Ali Albarghouthi – Life Beyond – What Awaits After Death
AI: Summary ©
The importance of understanding death and the need to focus on the importance of life is emphasized in a series of conversations. The speakers discuss the importance of having a strong faith in God, avoiding suicide, and not dying for death. They also emphasize the importance of taking life and not giving up on what the Prophet alayhi wa sallam said, as it is the ultimate goal. The discussion remains academic and the reality is that most people will wish for death due to worldly pressure, and advice is given on what to do when seeing a book or watching a video.
AI: Summary ©
And they die, and they come back.
And Allah عز و جل frequently shows you,
see with your own eyes that I'm bringing
something alive, that was, that its life ended
or seemingly ended, back to life, and then
back to life, and then back to life,
and see it in yourself.
That is also evidence of resurrection.
Now, related to death.
Because we talked about sleep, and how it's
related to it.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, لا
يتمني أحدكم الموت لضر نزل به.
فإن كان لابد فاعلا فليقل اللهم حينما كانت
الحياة خيرا لي وتوفني إذا كانت الوفاة خيرا
لي.
He said, let not one of you wish
for death because of a harm that had
come his way.
But if you must, then say, Ya Allah,
let me live as long as life is
good for me.
And take my soul if death is best
for me.
And he also said, عليه الصلاة والسلام, لا
يتمني أحدكم الموت إما محسنا فلعله يزداد وإما
مسيئا فلعله يستعتب.
He says, let not one of you wish
for death because he either is righteous and
his life will give him more of that
or either he is sinful and his life
will give him an opportunity to repent.
And he also said, عليه الصلاة والسلام, let
not one of you wish for death and
don't pray for it before it comes because
if one of you dies, his deeds will
cease and they will end.
And your prolonged life, if you are righteous,
will only increase you in goodness.
If you are righteous and Allah gives you
an extra day, an extra week, that only
increases you in khair.
Now this of course is not just simply
about death, but it's about something that maybe
a lot of us have felt or may
feel at one point in their life.
I'm so done with this, I don't wanna
live anymore.
Can I ask for death?
Can I ask Allah عز و جل to
take my soul away?
And you could be under so much pressure
that you don't really know what to do
with this.
And maybe some in that moment of weakness,
they'll say, Allah take my soul, I don't
wanna live anymore.
Because of this and because of this and
because of that, I just can't handle anymore.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave you
a way out of this.
But rather than assuming responsibility for when your
life should end, he said, give it back
to Allah عز و جل.
By asking Allah the following, Ya Allah, give
me life as long life is good for
me.
And take it away what that is best
for me.
You don't know in a sense he's saying,
right?
Who knows?
Allah عز و جل.
So rather assume that I can't go on
anymore, say, Ya Allah, I'm gonna give this
to you.
If you know that it's better that I
live for tomorrow, and next week, let me
live.
And if you know, because I don't, but
if you know that it's not good, then
you take my soul away.
And in that way, you've relied on Allah
عز و جل.
And if you happen to live an extra
day, what does that tell you?
That it was good for you to live
it, right?
And if you happen to live an extra
week or an extra month or an extra
year, that it was good for you to
live it, to stay alive.
Because Allah عز و جل kept you alive.
So rather than be fixated on dying to
get rid of your troubles, focus on why
Allah عز و جل had kept you alive.
So when you make that dua, it frees
you from the pressure of whatever had befallen
you.
And in the other hadith that we have
mentioned, he said, why are you looking forward
to death?
He said, if you are righteous and Allah
extends your life, that's a great gift from
Him سبحانه وتعالى because you could do more.
And if you are sinful and Allah extends
your life, that's an opportunity for you to
remember and repent.
Why do you want to die?
And in this hadith, he said صلى الله
عليه وسلم, لَا يَزِيدُ الْمُؤْمِنَ عَمُرُهُ إِلَّا خَيْرًا
He says, your life will only increase you
in goodness if you are a believer.
So that's healing.
That's a treatment.
That's assurance from the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم that no matter what you're going through,
if you just know these hadith and if
you say this dua, Allah will rescue you
from that oppressive state that you are in
by refocusing your attention on what Allah has
for you rather than what you are missing.
And connected to this is the issue of
suicide.
Because wishing for death is right next to
committing suicide.
The difference between them is that somebody is
gonna take the initiative and end their life
and the other does what?
Just simply ask Allah for it.
He said صلى الله عليه وسلم, كَانَ فِي
مَن قَبْلَكُمْ رَجُلٌ جَزِعٌ He says, there was
a person, a man who lived before.
قَالَ فَجَزِعٌ He was wounded.
He panicked.
He cut himself.
He continued to bleed until he died.
So Allah عز و جل said, بَادَرَنِي عَبْدِي
بِنَفْسِهِ حَرَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةِ He says, my servant
has rushed to end his life before me.
Meaning this is my prerogative.
This is my right, not his.
He rushed to take his soul before me.
Jannah is forbidden for him.
And another hadith, the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم tells us that whoever commits suicide will
continue to commit the same suicide in hellfire.
So if they throw themselves from a mountain,
they will continue to do that in hellfire
as their punishment.
So anyone who's thinking about or has a
hint of ending their life because of whatever
they're going through, just remember this hadith of
the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
You're running away from hardship and trouble, right?
That's why you want to end your life.
But what awaits you is greater hardship and
trouble if you do this.
And that should terrify you.
Because you will continue to kill yourself and
being brought back to life and experience that
pain over and over and over.
Because you've done something that is not yours
to do, which is you took your own
life.
Now this does not mean that that person
is a disbeliever.
If a person is Muslim, mu'min, and they
commit suicide, are they disbelievers because of it?
No.
Does it mean that they will be in
hellfire for eternity?
He says, no, it's a major sin.
It's a major sin.
But what does it mean when he said
صلى الله عليه وسلم that Jannah is forbidden
for him?
Meaning he does not have the right to
enter it immediately.
There's an obstacle.
There's a block.
It has to be removed.
Allah could forgive it.
Allah could forgive it.
Or maybe he has to be punished for
it first.
But that immediate entry into Jannah, that he
will be denied.
So that's another thing about death and about
the desire to end someone's life.
Now, issue related to it.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, قَالَ
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِهِ لَا تَذْهَبُ الدُّنْيَا This is
of the signs of the Day of Judgment.
He says, I swear by the one who
has my soul in his hand, this world
will not end until a man would pass
by a grave and he will throw himself
on it, rolling in the sand on top
of the grave.
فَيَتَمَرَّغُ عَلَيْهِ وَيَقُولُ And he said, يَلَيْتَنِي كُنتُ
مَكَانَ صَاحِبِ هَذَا الْقَبْرِ وَلَيْسَ بِهِ الدِّينُ إِلَّا
الْبَلَاءِ He says, I wish I was in
the space or in the spot of that
dead person.
And he's not doing this religiously or because
of a religious motivation.
It's the hardship that he's going through.
And in another hadith similar to it, he
will say, يَلَيْتَنِي مَكَانَهُ مَا بِهِ حُبُّ لِقَاءِ
اللَّهِ He says, I wish I was in
his space.
He's not saying this because he loves meeting
Allah Azza wa Jalla but because of his
hardship.
So, think about this image and ponder it
a bit with me.
He says, the day of judgment will not
come until a man will do this.
He'll pass by somebody who's dead.
And this person is experiencing so much worldly
hardship, so many fitan, that he'll throw himself
on the grave and said, you're the lucky
one.
I wish I was there instead of you.
And he said, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, his
motivation is not religious.
His motivation is worldly, meaning there's so much
worldly pressure on him, worldly afflictions, trouble that
he wishes to die.
And that indicates the severity of hardship as
the day of judgment approaches.
So, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, if
you were to ever read this hadith, the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is not approving
of this behavior.
He's just simply noting it.
He's noting that this is going to happen.
Now, some scholars reflected on this.
And they said, can we based on this
hadith ask for our life to end out
of fear of religious temptation?
Not worldly pressure, but religious temptation.
We're afraid of religious fitness.
We're afraid of losing our faith.
So, we ask Allah to take our life
before that happens.
And they say, well, Yusuf alayhi wa sallam
said, tawaffani muslima, take my life as a
Muslim.
They said, this could be evidence.
He said, no, that's not evidence.
Yusuf alayhi wa sallam was asking Allah azza
wa jal to take his soul as a
Muslim, not to take it immediately.
But Maryam, the mother of Isa alayhi wa
sallam, she said, ya laytani mittu qabla hadha
wa kuntu nasyan mansiyya.
I wish I have died before all of
this, and I was forgotten.
They say she was afraid, terrified of the
fitan, of what people would say.
Based on that, some scholars have said, the
only exception for wishing for death is if
a person is afraid of religious temptations, religious
fitan.
He cannot hold on to his or her
faith anymore.
And he is afraid that if he continues
to live, he will lose his faith.
Then they can ask Allah azza wa jal
to take my soul before that happens.
And they cite some of the salaf who
have done this.
But we go back and we say, the
best is to say what the Prophet alayhi
wa sallam said.
Which is what, ya Allah, give me life
as long as life is good for me,
and take my life when that is best
for me.
And to say also the dua of the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa idha aratta
fitnatan bi'ibadika faqbidni ilayka ghayra maftoon.
And if you Allah, if you want to
tempt your creation or your slaves, ya Allah,
take my soul untempted.
So that dua is sufficient, right?
For you to supplicate, so Allah azza wa
jal will protect you from fitna.
And if there is fitna, that's gonna happen,
that Allah will take your soul before it
actually affects you.
But realistically and practically, right?
Because this discussion, and I wanted to note
that discussion, so that if you ever face
it or read it in a book, you'll
be aware of what the scholars are saying.
But this discussion remains academic.
And the reality is that most people, if
they're gonna wish for death, they're not gonna
wish for death because of religious reasons.
Most people who wish for death, they wish
for death because of worldly pressure.
And that is why we say never wish
for it.
And never ask Allah azza wa jal for
it, right?
And adhere to the statement of the Prophet
salallahu alayhi wa sallam when he said, if
it's good for me, bring it.
If it's not good for me, then not.
So I wanna stop here, inshallah, because I
wanna see if you have questions.
Next week, we're gonna talk about the good
signs of a good death and the bad
signs of a good death.
So what are the things that happen to
a person?
When you see them, you say, this is
an indication or a sign of husnul khatima,
a good ending.
And the things that if you were to
see, you will say these are signs of
a bad ending.
And then how do you or what do
you do and how can you live in
ways to at least guarantee or increase your
chances of having a good ending and avoiding
a bad ending.
And maybe inshallah if we have time, we'll
also discuss the moment of death itself.
So let me know inshallah if you have
questions about what we said.
And what I want from you inshallah rabbil
alameen, because I wanna try to be as
exhaustive as possible or at least to answer
all of your questions or anticipate all of
your questions as possible.
But because of that, I would need your
feedback.
So if there's something that I've missed or
something that you wanna know, let me know
about it.
If you're watching online after this is published
inshallah, include it in the comments.
If you're here, let me know about it.
So I say okay maybe I've missed this,
let me answer that.
So most of you inshallah can benefit from
that answer.
So let me know inshallah.
So your question, I'm gonna delay answering your
question inshallah till we reach that stage.
But your question is about somebody in a
coma stage.
Is he in the barzakh already or is
he not?
So I'll let that inshallah or delay it
until we reach that stage when the soul
is taken and then we can answer that.
But I appreciate your question inshallah.
So the brother is asking, so as a
young man who has plans and who has
obligations in life, taking care of this and
this and that, and things that I wanna
achieve, at the same time I also wanna
remember death and be ready for it.
How do I find the balance between the
two?
And I understand you saying that the fear
is that maybe if you lean too much
on one side, so if you remember death
too much, you'll start to giving up on
those responsibilities because they're not important.
And whereas if you focus on this world
and your obligations and the achievements that you
wanna get, you're gonna forget about death.
We say you'll not be able to achieve
good balance and in fact be a good
achiever and someone who truly can take care
of his parents and have a happy family
and have good children if death is absent.
So death is that kind of balancing factor
that will bring you always back to the
middle.
If you say, I wanna take care of
my parents but remembering about death or reminding
myself of death will take away from it.
We'll say no, not at all.
It's just simply how you think about it.
If you think about, I'm gonna die and
I may die soon.
Let me do whatever I can to take
care of my parents while I'm alive.
To be kind to them while I'm alive.
Let me take every opportunity to do good
while I'm alive because I don't know when
I'm gonna die.
That will perfect and improve your good deeds.