Those Who Miss Out on the Hereafter | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Friday Reminder

Those Who Miss Out on the Hereafter

There is one commonality between all humans, regardless of our age, ethnicity or background. We actually fear being left behind. This is something that we all share.

We fear missing out. This issue is so true to our innate nature — in our core — that the youngsters in today's time have coined a term for it, which is called FOMO: the fear of missing out. We fear missing out on times of happiness.

We fear missing out on an opportunity of goodness. When we hear about a business venture or opportunity that others were involved in and we had the chance to invest, and we missed out — we feel it. We fear missing our flight. There is a sense of anxiety that burns within us when we fear that we will miss out on an opportunity of goodness of dunya. No one wants to be left behind.

Even a child who is still growing in every way doesn't like it when his father or mother leave the home. They don't want to be left behind. Because it's very natural to be moving forward with everyone else.

If this nature of ours is so true in every aspect of life, how can it not be true when it comes to the aspect of akhira? And within this difference is how Allah differentiates a believer and a hypocrite. A believer will always look forward to rush in doing good. And a hypocrite, despite every opportunity being opened up for them, laid out in front of them, will be okay with being left behind.

The Battle of Tabuk: Being Part of It

They will be alright with missing out on opportunities of goodness. And this is shown and demonstrated so vividly in the story of Tabuk in Surah Tawbah. Allah speaks about perhaps one of the most difficult battles that Muslims took part in.

Though there was no battle, there was no engagement. For 40 days the Muslims traveled to Tabuk and came back without fighting anyone. But the fact of the matter is not what happened and what did or didn't happen. Who was shaheed and who wasn't shaheed? It was: were you a part of it or were you not a part of it? Did you get up and go or did you stay behind when you had the chance to go?

And the believers didn't want to be left behind — to the point that they came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:

They came and said, "Please take us with you because we don't want to be left behind."

The people that were blind, sick, unable to walk — even they came forth, because they realized being left behind and delaying in an act of goodness was synonymous to being a hypocrite. And they came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, please take us with you." And he said to them, "I don't have the means and the capacity to take you with us." And Allah speaks about their emotions when they realized that they were going to be left behind:

They turned away while their eyes overflowed with tears. Then compare this to those about whom Allah says:

They were happy not to go. They were content with being average.

The Three Categories of the Ummah

My brothers and sisters, being average is okay. Most people are average. But no one in this world ever celebrates an average person. Being average is never revered in this world. Being average is never celebrated in this world. It's accepted — it's not celebrated.

Being average in Akhirah is accepted. Allah says:

There are three categories of our ummah. All three of them will hopefully enter Jannah. The first of them are those that sin — ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ — and the Prophet ﷺ said about them: هُمْ مَغْفُورٌ لَهُمْ — they will be forgiven.

وَمِنْهُم مُّقْتَصِدٌ — and those that are content with being average. We are not content with our children having average grades, going to average schools, living average lives. So are we content with an average Jannah for them? Are we content with them having average piety in their youth? Are we content with their averageness and their normalcy in the way that they implement and embody Sunnah? If being average was something that we were okay with, then having a C-plus was okay — because that is the average. We're not okay with an average income.

وَمِنْهُمْ سَابِقٌ بِالْخَيْرَاتِ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ — and there were those who did not want to be average. They pushed the envelope and they moved forward.

Allah says about them:

There is no comparison between those who came before and those who came later. Because they rushed towards doing good deeds.

The Danger of Delay: Ibn al-Qayyim's Insight

On the Day of Judgment, those same people who stayed behind — who hid behind shoulders, who chose not to allow their intention to become an action — Ibn al-Qayyim says that the worst deed and the lowest deed is a deed that has the longest gap between the intention and the actual action. And the best deed is the act that has the shortest window between the intention and the deed itself. Because when the window is short and it's small, we give Shaytan less of an opportunity to divert us in different ways. We give him less of an opportunity to compromise what we want to do. We do it quick.

In the Battle of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ was encouraging the Muslims to move forward and push themselves in their ranks. And he was speaking about:

There was a young companion who was unknown till that point. As he sat there and heard the descriptions of those who would lead a life of shahada, he said to the Prophet ﷺ — his name was Humaid ibn Hammam — "Are you promising us a garden, Jannah, a garden that is ten times the size of this world and whose vastness is more than the entire earth that we can see?" And the Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes." He said, "Bakh bakh!" Then he said, "Why are you delaying this Jannah?" And he had dates in his hand — he left the dates to the side and ran onto the battlefield. He rushed so that he could fulfill the commandment of Allah with quickness, not with delay.

Those Who Delay Will Be Left Behind on the Day of Judgment

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 439)

The people that continue to delay in doing good, and are content with letting the opportunities of khair move forward with them being left behind — without any sense of sadness that they were unable to be a part of that caravan of goodness — Allah on the Day of Judgment will also leave them behind.

The Scene on the Day of Judgment

Allah says:

There will be pitch darkness, and within this dark expanse, Allah will grant people light. Ibn Abbas says: through the limbs of their body where they performed wudu or performed sajdah, that light will illuminate, and they will be able to see where they are going. And as they are traveling, people will come to them.

"Hey, give us some light. Give us some of your light. We're standing shoulder to shoulder. We're moving in the same lanes. Give us some of your light so we can also see." And the announcement will be made:

"Go back. Retreat — the same way you enjoyed staying behind in dunya. Go back and find your own light. You're not getting any of this light."

A wall will be dropped between them and a separation will take place — Yawm al-Furqan — where the believers will be on one side. And these are the munafiqun. And they will say from behind the wall — and this perhaps is the most alarming part of this beautiful scene that Allah illustrates:

"Were we not with you? Were we not standing side by side? Were we not present with you in the different things our community did?" And the response will be:

"Yes you were. But you delayed. You chose to let an opportunity of goodness go by."

Delay Leads to Doubt

And since you delayed between the intention and the amal — وَارْتَبْتُمْ — you were made to doubt yourself. When we delay in praying Salat, sooner or later it will make us doubt whether or not we even need to pray. When we delay in doing our istighfar, sooner or later we will doubt whether or not we even need to do istighfar. Because that delay will lead to a sense of entitlement. "It's okay. I didn't do it yesterday, I won't do it today either."

When we delay in doing good deeds, Ibn Hajar rahimahullah says this becomes the reason why Allah takes away the tawfiq of good from us. Because we were okay with delaying and not okay with rushing towards it.

Ibn Masood rahimahullah says Shaytan doesn't have the goal — for most of us — to stop us from doing good. That's not his goal. Because for most of us, he knows we're going to do it. We'll pray Salat. We'll give our Zakat. We'll go for Hajj. But for the majority of believers, his goal is to simply make us delay it so we can doubt it a little bit more. So that deed is now compromised. We're not as focused.

A Call to Action: This Off-Season of Spirituality

So my dear brothers, youngsters, and elders — as we have our summer break, or this off-season between Ramadan and Eid — normally it becomes an off-season of spirituality as well. It is our responsibility to say to ourselves that we have some time. Especially the youngsters — now, all those intentions that I made, let me go ahead and do it. If I had the intention to memorize Quran, why delay it? If I had the intention to serve my parents, why delay it?

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ says: whoever has the ability to go for Hajj, do it quick. Do it fast. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ says: being relaxed and being at ease is a positive quality — except in deeds of the Akhirah. In those deeds, we shouldn't just be lax and let the game come to us. We should go to the game.

It describes the individual who chooses to go to the masjid before the iqama is made — and hence the reward of sitting in the masjid before Salat is like one were praying Salat. Because we are amongst the ones practicing sabqa.

There is a difference between ajla and sabqa. Ajla is when we rush in doing the act. And sabqa is when we rush to get there — when we don't want to be beaten in that race. And hence Allah says what makes our ummah great and unique is:

And they rush towards doing good.

The Story of Abdullah ibn Rawaha at the Battle of Mu'tah

In the Battle of Mu'tah — and I'll end with this — there were three leaders that were chosen as generals: Zaid ibn Harithah, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, and Abdullah ibn Rawaha. They left on Thursday before Maghrib. They left the city of Medina and went into the outskirts to stay the night and camp so that in the morning after Fajr they could leave for the longer haul of their journey.

Abdullah ibn Rawaha chose to stay in Medina. And the next morning, he goes for Fajr, and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ sees him for Fajr. The Prophet ﷺ had already given these three people the glad tidings of shahada — so they knew they were not coming back. He sees Abdullah ibn Rawaha for Fajr, not sneaking away somewhere, for Fajr Salat. And he says to him, "What are you doing here? Hasn't your caravan already left?"

And he says, "Ya Rasulullah, they've left, but they are just in the outskirts of Medina. I will stay here until Jum'ah — and I have a fast horse. I will catch up to them. I can physically catch up to them before Maghrib Salat. So I decided to stay because I wish to pray one more Jum'ah behind you. Because I know I am not coming back."

So the intention of delaying was actually commendable. But the act of delaying was not commendable. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ says to him: though your intention was pure, know that you can never catch up to them.

That one night they had — leaving early before you — that reward you can never get. Though you can physically catch up and be with them by the time of Maghrib, because you delayed in your intention becoming an amal, you can never catch up now.

And this is the person who is going for shahada — not a person who is simply like us sitting on our couch. A person who knows he will become shaheed. But that delay was not commendable.

Closing: People of the Akhirah

So my dear brothers, youngsters, and sisters — like the elders that came before us on whose shoulders we stand — for the youngsters as well, it is our responsibility to move forward with the intentions that we made. We are the ultimate all-stars of procrastination. It is our responsibility to say that tomorrow, whatever intention I made in Ramadan or in the past few years, let it come to fruition. We make a niyyah, we work towards it, and the rest is Allah's responsibility to make it happen.

And Allah does not say that a person must live entirely for the Akhirah and do every single thing for the Akhirah. He says: whosoever lives for the Akhirah and makes a consolidated effort for the Akhirah, He will reward them. They will move forward and they will be rewarded for their efforts.

So may Allah make us amongst those that are not content with being left behind in deeds of the Akhirah. Make us amongst those that look and seek opportunities — just like how people of investments look for opportunities to invest their money, people of business look for opportunities to make more money, and people of education look for opportunities to take another class somewhere. People of Akhirah look for opportunities to please Allah. And in fact, people of Akhirah — the opportunities find them. Because they are people who seek it.

May Allah make us amongst those. Jazakumullahu khair.