Mirza Yawar Baig – Death Cafe
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Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen,
wa salatu wa salamu ala sharafi al-anbiyai
wal-mursaleen, Muhammadur Rasulullahi, salallahu alayhi wa sallam,
tasriban fi siran fi siran.
Fama ba'du, my brothers and sisters, I don't
know how many of you have heard about,
or heard this term, death cafe.
It sounds pretty morbid, like somebody is going
to a cafe to get killed or beat
or kill somebody, but it's my new learning
for today, which is thanks to my very
dear brother and nephew, Hussain Abdullah Syed, who
introduced me to this term, death cafe.
Evidently, people gather in some location, usually it's
a library or something, and talk about death.
Because in this culture, in the Western culture,
death is a very uncomfortable subject to talk
about.
People don't like to talk about deaths.
And there is obviously a lot of confusion
about what will happen, and all kinds of
wild theories abound.
So to talk about death itself is a
very difficult and a very touchy subject.
But there is a need, and so people
gather in these places to talk about death.
It sounds very interesting, so I am learning
to find out where the local one is
happening.
If there is one happening in my town,
then try and see if I can go
and use that as a place of dawah,
because it would be something quite incredible, an
opportunity.
So Inshallah, I request you for your du
'as, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la should help Achyut to do something which
is pleasing to him, and open the eyes
of people to the reality of death.
I am looking at this tree, I don't
know if you can see those ducks there.
Let me see if I can get closer
to them, and show you the ducks as
well.
There you can get a closer look.
There you go, there are the ducks.
So the question of the death cafe, and
the question of death itself, and comfort or
not with it.
Coincidentally, it so happened also that another very
good friend of mine, who is a priest,
and he comes to our Jummah.
He comes every Friday, listens to the Khutbah,
he brings a Sujjada, he brings a Musalla,
Janamah is with him, and he stands in
the Saf, and he goes through the motions
of the Salah.
He hasn't yet come to Islam, I mean,
presented Islam to him many many times, so
we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la to guide him, because There
is the one who Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
Ta-A'la guides, nobody can lead him
astray, and the one who Allah Subh'anaHu
Wa Ta-A'la leaves, nobody can guide
him.
And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
looks at people's hearts, and He looks at
people's true intentions, which only He knows, and
not at what is apparent, but what is
in the hearts, what is hidden from us.
And we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la to grant us sincerity, so that
we are granted the Hidayah from Allah Subh
'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to lead our
lives in ways which are beneficial for us,
and which will lead to Jannah Inshallah.
So this friend of mine, this priest friend,
he sent me a note on the ongoing
genocide in Palestine, and oh, look at that,
there is a whole duck festival that is
happening here.
So he sent me this whole thing on
Palestine and what is happening there, and so
on and so forth.
So I said to him that, whereas obviously
it is extremely distressing and terrible to see
what is going on, but from the perspective
of us as Muslims, it is not something
that we find to be catastrophic, or
something that can or is likely to break
our spirit.
I said that will never happen, because as
far as we are concerned, death is number
one, inevitable.
And secondly, if that death happens in a
good cause, with faith, with Iman, then this
is a death which is very welcome.
It is the best form of death.
It is the best way to die as
a martyr, as a shaheed, in the path
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So I said to him that as far
as we are concerned as Muslims, we don't
see this as a catastrophe.
Obviously that doesn't mean that what is happening
is a good thing.
Of course it is not.
We want it to stop.
We wish it had never happened.
But the fact that it is happening is
not something that will or can affect us
in the negative way that those doing it
want it to affect us.
And that's the whole purpose of concentrating on
children in their genocide, is to try to
break the spirit of the Palestinian people.
But that's not happening, much to their surprise.
And I said to him that no Muslim
is surprised, believe me.
It's not so easy to break the spirit
of the Muslims, alhamdulillah.
And today the people of Palestine, may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala grant them khair after
khair and blessing after blessing and victory after
victory, they have redefined victory, they have redefined
what is benefit, they have redefined what is
khair, they have redefined the standards of bravery
and the standards of fortitude and the standards
of sabr and istiqamat, the standards of steadfastness.
They have redefined it.
The world is seeing a face of the
Muslim that subhanallah, the world has not seen
in living memory.
So I said to him that as far
as we are concerned, it's not something which
is catastrophic in that sense.
So what we need to look at is
that therefore, what is it that we are
looking at as far as death is concerned?
What is death?
Death in Islam, there's a whole series of
lectures of mine called Death and Hereafter.
There's a book also on that.
So please, those of you who are interested,
look up the lectures.
But in brief, death is the meaning or
the name given to the door that opens
into another life.
Death is the name for transition.
In Urdu, we have a beautiful term to
describe death.
We call it intiqal.
Intiqal.
Intiqal.
To move from this place to that place.
This is death.
And therefore, it is not lost.
It is not annihilation.
It is not ceasing to exist.
It's none of those things.
And for the one who dies, if he
or she dies on Iman, Husnul Khatima, Khayrul
Khatima.
If somebody dies with Iman, with faith, and
we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
all of this, may Allah grant all of
us Husnul Khatima, Khayrul Khatima, the best of
endings, then it's a victory.
It is the best possible thing that could
have happened.
Because the person then is ready to receive
the rewards from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for which they worked all their lives.
Those are wild hydrangeas.
See how big they get.
So, for somebody who dies like that, and
as I said, we all pray for this.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
this to grant us death with Iman and
Khayr.
We say Alhamdulillah.
Obviously, if somebody dies, passes away, those who
are left behind, their families and so on,
it is bereavement, it is sad, it is
something that you wish that person had remained
with you longer, and all the rest of
it.
But the fact remains that for the individual
himself or herself who died with Iman, there
is nothing better.
There is nothing better.
Because now they live with Iman, they lived
in a way that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala wanted them to live, so now is
the time for them to reap the rewards
of their deeds.
So this is the day that they have
been waiting for.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned the
beautiful Ayat, which I always recite and I
make Dua and say, Ya Allah, You showed
me these Ayat, You taught me how to
recite them, You made me recite them, now
make them true for me.
And I make the same Dua for all
of you.
Where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Those
who say, Our Lord is Allah, and then
stand straight, the angels descend on them.
Do not fear and do not grieve, and
give glad tidings of the Paradise that you
were promised.
We are your protectors in this world and
in the Hereafter.
And you will have therein whatever your souls
desire, And you will have therein whatever your
souls desire, a descent from the Most Forgiving,
Most Merciful.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Those who
said that Allah is our Lord, and they
were steadfast on it, Then they stood straight.
They were steadfast on it.
For them, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,
For them there is no fear and for
them there is no sadness.
Not having fear and not having sadness is
the meaning of Jannah.
This is the quality of the people of
Jannah.
No huzn and no khawf, no fear, no
sadness.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, For
these people who said Allah is my Lord,
and they were steadfast on it.
So now remember, it's a conditional statement.
It's not just a matter of saying.
Allah says who said that and who remained
steadfast.
Meaning, who said it and who implemented it.
If I say Allah is my Lord, it
means I am a slave of Allah, then
I have to behave, I must behave like
a slave of Allah.
I must not behave like I am the
king.
I am a slave of Allah.
Meaning, I obey Allah.
I don't disobey Allah.
I don't obey anyone other than Allah.
I do not do something which Allah told
me not to do.
And I don't leave something which Allah told
me to do.
It means all of this.
So it is a statement of, not just
a statement, an intellectual statement, it's a statement
of intent, and a statement of action.
So thummast aqabu.
And they were steadfast on it.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says then, at
the time when they are ready to meet
their Rabb, the time of their death, the
angels will descend on them.
And they will come on them and what
will they say?
They will say, They will say, don't have
any fear.
Don't be afraid.
And don't be sad.
We come to you with the glad tidings,
with the good news of Jannah.
With the bashara of Jannah.
Jannah which you look forward to, which you
wanted, Allah is giving you this.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is sending
you this good news and we come with
this good news.
On a side note, this green thing which
looks like a field is actually water.
Which is completely covered with algae.
This is in Forest Park.
I have no idea why they don't do
anything about it.
Because it's very bad for the water, for
the fish and so on.
But that's how it is.
So it looks very pretty in the picture
but it's not a good sign.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says he
sends these angels and these angels then give
the bashara.
Good news of Jannah is given to the
person before they have died.
Whilst in their last moments of their lives,
when they are still alive, this is being
told to them.
And then the angels say, We are and
were your friends and your awliya and your
supporters and your protectors and your helpers and
your guides.
In the life of this world and we
will continue with that in the akhira.
In the life that you are going forward
to.
We will continue with that in the life
going forward.
And then they say, In that life you
will have everything that you wished for and
everything that you desired.
And they say that this good news is
a precursor of all the reward and all
the blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is going to give you and bless you
with which is being promised right here.
Nuzul is like a welcome drink that you
give to somebody who you have been waiting
for for a long time and they have
come tired after a long journey and you
have all kinds of wonderful plans for them.
But obviously you don't start with those plans.
So you first give them some cold drink
or cold water or something which is a
precursor of all the goodness that is to
come.
And this is the meaning of nuzul.
So they say, This is the nuzul, this
is the welcome from the one who is
the most forgiving and the most merciful.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
this for all of us.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
the best ending.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
guidance and guidance to him in our lives
so that we live our lives according to
the blessed sunnah of Muhammadur Rasulullah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
And then we die, we die with iman
and on iman inshallah.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
guidance and guidance to him in our lives
so that we live our lives according to
the blessed sunnah of Muhammadur Rasulullah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam.