Jummah Khutbah/Talk titled: Remembering Death without Dying by Sh. Omar Suleiman
Valley Ranch Islamic Center. Jummah Khutbah 10-28-2016
Omar Suleiman – Remembering Death without Dying
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of remembering the purpose of life and the need for people to be mindful of their behavior. They touch on the topic of witnessing and bearing witness for people who miss a load. There is also mention of a person who was crying and causing them to miss a load.
AI: Summary ©
Rahim hamdulillah wanna stay in hoonah? saphira wanna study? Why don't you know be here when I talk Kalani he when I will be learning about him and surely unforeseen elements a RTR Marina Manya de la la dama de la la woman you will follow her de la Chateau La la la la vida Huda sharika coloane Hamed, you may
be at the hill hi rohana Alicia in the shadow Anna Mohammed Abdullah who was solo wasafi who was at the Amana tober Lago resort at Manasa. Haddad oma Acacia Loma Ouattara cannot imagine be la Lido How can I hurry her now? Yeah, Zico in the Hurley karate he have total Salatu atoma tesni Wiener Ernie, he will be here I'm gonna stand up as soon as he the young Medina. La Medina. I'm in home in alladhina homina homina Swanee, how to auto also will help us also the sub Amina robola alameen.
Your kudos to parenthood Zana? Yeah you and Edina Harmon Oh topo la hapa to call it here at Hamilton 11 to Muslim on yeah you Hannah's choco raba Camila the Hala fakuma nevsun wahida Allah caminhada obasa mean humare Jada and kiss here on one Isa, what's up? Holla Holla at certain whenever you hear a lot of harm in the law, can it come up Eva? Yeah, you heard the nomina topple la pulu Colin sadita your local ama come way up through the local with an overcome woman, your cleric, how Allah suta who forgot 1000 1000 alima My bad. We begin by praising Allah subhana wa tada and bearing witness that nun has the right to be worshipped except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad Sallallahu it
was Sublime is his final messenger. And we asked a lot to send his peace and blessings upon him, his family, his companions, and those that follow until the day of judgment, Aloma I mean, the brothers and sisters, there's a lot that's been going on. And in many cases, the whole TVA has become a platform where you are able to gain perspective with everything that's going on. And issues that are relevant to our community for various reasons, some of them that threaten our community, and Islamophobia and politics. And the elections, of course, have a lot to do with that. Some that threaten the family structure, domestic violence, with which we had a another death in the
community,
just last week, just this past week. And there are many other issues that threaten us as an individual that that constantly needs to be spoken about. And that need to be amplified from the men but from the pulpit. But somehow to love, there's one issue that is always relevant. And there's one topic that is always relevant to each and every single one of us. And that's death. That's a note. It is relevant all the time. It is relevant to you every single day of your life. Why? Because today could be your last day, this could be your last week, it could be your last hope. But if a person was to remember death properly, then it would correct their family lives, it would correct their
spiritual lives, it would correct their lives with the community, it would put everything in perspective. And the prophets of Allah hunting was seldom for that reason used to speak about it so frequently. And the prophets I saw them is what buzz revolved around sudut cough, which constantly bring home this message that each and every single one of us, at one point will meet a loss of kind of what's out of would leave this world. And practically no one would leave this world when they expect to do something. No one. And somehow a lot. We see YouTube videos constantly getting circulated around. You see the video of a man who drops dead while he's playing soccer. And I
remember somehow alone, you know, this one of the earliest nasheeds on YouTube, and they had this this European soccer player playing and then suddenly he collapses. And you have the nasheeds about the angel of death and the nasheeds about how death comes. And that's a YouTube video. And you look at that and you go wow, Subhana Allah, and you might circulate that. And then somehow, sometimes the things that you're circulating come back and they happen to you as well.
Earthquakes, natural disasters, you see this video and you say, look at this, it's crazy. And then next thing you know, you're in one of those. And that's something that happens many, many different times with different things. Sometimes you're hearing a discussion, a lecture on a topic, and you think to yourself, this has nothing to do with me whatsoever. You know what, hamdulillah this isn't relevant to me. Because if it was relevant to me, it would be a disaster. And they keep on talking about these tragedies and keep on talking about these things and hamdulillah has nothing to do with me and the next thing you know, it has everything to do with you.
So when we talk about death, and particularly what the prophet slicin I meant what meant when
He said no to a sudden death. When death hits you, suddenly, I want you to think and deeply reflect for a moment
in this message did last week
in the hotbar. Last week,
there was a brother that was sitting amongst you all last week, that's no longer here.
Think about that for a moment.
As you got ready to come to Juma today, and to get yourself ready for the football today, and you came in you took your place.
At any point today, that it occurred to you that this might be my last time sitting here, that next week, the hotel might not be to me the hotel might be about me. Think about last week
a brother was here and he heard the event and he heard the hope that somehow that brother was a brother that used to often give the man was very regular in the masjid. And he's not with us anymore. Brother hold on May Allah Subhana Allah have mercy on them. And may Allah subhana wa tada elevate him. I may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant him Shahada May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant his family steadfastness, and May Allah give him all of the opposite of all that he used to do and all that he missed out on a llama. I mean, the point is the brothers and sisters that doesn't need an elaborate Hadees it doesn't need an elaborate idea. It just needs you to think for a moment reflect
someone in here might be sitting in the same spot he sat in last week. Undoubtedly. It was here amongst you all last week at Juma and think about the blessing of Allah subhanaw taala for giving us each Another day, another week, another chance to repent, another chance to remember him and another chance to come back to them in inclined towards. It's constantly relevant to us. These things always matter to us. The discussion on death should never escape us. The thoughts of death should never escape us. And the messenger sallallahu wasallam told us xe room in the middle of that, that you should increase your remembrance of death the destroyer of pleasures, he called it some a lot how it
was set up. Because when that moment comes, everything that you enjoy in life is taken away from you. And the irony of that is that everything that you enjoy in life is why you don't remember death. Why we tend to push it away because we're too steeped in our Koffler in our heedlessness so the prophets lies on him said shut off that heedlessness by constantly reminding yourself of death reminding yourself of what how you're going to die the pain of death Am I gonna die in a plane crash in a car accident drowning? You know, sudden sudden heart attack a stroke cancer? Is that what it is? The nature of how you're going to die or the fact that you're no longer going to be here to
enjoy those pleasures and they could be taken away from you in one moment. And suddenly, everything is put back in perspective. As the moment of Azadi Rahim Allah said, If you viewed every portion of your life through the lens of death, then your life would be a testimony for you after your death and not against you. But most people view death through the lens of life, meaning what they keep on delaying it and they keep on thinking they've cheated it off for another day, we fool ourselves with statistics. But you know what, some kind of law when you're that person, the the statistics don't matter anymore, that you had this much of a chance at this age and this port in this place of
getting this disease or dying? Or the statistics go out the window, don't think and do you really want to be playing with statistics with your fate, with your entire a hero with everything that comes after? So he says sallallahu alayhi wasallam x zero be frequence in your remembrance of Hardiman love that of the destroyer of pleasures, who is he telling this to? He's telling it to a community,
like the companions of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. He's telling it to the best generation, he's telling it to a community that sees death all the time. He's telling it to a community that's constantly in battle, fending off, you know, people that are trying to kill them, and that I've seen their relatives die due to the conflict that they're in. And he's telling them you need to remember death more. So what then about people that live in such comfort and such convenience? That don't go to the book here every day when they bury their when they bury their dead? That are not constantly praying, so lots of janaza that don't live in those circumstances anymore? You know, what then of
us? And what is the benefit of all of that? Are we supposed to live like dead people? Are we supposed to always be depressed? When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells the companions in Nina Hades to come back
otterton fullbore I used to forbid you from visiting the graveyard. But he says, go ahead and visit it. Why to the kettle Campbell atira It reminds you of the hereafter reminds you that you're not going to be here much longer that there is something more than this. Now, what is the point of all of that? And how did the profit slice in the companions internalize them?
Number one, remembering depth should not only be when you directly encounter it,
that's the first rule. You have to you have to force yourself to remember it at times when you're not in count when it does not encounter you or when you don't encounter it. A time outside of janazah a time outside of a burial, a time outside of a terminal disease or an illness, a time outside of hearing that someone that you knew passed away. You have to actually bring yourself to remember it outside of those times altogether. And how does that come through introspection through time for to the Buddha and Suffolk reflection, taking time out of life. So whether whether you like it or not, you're going to have to disconnect from some of the pleasures of life and give yourself a
few moments if you're not taking a few moments on a daily basis on a weekly basis. And whether that remembrance comes through the recitation of the Quran, your daily recitation of the Quran or your daily vipkid, where you're where you're not just saying the words, but you're actually paying attention because of the goddess of ohana the Messiah. The morning remembrances in the evening remembrances have death in them. And when you recite at the end of your childhood, every single salon and you say I will be coming up and not one other woman fitna, till Maria Walmarts, you seek refuge in Allah from the punishment of the grave and the punishment of Hellfire, from the trials of
life and death, there's a remembrance of death. So whether it comes through those moments where you're paying attention, or through your daily, five pages of honor, or 10 pages of art, where you're paying attention to the references of death, or just sitting with yourself and thinking about the fact that your life is so unpredictable, that you don't know if you'll make it to tomorrow, whatever it may be, there has to be time where you take out to actually consciously remember, that's number one. Number two, the visitation of the graveyard, one of the most neglected soon as of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to actually visit it, not for the sake of burying somebody to
actually visit it to remind yourself of death. And that was why the hook and that was why the ruling was lifted, which prohibited the people from visiting the graveyards outside of the janaza time initially, in Islam, it was prohibited so that people would not do things at the graves that would corrupt their theology. But once the creed of Islam was firm in the hearts of the companions of the Prophet slice alone, then they were encouraged to go there frequently, to remember death, and some how to love you think the genesis for that person that's passed away? Yes, it is. Because the people make do out for them. And they seek forgiveness, but it's also for you. It's also for you, it's for
you to pay attention to it's for you to actually see that take place to and to sit and reflect when you see a person's body go into the grave that was alive in around you, it's for you to remember, that's my place eventually. Number three, and this is perhaps the most important point of the hope and this is what I want to get to.
If Allah really wanted us to live our lives in complete fear, and have absolutely no appetite for this dunya and have absolutely no joy in this life. Allah would have caused us to be able to hear the punishment of the grave. And that's a very powerful concept that the Prophet sallallahu wasallam tells us that had the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam not feared that we would not even bury our dead, he would have asked a lot to allow us to hear some of what takes place in the grave some of what takes place in that realm. Could you imagine if every day as you drive by a graveyard, you can hear the noises coming from that graveyard? Could you imagine how difficult life would be you
would have no choice but to always remember death? If that's all you heard, if you were hearing that on a daily basis, we would have no love that anyway. I mean, what pleasure would you have? How do you tune that out? You can't mute that. If we were put in a position where we're hearing that all the time, then we wouldn't even bury our dead and we live our lives is waiting for our turn like paranoid people. But Allah subhanaw taala showed mercy upon us. And Allah subhanaw taala grants us that relief, but a loss of how to get to Allah tells us that you need to consciously remember it at times had Allah wanted us to live our lives always in that state of fear, not in a healthy sense,
but in a state of
misery, we're not able to smile and we're not able to carry on with life, then a lot would have done that to us. But he didn't do that to us. And then not illegal for an early test call. The revelation wasn't sent to depress people, it wasn't sent to put people in a state of anxiety. Death is not to make us always in a state of anxiety, death is that we know how to prioritize the remembrance of death is that we know how to properly prioritize our lives. the companions of the Prophet slicin did not walk around like people that were dead. They were not zombies, they laughed, they smiled. They found joy in what Allah subhanaw taala gave them but they were never heedless. And that's the point.
You have to draw that line between happiness and enjoyment of this life, where you're still aware of its reality. And when you're in utter, complete, heedlessness Koffler where you're not paying attention at all to the reality of your life. So you have to find this balance where you're remembering death without dying. You're not dead. You live like a person who loves what Allah subhanaw taala gave to them, but they're not in heedlessness, they know that it's only a matter of time and they force themselves to remember that they force themselves to remember that purpose. Some people look outside and they see nature and they see Mashallah they say it's beautiful, and it's a
nice day outside. Some people look outside as the last panel to either says we get to affect her own if you help us somehow it will. Rob Donna halaqa Oh Allah, you did not create this in vain. There is a purpose to this. They look at the sun and the moon. They look at the stars, they look at the trees, they look at everything around them. And it does not just cause them to be in awe of its beauty. It makes them think there is a purpose. I'm reminded now that I have a purpose. There's a purpose that you have and there's a purpose that I have.
robina halaqa baltierra subhanak subpoena Dubner glory beats you how perfect Are you so protect us from the punishment of hellfire. Some handler every time Allah mentions to dub Buddha in the Quran contemplation on the IRS around us on the on the signs of the heavens and the earth Allah subhanaw taala mentions a people that are brought to a do a lot better in in a manner for Filipinas Raghava Pina dinar earlier and earlier I'm wrong. Oh Allah, we believe we affirm our belief. So forgive us and have mercy upon us and protect us from the punishment later on are beneficial after Hanukkah, Tina Davina, once again, they're brought to a state of urgency. I remember, I'm reminded that I have
a purpose to love you. Listen, there's a beautiful recording,
which you'd be able to find it online between Mohammed it, lots of Allah and his daughter, young daughter. And he's reminding her Do you know why Allah created you? Do you know why you're here? What's your purpose? He's saying this too, is that she was only four years old. And he's talking to her on the phone he was trying to remind What's your purpose in life?
What are you here for? And what does that bring us to realization? Not depression, not paranoia, realization? I'm supposed to be acting in a different way. How can I wrong someone with my tongue? When I know that Allah might call me to account now? How can I wrong my family? When I know that I might not have a chance to make things better with them? How can I disregard my Joomla? When I know that it might be my last Juma? How can I disregard my salon and how I'm doing my prayer? When I know it might be my last prayer? How can I disregard these things, when I know that this might be my last chance. And so the reminder is very simple today. axial vichara hakimullah that
frequent the reminder of death, let it be frequent in your life, where you're thinking about it in a way that's productive in a way that makes you think, how do I want to leave this world not in a way that kills you in a way that makes you value life more in a way that makes you treat your life better, and treat everything that Allah gave you as an Amana in this life in a better way? That's the remembrance of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam not the despair. And he now has an embassy Rahim, Allah Tada. He saw a man who was staring at the graves.
And this man was crying and in a state of despair. And while he was tearing up the graves, and he was crying, he missed a lot of the hook.
So how long think about the irony of this and this is not our situation. This is to show you the other side now. He missed a lot of those they might present about him a lot went up to him and he told them, what's the point of remembering death if you're going to miss a lot of load? He said, What's the point of praying
If this is our ends,
that's an unproductive way of thinking about death.
Many of you in here, love that brother that passed away because of the way that he treated you. And he's remembered in higher and Sharla. And we bear witness that what we saw of him was a righteous man. And even if you encountered him in a little bit the prophets lie Selim said, If you see someone frequenting the masjid fresh hamdulillah hillbilly man, then bear witness to that person of faith, you are a witness to that person on the Day of Judgment, if the only thing you used to see from that brother is salon and you know salons and federal and salon mclubbe. In Asia, that's enough for you to be a witness for that person on the Day of Judgment if it went further and hamdulillah. But if
you saw him in the masjid, and we used to see that brother in the Muslim law, he was my first time giving hope button he's not here. It feels empty, right?
That's enough for people to bear witness for him. Many of you knew that brother knew brother hold on very well. And obviously, he leaves a void and he left the gap in the masjid and of course with his family may last time, make it easy for them with his social life. But everyone would bear witness to the height of that person to the good of that person, meaning his life was not in vain. A lot did not create him doll Tila in vain. Yes, he died young, but a lot didn't create him in vain. He had a purpose and we asked a lot that he fulfilled that purpose and we asked a loss of hundreds out to allow him to see the reward of that purpose. And we asked the last panel inside to allow us to
realize our purpose and to one day see the reward of our purpose as well and we asked a lot of forgiveness for our he listens to our shortcomings Allah Ameen akula quality how that was talking about your luck and when he sat next to me and threw in the hula for him.
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