The Reality of Death - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah al-Hajah — Opening

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whom He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

Indeed, the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations, and every innovation is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Reality of Death

Indeed, all praise and thanks belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His final Messenger.

Every day we are reminded by it. There are those who pay attention to those reminders, and there will be others who will continue in their ghaflah — in their heedlessness — not paying attention to those reminders. You will see that many different Muslims have different approaches in dealing with those particular reminders.

Some are carefree, don't care too much, and live their lives as they wish. And then there are others who take those reminders as a real reminder. A reminder that one day they will stand in front of Allah and be asked and questioned about their deeds.

The rich person, the poor person, the sick person, men, women, presidents, kings, unknown people — everybody will face this. Everybody will face this without exception, and that is death. Death is a reality to every single one of us.

No one will survive it. No one will go and come back and tell us about it. Rather, Allah explains to us what happens in the hereafter, as did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, remind and tell us what will happen in those times.

It will come maybe when you least think, when you think that you are not prepared, when you are not ready — that death will come to that person. Allah tells us about a people who were in a state of heedlessness when it came to them.

And for many, it is a topic that when you talk about it, it brings about fear within them. "Don't talk about death. I don't want to know about it. It's morbid." So what is the correct response for us as mu'mins, as believers, as Muslims? How do we deal with such a subject — when we are talking about all that you and I have seen with our own eyes, and heard with our ears, touched with our own hands? That reality will come to an end. How do we deal with what comes next? That you and I have not seen it. We have heard about it. We have iman and faith in it. But yet it is still from ilm al-ghayb — it is still from the unseen.

The Weeping of 'Uthman ibn 'Affan at the Grave

'Uthman ibn 'Affan, رضي الله عنه, the great companion, Amir al-Mu'minin, رضي الله عنه — waqafa 'ala qabr — he stood at a grave. And while he stood at this grave, baka, bukaan shadeedan — he cried profusely. His lihyah, his beard, became very wet from the tears that he was shedding.

And then it was said to him, "O Commander of the Faithful, paradise and the hellfire are mentioned and you are not crying in that manner, but we see you here at the grave, and you are crying in this state."

And he said, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2308 — graded Hasan)

"The grave is the first station of the hereafter. Whoever passes this test will find that what comes later is much easier. And the individual who does not pass this test — then that which comes later will be even more severe."

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, also said: "I did not see something that was more frightening than that which I saw in the grave."

The Prophet's Tears at the Graveside

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the hadith of al-Bara' ibn 'Azib, رضي الله عنه — a janazah was prayed, and he stood at the side of the grave. And then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, jalasa 'ala shafir al-qabri — he sat at the edge of the grave — fabaka — and began to cry profusely, until you saw the drops of the tears of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, falling into the soil that was around the grave.

And then he said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4195 — graded Hasan)

"O my brothers, for the likes of this — prepare yourselves."

This is how the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would remind the sahabah, رضي الله عنهم — and that was their reaction in preparation for the ultimate certainty, and that is death.

'Ali's Address to the People of the Graves

One of the salaf — it is narrated that 'Ali, رضي الله عنه, said this. He said:

He was addressing the people of the graves. He said to them: "O people of the graves, people of restriction and isolation, people of darkness living in this isolation that you are in — as for your homes, they have been inhabited. As for your wealth, it has been distributed. And your women, they have been married. This is what we know. What information is with you?"

Then he looked at the companions who were with him and said to them: "If these people were allowed to speak, they would probably say: the best provision that you can take with you is the taqwa of Allah."

What Have You Prepared?

So death is a reality to all of us. How we prepare for it is what we should be questioning ourselves about. When a man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asking: "When is the Hour? When will it all come to an end?" — and this is of course ilm 'indallah, knowledge only with Allah — but more importantly, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, answered with what matters most: "What have you prepared for that particular day?"

Whenever that is — qiyam al-sa'ah — when you leave this dunya, knowing when it is matters less. The more important thing is: what are you doing now to prepare yourself for that time?

We ask Allah for husn al-khatimah. We ask Allah to give us a good ending.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise belongs to Allah. And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final Messenger, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and all his companions.

Loving and Fearing the Meeting with Allah

When death is mentioned, are you afraid? Does it scare you? Is it a topic that you maybe don't want to talk about? Or is it even a topic that you talk about and are quite carefree? "Yeah, inshallah, it'll come one day and I'll be okay." You could say that both sides of what I've just described are not states I want to be in — someone who is carefree, and another person who is completely heedless.

'Ubadah ibn al-Samit, رضي الله عنه, narrated that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2683)

"Whoever loves to have a meeting with Allah, then Allah will love to meet that individual. And whoever hates to meet Allah, then Allah hates to meet that person."

Some of the wives of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him — including 'A'ishah, رضي الله عنها — said concerning this hadith, it is not what you think. Rather:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2683)

The believing person — when death approaches them — they are given the glad tidings of the mercy and the blessings of Allah. There is nothing more beloved to that person than that which is in front of them. So they love to meet Allah, and then Allah loves to meet them. And if death comes to the disbelieving person, they are given the information — the news — of the punishment that is about to come to them. There is nothing more despised to them than that which is about to come, that which is in front of them. So they hate to meet Allah in this state, and Allah hates to meet them.

The Believer's Experience of Death

So the believer — when we're talking about death — it is not all sadness. In our salah, we seek refuge in Allah from 'adhab al-qabr, from the punishment of the grave. We say in every salah, as we are saying our tashahhud:

But we also realise that for the believer, there is a completely different experience. Na'im al-qabr — there is the reward and the blessings of the grave. From the time that the angels come to them:

"Do not be afraid of that which is going to come in the future. And do not be worried about what happened in the past." The glad tidings given to the believer when their soul is taken.

The believing soul is taken from the body — as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, described — just as when you tip a jug of water and the water flows out freely. As for the disbelieving soul, it is like thorns dragged through cotton, ripping the shreds apart. Likewise, the disbelieving soul shall be taken out of the disbelieving body.

But for the believer who is given those glad tidings — who is given steadfastness at that time — the glad tidings come from the mala'ikah:

"O beautiful soul, come out to the mercy and the blessings of Allah."

And then when the soul is taken up — having been shrouded and washed — the soul with a beautiful fragrance is taken up into the heavens, mentioned by the most beautiful names. They say: "What is that smell? This is the beautiful smell of Fulan ibn Fulan — the son of so and so." Until it reaches the highest of the heavens, and it is ordered to return to its body for an appointed time. And then the body is taken to the grave.

And as it is carried to the grave, the glad tidings continue for the believer. The believer saying: "Qaddimooni, qaddimooni" — "Bring me forth, bring me forth!" — to the place of meeting the ridwan of Allah in the grave.

Leaving This World for the Next

And this is not the end when the believing soul dies. It is not the end for us. Because what are you leaving?

Tantaqilu min dar al-kharab ila dar al-'amar — You are leaving this broken world into the new existence which has been built for you. You are leaving dar al-faniyah — this world that will come to an end — ila dar al-baqiyah — to the world that will last forever for you. And you will leave the companionship of al-bashar — the companionship of people — and you will go and you will have the mercy of Rabb al-bashar — the mercy of the One who is the Lord of all humans.

The Questions in the Grave

And when they are placed in their grave, the believer will be asked those questions:

"Who is your Lord? What is your deen? And who is your Prophet?"

And the believer will be able to answer:

"My Lord is Allah. My religion is Islam. And my Prophet is Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him."

The disbeliever and the munafiq will have no ability to answer those questions. "I used to hear..." — but they will not be able to answer. These are the glad tidings for the believers. It is not the end, but it is the beginning of the glad tidings that Allah promised those individuals.

Take Heed Before It Is Too Late

This can come at any time. And as is mentioned in the narration of Ibn 'Umar, رضي الله عنهما:

"If you wake up in the morning, do not wait for the evening. And if you reach the evening, do not wait for the morning." Death can come to you at any time. Take your health while you have it. And take whatever is remaining from your life — make the most of it.

The sahabah, on one occasion, were laughing — and laughing is halal, it is not haram. But the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, wanted to give them balance. He reminded them:

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

"Remember abundantly the destroyer of all pleasures" — to give them balance, so they would not forget their ultimate return to Allah.

Closing Du'a

So we ask Allah to make us those who are not from the heedless. We ask Allah to give us a good ending. We ask Allah to protect us from 'adhab al-qabr and to grant us na'im al-qabr, O Lord of the Worlds.

"O Allah, send your blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent your blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim. Indeed, You are the Most Praiseworthy, the Most Glorious.

O Allah, honour Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, forgive us our sins, O Lord of the Worlds. O Allah, we ask You for Jannah and for all that brings us closer to it in word and deed. O Allah, we seek Your protection from the Fire and from all that brings us closer to it in word and deed. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."