Ali Albarghouthi – Life Beyond – What Awaits After Death 1
AI: Summary ©
The importance of death is discussed in various ways, including burial practices, and the cycle of death. Visitors should share experiences of death to remember the burial, and individuals should pray upon the burial and not pray upon the burial. The speakers stress the importance of medically prolonging life, seeking medication, and proper conditions for major crime.
AI: Summary ©
In the name of Allah, and praise be
to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon
the Messenger of Allah and his family and
companions.
O Allah, teach us what will benefit us,
and benefit us with what You have taught
us, and increase us in knowledge, O Lord
of the worlds.
O Allah, help us in remembering You, in
thanking You, and in the goodness of Your
worship.
O Lord, ease and help us, O Generous
One.
The life in al-barzakh, and to be
more precise, I'm actually going to deal with
death, and then the life in al-barzakh,
which is the life in the grave.
So, the first thing that I wanted to
start with is, why do we need this?
Because if you have the proper orientation, the
proper understanding of why you're going to do
this, then insha'Allah the journey will be
more instructive, more beneficial.
Because obviously a topic like this, whenever you
want to talk about death, and I'm talking
about the next life, there's a lot of
intrigue that surrounds it.
And any topic that belongs to the imperceptible,
the ghayb, has a lot of intrigue.
So if you're going to talk about jinn,
about magic, about the next life, there's a
lot of intrigue.
And intrigue is great if it brings you
in.
Intrigue doesn't sustain you for the long haul,
because you lose interest.
Like, if you simply are motivated by intrigue,
you're going to be looking for the obscure,
the extraordinary, the hidden, the entertaining, even if
it's not authentic, even if it's not beneficial.
So just think about the issue of jinn,
and how a lot of us are attracted
to fairy tales about jinn and what they
are and what they do versus reality.
And reality is always based on what is
authentic.
So if it's simply just intrigue, it will
land you in this series, but it will
not sustain you.
So I want you to have a greater
motivation and intention than intrigue.
Maintain your intrigue, but you must have something
more than that.
And also that when we're talking about death,
it's not an opportunity for us to get
sad or paranoid.
You say, well, I have so much going
on in my life, I don't really need
to hear about death.
That's just going to depress me even further.
That's not the intent of it, nor that
this thing is going to do that.
This is how we link it in our
heads, but the more that you will understand
about death, inshallah, the more that this will
become clear.
So why do you want to do this?
Why do you want to understand death and
the next life?
So if you're going to take a journey,
and you're going to go through an airport,
and the person before you go there tells
you about all the procedures, custom, certificates that
you need to have, where to stand, what
to take with you, when not to take
with you, when you enter, go left, go
right.
Why do they share all that information with
you?
To entertain?
It could be entertaining, but why do they
share that information with you?
Why would you want it?
Because you are going to take that journey,
and you want to facilitate your trip, not
complicate it.
You want to know what to do, so
you are learning it so that you understand
what you're going to go through and how
best to handle that.
So any airport, port, entry, when you know
about it, it facilitates that crossing.
So when you learn about death, and you
want to learn about the next life, it
is to facilitate that journey.
It's to get ready for it before you
arrive, because there's not much that you can
do once you are there.
In an airport, you could argue, you could
try to maneuver, but with death, with the
angels, with Allah in the next life, with
rewards and punishment, you will not be able
to maneuver your way out of it.
So if you get ready now, you'll be
able to handle it later.
And Rasulullah, peace be upon him, when he
was once asked, اي المؤمنين افضل?
Who are the best believers?
He said, peace be upon him, the ones
with the best character.
قال فأي المؤمنين اكيس؟
Who are the wisest of believers?
قال اكثرهم للموت ذكرى واحسنهم لمبعده استعدادة.
He says the ones who remember death most
often, and the ones who are best prepared
for it.
So two things he mentioned, peace be upon
him, for a person to attain wisdom.
To be كيس, which is what?
You remember death?
Okay, is that enough?
What did he else say?
You get ready for it.
This is for that.
So in the other hadith where the Prophet
ﷺ said, اكثر ذكرى هادم الا ذات Remember
the destroyer of pleasures often, which is death.
There's a reason for that remembrance, because of
what it does.
So it's not just entertainment.
We want to take it or we want
to do something with it, بإذن الله عز
وجل.
So this is one.
Self-edification, self-improvement, rectifying ourselves.
Also, how that will help is how do
we deal with the dead once they pass?
Once they die.
How do we relate to them?
Can we benefit them?
Can they benefit us?
Can we communicate with them?
If we want to help them, how can
we help them?
So all these are relevant questions.
Do we pray for them?
What is صلاة الجنازة?
So that connection, that emotional gap that we
feel once they are dead needs answers.
And so we want to understand how to
connect with them after.
How to benefit them?
Can we benefit from them?
And also, how do we avoid misguidance when
it comes to the dead?
Because there's a lot of misguidance, wrong information
related to people when they die.
And how you can relate to them.
And how to protect ourselves from it.
Because whether you know it or not, a
lot of the shirk of the children of
Adam is related to the graves and to
the dead.
How does this happen?
Obviously there is something missing.
And also to separate ourselves when it comes
to death, the next life, from fairy tales,
from wrong information.
Which is entertaining.
But it's not authentic, nor is it beneficial.
So if we want to understand something about
death, which is beyond us.
Something about life in the grave, which is
beyond us.
What is the basis of our information?
Who has access to tell us?
There's only one.
And that is Allah عز و جل.
And then through Allah عز و جل, His
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
There's nothing else.
So if you want to know, it must
be based on that.
It must be based on the Qur'an
and the Sunnah.
And we're going to try to see inshallah,
if at some intervals or some instances, we're
going to come back and say, well this
is inauthentic.
So we cannot believe in this.
Because it's not based on the Qur'an
and the Sunnah.
So always have to keep that in mind.
That this is the jurisdiction, religious jurisdiction, that
belongs only to revelation.
So that's separation of fact from fiction.
Now related to this, and this could be
of interest to some of you.
Is that, does the mind, does the intellect,
affirm the afterlife on its own?
Not its details, because we have no access
to it.
But does it affirm an afterlife on its
own, if a person believes in a creator?
So if a person believes in Allah Azawajal.
And believes in his names and attributes.
Him being a just.
Him being the merciful.
Him being the all powerful.
Could you based on that, intellectually alone, affirm
that there must be a day of judgment
before revelation tells you?
So this is a dalil al-aqli.
So if someone tells you, how do you
know that there is a day of judgment?
It's the most obvious answer, and the clearest
of evidence is what?
Allah told us.
How do you know there is life after
death?
Who told you?
Allah told you.
The Prophet A.S. told you.
He says this is a dalil al-sam
'i.
This is evidence from revelation.
Great.
Is there also intellectual evidence to point to
it?
To support it even further?
We say yes.
Because if you believe that Allah Azawajal exists,
and Allah Azawajal has the attributes of justice,
power, and mercy.
Then you will say to yourself, there has
to be an afterlife where the weak are
going to be avenged.
Where the weak are going to be championed.
Where the aggressors are going to be punished.
Because we don't see full justice in this
life.
Do you?
Do you?
You see the unjust escape punishment.
And you see the weak killed.
Then you ask yourself, where is justice?
So there has to be a day and
a time where Allah Azawajal will bring people
back to life.
To punish the aggressor, and reward the aggrieved.
And bring restitution to the victim.
So this is an intellectual evidence.
And by the way, based on what we
said, can science confirm or deny an afterlife?
What do you think?
No.
Why?
Because what is the apparatus that science uses
for confirming or rejecting the hypothesis?
It is what?
Observation.
You observe something, you test something, and then
you know.
We are saying this is what?
Beyond human observation.
Beyond physical and perceptible observation.
So it is not possible for the science
to come and confirm nor deny.
Though Allah Azawajal had given you instances that
prove it from your life.
Which we are going to come to inshallah.
Also part of the benefit of remembering death.
That it is not just simply about death
then.
When I die.
But remembering death will and should affect you
right here and right now.
So in the hadith that you know, and
I just quoted, where he said salallahu alayhi
wasalam Remember the destroyer of pleasures often.
What does remembering death do?
What does it do based on that hadith?
It takes away attachment to this life.
Reduces it significantly.
So if you look at how we are
living.
We live most of our day, week, month,
and year for the sake of the dunya.
Absorbed in it only thinking or mostly thinking
about it.
That's what makes us elated and happy.
That's what makes us sad and depressed.
That's what motivates us.
We wake up for it and we go
to sleep thinking about it.
And even when we are sleeping, we dream
about it.
So all of our life is about what?
The dunya.
How can I get more of it?
How can I enjoy much more of it?
And you only think that because you think
or you forget.
You think that you are going to live
forever and you forget that you are going
to die.
But once you remember death, it pulls you
back.
So that thing that is supposed to consume
you, sadden you, make you happy.
No longer has that effect.
No longer has that strength.
Because it's going to end.
So death, remembering death, reforms a human being.
And makes you love Allah Azza wa Jal
more because you have no one but Him
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It also, what it does, it brings spiritual
and mental balance to you.
Right?
So he said, alayhi salatu wasalam, in another
hadith.
He said, أكثر من ذكر الموت.
Remember death often.
فإنه ما ذكره أحد في ساعة من العيش
إلا ضيقه.
ولا في ضيق من العيش إلا وسعه.
It says, remember death.
Because you will not remember death while experiencing
luxury or spaciousness of life.
But it will contract it or tighten it.
And you will not remember it while experiencing
contraction or tightness of life.
Except that it would make it more spacious.
So remembering death is medicine.
You know why?
Because he said, alayhi salatu wasalam, if you're
going through some difficult times.
And you think life is tight, difficult, hardship,
will never end.
He said, alayhi salatu wasalam, remember death.
Because when you remember death, it will give
you relief.
It will restore balance to you.
Because life had threw you off balance.
Made you think or believe this will never
end.
You'll remember death and you'll remember what?
This hardship must end.
Right?
It has to end.
It cannot last.
That's immediate relief.
And once it ends, I'll meet Allah azawajal
and Allah will give me this and that
if I'm pious.
So not only will this hardship end, it
will be replaced with ease.
And if I turn to Allah azawajal, He'll
bring happiness.
That alteration of your thinking is the introduction
of death and finality of life on this
earth.
And it restores balance if you're moving to
the other extreme.
Meaning, you're only thinking about this life.
Like a lot of us on social media.
What do you see?
What do you watch?
Food.
Makeup.
Bags.
Luxury brands.
Exercise.
What is it all about?
I'm not saying all of these things are
bad.
But what is it all about?
Dunya.
You're bombarded with dunya after dunya.
That's the only thing you think about.
Now, you happen to see the next video
and the next video is about death.
What does it do to the rest of
those videos if you don't really immediately scroll
away from it?
Because you don't want to see that.
When it's about death, it undermines everything else
you've seen.
Your body is not going to last.
Whatever you buy is not going to last.
And wealth will not bring you happiness.
You can't keep traveling away from your anxieties.
So, remembering about death restores balance and brings
you back to the middle.
So, if you mentally, spiritually have veered off
the path that Allah loves for you, whether
to the left or to the right, you
remember death will bring you back to the
middle.
And closer to Allah Azza wa Jal.
And it's quite toxic for a person to
only think about the dunya and care about
the dunya.
He said in a hadith, It's not poverty
that I fear for you.
But I fear for you that this world
will open itself for you and you will
run after it and it will destroy you
like it destroyed nations before you.
That's a weakness.
That's a great temptation.
How do you treat that?
He's saying, I'm not worried that you're going
to be poor.
I'm worried that you're going to be what?
What's the opposite of poor?
Rich.
I'm not worried that you're going to be
poor.
I'm worried that you're going to be rich.
So, if you are rich or if you
have money or there is luxury or there
is opportunity, you must remember death to protect
yourself from it.
Otherwise, it will consume you.
As he said, it did that to nations
before you.
So, you need it.
And it's needed also to fix the weakness
of the ummah.
I mentioned in the khutbah yesterday that the
Prophet ﷺ, when he noted the weakness of
the ummah, he said what?
He said that Allah will put weakness in
your hearts when there's a lot of you.
But you are ineffectual.
He said that he'll put weakness in your
heart.
They asked him, what is this weakness, O
Prophet of Allah?
He said loving the dunya and hating death.
So, if you want to boil down the
reason why we are weak, male or female,
young or old, as an ummah and as
individuals, you say that a lot of us
in our hearts, we have that disease, which
is what we love the dunya so much
that we'll sacrifice everything for it, including our
religion and Allah عز و جل.
And we hate death so much, we don't
even want to hear about it, nor do
we want it to fix us.
And that is contrary to the message of
the Prophet ﷺ, when he said remember death.
And we said we don't want to remember
it.
We want to run away from it.
And he says remember.
In another hadith, he says, He says, visit
the graveyard.
It will remind you of the hereafter.
So he wants you to do this because
it will fix you.
So we need that to fix us.
That memory, that encounter is important.
Finally, as in form of an introduction, is
this escapism?
Like are we doing this because we just
want to escape our trouble in this life,
so we want something to entertain us?
Or is it that we have failed in
the dunya, so we're just simply going to
focus on the akhira?
This is not it.
And I had a brother ask me, he
says, Is it that Muslims have failed in
the dunya, so they've given up on that
and they've given it to the non-Muslims
and they're just simply focusing on the akhira?
Abandoned the dunya, denounced the dunya, don't worry
about the dunya, is that it?
Is this how we're shifting?
I said, no, this is not what the
Prophet ﷺ was doing.
The Prophet ﷺ in his hefty emphasis on
avoiding the temptation of the dunya wanted to
create a human being who is a servant
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And you must in the beginning, you must
in the beginning, free yourself of the dunya
so that you don't become a slave of
it.
And when Allah sees that from you, He'll
give you the dunya.
But then you'll be in control of it,
it will not be in control of you.
You follow me?
So follow the trajectory of the sahaba to
understand this.
In the beginning, they were dispossessed, right?
Of land, of money, of homes, of safety,
of everything.
Allah took it all away from them.
Or He allowed the disbelievers to take it
all away from them.
Why did He test them like that in
the beginning?
Losing loved ones in the process.
Why?
So that the love of the dunya exits
the heart.
We're not living for it.
We will fight and we will lose our
lives for Allah azzawajal.
So the dunya leaves the heart.
Once the dunya leaves the heart, Allah says,
take it.
Now you have money.
Now you have power.
But now you can control it.
Now you can direct it in ways that
please Allah azzawajal, it doesn't destroy you.
So remembering death and being aware of it
is essential in doing this.
And when you see what the world today
and its ideology and its practices, it is
recreating the human being as a consumer.
As a slave of this dunya.
Social media but also political ideology and also
economic plans.
It's recreating.
You do not notice it.
It's an agenda but you don't notice it
because you're just consuming it.
But it does change you.
So remembering death is a project within Islam
to recreate the human being in a fashion
that Allah azzawajal wants.
So you are a servant and a slave
of Allah azzawajal.
Not of something else.
Now going into death.
Allah azzawajal in the Quran affirms it.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam affirms it.
Life around you affirms it.
كل نفس ذائقة الموت Every soul shall taste
death.
أينما تكونوا يدرككم الموت Wherever you may be,
death will overtake you.
So Allah azzawajal keeps reminding people that death
will reach you and you cannot hide it.
وَلَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُحَصَّنَةٍ Even if you
were to fortify yourself behind high and fortresses
that cannot be violated.
And that means that you can try to
protect yourself from death physically and otherwise.
You can take your vitamins, you can exercise,
you can eat well, you can do everything
that you want to do.
And it could help prolong.
But it does not protect from it.
So it's an inevitable destination.
It has to happen.
So if it has to happen, then a
person has to be aware that he has
to be ready for it.
And death can represent a duality.
Two things at the same time.
Something that can scare you.
Something that can terrify you.
You want to run away from.
But also something that is a connection to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So once when the Prophet ﷺ saw a
funeral, he said, مُسْتَرِيحٌ أَو مُسْتَرَاحٌ مِنْ He
says, experiencing relief or giving relief.
This person is either experiencing relief or providing
relief.
They said, what is that, O Prophet of
Allah?
He says, if he is pious, he is
experiencing relief from the agony and hardship of
the dunya.
But if he is impious, his surroundings experience
relief because of his departure.
Animals, humans, and the earth experience relief when
he leaves.
But note the first, when he said ﷺ
that if he is pious, he is what?
مُسْتَرِيحٌ استَرَاحٌ That he is experiencing relief.
So this moment of death, if the person
is pleasing to Allah عز و جل, is
a moment of relief.
And others have described it as a moment
where it's like a bridge between you and
your beloved.
It is the thing that will take you
to Allah So what is a better encounter
than meeting the one that you've been worshipping
and waiting to see for your entire life?
When you think about death in that fashion,
death is not something to run away from,
but it's something to welcome if a person
is pleasing to Allah.
As it was said, do you see a
person ever hating to meet his beloved?
If you really love Allah Azza wa Jal,
do you see the person hating that moment
when he finally gets to meet Allah Azza
wa Jal?
So that is one aspect of death that
if you think about it, it becomes less
terrifying, less daunting, but at the same time
of course it's the ultimate separation between body
and soul.
Getting into an area, a world that you've
never seen before, never experienced before, and also
you don't really know what's going to happen
to you.
Is it good or is it bad?
So that's also the agony of death, or
that is also the hardship of death.
Now Allah Azza wa Jal had given us
signs on this earth that point to death.
That when you see it, you can see
parallels between the actual final death and whatever
you are seeing around you.
One of them is sleep, right?
One of them is sleep, and Allah Azza
wa Jal calls it wafa, or like you
could call it, paraphrase it as smaller death.
Allah Azza wa Jal says, وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ
بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ
لِيُقْضَىٰ أَجَلٌ مُسَمَّىٰ He is the one who
takes your soul at night and returns it
during the day.
So your soul gets taken during the night
when you sleep.
In another ayah, Allah Azza wa Jal links
what happens to you when you sleep and
when you die.
He says, الله يتوفى الأنفس حين موتها والتي
لم تموت في منامها فيمسك التي قضى عليها
الموت ويرسل الأخرى إلى أجل مسمى Allah takes
the souls of those who die and those
who have not died but are asleep.
He takes both.
So he holds some, the ones that he
had destined that they are going to die,
he holds that with him and he releases
the other until an appointed time.
So both of these things are called what?
Wafaa.
But one is small and one is big.
One is temporal or temporary, the other is
permanent as long as this earth exists.
One is a temporary separation between body and
soul that when you're asleep, your soul separates
from your body but only temporarily.
That's why it can come back.
When you die, that separation is more lasting
until Allah Azza wa Jal brings it back
when you are resurrected.
So there's similarity between them and you may
say to yourself and that is something that
is open to human pondering, why is it
that Allah Azza wa Jal made us sleep?
What are the benefits in it?
One benefit that you may see in it
is that every day or every night you
die.
Right?
Every night you experience something close to death.
You lie down and your soul goes away
and you don't know where it goes.
And anybody watching you, if they just can't
see you breathing, they may say that you
could actually be dead and then your soul
comes back.
So Allah Azza wa Jal gives you daily
a reminder of what's going to happen to
you and everybody around you which is death.
So you keep seeing it.
But you don't only see it in humans.
You see it in plant life.
You see the movement of this earth and
the sun.
Right?
So this changing of the seasons cold, then
hot.
Winter, spring, fall and so on.
So you see how it changes from something
very dark, light goes away and then it
comes back gradually.
You see plant life responding to all of
this.
They're alive and then they die and they're
resurrected and they die and they come back.
And Allah Azza wa Jal 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 sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, لَا
يَتَمَنَيَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَلْمَوْتَ لِضُرِّ نَزَلَ بِهِ فَإِن كَانَ
لَبُدَّ فَاعِلًا فَلْيَقُلْ أَللَّهُمَ أَحِينِ مَا كَانَتِ الْحَيَاةُ
خَيْرًا لِي وَتَوَثَّنِ إِذَا كَانَتِ الْوَفَاتُ خَيْرًا لِي
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, عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ لَا
يَتَمَنَّ أَحَدُكُمُ الْمَوْتَ إِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا
مُسِيئًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَسْتَعْتِبْ 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, عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ لَا
يَتَمَنَّ أَحَدُكُمُ الْمُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا
فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا
مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا
فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْ فَلَعَلَّهُ
يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا
فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا
مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَادْ
وَإِمَّا مُحْسِنًا فَلَعَلَّهُ يَزْدَاد And the Prophet ﷺ
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 going to 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 سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى 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 لا يزيد المؤمن عمره إلا خيرا
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
going to take the initiative and end their
life and the other does what?
Just simply ask Allah for it.
He said, صلى الله عليه وسلم كان في
من قبلكم رجل جزع He says, there was
a person, a man who lived before خالف
جزع He was wounded.
He panicked.
He cut himself.
He continued to bleed until he died.
So Allah عز و جل said, بادرني عبدي
بنفسه حرمت عليه الجنة 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, يَا لَيْتَنِي
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, يَا لَيْتَنِي 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 عز وجل 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, 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 صلى الله عليه وسلم, if
you were to ever read this hadith, the
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم 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 عليه السلام said,
توثني مسلمة, take my life as a Muslim.
They said, this could be evidence.
He said, no, that's not evidence.
Yusuf عليه السلام was asking Allah عز و
جل to take his soul as a Muslim,
not to take it immediately.
But Maryam, the mother of Isa عليه السلام,
she said, يَلَيْتَنِي مِتُّ قَبْلَ هَذَا وَكُنْتُ نَسْيًا
مَنْسِيًّا I wish I have died before all
of this, and I was forgotten.
They say she was afraid, terrified of the
fitnah, 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
fitnah.
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 عز و جل,
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 عليه
السلام said, which is what, Ya Allah, give
me life as long life is good for
me, and take my life when that is
best for me.
And to say also the dua of the
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, وَإِذَا أَرَدْتَ فِتْنَةً
بِعِبَادِكَ فَاقْبِطْنِي إِلَيْكَ غَيْرَ مَفْتُونَ 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 عز و
جل will protect you from fitnah.
And if there is fitnah, 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 عز و جل for
it.
Right?
And adhere to the statement of the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم 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, with Allah عز و جل, 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 حسن الخاتمة,
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 رب
العالمين, 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.
Good, good.
Jazakallah khair.
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, you
know, reminding myself of death will take away
from it.
We'll say, no, not at all.
Because 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.
And the way that you take care of
your parents.
Preparing for death does not mean that you
think that you're gonna die necessarily tomorrow.
So you give up on school, your job,
and everything else.
No, I'm gonna die.
But until that happens, if I go to
school, do your best.
And do your best not for the sake
of the dunya.
Do the best for the sake of Allah
Azza wa Jalla.
And He gives you the dunya.
Do the best with your spouse.
Because you say, how long will I live?
I wanna do the best to them and
with them as long as I'm alive.
And I want to when I'm dead, for
them to make dua for me.
I want when I die, my children to
make dua for me.
You cannot do that or accomplish this and
tell you what are a good Muslim.
And you can only be a good Muslim
if death is on your mind.
So death is that motivator.
I'm leaving, do better.
I'm leaving, let me do more.
That's how death should be thought of.
Not like I'm leaving, give up on everything.
So if it motivates you, pushes you forward,
then you remembered it well.
If you think I'm gonna give up on
everything, then you didn't really remember death the
way it should be remembered.
And again, think of the Prophet ﷺ.
Think of the Sahaba and that's your model.
You remembered death, but they accomplished great things.
But as they were doing this, they also
kept in mind, yeah, I did this today,
but I could die tomorrow.
And that pushes ihsan, pushes excellence to its
limit.
Because you know, I may not have time
to do better.
Let me do better now.
Does that make?
Give you a couple of minutes inshallah to...
You're all good, you don't have questions?
I don't know, I didn't overwhelm you.
Today with a lot of information, right?
But I thought that the intro was important
for us inshallah to have a focus, a
good focus inshallah.
How do you explain what?
Death to kids.
Okay.
First of all, it's gonna depend on how
young they are, right?
So if they are too young, maybe you
wanna spare them until they reach an age
where they are able to process it.
But if they see or they start seeing
death around them, right?
Let's say that they take care of a
plant and it dies.
And then you explain to them how Allah
Azawajal gives life to that, to it.
From a seed that looks like it's dead,
it comes back to life, it dies.
But that death is a cycle because it
can come back to life and so on
and so on.
So Allah Azawajal is the one who gives
life and He takes it and He gives
it again.
So you explain it to them in terms
of where were we before, right?
And Allah Azawajal gave us everything.
And then Allah will separate this soul from
the body.
And then Allah will return that soul to
the body.
And then a person, everybody will be gathered
again and again.
It depends on that level of understanding, sophistication,
how much you wanna tell them.
And if there are things that are unsuitable
or too scary for them, you would not
introduce that.
But as a basic level, you tell them
Allah gives this, He takes it away and
then He gives it again, right?
It's a simple way, inshallah, of introducing it
to them.
So they have power of attorney.
He says a person in a coma, both
of them, he said, two cases.
So one is in a coma and then
after a couple of years they pulled the
plug and he died, right?
Okay, and then the second case is, how
is that different, the second case?
Oh, so is it halal or not halal,
for instance, to pull the plug?
So let's, again, because we didn't come yet,
right?
To the soul separating from the body, right?
And that moment of death.
So I'll delay talking about comas, inshallah.
And the condition where that would be permissible,
right?
To end a person's life, who's on life
support.
Let me delay talking about that, inshallah, to
reach that stage.
So I'm not going to want to jump
ahead, inshallah.
And that's also a reason for you to
come back and listen to the answer.
So the question here is that, is it
sunnah to remember death daily?
Should you make it a point of remembering
death every so often?
Or is it that when you notice that
your heart has hardened and you have strayed
away from Allah Azza wa Jal?
So notice here that the Prophet ﷺ did
not put a limit, did not suggest a
frequency, but he says remember it often.
And maybe that, wallahu a'lam, and this
is a guess on my part, it does
depend on the person and their condition and
their situation, where a person needs to remember
it far more often than another person, depending
on the state of their heart, the kind
of work that they are in, how their
spirituality is thriving or suffering at that moment.
So some people will need more of it.
And when they need more of it, then
you say to yourself, well, how do I
remind myself of death?
Well, one way is visiting the graveyard, the
cemetery, and spending time there.
One way is being involved in the masjid,
male or female, washing the dead, taking care
of them, driving them to the cemetery, witnessing
the burial, being around as the family concludes
the ceremonies and they get back, and repeating
this over and over and over.
So that's a way to remember death.
If that is not even available as often,
some suggest visiting the sick.
Because when you see their sickness, you see
also the fragility of life and how it
can go away and the fragility of health
and that nothing lasts.
So if you go and you volunteer or
you take care of them or you visit
the sick, if you know about anyone who
is sick, you go and you visit them.
So the frequency depends on the state of
a person's heart.
A person could remember death simply by reading
the Quran, right?
Simply by reading hadith.
For some people, it doesn't work.
They read this and that and it still
does not work.
So there is a barrier that they need
to cross and that barrier requires physical movement.
So that's why maybe when the Prophet said
remember, he didn't put a frequency or just
one particular thing.
Different things for different people and different frequencies
for different people.
Good.
So that's the other side.
If we remember death for some people, and
it doesn't mean that this is common, but
it has happened, how do we stop talking
about death and remembering death from turning into
a terrifying obsession?
It's something that keeps you up at night.
You lose the ability to function because of
it.
How do you stop that from happening?
Well, first of all, try to nullify that
by remembering that death is not entirely terrifying.
Like if you reach that level where death
is scary and to that extent, remind yourself
that death is not simply and only a
terrifying experience.
That you could meet Allah Azza wa Jal.
That you could meet the angels of mercy.
That you could meet, as we will discuss
inshallah later, lost relatives, right?
All these are possibilities.
So use death as a positive, not only
as a negative.
Now obviously you want death to scare you
a little bit for it to prompt you
to do great things.
But if you are suffering from that particular
condition, focus not only on the negative, focus
also on the positive.
And then ask Allah Azza wa Jal to
assist you in understanding death in the right
way.
So you don't suffer because of it.
You are not tormented by it, but you
are enhanced because of it.
So ask Allah Azza wa Jal for it.
So for you to be afraid of it,
that's natural.
For you to cry when you remember it,
that's beautiful.
For you to be up at night, unable
to sleep because of it.
If it had not turned into a sickness,
you could still tolerate that.
Because some of the salaf experienced this.
They would witness somebody who is dying or
somebody would talk about death.
They could not sleep the entire night.
Maybe they will fall ill for a couple
of hours.
That's fine.
That's within reason.
But it turns into a psychological condition where
I'm always terrified because of it.
Now turn it into something more positive.
And ask Allah Azza wa Jal to bring
you an assurance into your heart.
So you don't run away from death, but
you embrace it in ways that help you
now and help you when you eventually die.
That's my answer.
I hope that helps.
Yes.
Would you pray janazah?
I answer this because it's relevant, because it's
something that we talked about.
Would you pray janazah for somebody who had
committed suicide?
Now, what do you think?
I'm just going to ask you.
What do you think?
Yes or no?
Yeah.
So, here are two things to mention.
One, he's still a Muslim, right?
But he committed a major sin.
So even if you know that this person
has committed a major sin like any other
major sin, we still will offer janazah for
him, right?
Now, it could be.
It could be.
And that is up to the imam or
to the shaykh.
As a way of admonishing and highlighting that
this is a terrible sin, a prominent person
could choose not to pray janazah.
He could say, you pray janazah.
For the rest, for the congregation, you pray
janazah.
It's still offered.
But I will abstain.
And he will do this simply to highlight
that this is something terrible and should not
be done.
This is an individual choice that a person
can make.
Especially if they are prominent.
And their absence matters.
So that people will hear that, oh, so
and so committed this crime and the shaykh
did not pray janazah for them.
So if I do that, he will not
pray janazah for me.
Still, the rest will.
But he won't.
And there is precedence for this.
Because the Prophet ﷺ, in the beginning, he
would ask, does this person, does he have
a debt or not?
Does he owe people money or not?
And if they were to say yes, and
he did not have money himself ﷺ to
be able to cover that, if they said
yes, he says, you pray janazah for him,
not me.
But then later when Allah ﷻ kind of
gave him more money, he would take care
of any debt.
And he would pray janazah for that person.
Why would he do this?
To highlight the seriousness of not paying debts.
And letting that happen or continue until you
die.
So that's an option.
So it's up to the shaykh and the
imam whether they want to do this or
not.
Yeah.
I'm sorry, I'm not, I'm not, there is,
okay.
Okay, go ahead.
Now, so, just, I'm going to just answer
it very briefly because we will discuss this
at length, inshallah.
So your question is, at the moment of
death, can the person see the angels?
Yes.
Okay.
But the detail is to follow, inshallah.
Because we're going to describe it at length
and we'll describe it with the hadith, inshallah.
And what can he see and the possibilities
of what he can see, inshallah, rabbil alamin.
And then examples maybe, wallahu alam.
If parents pass away as Muslims but have
committed major sins, can we pray for the
parents' forgiveness and do acts of good deeds
on their behalf?
Yes.
So if the parents are still Muslim, they're
Muslims.
Right?
They're Muslims.
If they committed major sins, can you pray
for them, do good deeds on their behalf?
Yes, you can.
What type of good deeds you can do
on their behalf?
That, inshallah, we will answer, bithnillah azawajal.
Inshallah.
No one on this side?
Okay.
The brothers, anything?
You have a question?
Yeah.
Did they, I'm sorry, I cannot hear it.
Now, I said remember death often, right?
So your question is, did the Prophet, alayhis
salatu wasalam, and the sahaba always remember death?
Well, I mean, we don't have like that
detailed account to understand if they remember death
daily.
But we know that they did by the
fact that the Prophet was around.
Right?
By the fact that he was around, alayhis
salatu wasalam.
So we always remind them of something or
another.
So they must have.
So they must have.
And the important thing is, how can we
make this part of our lives?
Right?
So as I said, if you read the
Quran, if you read the sunnah, if you're
engaged in the community, if you take care
of the dead, if you take care of
the ill, then you'll remember death.
And the least of it is just, as
I said, visiting the cemetery, visiting the grave.
And again, we'll be talking about that, inshallah,
rabbil alameen, of who's allowed to and if
you visit, what to do and what not
to do, inshallah.
Okay.
So, anyone on the brother's side?
We're all good?
You still have?
Okay.
Go ahead.
Alayhis salatu wasalam.
I said, you have to go louder.
What state?
In what state it's taken from us, the
soul?
So I said that the soul is taken
away from us when we're asleep.
It says, in what state it is taken
from us?
Is that your question?
Well, we don't understand how.
The soul is mysterious.
And we don't fully understand when it's taken,
how it's taken.
Where does it go exactly?
How does it stay connected to the body?
But what we know is that it does
stay connected.
So, if you nudge someone, they'll wake up.
If there's loud noise, they'll wake up.
So it has some connection to the body,
to the physicality of the body.
But it also, Allah azza wa jal also
takes it into a sphere that is beyond
the physical body.
And that is a sphere where it will
be able to meet, as we'll discuss it
inshallah, will be able to meet the dead,
possibly.
So it means that there's an interaction.
There's a meeting.
But where does this take place?
How does it take place?
It's beyond us.
We don't really know.
And it's not described in ways for us
to understand in detail.
But we just simply believe in it, and
we see its effects.
Okay.
Okay, inshallah.
So, I probably, there's, oh, there's more?
Okay.
I'm just answering some online questions.
It says, what is the ruling on medically
prolonging life if a person experiences heart disease
and wants to prolong life medically even though
they are old in age?
As long as it's possible medically, there's nothing
to prohibit that.
As long as Allah Azzawajal had allowed you
to physically prolong your life, there's nothing to
restrict that and say, no, you must end
it or you must not strive.
Now, it's not an obligation on you, right?
It's not an obligation on you.
But if you want to, you are absolutely
permitted.
You understand the difference?
Right?
That is, you may have a particular illness.
For instance, this or that.
You don't necessarily have to seek medication for
it to prolong your life.
But if it is physically available, you're not
prohibited or disliked from pursuing it.
You could increase your life if that is
a possibility.
Right?
When we remember death, we think of Jannah
and the reward a lot more than hellfire
and the punishment.
Is there a way we can balance our
thinking between hope for Jannah and fear of
the hellfire?
Well, when you hear about the punishment in
the grave, that will provide some balance, inshallah.
So when we're going to be talking about
it, that will provide some balance.
So that when you are thinking about death,
you're approaching it with both hope and fear.
If it's just simply hope, it's not going
to be motivating enough.
And if it's only fear, it's not going
to be motivating enough.
It has to be both of them, inshallah.
Okay.
Oh, got it.
Okay, inshallah.
So, inshallah, let me just...
Oh, go ahead.
Yes.
No.
No.
So the brother is asking, he says, based
on the answer that I gave, which is
it's not an obligation on you to go
and prolong your life if you suffer from
a medical condition, though it is permissible.
He says, how do you square that with
the fact that your body is in a
manna?
And you have to take care of it
by eating well and medicating it.
And you're not supposed to endanger that body
or risk that body or waste it.
So where do you draw the line?
You draw the line by, wallahu alam, first,
you're not allowed to harm your body.
So it's an amanah in the sense of
you have to give your body what it
needs.
So the food that it needs, the rest
that it needs, the proper conditions that it
needs.
Now, when it comes to an illness, and
when it comes to seeking medication, the scholars
debate whether it is better to seek medication
because, see, when you are ill, it's different
than introducing illness to yourself, right?
So you're not going to bring that illness
to yourself, let's say, by smoking or gambling
or drinking alcohol.
That's harming yourself, and that's violating that amanah.
But if Allah, azza wa jal, sends that
sickness to you, He gives that to you,
then the scholars debate whether it is permissible
or disliked or recommended for a person to
treat himself.
And they have these different positions.
Why?
Because it's something that Allah sent to you,
right?
So the hadith of the woman that experienced
seizures at the time of the Prophet, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and she came and said,
O Prophet of Allah, pray for me that
Allah would heal me.
And he said, I can do that, or
you be patient and you go to Jannah.
And she said, I'll be patient.
So she tolerated that sickness with everything that
comes with it, choosing that in order to
enter Jannah.
So we say to any person who is
going through any medical difficulty, it's at least
permissible to prolong your life or to treat
your illness.
And it even could be recommended.
But it's hard to say it's an obligation,
right?
Because you could still decide that, no, I'm
going to live with this illness that Allah,
azza wa jal, has given to me.
And maybe this medication, and that is also
part of the argument that the scholars would
use, there is no guarantee that that medication,
that treatment, is going to lead to healing.
It may or may not.
So because of that, we can't obligate it
on them.
Eventually, we leave that to the individual.
If you feel it's better, go ahead and
take it, inshallah.
And for most people, I would say yes.
For most people, I would recommend it.
Why?
Because the patience that we have today is
unlike the patience of people before.
They could be patient with an illness to
the end.
But today, you could say, I have strong
iman, I'll be patient, I'll tolerate it.
And then when it escalates, then it'll come
back and say, why did I listen to
so-and-so?
I should have medicated myself.
So my recommendation, if somebody is sick, treat
yourself.
Treat yourself as long as you're convinced that
that is a treatment, right?
So that you don't come back later and
regret it and blame people for it.
And you say, oh, my iman, the imam,
the sheikh, they told me, and then look
at my condition at this moment.
I would recommend treatment, inshallah.
We're good, inshallah?
Okay.
There's no more?
Okay.
If a family member passes away, can the
female immediate family member go to the grave
site of the deceased?
We can answer that.
Not today.
Not today.
Because there's a disagreement of opinion about this,
and I have, inshallah, to take time explaining
it.
So, inshallah, that's for, I don't know, next
week or the week after.
We'll see, inshallah.
We'll conclude.
Subhanakallah wa bihamdik.
Ashhadu an la ilaha illa anta astaghfiru wa
atubu ilayh.
Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.