never see, but rather it's just something which has been spoken about? How can we prepare for an Akhira, a paradise, a box that we will lay in, that we have never seen, but just heard about? And we allow ourselves to be deceived by the simple fact that we can't see it.

And because we can't see it, it must not be as real as they say. But for some reason, the oxymoron, the dichotomy is — in everything else in life, despite the fact that we can't see it, we still do it. Us not being able to see it doesn't stop us from making effort for it.

A simple example is, when we are choosing our career as high school students and getting into our freshman year in college, we're choosing our careers and we'll find ourselves saying that I'm choosing this career because it'll be better for me and my family. It'll be better for my children. It'll be better when I get married. It'll be better as a career. It'll be better when I'm 50 years old. This has a better retirement plan.

We don't even know if we're going to get married. We don't even know if we're going to have children. We don't even know if we're going to be able to retire. Allah might take us before we retire. All of those variables that play such a significant role in us making that decision are not real — they're just spoken about. But because they're spoken about so much, they find a way to become a reality in our life.

Similarly, my dear youngsters, the more we speak about the Akhira, the more real it will become for us. The more we speak about it, the more we talk about it — it doesn't make us just more fearful of it, but it makes us more conscious of it, that it's something which is real.

And I'll say this: let it not be that the reality has to strike so close to home that it's dangerous, and then you realize how real that reality was. They often say, "It could have been worse." Have you not heard that before — that statement, "It could have been worse"? Rarely in your life will you find yourself saying, "It could not have been worse." And it's in those moments you realize that dunya is just a fraction of the life that Allah wants us to live.

And I don't mean that by a fraction meaning, "Oh, don't work for dunya." I mean everything in dunya, and all of that which it contains, is a fraction of the reality of who Allah wants us to be in the long run. You know when a student is in high school, and the parents are motivating them to do certain things — that's just a fraction of what they want to see. They want to see that child become that engineer, that physician, and live a prosperous life. Similarly, Allah makes us go through the things that we do, so that we can realize that this is just a fraction of what really matters. What really matters.

And as heavy as that may sound, it's real. I sometimes find it interesting that we're talking about college to a kid that's hardly finished Grade 7. "Isn't that too early?" they say. No it's not — let them plan their career, they're still 6 years away. Closer than any college or university that we will go to, is the time, or the moments, that perhaps we will leave the world. And when we leave the world, all that will help us is that light that we ignite while living in this world.

So when we pass away — which we all one day will do — one of you will be burying me, or I will be burying you. This is the reality that every one of us has to face. I go visit my brother almost on a daily basis. When I stand on his grave and I kneel over to touch the dirt that is covering him, I say to myself: just give me a few years and I'll be able to hug you again. Just give me a few years, or give me a few moments, and I'll be there with you. And those are now moments that you look forward to.

Imagine if we realize that we love the Prophet ﷺ more than we love our siblings. Imagine if we were able to come to that realization — that we actually love the Prophet ﷺ more than we love anybody else. And it's just a matter of some time before we will hug the Prophet ﷺ, and we will be within his gatherings.

The Three Lives We Live

So when we leave the world, we don't go straight to Jannah. InshaAllah all of us will be going to Jannah, but that's not the first step. The Prophet ﷺ explains that there's a journey that every one of us will go through, and that is the journey of what we call Barzakh. Barzakh means the journey of the interval between this life and Jannah.

There are three lives that we live — three lives. And one thing that makes human beings special, and makes us unique, is that once we are born, we never die. And I'm not talking about this in a philosophical manner; I'm talking about this in a very basic, surface-level manner — that once we are born, once we are created, Allah doesn't take our life away. Allah just changes the way our life is being lived.

So first we live in the realm of the womb of our mother. That's how it starts. And then we come into this world, and we call this the life of Hayatul Dunya — the life of this world that we feel like it's all we have. But when Hayatul Dunya finishes, which it will finish for all of us, starts the life of the Barzakh. And the life of the Barzakh apparently takes place in the grave. But there's something beyond that, that we cannot see.

The dirt that we lay our loved ones in is perhaps the most comfortable bed they've ever had in their life. Perhaps the most comfortable room that they've ever had in their life. The kafan that they're wrapped in is the most comfortable clothing that one could ever aspire to wear. Because the moment they're placed in that grave, in that box that we look at and we're so fearful of —

The Remembrance of Death

The Prophet ﷺ one day was talking to the Sahabas and he said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2307; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4258)

"Continue remembering that which demolishes and drives away all desires." And the Sahabas asked: What is that thing which allows us to control our nafs and control our desires? Because if we are not controlling our desires, your brothers and sisters, then there's only one or two ways around it. Either we are controlling our nafs, or our nafs is controlling us. There's no third option.

And the Prophet ﷺ told the Sahabas: That which allows you to control your day-to-day desires is ذِكْرُ الْمَوْتِ — just remembering death. Just remember it as much as you can. And it's not supposed to take us in a whirlpool of depression, or a valley of just anxiety, but rather it's supposed to make us feel comfortable, because whatever we're going through is not going to last. And we have to work for something which is much bigger, and much more fulfilling.

The New Realm: Life in the Grave

So these blocks that we are placed in are an extension of how we live our life. There are two things that the body can experience when it's placed within the grave. You put the loved one down, and you throw dirt on their face. Any of us, if someone dares to attempt to throw dirt on our face — it could be the closest person to us in our life — and we will lose our mind. "You're throwing dirt on me?" Allah makes us throw dirt on our loved ones, reminding us that this is what we really are.

"You are brought out from this, and you will be returned to this, and you will be retrieved from this." This is where it starts, and this is where it will continue.

The Soul: A Satellite

So once you place that person in the grave, the new realm begins. The moment the person is placed in the grave and the grave is covered, the ruh that was physically separated from the body — let me just try to explain this as much as I can. The soul is like a satellite. It doesn't have to be in the body to be affecting the body. The satellites are all the way in space, but they give everything life. If a satellite goes down, the lights go down, the internet goes down — it's a big problem. So we're pretty much living off the satellite. The satellite is the material soul of the world that we live in. Every country is afraid about their satellite, because it's their soul. It doesn't have to physically be there, but it's connected. Similarly, the soul may change its position, but never loses its connection.

So when we're living in this world, the soul is inside of our body. Allah puts the soul inside of our body. And for a temporary moment, the soul is physically removed from the body and is taken up. And the body is then placed inside of the grave.

The Angels Welcome the Righteous Soul

As a person is leaving the world, if we live a life that is worth living — a life of righteousness, a life that pleases our Allah, and a life that is within the prism that our Prophet ﷺ has taught us in, a wide prism, goalposts that are wider than many of us think — if we live that life, when we leave the world, Allah says to us:

"That individual who says, 'Allah is my Lord'" — every one of us believes in Allah. That is the greatest blessing that any of us have. I have, after my brother's tragedy, met individuals that are Muslims, and when I seek some form of counsel from them, I sometimes find myself giving them counsel. Because those individuals are such that have lost loved ones — parents, siblings — that were not Muslim. How do you console someone whose loved one left this world without Islam?

Aamul Huzn was called Aamul Huzn — the year of grief — because the Prophet ﷺ lost his uncle, who left without Islam. Ibrahim ﷺ, his whole life, dreamt of the day that his father could become Muslim. Allah reminded him: he did not become Muslim, so you can't ask forgiveness for him.

قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ — we believe in Allah. تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ — angels descend.

You know when we are traveling for a long time — maybe going to college, maybe going for a trip with our friends for a year, or going on a retreat for even two weeks — when you go to the airport, sometimes, especially from the desi family, you have like the whole khandan come drop you off. And you also have a whole khandan come pick you up. You feel like the most special person in the world. So when you reach Pakistan, India, wherever you're from, after not going for 10–15 years, what happens? Everyone comes to the airport, they're all hugging you, kissing you — "Who are you?" "I'm that khala, I'm that phupo, I'm that uncle, my brother."

Imagine — the angels that have been assigned to us, that have been watching over us for 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years, finally are told that you're coming home. How excited would those angels be to receive you? How excited would those angels be to take care of you? To make sure that your journey is a journey of comfort, and not a journey of distress.

تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ — Allah brings these angels down to us, that welcome us into our new home. And not only do they welcome us, they say something to us. They say:

"Don't be afraid. I was with you your entire life." And some scholars say these are the angels that write all of our good deeds — the angels of our right shoulder. They will say: "Be at ease, I'm with you." وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ — "And be happy that Jannah is waiting for you."

And then they will say: نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ — "We were your best friends." Awliya' comes from the word wali, which means a very close friend. "We were your close friends while you were living in this world. You were never able to see us, but we were always there for you. And now we will continue to use this relationship to protect you in the Akhira. And you will have whatever you want in the Akhira." نُزُلًا مِّنْ غَفُورٍ رَّحِيمٍ — Allah says, there will be nothing but a continuous showering of blessings and forgiveness for this person.

The Soul's Journey to 'Illiyyun

When this person is placed in the grave, that soul of theirs is taken up — you could call it a gift box. Allah explained in Surah al-Waqi'ah that when your soul is taken out:

In the tafsir of this ayah, the soul is removed in this gift box, wrapped up in a kafan, and taken up. It's protected — it's a jewelry box for the angels. They're so happy that this soul is coming back home. They take this soul — where do they take it? They take it to this place known as عِلِّيِّينَ:

This elite area that only people who have a pass can enter. You know, sometimes you enter into the airport and there's a long line. You're like, "Man, I wish I had the Delta Lounge." Sometimes you walk into a flight and you're traveling to Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia for Umrah, and you're going in economy class. And you see some people walking with their heads higher than the airplane's roof going to first class. "Man, I wanna go there too." You need a pass to get there. That's first class.

This area which is called عِلِّيِّينَ — the elite area where only some individuals can get into. Their soul is taken into عِلِّيِّينَ, and it enters — and guess who's there to welcome them. This is one of the most beautiful things, and this is one of those things that brought me so much comfort after my brother — rahimahullah — leaving this world and entering into the next realm.

Jannatul Ma'wa: The Waiting Lounge

The moment one enters into the gates of عِلِّيِّينَ:

Allah explains in Surah al-Najm, there's this place called جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَى. Some scholars of tafsir state that جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَى is the quarter where the souls of the pious people collect and reconvene. So as we are reconvening in this gathering, there are people that are reconvening in the gathering of عِلِّيِّينَ, which is placed next to Jannah — you can call it the waiting lounge of Jannah. They're waiting in the waiting lounge of Jannah.

The waiting lounge of Jannah is such that:

There are beautiful sofas that are aligned, and the people that enter this waiting lounge are given a drink that brings ease and comfort to them. And as they enter, and the doors of this waiting lounge are opened up, the people that greet them are the Sahabas and their family members that have passed away before them.

So we may be meeting our family members in this world, but when our loved one leaves, he or she is meeting our grandparents, meeting our uncle or auntie or whoever has passed away. And they get together, and it's explained in the tafsir of these ayahs that when they meet, they hug each other and then they ask each other: "Hey, it's been so long since we've met you. We were waiting for you to come. Hey, how is that person doing?" I'm sure some of my family members asked my brother — rahimahullah, Shaykh Abdul Rahim — "How is Abdul Wahab doing? How is your mom doing? How is your dad doing?" And I only hope that he was able to tell them the good things that we are trying to do.

And then he meets the Prophet ﷺ and he meets the Sahabas. This is the gathering that we aspire to be a part of. We don't aspire to be a part of a panel which has the greatest self-made billionaires of this country. We don't aspire to be a part of a panel of politicians, celebrities, or athletes. No, no — we are a part of a panel of Sahabas. We are allowed to enter into a gathering that nobody else is able to enter into. And then we sit there and we talk to them.

The Questions in the Grave

And when the person is put back in the grave, this soul comes back into their body, and the soul and the body are now reconnected physically. And the questions come forth. And hopefully all of us are able to answer the questions. When the soul reconnects with the body in the grave, the soul and the body will be able to together answer the questions that are put towards them. And then the soul will once again — in some narrations — the body and the soul will go to عِلِّيِّينَ, and they'll be able to enjoy the gatherings of people in the Akhira.

So as we are living in this world and seeing each other and benefiting from each other and enjoying each other's company, there'll be people in عِلِّيِّينَ that are also enjoying each other's company. And that grave of theirs becomes a light for them — a light that illuminates beyond their walls that are covering them. A small hole or a small box that we put them in is not what they see. Rather, they're able to see with the soul that they have — the eyes of the soul — something much more beautiful. And that is their friends, their companions, their Prophets, Sahabas.

Visiting the Graves

And the beauty of all of this, as I was explaining — the soul is like a satellite. So when we go visit our loved ones, and there is no denying this fact, I don't care what anyone says — when the person is placed in the grave and you and I go visit people and visit our loved ones, the Prophet ﷺ reminds us that when we go visit them and we say salam to them, they respond to our salam. The Prophet ﷺ says that a person that goes to a grave — and that person knew them from before — and they say salam to them, that person responds to our salam. Not only does he or she respond to our salam, but they actually feel good by us coming there. They feel good. They feel comfort. They feel love. They feel a sense of relaxation.

And not that they need us to come, because they already have the company of people in عِلِّيِّينَ — the people of the higher realm. And that higher realm is where we all want to go. And the only way we're going to go there is if Allah continues to bless us with light in this world.

The Nur: Igniting Light in This World

There is a light, there is nur, which we talk about — it's not an abstract object, but rather it's something that is very tangible. And the more that we work on igniting this nur, the more light we will have. When there is no other light in the grave, the nur of our heart will propel light in our grave, will propel light in the Akhira. And if we keep giving ourselves light in this world — they say, keep saving for a rainy day — keep creating this light for the rainy day, so that the day we are placed in our grave, there is a light in the grave.

The only One who can give us light is Allah. And those that don't have that light — Allah creates a parable in the Quran where He talks about those that don't believe. They feel like they're working so hard.

"Should I not tell you about those people who are the biggest losers?" He says: "The biggest losers are those individuals whose efforts have been deviated from the right objective, but they are still making a lot of effort. They're working so hard." وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ — "And the worst part of it is, they think that they're doing something very good."

And I'll say this about our nafs — Allah says they work so hard. They put so much effort into this world. They put so much energy to get something that they are striving for. And they believe — Allah says they believe — "If I'm just able to get this one more thing. One more car. One more degree. A few more dollars, a few more zeros. One more child. One more vacation." They believe if they get that, it will give them satisfaction, and they're so thirsty for it that they're ready to do whatever they can for it. One more haram look, one more haram voice, one more haram word, one more means of haram income. "One more — that's all I need. If I get it, I'll stop doing it."

Allah says when they finally get that which they were working so hard for — it's like that thirsty person that thinks that there is water at the end of the road, and they run towards it. They're so thirsty. But when they finally get there, they realize it's a dry well. It was just a dew that looked like water, it was a mist. There was no water. لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا — They don't find anything there.

Sijjin: The Fate of Those Without Iman

And those people that don't have iman — their souls go to a place called سِجِّينٌ. سِجِّينٌ is this pit or cage where the souls of people that will go to Jahannam are locked up. And they start seeing and feeling the punishment of the fire while they're still in their grave.

How Long Is the Barzakh?

This life — the life of Barzakh — you want to know how long this life is going to be? This life is 60–70 years, 70–80 years, 80–90 years — maximum, someone lives 100 years. So the Prophet ﷺ explains that the life of the grave — the duration of it — is like the time between Dhuhr and Asr. That's it. Barzakh is like the time between Dhuhr and Asr.

Whilst we are struggling to wake up every day, pray our salats on time, go to work, go to school, live the struggle that we're living — people that are living the life of the Barzakh, one narration mentions that they just finished meeting their loved ones and the horn for the Day of Judgement sounds off. They just finished meeting their loved ones: "Hey, you're here! Yeah man, how you doing? I didn't see you for so long." Boom! The Day of Judgement goes off.

So the real people that are missing out are not those people — they're just in their waiting lounge. They've already made it. If you've made it to the waiting lounge, you most probably have a room in the hotel. If Allah takes us all the way to the waiting lounge of Jannah, Allah will make sure that we get the access towards Jannah as well.

The Day of Judgment: Four Stages

The topic of the life after death can be a very lengthy topic with a lot of meticulous details that we don't have the time for right now. But I think the general overview for us to realize is that there is a life that is between the life of the Akhira and the life that we are living now in our physical bodies, and that is the life of the Barzakh. Which has two folds: one spectrum of that life is lived within the heavens — which is called جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَى, in a realm called عِلِّيِّينَ — and the other part of that spectrum is our physical bodies that are still in the earth. But the satellite is still working. So when you go visit someone, and you say salam to them, they hear it, and they feel it, and they reply — albeit that the soul still remains in عِلِّيِّينَ.

And then, when we also pass away and are placed in our grave, the same thing happens to us. Our soul is taken out, it's taken in this gift box, it goes all the way up, it enters into this beautiful waiting lounge that has all of the Prophets, the Sahabas, the great messengers, and our friends and family members that we aspire to finally see. I tell people all the time that they want to be buried next to their loved ones — that physical closeness doesn't mean that you're really close. It doesn't matter where you're buried in regards to the distance from your loved one. Yes, it feels better if you're close physically. But the reality is that in the Akhira, in this realm of the Barzakh, they're physically together within عِلِّيِّينَ.

Then, a moment comes where the trumpet is blown, and we get together. And when we get together, the beauty of the Day of Judgment for believers is that we will be gathered once again within groups. The groups will be sorted not based upon ethnicity, culture, degree, or background, but rather the groupings will be made upon what quality we aspired to live by the most.

So if we were individuals that lived within the qualities of generosity, kindness, forgiving, and the qualities of worship — then we will be raised with those people. And if we lived within the qualities of lying, backbiting, jealousy, animosity, and leaving prayer — then those will be the people that we are raised with.

We will be raised within the groups that we chose to be within in this world. So choose wisely while you live here, because they will be the same people that you will be raised with in the Akhira.

The Four Stages of the Day of Judgment

Once we are raised together, Allah then continues to tell us that after the Hisab is done, the Day of Judgment has four stages. I will just say them, but I can't explain them all right now.

The first is what we call the Maydan of Hashr — the Mahshar — where every single human being will be gathered. This gathering will take place — some say Arafah, some say Baytul Maqdis — on the earth. And the angels will be brought down. Jannah and Jahannam will be shown to us, but there is no Hisab happening here. It's just a plain field. That's all it is. Their punishment was the Hashr — standing there and waiting for 70 years, with the sun closer to them than their own shadow.

The second stage is passing the Bridge of Sirat. While we are passing the Bridge of Sirat, many people will not even be able to make it across and will fall into Jahannam. They won't even have a reckoning. The people that don't have Iman will fall inside of this pit that is waiting for them. Believers will make it through.

The third stage is the Maydan of Hisab — where the reckoning will be done and the scales are. This is after the Sirat. If you make it across the bridge, most probably you are a believer and you will hopefully get through. But then there will be some people whose good deeds will be less than their evil deeds. And Allah refers to these people as Munafiqun — they will be sent back. And they will say — because they also crossed the bridge — "We thought we were together." Allah will say: "No, you are not together. Physically you are together, but internally you don't have Iman." And what lives inside will sooner or later express itself in the external realm of our life. If it's not in this life, it will be in the hereafter. If it's not now, it will be later.

So when we get to this place of Hisab, we get our Book of Deeds in our right hand. And the fourth part of this journey is when we will take water from the Prophet ﷺ — from the Hawd of Kawthar.

Entering Jannah Together as Families

Now, after all of this, Allah says something so beautiful — that after all of this, families will be gathered together and they will enter into Jannah together. The narration mentions that there will be someone that will be entering into Jannah, and as they are entering, they look around and say: "Hey, where is my mom? Where is my son? Where is my brother? My brother is not here. Where is my sister?" And Allah says: "No — We will bring them all back together." All the believers.

You know, there is one thing to succeed alone, and there is another thing to succeed as a family. Success is truly a success when everyone does it together. Or else, if one person is struggling in your family, it's not really a success story. So our responsibility — every one of us — is to become individuals that live not only for themselves, but live for each other. Not simply talking about the basic necessities of life, but rather talking about the more luxurious, lavish things of the soul. That we feed each other good things for our soul, so that on the Day of Judgment, when we are entering Jannah, we can see each other. And that will be real. And that will be enjoyment beyond any measure that can be calculated in this world.

Allah says the family will be brought into Jannah together. You know, sometimes in this world we sit down and we say, when we get together on Eid, or we get together as a family on a specific occasion — the brothers, the sisters, the parents, the cousins are all together — and now we've succeeded in something. We've made it into college, we've graduated, we've made it into grad school, we've gotten married, something has happened that we consider to be a success. And it may be a success. And there's nothing wrong with success in this world — rather it's encouraged. Allah says don't forget about your success in this world. Do it. Try hard, work hard. But not at the compromise of your Akhira.

Closing: Success That Truly Counts

And I ask all of you — whenever you do something in this world and you succeed, ask yourself this question: at what compromise? What compromise am I allowing myself to make? Is it at the compromise of my Salat? Is it at the compromise of me disrespecting my parents? Is it at the compromise of me doing something which was impermissible? Just because I've made it doesn't really mean I've made it. If I've made it but left everything else behind, then really I've clothed myself with a dead heart. It's a clone. It's not real. It's not real.