Saad Tasleem – Death – Six Feet Under

			We all need reminders. And this is why Allah subhana wa tada told the prophets that a lot I send
them in the Quran that kill for in vitro 10 for remote meaning that remind them, remind them because
the reminders benefit the believers. And it's interesting because Allah subhana wa tada didn't say
that the reminders benefit people. Allah subhanaw taala said the reminders benefit the believers,
meaning those who are me noon, those who have submitted to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, even those
people they need reminders from Allah azza wa jal and inshallah Tada This conference as a whole, but
especially this topic in this session today, I'm hoping with the help of Alice Pella, tiada, that
		

			this topic insha Allah who data This session will serve as a reminder, like I said, not only for all
of you, but for me as well. I want to start off inshallah out with a story, something that happened
to me and this is a very, for me, it's a really odd story, something that happened to me and
actually talked about this in my class as well, the film chillin. But I've thought important, I
thought it'd be important to share with with all of you because there is a big lesson in this story.
And this basically is this one time when I was traveling from DC, where I live in Washington, DC,
Maryland, I was on a flight from DC to Minnesota.
		

			And I believe it's a couple hour long flight. And during the flight, we started to experience some
turbulence. And now because I fly a lot, usually turbulence doesn't faze me. Like it's no big deal.
I'm used to it now. And I remember once I even talked to a pilot, and I asked him, I'm like, Listen,
what's the deal with turbulence? Why should we be scared or it is something to worry about when you
hit turbulence on the plane? And he said, he said, You know what, turbulence is nothing to worry
about. You're just hitting pockets of air. And so you know, the plane gets a little bit shakes
around and just as long as your seatbelts on, you'll be okay. And he said, You only have to worry if
		

			you like, run into something, right? So like, you run into a mountain or something like that's when
you have to be scared. He's like, but most likely, that won't happen, like so far above the earth.
And then he said that this topic, he said, you know, determines your experience right now, you never
have to worry. And I was like, Okay, and so until that moment, when I'm on this flight, I, I was
thinking about what this pilot had said, so we hit some turbulence. And I was like, no big deal.
hamdulillah. It's just in pockets of air until the plane started to freefall. And when I'm in
freefall, I mean, it literally started a freefall, it was just dropping out of the sky. And it
		

			started free fell for about, I think, is about three, maybe four seconds. And I know you're
thinking, you know, that's not a long time, like three, four seconds. What's the big deal? Well, law
II when you're falling out of the sky, three or four seconds is an incredibly long period of time,
and remembers panela. As we were falling from the sky, I gripped my seat started saying my Shahada.
And what I realized is that everyone around me is freaking out, like people are losing it. And then
I hear people going, Lord Jesus, please save me.
		

			And I'm like, yeah, Allah, don't let me die with these people calling out there.
		

			But what I realized in that moment, right there was that Allah subhanho wa Taala, in our lives,
continually gives us signs. And sometimes the signs are like big signs, like major signs, and for
example, falling out of the sky. That's it, that's a major sign. And when we when we experienced
death, or we experienced loss, and all that, those are major signs from Allah subhanaw taala. But in
our daily lives, almost on a daily basis, we are given signs by Allah subhana wa tada to remind us
of our mortality, to remind us that you know what, we're not going to be here forever. And our life
on this earth is going to be shorter than what, what most people imagined. And I'll give you just
		

			another analogy, another another nother thing that'll help you make real what I'm talking about. And
that is the issue of, I know, you may find something strange, but the issue of paper cuts, how many
of you have ever experienced a paper cut in your life? Okay, most of the room. Now, even in paper
cuts, we've had a lot, there's a sign from the last time that I'll tell you what that is. First of
all, paper cuts are very, very interesting. Because if you were to go to someone who has never heard
of a paper cut, like they don't know that there's a such thing as a paper cutter, whatever. And you
were to say to them, you know, I got a paper cut the other day, they'd be like, what, like you got
		

			cut by a paper? Like, how can a paper cut you imagine like they've never, ever experienced it
before. So to them, it's like, you know, it's a piece of paper, like, I can tear it. It's so weak,
like, what's the big deal? It's just a paper. But in a paper, Allah subhanaw taala has made us
vulnerable, right to the point where we would never expect something so weak to harm us. But
something so weak and as you know, can be incredibly painful. That's the first thing. The second
thing is that every time you experience in papercut, what do you tell yourself? Right? After some
explicit is probably you say to yourself, never again, right? Like Oh, you got me this time.
		

			It's never gonna lie, it's never gonna happen again, the next time, I'll be very, very careful. And
what happens, you get a paper cut again. So you tell yourself, you remind yourself that I'm in
control of the situation, that I next time I flip the page, I'm going to be very careful. And you do
that for a while until you forget that a paper can harm you. And then lo and behold, you get another
paper cut. And when you get a paper cut, you've had a lot, it's like this tiny little cut, but it
bothers you. And it's painful, probably more painful than like someone punching you in the shoulder
or something. And so a loss of how do I data in a paper cut reminds us that listen, you're not in
		

			control. The reality is that you think you perceive to be in control. But the reality is that it is
Allah subhanho wa Taala, who controls every single aspect of our life. And when Allah Subhana, WA
tada decides that we will go through some hardship, or we will go through some some some pain or a
loss, Pantheon decides that our life is over. That's what's going to happen. And there is nothing
you can do to control that situation. And if you're ever in doubt about it, think about how you
thought that the paper cut can never harm you. But indeed, the paper cut harmed you. And you've had
a lot I remember, yesterday, I was trying to take a nap, I traveled here and I'll try to take it I
		

			was like, let me get an hour nap in. And I laid in bed, it was here in this hotel. And I close my
eyes and I tried really hard to fall asleep and was like I really need to get just an hour's worth
of sleep. And then shallow Tada, I'll be good to go for this late night session that we had, and I
laid there and I could not fall asleep. And then once again, I start to think about it. And I
thought to myself, Allah subhanaw taala is reminding me once again, that you're not in control. And
the last part that we know in the Quran, when he talks about the devil was PI data, it was kind of
data says Wolfie and fusi come that there are if there are signs within yourself in your own self,
		

			tubal Ceylon, do you not see do not contemplate and think about what is happening here. And somehow,
like the difference between someone who is conscious of death and their mortality and how weak they
actually are. And someone who isn't, is that the one who is conscious of it is simply just paying
attention. Because all you have to do is just pay attention to everything that is around you. And
Subhanallah We live in a time now, where we see major world events on a daily basis. We see hundreds
of people being killed, we see a storm common we see tsunami, we see all these things where
technically these are things that are supposed to bring us back to Allah subhanho wa Taala. But
		

			we've become so desensitized to these things, we see people being killed around the world and wars
and this and that, and it doesn't even faze us. And the reality is that we're being disconnected
from from what we know to be true. And the thing about death is the thing about dying, is that this
is a fact that nobody will deny. It doesn't matter what faith you belong to, whether you're Muslim,
or a Jew or Christian, even if you're an atheist, even if you deny the existence of God, right, like
I don't believe in God, even you will acknowledge the fact that you will die. Not only that, you
will acknowledge the fact that you will die and you don't know when you're going to die. And this is
		

			a reality for us. But it's simply a matter of us reminding ourselves and taking heed and looking
into and paying attention to the signs that are around us. So inshallah I have four points for you.
		

			How many of you are taking notes by the way? Have you ever taken notes? Okay, Angela, I have four
points for you inshallah. Tiana, on how what death actually does for you. Right, so four things that
how death actually benefits you. And I know people tend to think about death and they they're like,
you know, why are you being so morbid? Why are you always talking about death inshallah to Allah,
there's benefit for us in discussing this topic. So four things. Number one,
		

			the first thing thinking about death, the first thing it does for you is that it helps you to
worship Allah subhana wa Tada, and stay obedient to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this is why the
Prophet said, Why send them he said, a settlement of victory has amended that he said, increase in
remembering the destroyer of desires. And then he said, unmowed, he said death, he said, this is
something that will immediately put a stop to any type of worldly desires or any type of desires
that that are in the disobedience of Allah subhana wa, tada, this will immediately put a stop to it.
And this is actually a very, very powerful thing and the scholars of the past, talk about this by
		

			him, for example, he talks about how, when you're in the moment, when you're about to commit a sin,
there's an internal struggle that takes place, and the internal struggle is this. Do you value this
desire that you're about to fulfill more? Or do you value your cut out your hair after more? What is
more important to you? And if that doesn't, Mia wins out and if you're if if in your mind and your
heart that dunya is more important, you'll fall into that sin. And if the alpha is more important,
and you think about the alpha and the alpha is real for you
		

			You then in this moment, you will stop from committing this sin. And so when the Prophet said, Well,
I send them says, increase in remembering the destroyer of desires, he is telling us that every
single time that you are put in a position where you're about to commit a sin, all you have to do is
think about your mortality. All you have to do is remind yourself and say, You know what, Allah
Subhana Allah, Allah may take my life before I'm ever given the ability to make Toba from this sin.
And that is a very, very powerful thought. And the person who has given the tofi from Allah subhanho
wa Taala, to think about that in the moment of sin. Indeed, Allah subhanaw taala has been incredibly
		

			merciful to this person. Because the reality is a lot of us we kind of past that stage, we're almost
in a state of muffler. And hoffler is basically when you're heatless, when, when your heart in the
state of Buffalo, your heart basically learns that every time that internal debate or discussion is
taking place, you're always gonna pick the dunya until your heart learns that and so the next time
you're approached with a sin, that that struggle doesn't even take place. It doesn't happen. So it's
just like, your heart knows that you're always going to pick the dunya anyway. And so you don't even
have that, that discussion. Right. So going back and pulling yourself back to the to the concept of
		

			you know what this may be the very last chances maybe the moment of sin that I have right here,
maybe the very last moment that I have on Earth. Number two, it helps us remembering death helps us
realize the purpose of life. And as the last panel it Allah says in the Quran, who will lead the
* up under the Holocaust Mota will hire Taliban to come up with a new ama, that the one who
created life and death, to test you and to see who amongst you are best in their affairs are best in
their deeds. And every time so I've had a lot once again, every time we remind ourselves of death,
we're reminded that you know what, my life is not only short, but it's unpredictable. It's
		

			incredibly unpredictable. And all of us who've had an era has asked of me is that we die in a state
of submission to Allah subhanho wa Taala, that I die in a state of submission to Allah Subhana tiada
and every time you have that thought, it will push you to worship Allah subhana wa tada Maha colgin.
Now an insert in that era, we don't, as Allah subhanaw taala said, I haven't created men nor jinn,
except for the purpose of my worship, meaning this is the most important thing that you can be doing
in life, the worship of Allah subhana wa Tada. And when you think about death, and you think about
your mortality, you start paying attention to the signs that are around you, in that moment, it will
		

			bring you back to the purpose of your life. Number three,
		

			it helps us realize the true value of of this life, the true value, and that my brothers and
sisters, is that this life, that dunya, the worldly things are worth actually nothing.
		

			And you want to know the true value of life, as someone who is on their deathbed, as someone who has
been given the news that you don't have too much longer to live. And I know a lot of us we have
people in our lives who are were were suffering from cancer, for example, or any life threatening
disease, or a terminal illness, and you go talk to them, and you ask them how they feel, and what is
going on. And they will tell you really panela this life that I had went by so fast, and everything
that I was chasing in my life, everything that I thought was important, all of a sudden is not
important anymore. The things that I thought were so important to me, whether it be material things,
		

			or this is the things that I my priorities that were that were were completely different before I
was given the news of death. Alright, so once again, when we when we when we think about death,
it'll make the reality of the dounia come to light, it will make us realize what this dunya is truly
worth. And as we know the process send them when giving an analogy for this dunya. He said the worth
of this dunya is like when one of you takes your finger, and they dip it into the ocean. And if
you've never been to the beach fair up into the ocean, you go there, you look out as far as your eye
can see there's water everywhere. And you begin to realize how vast this ocean is the parts that I'm
		

			saying, dip your finger into this ocean and take it out, and the wetness or the dampness that you
have on your fingers or your finger. This is the value of the dunya compared to the meaning the
earth is like that ocean. Paradise is like that huge ocean and all that you've taken out of it is
pretty much nothing. It says this is the true value of this life are the things that we chase after
in this life. Number four, it ensures that we die in a state of submission. It ensures that we die
in a state of submission. Like I said, if we are thinking about death, then we will be in a
submission it was state of submission to the last panel. And I don't want you to think by the way
		

			that just being in a state of submission just means that you're worshiping Allah subhanaw taala what
I mean by
		

			state of submission is that you're living your life in a way which is pleasing to Allah subhana wa
tada every conscious moment that you have in your life where you make the conscious decision that
I'm living my life in a manner which is pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala This is a state of
submission to Allah subhana wa Tada. And as lust pinata, Allah says, what are they moving on to
sunny moon, that do not let death come upon you, except that you are in a state of submission. And I
know some people may think of that and say, you know, I guess I should be praying when death comes
to me, that's not the case. What Allah subhanho wa Taala intends here, when Allah means here is that
		

			make sure you're living your life in a way which is pleasing to Allah subhanaw taala when death
comes upon you, lastly, brothers and sisters, and I know, time is a little short. But I wanted to
leave you with four things that you can do that will remind you of death or help you think of death.
Number one,
		

			attend the funeral prayers. And I know every single community, every single machine out there, their
agendas that are happening constantly, and I visited many different communities. And oftentimes I
see that it is quite often that there is a janazah that is taking place in the community. And
oftentimes panela I've witnessed these prayers, where people stand there and they pray and it's just
like, like any other Sala and it's really interesting because when the companions describe how the
the Genesis the funeral prayers used to be at their times, they would say that when we would pray
janazah upon someone, there would be this type of eerie silence. And that silence was there because
		

			each and every person who was attending the janaza prayer, they would be thinking about their own
death and their own mortality in that state. And that is that that is one of the reasons why we
attend the janaza prayer, not just yeah, of course we want to send we want to make the offer the
person who's deceased, and give our condolences to the family and all that that is great. But for
you as an individual, that is another sign from Allah subhanaw taala for you to come back to Allah
subhana wa tada that is another sign from Allah Subhana data for you to think and realize that in he
was in here on your own, that certainly we all came from Allah subhana wa tada we belong to Allah
		

			subhanaw taala. And we will all certainly return to Allah subhanho wa Taala number to
		

			visit the graves. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, couldn't turn the heat to coumarins
era to COBOL. He said I use I had forbidden you from visiting the graves. He said well, ah qinzhou
ha for in her to the Quito Colombian mouth. He said, however, visit the graves because the graves
remind you of death. And so it's not just about the janaza prayer. And that is good at hamdulillah.
But the moment when you're standing there, and you're pouring dirt upon someone who you were talking
to just a day ago, or just moments ago, for some people, that is a very, very powerful spiritual
experience. And you've had a lot even in those type of situations. If you have someone who is
		

			talking about worldly things, you need to take it upon yourself and remind this brother and remind
the system and say you know what, this is a moment in our life, where we're supposed to heart when
we're supposed to be going through a intense spiritual experience when we are actually physically
reminded of our own death because we are physically putting this person into the ground. And we're
thinking about the fact that one day this will be me and people will be burying me and in one day I
will have to be accountable for everything that I did in life. And that one day, Allah subhana wa
tada will raise me back up and Allah subhana wa tada will question me about how I spent my life.
		

			Number three,
		

			take time to contemplate. And this is why I started this talk today with the issue of simply paying
attention to all the all the signs of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And what I mean by take time to
compliment contemplate his take moments out of your day, where you're doing nothing but
contemplating life and contemplating death and thinking about your own mortality. Well lucky if you
were to sit for just a couple minutes and look at yourself and look at your own bodies and look at
how weak you actually are and how you're not in control that would remind you of Allah subhanho wa
Taala that would remind you of how weak you actually are and how in the end of the day, you're
		

			actually not in control. And you've had a lot you know, I know we there's certain amount of avocado
certain amount remembers that we all do. Most of us at least we sit after prayer and we remember
Allah subhanaw taala or even during the prayer and all that. If you can take out those moments of
your day to contemplate death. At least contemplate death when you're making the carnival last
mahanoy Dada, right? When you say Subhan Allah remember that Allah subhanho wa Taala is you you're
praising Allah subhanaw taala and you're praising him because it is only Allah subhanaw taala who
can give you life and it is only Allah subhana wa tada who will take your life away when you say
		

			hamdulillah
		

			You are praising Allah subhanaw taala for example, you're saying thanks to us, how are you praising
Allah Subhana Allah to Allah because you know that Allah Subhana Allah has given you the ability in
this moment to remember Allah subhanho wa Taala for how many people are out there at this single
moment making Vicar and thinking of completely different things. Lastly, you say a lot about uh, you
realize that Allah subhanho wa Taala is greater than anything you have in your life, any type of
attachment you have to this dunya Allah Subhana Allah is greater than that. And your submission to
Allah subhana wa tada is worth more than anything that your heart may be attached to. Lastly, my
		

			brothers and sister, brother and sisters,
		

			and this is a piece of practical piece of advice I have for everyone in sha Allah, Allah.
		

			Make a list of reminders, make a list of reminders, and I believe every single Muslim should have in
their life, if not moments of contemplation, they should have a personal journal, where when they
experience things in their life, when they look around, and they're in there, and they're seeing the
signs of lost data that they write them down, and they contemplate this. And this amount of law,
this was the this was the way the scholars of our password as well. Many of our scholars, they had
their own personal journals, where every time they experienced a sign from Allah subhanaw taala,
every time they came across something that they thought was amazing, or spiritually uplifting, they
		

			would write it down. And so when a time comes, when you're just sitting there, and you can't think
of anything, you open up your journal and you open up your diary and you begin to once again, you
have a tool to return to Allah subhanaw taala. Lastly, my brothers and sisters, I'll leave you with
this one thing. And that is that you know what, as Muslims, I know, sometimes people as I said
before, people will accuse us of being morbid people who will say You guys are so morbid. You're
always talking about death. What's the deal here? I remember panela when I was in college, and I was
trying to come close to a loss penalty out I was I was started starting to practice Islam. I was
		

			speaking to my friends one day who are non Muslims. They were not they're not close to Islam in any
way. And because this is an issue that I was struggling with, I posed it to my friends. And I said,
Do you guys ever think about death?
		

			Because this is something that I was struggling when I was and I was thinking about death now, for
the first time in my life is something which I actually started to contemplate. And I asked them, I
said, Do you guys think about death? And they said to me, they said no, not at all. And I said, Why?
Why do you not think like, Don't you believe that you're going to die at least that of course. Of
course we believe we're going to die. And they said it's just such a morbid thought, though. It's
it's a depressing thing to think about death, why not just enjoy the life you have, and have fun
until you die. And then that moment, I realized I had a law, that the reason why people think this
		

			way about death is that they don't understand death properly. As a Muslim, our view of death is that
that that our death is not the end. This is how a lot of people tend to think about death where the
death your death is the end. It's the end of the journey is the end of your story and all that for
us as Muslims. Our death is a transition to a better life. And for us it's a beginning the birth of
an even better life a life unlike we can ever imagine a life unlike we can ever think about the type
of pleasures that we can never even imagine. That is what death is for us and death. So when we when
we look at death, and we think about death, it's not only the fact that yes, it keeps us detached
		

			from the dunya and it helps us get closer to Allah subhanaw taala death also encourages us to think
of the earth and for us to remind ourselves and say you know what, there is an amazing life waiting
for me in the in everything that I'm going through in my life, all the trials and the struggles and
the problems and this and that everything that is happening will pass by in the blink of an eye and
I have waiting for me inshallah without a life which is absolutely amazing. So I want to leave you
with that inshallah. Tada don't think that death is a morbid thing or a negative thing for us as
Muslims it is sound something which actually opens our hearts and makes us free and Allah subhana wa
		

			tada Knows Best awana Alhamdulillah horrible. alameen wa Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh