Allie Goder – 3. What Should I Be Doing
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
We praise and we glorify
Allah We send peace and blessings and salutations
upon our beloved prophet, Nabi Muhammad
We thank Allah for the countless favors and
bounties which he has bestowed upon us.
The favor of iman,
the favor of Islam,
the favor of life itself.
And if we ponder and contemplate this life
that we are currently living,
our existence in this world
together with what we've come to know and
learn
from the words of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
from the words of Rasulullah
we have to come to one conclusion.
And that conclusion is
that
what else is there to do
but to?
And I give you a moment
to perhaps complete that
statement for yourself,
and then we complete it together,
and that is
but to prepare
for death
to prepare
for death.
Now this may sound very somber,
very depressing,
but, actually, on the contrary,
it depends on the vantage point
from which you're looking at it.
It should actually be
a very pleasant and exciting
thought.
Take for example if you are
going on a journey to a very
beautiful exciting destination.
The preparation for that journey is going to
be depressing or exciting.
We wait
for that journey. Is it going to be
an exciting wait or a depressing wait?
Obviously, because the destination
is so exciting
and so beautiful,
it's going to be something pleasurable.
In the same way,
where are we actually going to after death?
And that is to meet Allah
to Jannah Insha'Allah.
So it should be an exciting thought, an
exciting endeavor Insha'Allah,
not a depressing one.
So
that is why we wake up every morning.
We
are waking up
and we are living out our days to
come to the end,
and
it could be said simply
that we are living
to die.
And this we get from the words of
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Surat Suratul Anam verse number 60. It says
Allah
Yee, Allah is the one who
he takes your soul
at night.
This refers to our sleep every night.
It's
a manner of or a type of death.
Some people like to refer to it as
the small death.
So Allah takes our soul at night when
we go and sleep
and he knows
whatever it is
that you do, what you get up to,
your deeds and actions
during the daylight hours, during your wakeful hours.
Then and then he resurrects
you, he raises you, he wakes you up
back into the next day. And this happens
every day, Every morning after we have slept
and Allah has taken our soul, Allah puts
our soul back into our bodies, we wake
up, and then we go into the next
day,
day in and day out.
And then the next word Allah says,
That over there, that
has the meaning of so that
or in order to. It's called in Arabic,
the lamb that gives reason.
So Allah is giving the reason why we
go through these days.
And the answer is and the reason is
so that be completed
or so that be fulfilled
a
specific term, an appointed term.
SubhanAllah, while we were in the wombs of
our mothers,
when our soul was blown into the fetus,
at that day, 120
days after pregnancy of our mothers,
the angels came and they wrote down every
single detail regarding you and I. And one
detail was
exactly
how many days we have to live on
this dunya. Not a single one of us
knows how many days we've been given.
We do not know how many days we
have left, but what we certainly do know
is that every day that passes
is a day closer to this appointed term.
And that day will finally come, but we
have to live out those days and that
is why we go sleep and we wake
up every day. Then
then what happens?
Then to him is our return. So this
is our journey. We are going to return
to Allah
And when we return to Allah
what's going to happen
on that return?
Then he is going to inform us.
Worth that which you are doing in this
worldly life.
Hold this thought
of having to report to Allah Allah informing
us about our actions in this world and
that has a bearing on the next topic
of discussion
which is fear.
We all have this emotion called fear,
some to a greater degree or a lesser
degree,
and we fear things about the future.
What is going to happen in the future?
So,
basically, there are 3 things.
We can categorize
our fear into 3 things. We can fear
things that could possibly happen.
For example,
mishaps and accidents that could possibly befall us
in the future.
We could fear things
that will probably happen, and that is if
Allah decides to give us long life on
this dunya,
then we fear that we will become frail
and will develop many ailments.
That is probable,
although
many a person, many an elderly person,
because they've looked after themselves,
ate healthy,
exercised.
In their old days, they are still strong
and healthy.
It's much stronger and healthier than many younger.
And then the third thing is
we fear
something that will befall us in the future
that is not possible,
is not probable,
it's
absolutely
definite.
And one of those things is or the
thing is that we fear about this
is
death.
There's no escape.
And it's interesting to note
that that is the thing we fear most
and that is definite,
SubhanAllah.
And so says Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
to his Habib, his most beloved Nabi Muhammad
and the message
extends to us.
Continue to worship you, lord,
until
comes to you.
Until what comes to you, and then Allah
uses a word
until
al yaqeen
comes to you. And this is so beautiful
in the Quran
how in certain places Allah uses
a specific word as a synonym
for the actual word
to to bring out and to highlight that
essential meaning
that Allah wants to convey.
And Allah uses the word al Yaqeen. Al
Yaqeen means what? Al Yaqeen means the certainty,
that which is absolutely certain.
What is Allah referring to? Allah is using
it as a synonym for for death.
SubhanAllah.
Also, Allah is reminding us of the certainty
of death because sometimes we behave in this
world as if we don't know or as
if we've forgotten,
Subhanallah.
You are all familiar
with the saying,
do not count your chickens before they are
hatched, and we understand it makes perfect sense.
Just like a mother when she's pregnant,
we have no guarantee
that this baby will ever see the light
of day. We have no guarantee that this
baby growing in the womb of the mother
will ever live a moment in this world.
But the moment that baby is born into
this world and there's life,
then there's a guarantee
that after that life, there will be death,
Subhanahu wa'ala. And so the opposite
of that saying, don't count your chickens before
they are hatched,
could be this particular word of Rasulullah
says Nabi Muhammad
count yourselves
amongst the dead because that is certain. You
can count yourself as someone who is already
dead
because that's that is a a certainty. It's
an absolute.
So we fear death, but how can we
reduce? Is there a way to reduce our
fear for death?
Many people,
they deal with this by not thinking about
it, by putting it out of their minds
as if it's not going to happen to
their detriment.
What is it that causes us to fear
death?
A part of it is
the unknown.
Man is an enemy to what he doesn't
know.
But also as believers,
we'll be informed
about what is going to transpire after death.
This becomes also the part of the fear,
and that is how will we fare
in the various
events and stages after death at the moment
of death itself,
then in the grave, then the resurrection,
and then the handing of the books and
the scales and meeting Allah and then eventually
Jannah or Jahannam,
how will we fare?
That is also
a big cause of our fear
as believers.
And so do the Bani Israel, the Jews,
they also believe in the year after. They
also believe in Jannah.
In fact, not only do they believe in
Jannah,
but they believe about Jannah is that it's
for them only.
If you are a Jew,
you hit the jackpot,
you will go to Jannah because you are
from the chosen nation. If you are not,
then that's your bad luck. You will never
ever see Jannah. This is the aqeedah.
This is the belief. And so Allah calls
them out on that belief. And Allah says
in Surat Al Baqarah verse number 9495,
say
say to them, oh Mohammed,
if
for you
is the abode of the year after,
referring to Jannah.
By Allah
only,
solely, exclusively,
with
the exclusion of all others
then you should wish for death
because your claim is that you are the
chosen nation and you and you alone will
go to Jannah. What stands in between you
and Jannah? It is death. So you should
actually be wishing for death.
Just like the Sahaba
SubhanAllah,
when they came to learn about Jannah
and about
how becoming a shahid will earn them immediate
entrance into Jannah.
They
loved martyrdom in the path of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. One hadith in particular
where one Sahabi asked the prophet of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
if I were to be killed here in
this battle,
where would I be? And the prophet responded
with one word, Jannah. You'll be in Jannah.
And so he immediately threw himself in the
thick of the battle and fought courageously
until he was martyred. SubhanAllah.
So this is if you truly believe
in
Jannah
and truly believe in the words of Rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
But you are back to the.
So Allah says,
so you should wish for death
if you are truthful
regarding your claim.
But then Allah again in the next verse
tells us what their response will be and
Allah says
Allah says it very emphatically.
They will never ever ever wish for death.
But why?
Why if Jannah is theirs?
And the answer Allah gives immediately
and Allah says
It is because of what their hands have
sent forth,
meaning because of the sins that they have
committed.
This is the cause for fear of death.
Depending on what you have
in your book of deeds,
do you have an abundance of sin
and your good deeds are lacking,
or do you have an abundance of good
deeds and your sins are at a minimum?
That will be the cause of the fluctuation
of your fear for death, subhanallah.
The more good we have, the more a
bada we have in our books, on our
again, in in our favor, on our name,
the lessons we have
that will surely reduce
the fear for death
and vice versa,
subhanAllah,
because we have something to hope in. We
have something to hope for now. We are
hopeful that what we've done, because we have
done good deeds, that that will be accepted
by Allah
But if not,
if,
we had
no good deeds or very few good deeds
in our name, then what is there to
hope for, SubhanAllah?
And that will be a cause of fear.
And Allah is Allah is infinitely knowledgeable.
With regards to the wrongdoers. Allah, save us
from being from the wrongdoers.
The topic of death
is a topic that we generally don't like
to speak about.
However, it is in fact a topic
that Nabi Muhammad
tells us that we should be speaking about
it so much.
And why is it so important
that we speak about death, that we mention
death, that we think of death so often
because the very way
that we are to structure our life, our
lives,
the very way we're supposed to structure and
then live our lives has to revolve around
this reality, and this we learn from the
words of Rasulullah
when he speaks to Abdullah ibn Umar
who says,
call her Rasulullah
The Messenger of Allah said to him,
says Abdullah ibn Umar. That the messenger of
Allah put his hand
on his shoulder.
And then said to him,
Be in this world
as if you are a stranger.
Means
live your life in this world
as if you are a stranger.
Oh,
or a wayfarer,
a passerby,
a traveler.
So what does this mean?
Think of how a traveler is when he's
on journey.
He comes to a particular place and he's
maybe going to rest there or reside there
for just a few days and then move
along again very shortly.
So
he doesn't make himself
too comfortable.
He only makes arrangements
that is in accordance with the duration of
stay,
and he knows very soon he is ready
to leave.
That is the way of a traveler.
In the same way, we should know that
our departure is very soon, and we should
be ready for that departure
and not anchor ourselves in this world in
such a way that it seems like we're
going to be here forever.
We are travelers. Very soon, the departure is
coming. Are we ready? Are our bags packed
is the question.
And would then say after that, you would
have a saying,
and it would be
When you make the evening, when you retire
at night, then
do not expect to see the morning. Tell
yourself that it may be that Allah's decree
is that my roof will be pulled during
the course of the night. Imagine how we
will retire for the night.
And when you wake up in the morning
again,
then do not wait for the evening. Do
not expect to see the evening. Tell yourself
that it may be that today
is Allah's decree that I will leave this
world. Imagine the actions of that day.
And use your health,
use your strength and vitality
to do good and become punctual on good
things, on good deeds.
Limalovidic,
less illness befalls you so that if it
so happens that an illness befalls you, whether
it's temporary or permanent,
then by a virtue of you having done
good deeds and you were regular on good
deeds, while you could do it, and now
in your
sick days, you can no longer do it,
you earn the exact same reward as if
you are still doing it.
And for in your life that you've been
given,
do in that life that is going to
be of benefit to you when death eventually
comes and after death. These were the words
of Abu
alib
ibn
Umar.
Planning for the future
is something
that we heard as we were growing up.
Our teachers,
our parents drilled this into us that we
have to plan for the future. That is
why we go to school. That is why
after school, we matriculate.
We then go to tertiary institutions because we're
planning for the future
to secure
a good and safe future.
However, were we told were we taught
that there are 2 futures?
Future number 1,
from now up until death.
Every moment from here onwards is the future
until we eventually die.
And future number 2,
from death until eternity.
What can be said
regarding future number 1?
That it is short
and uncertain.
No matter how many years you are given,
even if Allah gives you 100 years,
it is still short in comparison to eternity.
And it is uncertain
because
we don't even know whether we would see
the end of this day.
We don't even know if we'll see tomorrow,
let alone
a year, let alone 10 years. So it
is so uncertain.
What can be said about future number 2?
That it is absolutely certain
and it is forever,
super hungover.
So which one of the 2 futures would
you say
requires more of our attention,
requires more of our effort?
Which one you should be be preparing for
mostly?
And the answer is a no brainer. It
is
future number 2.
But which one of the 2 futures are
we actually giving more attention to, actually putting
in more effort for?
And for
the most part, we know that we are
guilty
of that
and says,
Allah.
Al
Malu Suratul Kahf verse number 46.
Wealth,
worldly possessions, material possessions,
wal banuna
and children.
Zeenatul
hayatul
dunya.
They are the adornments of this worldly life.
Allah is implicitly saying
that
they are temporary.
These things,
your wealth and your children,
they are temporary.
And the next,
statement of Allah
explains that
and
Allah uses a word.
And again, we see how beautifully
Allah uses certain words as synonyms for other
words. What's the meaning of al baqiat?
It means
something that will last and remain.
And why is Allah intending with that word
in this verse? Allah's intending to mean
Deeds.
Why? Because deeds are the only things
that will make the journey with you into
the next life, into the next world. Whereas
your wealth and your children,
they will stay behind. They cannot make the
journey with you in the to the year
after. So Allah
says,
righteous,
good deeds that will last,
khairun,
is far better. Far better than what? Than
any material possession.
Far better than the children that you have
in this dunya.
By Allah
as a means to earn reward
and as a means to have hope
for success in the year after.
If you have good deeds in your name
and then you have something to hope in
by Allah, you now can be hopeful of
Allah's mercy and hopeful of eventually entering into
Jannah.
But let's assume you have nothing. It's just
like someone who hands in a an empty
answer sheet after writing an exam.
No. Nothing written on that sheet. Can that
person ever hope to pass?
Absolutely not.
So in the same way, if you have
no deeds or little deeds, how can you
ever hope for Allah's mercy?
Says Allah
in Suratul Qasas verse number 60.
And whatever you have been given
of anything in this world,
it is the provisions
of this worldly life
and its adornment. And again, Allah is implicitly
saying
2 things about it. Number 1, it's inferior
because it's of this world, and number 2,
it is short lived. It will definitely come
to an end very soon.
And that we learn from the continuation of
the verse.
But what is by Allah,
is
far better is superior
or other car and it is everlasting.
And then Allah ends the verse by saying,
don't you understand this?
Allah ends the verse like this because
the way we live our lives on this
dunya seems like we don't understand.
So much effort is put into
this world
compared to the effort put into the year
after. So Allah has to ask us, don't
you understand?
Thinking of death
as is mentioned by Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
must be a regular occurrence, in fact, every
day according to the saying of Abu Dhabi
b'amu. But why?
Why? What what is the
desired outcome of that?
And the answer is it should produce 3
things within us.
Just consider
the example.
If you visited your physician
because you were not feeling too well and
the physician
diagnoses you with a rare terminal illness.
And according to statistics,
the stage at which the illness is within
you
gives you
3 months left on this dunya, SubhanAllah.
Think about what is happening in your mind
and heart
after receiving that news.
3 things. As a believer,
3 things should happen in particular.
And number 1,
immediately,
you're going to look at your current situation,
your life and your past,
and you're going to resort immediately to sincere
repentance.
Repentance meaning that whatever sin you have committed
and whatever sin you are still committing,
you are going to stop immediately.
Number 2, you're going to regret having ever
done that sin, sincerely regret, and you're going
to be determined with the rest of the
days you have left. You'll never ever going
to commit that sin again. And if it
means that that sin involved harming someone else,
then you're going to find a way to
make amends with that person.
Number 2. The second thing that happens to
you after receiving such news is what?
The evaluation of material possessions.
Immediately,
the material things of this world will now
its value will plummet right down to the
ground, Subahanova.
You will have no interest in acquiring any
more material possessions. In fact, you will be
wanting to give away
your material possessions as a means of earning
a reward from having given tzedakah.
And number 3,
the value of Ibadah, acts of worship,
will now skyrocket.
It will peak, Subhanallah,
because now you will realize the value of
of Ahmadu Sari, of good deeds because you
now you can see the reality
of it being able to go with you,
subhanAllah.
And,
really, is this not how we should be
thinking and feeling every single day? And that
is why the thought of death every single
day, subhanAllah.
Have you ever asked yourself the question where
you would like to die?
Doing what
or where you would
not like to die?
Not doing,
Subhanahu wa. And the answer obviously is you
would like to die in a good place.
You would like to die doing something good.
You would not like to die in a
bad place. You would not like to die
whilst you are committing a sin doing something
bad.
So, obviously,
in order to achieve that, you need to
do what you can do and Allah has
decrees Allah's decree, Allah decides ultimately.
But from our side, we should be stacking
the odds in our favor.
Frequent good places,
make that your habit.
Be doing good deeds all the time, make
that your habit, and then the chances are
greater that you'll die in that condition, in
that location, in that situation.
As opposed to when you are in a
bad place,
remind yourself that I don't want to die
over here, and you will then remove yourself
from that place. If you are busy doing
something which is haram,
remind yourself,
I do not want to die while doing
this and I know death can come to
me at any time. So then that will
be a cause, inshallah,
making you refrain and stopping, inshallah.
So stack the odds in your favor, inshallah.
And then
in conclusion,
Insha'Allah,
we can all agree
that generally speaking,
we all want long life.
We can all agree
that in this long life,
we want an abundance of wealth. That is
more or less general amongst all of us.
But let us quickly
deal with long life and abundance of wealth
to rectify
a misunderstanding.
And the misunderstanding is
that a long life isn't as important
as a life filled with barakah.
Sometimes you can have many years. Allah gives
you a long life with many years, but
what you've really done in those years
is very little
as opposed to perhaps having
fewer years,
but in those few years, there's so much
barakah
that you've accomplished and achieved so much. Take
the example of Imam Nawawi
died at the age of 45,
but what he had accomplished in those short
years,
all the books he authored,
and the kaboo, the acceptance of Allah, the
fact that we still mention his name, Realdu
Salehain is a name on the tongue of
most Muslims, if not all Muslims.
And and we can go on. The likes
of Imam Shafi'i Rahim Mahullah died at the
age of 50, but look what he had
accomplished in his lifetime,
Allahu Akbar, because
Allah placed barakah in those years. So that's
the important thing. And the same thing goes
for for wealth.
What is important about wealth is not so
much the amount
because sometimes you can have so much wealth,
but you still have a miserable life. Still,
you're worried about the next million. Still, it's
you are anxious about acquiring more wealth and
it's a worry for you.
Whereas,
if Allah places Barakah in whatever he has
decreed for you, that will definitely make you
content and happy.
The next and the third thing we can
all agree on is
that
when we die, which we
agree that we will all eventually die. There's
no doubt even the atheist, the one who
does not believe in the year after,
agrees and accepts the fact that we are
going to die.
So when we do die, what do we
want? We want a good death.
Our death must be a good death, a
death with a
on our lips. Those must be the last
words that we utter.
So
how do we achieve this? Nabi Muhammad
actually mentions
all these three things in one particular hadith,
and he says,
whomsoever
it pleases him.
That he be given
an extension
in his life,
which means that the years Allah has decreed
for him, Allah puts barakah in those years.
And that he is given the vastness in
his risk. And again, the same meaning applies
that
Allah
whatever he has decreed will be our sustenance.
Allah puts barakah in that sustenance insha'Allah.
And that
a bad death be kept away from him,
meaning his death when it eventually comes will
be a good death insha'Allah.
If he wants these three things,
then this is what he must do
and it all comes down again to the
very thing that we were discussing in our
last yumu'ah,
then he or she
must have taqwa of Allah,
must have consciousness
of Allah.
Allah must be top of mind, the driving
force behind devotion to Allah, obedience to Allah,
and refraining from sin.
And then
the prophet of Allah mentions something after that.
Remember, taqwa is is all encompassing. With taqwa,
we mean that you are driven to all
good deeds. You are driven to refrain from
all bad deeds.
But then the prophet of Allah mentions something
specific after that,
and this is called
to mention something specifically
after it has been mentioned in a general
way to show its importance.
So here, this particular thing is important
with regards to achieving the three things we
are speaking about here, long life, abundance in
wealth, and a good death.
Baraka in your life, baraka in your wealth,
and a good death, and that is.
He or she,
this person
must ensure that they are joining
family ties. That is so important
in the sight of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
the joining and the strengthening
of family ties, subhanahu wa'ala. May Allah, subhanahu
wa'ala,
give us barakah in the years he's decreed
for us. May Allah give us barakah
in the sustenance that he has decreed for
us. And when
our final hour comes, when we eventually have
to leave this world and the angel of
death comes, may he come with the angels
of mercy, And may that experience be a
pleasurable good experience
with being our last words.