Shadee Elmasry – The Ultimate Experience Stories of Blessed Deaths and Their Impact Upon Us
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Rahim hamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah. Who knew he
was certainly human. Well welcome everybody to the Safina sided
podcast. We are back and we've had a couple episodes. But this is an
episode that I have been looking forward to, to recording for a
long time. And I've been talking about this book for a long time
ever since I got my own copy. Thanks to the author and our guest
today, Mandy luck. And this book is the opening of the hearts by
Satan, Al Imam, Jelena Dean, a silty, and it's in excellent the
explanation of the states of the deceased and of the grave. Now,
I've been saying this for a long time, we Muslims are, we're
fighting, we have principles that we don't submit, that we don't
back down on,
we're not going to shut up on and that we're not going to capitulate
on. And the world is pushing is extremely pushy, right, the left
has become extremely pushy. And so so many of us feel that we're just
in this push back all the time.
And we could call this Harris theology commending right for
bidding wrong, whatever survival, I just call it survival. Because
if someone's shouting at the top of their lungs, right, and they're
basically working 24 hours a day to jam this material in your face,
and this this rubbish in your face, we got a response. If you
sit there, you're going to be community is going to be an up
alive. But we also have to refuel.
And our refueling is our spirituality. Right. And if anyone
has memory back in the day, there was Lightning McQueen.
Lightning McQueen went around and he thought he could win the race
without fueling up well what happens if his wheels blew out and
he ran out of gas, right? We have to fuel up and our fuel is our
spirituality. So sometimes, you literally have to turn the world
off.
And you have to spiritualize
this book, you have to own this book. It's one of those books that
you and we're not getting paid for this plug, nobody gets paid for
this anything, right?
So that you know that this is completely a genuine from myself.
It's one of these books that's got to be on your shelf, you first of
all, you're never going to finish the book. It's I'm looking here,
it's 500. If it's 470, it's 486 pages. And the bibliography is
only one page. There's literally nothing but book here, right?
There's not like an intro, and a forward and then commentary and
how, what, what what the resources were used. Right? it straight in
the book begins literally on page 19. And it goes all the way
through for over 480 pages of Hadith, after Hadith, after
Hadith, and sayings of companions, and other things like that. In
small tidbits not not big running texts.
And that's why I love this book, because you could just pick it up
and read an entry. And you could remember the entry because every
entry is numbered. Right? So entry 614. You like it, you write it
down 614. And you can my advice on the first page is empty, or the
last page is also empty, right? Like the back of the mind. You
write the entries that you like there, so you can go back and read
them and the page number. So that's my introductory statement
on why I feel and Mandy is the same way. He's fighting this
rubbish all the time. And the stuff that's leading everyone that
is making no sense he's fighting it all the time. But we can't burn
out we have to refuel. And spiritualizing ourselves is our
way to refuel. Vickery Acura, is it's our meat and potatoes. It's
our real nourishment. So with that, with that opening monologue,
I now introduce the guests that I'm very happy to have. And it's
me and him. And challah. Alex will join us later on. My brother from
England, Matthew Locke. Welcome to the program and welcome to the
Safina society podcast
when it comes to live America to
for that introduction.
I'm glad you that's what you found in the book my show. I'm glad
that's how you found it and that you benefited from a martial law.
And like you said, I'm guessing you're still reading it. Yeah,
it's one of those books that I don't want to finish it
and I can't read it. It's I don't even know if it's meant to be read
directly through maybe it is but I with my attention span. I go to
the chapter that I am interested in at that moment. Right. So every
day I open up the page and I in which is the contents or every
time I pick this up and I read a different you know chapter
I tend to read the optimistic
adapters, right? Yes. And then and there are plenty of them. And then
I read those, and I circle the ones that I write down the the
entry of the ones that I that catch my attention. And usually
that'll lasts maybe a couple of dues and Joomla or two, right, and
I'll just keep, I'll keep talking about it and keep saying that
hadith, Masha, Allah, you know, so that was my introduction about the
type of book that we have in front of us, and its its role in our
lives. But that wasn't an introduction of our guests. We now
need to do an introduction of our guests, Matthew Lockett. I'm going
to do that introduction by a series of q&a. First of all, we
met
in Mk. makan Makara ma Hamdulillah. You're living there.
You're now in London, England. I'm in the north of England
temporarily. Yeah. Which city? Bradford? Bradford England. Yeah,
but you're an American.
No, you're not an American. You're Canadian. No, neither. But you
have an American accent. Well, what's the explanation? I don't
know what accent I have.
I say Bradford long enough people to come Irish.
No, my my my story. My background story.
First of all, before I start it is true. I'm not I'm not making this
up. It's true. It's very, very weird.
I'm actually English. I'm an Englishman, aren't you? So what
happened to the accent? Did you move? Yeah, well, okay. My dad is
English. Alright. That's my dad is English. My My mother is Russian.
Russian. Okay. Yeah, my mother's Russian. Okay. That's, that's why
I look Syrian.
That happens to people in Syria.
So but my mother, her parents, they fled from the Soviet Union
during World War Two prior to several so that 1939 45 period of
time.
And they fled. They fled to Canada. Okay, so my mom was born
and raised in Canada. Okay.
But then she went, she studied for University of Michigan in the UK.
She met my she met my dad.
My dad at the time, was finishing off his PhD. And then he got a job
in Sweden
for about two years, and I was born in Sweden. He was born in
Sweden. Then my dad's contract finished because it was only like
a two year contract that thing.
Then my my mom and dad had a meeting, they said, where do we go
next? My mom said, Well, you know, we could go to Canada.
So we ended up moving to Toronto. My dad was a professor at
University of Toronto for
about 15 years.
My parents divorced in that province. During that time, then I
moved with my dad to Denmark. In 96, I was there for four years, I
finished my high school in Denmark. And then I came back back
to the UK, quote unquote, that's, that's one thing I learned
actually, in the UK was that time to come to university. I was at
least for four years, which included one year in Morocco
because it was Arabic history degree. And then
after that, I moved to the city of Nottingham, in the UK. I was there
for four years, and then I moved abroad and moved to Morocco and
was there for a while I'm staying abroad for that move. But
so I moved. So yeah, so I moved to Morocco there for four years. And
then after that I went to
and then I was in Jeddah for another eight years after that.
Okay, so summary is your product of the allied forces. Right?
America, England and Russia. And then you jumped around various
socialist countries.
Sweden, yes. Social Democrats. Yes. Yeah. I should say snowy,
socialist countries. Right. And then you started bouncing around
the Islamic worlds. Yeah. So you end up traveling then to these
Islamic countries? And then where does Islam come into the picture
here?
Before?
Okay, well, I became Muslim in 2000 meter 2000. Yeah. So I was,
was when I was living in Denmark.
That was when I
that's when I first got exposed to Muslims, I think.
Because I was in international schools because I had to be
international schools were English was the main language.
Because, obviously, I don't know Danish. Danish is not an easy
language to learn. So that's where that's where I first came across
Muslims from different parts of the Muslim world like
Egypt, Pakistan, Balmain, Iraq, Malaysia even. So, that was my
first exposure to Islam and that was
Part of learning problems because again, I think when I reached my,
you know, those late teen years, like 15 1617 years, I was
to cut a long story short, I was really bored of the whole
teenage, teenage Western seeing, you know, the partying and the
dating and I did not see the
the fruit. I did see the bet, like, what's the point of this?
Like, is this?
What am I getting out of this? I knew there was a deeper meaning.
And there's there's something deeper going on. And again, I was
always
a religious person. I mean, I wasn't because I was raised
because of my background. I was raised in the in the Russian
Orthodox Church. Not not Anglican, because because my my dad actually
converted to the Russian Orthodox Church. Oh, Imran Hussain would be
very proud of. Yeah.
I don't know if you're familiar with that reference. But so Okay,
those who are familiar with it are going to be familiar with Yeah, so
So I was I was raised in the Russian Orthodox Church. So. So I
mean, I, I always I never had doubts about the existence of a
creator. And that doesn't exist on my board. I know, I always
regularly what they call prayed, you know, which is essentially do
I, you know, I always did that. So it was not
hard to put the pieces together with Islam. Yeah, it was an art
because the issue really is, again, Islam is called submission,
because that's what it is all about. You just have to submit to
it, you know, convincing someone of the truth is not. That's not
the hard part. Right. The real the real thing is the submission. So
submitting something to was not easy, because again, that's what I
was looking for.
But yeah, I don't want to go too. In depth. I have I have actually
done an in depth podcast on this. On the on the Russian Orthodox
side, or what was the whole the whole story becoming coming to the
sun? Because I did do that book a few years ago. The big step. Yeah.
And so and I did do on my own on my own channel, I did do like an
interview.
I was intrigued by my material, tangible job. And so we did that.
That was a that was a two parts that was maybe like, it was maybe
two, three hours at all. No, it's an interesting story to travel
around all these countries, Toronto, Denmark, Sweden. Did you
get good at hockey? After all those places? You should? I mean?
Yeah, um, I did play on a team as a kid. I was I was not great. I
mean, because I mean, I can skate but yeah, I wasn't great. Cuz I
started I started too late. I mean, if you want to be if you
want to be really good at hockey, you have to start at the age of
three, four. I started around.
Eight. Yeah, I was two, I was way too late. I was way too late. You
know, in hockey, they have something called at least in the
olden days, when there were not too many adults around in hockey
when it was actually like a fun, you know, kids game. Now there's
too many sponsors and coaches and people's careers on the line that
kids are all it's so structured and so rigid, right? There's no,
you know, free time and flexibility anymore in the sport.
But they used to be a guy who was an enforcer. Right? Every great
team has an enforcer, right? Yeah, we in Arizona, we needed forces,
man. Right? We get pushed around as soon within Islam, but also
Muslims in general, right? Yeah. We'd have an enforcer, or that
like that team that just gets battered around. Well, I remember
I remember from my time I remember because because I was really into
hockey, like back in the early 1990s. So I remember the Toronto
Maple Leafs. I remember people like like Wendel Clark. And yeah,
Ken Baumgartner. I remember I remember these people. That's what
that's where they're like, they're the heavy hitters. They're the
guys that would go up and mess with the opposition. Well,
literally the forwards and intimidate them. Yeah, the
forwards, you're skilled forwards cannot survive if they don't have
an enforcer. They're just gonna get smashed and rent, right? Left
and right. And in European hockey, they don't allow fighting. Well,
guess what? That actually resulted in more injuries? Yes, you could
cheap shot somebody and no consequences gonna happen. Yeah.
Right. So that's why it's sometimes when you think that the
existence of some pain is actually a deterrent from a lot more pain.
Yeah, right. And in Europe, the rink is a lot bigger. And there's
no fighting. You can cheap shot people all day long and just get a
two minute penalty, four minute penalty, maximum five, maybe a
game misconduct but you're not gonna get hit. Right? Yeah. And if
you can take out one of the best players on the other team and
really make him scared. Yeah, that he's gonna lose his career if he
tries to make that, you know, to skate that way. Again.
If the cost of that is a game misconduct or five minute penalty,
that's not a problem, right? Yeah. But if the cost of that is
actually having to fight somebody, like Bob Probert or Joey coaster.
Yeah, you're gonna think twice, right. Wow. You know, so that's
talking about hockey. I can't I've never had to talk hockey.
was stung. This was this was not on my radar at all. When I when I
remember these names I haven't heard these names since 1994
What are you doing Dr. Shetty? I can't help but see hockey was my
life growing up right? I had a I had a section that had this you
know this stomach pictures like Quran surah kava Prophet's mosque
my other corner had all the hockey pictures on the other side when I
still till today when I see something that bothers me you know
what comes to my mind is an enforcer is like you know Okay,
Dave some and go right one of these guys to mention you
mentioned Bob Pro I remember that was that those are the classic
fights we do Wenzel Clark and Bob Probert
and then there's Bob Probert and tie Domi. Tie Domi twice, right.
Yeah, because he concedes that New York Rangers and he moved to
believe it. I'm Bob Probert when he was rough. He left he banned
from Canada. The guy. He was so crazy because he was on coke the
whole time. Yeah, the moment he got actually like they sent him to
rehab and they cut him from the wings and he went to the
Blackhawks. He became a human being. Oh, wow. Like he wins one.
He loses one. Right. Okay. His mean streak was gone because he's
off of cocaine. Wow. Messiaen Edmondson was on cocaine, like
half the time. Wow. That's why he literally is taking people's heads
off with his with his elbows and his shoulders. Right. And people
are so scared of Messiaen, because he's on cocaine. Right? He's
running around with no feeling in his body. Right. Okay, smashing
people with reckless abandon. But
I'm telling you, those that energy is so seared in my head. I feel
like I wish that because I can mentally sort of do that to some
people. Right? Well, any event, you can't and here we are. We
drifted off. But let's get to our book here. Because this this book
is a heavy hitter. What what inspired the book and give the our
listeners a summary of this wonderful,
you know, piece of scholarship. Okay, so this this story,
the story of this book, it's there, I've put it in the
introduction.
And I've dedicated this book
to my mother in law. That's how the story starts, because
it's now been 10 years, it's been 10 years.
So back, this is Ramadan, 1432, which fell in August of 2011. So
about four months before that, I'm on April, around April time. So I
was living in Morocco, with my wife and
the news came that she had been diagnosed with lung cancer. So
your your mother in law? Yeah, just in April. And, again, I'm
probably not like many men out there. But I was actually very
close to my mother in law.
I actually did, I loved her dearly and I always enjoyed going to see
her I enjoyed having her
stay with us visit us.
So not typical at all. As many people think so. So she she she
was diagnosed. And then I my wife and I agree that she my wife would
go back to the UK to still look after her in that meantime, so
because I still had work I was teaching stuff like that. And then
I went again just in Ramadan or just before Ramadan I went back
and
now her situation adjusted here it is only only just like, say a four
month period
it deteriorated really
quickly. And
it was just you know, we had to face death that would that was
that was like, it's just just gonna happen. Right? That's That's
how my wife was talking to me. That's how her sisters were
talking about it. So saying,
like, it's part of this thing that this kind of what you learned
reading the book afterward, you learn that the believer knows this
thing that the believer knows.
When his time is up, there's like a single I remember I remember.
It's interesting because I was reading. I was in fifth and also
with one of my teachers in Morocco started at Filati. And my wife was
also doing lessons with him. She was in like Ottoman Koran.
And he just said to her in one that I forgot to call this Lolita
said to her listen to a lot many artists, right? The believer knows
when his time is up. Right? Then you turn off you're reading a book
that Allah this is a Hadith about this, how an angel is sent and
there's a messenger and you're told that you know, the believer
gets the time so so my wife before this book was even, you know, even
known of my wife is saying, like, you know what, my mom is actually
giving these signals, you know, she's saying, I don't think
I've got much longer left. And then my wife said, you know, my
wife sent me you know what, I've actually noticed that over the
past few years, she
even saying these kind of things because like, I think maybe
two years before that they've gone together to renew their passports.
Right they renew their they went to, I think was I think we don't
have to Liverpool that time and they renewed their passports and
they got them back and it's got the new expiry day, which is you
know, 10 years in the future. And my mother lost her lips her
passport, she said, Oh, that's cute. I don't think I'll be like,
I'll be around that long, you know, semana, you know, like, just
didn't
look Ooh, look, it says, you know, expires in the year 2019 Oh, yeah,
like I'll be around you know, just just just didn't see that. So
that was this case of of
you know, first we had to just so so I arise we'd like just towards
the end of it like the last two weeks and just this everyone was
in this mode of just bracing themselves.
And you know, I was trying to be optimistic versus making Dawson
Oh, lock your hurt, you know, making making lots of dog but I
just remember you know, those last
24 hours like just like, like leading up to her dead last 24
hours visiting her in the hospital. And
we were all there as a family. We're watching her and she was
clearly in a lot of pain, right? Because the cancer is like in the
latter stages. He's cleared a lot of things. And I remember just
like I'm just looking at her I'm just making dua into single Oh,
how much fee how much fee how much via but then I'm seeing her
in so much pain and then
my daughter just changed by my daughter just goes from Alma Sofia
to Alana Maha Maha.
Right? I can't
like this. Maybe she has not what's really going to be the best
thing for maybe it's just time for her to have mercy. And whether
that's to be alive, whether that's better and death than on Mahama.
So
that's what I that's what I did. And
you know, we went back home and I think just one of my wife's sister
stayed with her that night. And then
the next day, because it was Ramadan. So on the next day, I
just had some hot water. I remember I just had so whore and I
was just like in river fetcher. And then the sister calls from the
hospital and says, that's it. So she's gone now. So
it was like this.
There's early Ramadan, because I because it gets into the second
day of Ramadan.
Day of the Week was
I believe it was a Tuesday, I believe was Tuesday. memory serves
me correctly.
The
days. Yeah, I was asked if it was like a Friday, you know, Friday
deaths are so blessed. And normally Ramadan either way, but
Fridays? Yeah. Yeah. Was it what was it Friday? Remember, it was a
it was a Tuesday appreciate was a Tuesday. But
so, so then when we
and so I'm so humbled, because because,
because I don't know what it's like in the US, but in the UK, you
know, they, they love to do autopsies and stuff like this,
they love to why did this person die?
That that kind of attitude was acknowledged. But because because
it was obvious it was cancer, they released the body immediately, we
were able to do the janazah everything the same day, very or
the same day. And that actually was one of her fears. That was one
of her fears that what if what if I live to old age and I die, and
then they want to do they want to dissect me or whatever it is, and
find out what it is. So she
Hamdulillah you know, that's that's what she was blessed with.
And everything after that was beautiful. It was beautiful. It
was a beautiful day. In my wife and son are such as they watch the
body brought to the machine, we do the janazah We took her to the
to the graveyard, buried or made to offer her and but during that
day, and then the days that followed, that's when all these
questions started coming up. Right? Because everyone had just
been like, hit with this death. I've never really been hit with a
death like that way. Like I was the same. So
people were looking at me and saying, Okay, well, can she see
us? Can she hear us? What can we do to benefit her? The little kids
were seeing stuff, you know, because the kids are kids are
pure. They're seeing stuff like
we had one niece at the time.
She she went into the room when my mother in law used to pray
tahajjud
because that was that was hurt. That was her standard. She's She
heard her norm was that she would wake up every night without an
alarm clock.
And she and she's called the eye and something very odd will be
let's hurry home, you stuck the room. Alright. And as early dawn
hours they see from giving us 18 So she would wake up she prays.
She prayed 200 So
one of the nice so the time that she she went into went into the
room where her mother lies to pray and she came out and she said she
said like I can hear I can hear weeping coming from the walls.
It's so hard or
you just need to do stuff like this like here we can come from
the walls we had
another nephew which is interesting story with another
nephew
he saw her in a dream
because the number one this is obviously because my wife's family
is Pakistani so she's called me John This word refers with a major
Amis like mother and then John is this idea of like, darling. So he
had a dream and then he said, Then he woke up and he said, Oh, I saw
me John. In Jenna playing with a baby
right it's an interest as I mean John Jenner playing the baby. All
right. Now at the time, his his mother was actually this this this
nephew his mother was actually pregnant she was she was carrying
that baby ended up being stillborn.
You know, it's just like, like weird weird things like that. And
then and then a lot of people were also just seeing her in dreams. A
lot of people were seeing her in dreams just seeing her in a really
happy state. There's this are like in flights, very happy.
One of the things about my mother was she never had for example,
like she never had the chance to do Hajj. Right. She never had the
chance to do Hajj. This doesn't wasn't written for but one of my
my, one of my brothers in law, he had a dream, I think just after
because, you know, after Ramadan, the Hajj season starts. So one of
my brothers in law, he saw our dream and she was like getting
dressed to go somewhere. And he said, Where are you going? She's
going for Hajj.
You know, my time has come on overhead. So so all these all
these things came together. And people just wanted answers like,
like, what is this? What's it's just like, it's not something we
can comprehend. So then I spoke to my teacher had double jofra So I
got on the phone to him.
And he said, You need to reach out also door
by mazziotta If you really want to get a full
What is it unpasteurized,
unadulterated raw, organic truth on these on these on these issues,
then you need to reach out to suburban on the CLT. So
I immediately started getting on the case. And so I went back to
Morocco, like within a month afterwards and I went to the first
bookshop I could and I got a copy
which was this one I actually got this coffee shop so this is the
what's so quick tip of the Coffea and and I got it and I started
reading and then I started realizing that because I had
terrible Joffrey said to me the same time he said, you know, we
don't have any like this in English. He just said no, we don't
have any like this in English. You know, if you if you actually, or
you or someone could bring this into English, it would be such an
amazing tool. We just don't have this. So then I just put two and
two together and thought I can do this. I can translate this. And
then I can dedicate the reward to her.
That that was the intention I made so I actually started working with
our kids. Well if I did like a page a day, I'd be done so So I
worked it out. And what I really liked about this, copy the west
coast without coffee which I bought in Fez. This is where I got
the numbering idea from because in that edition has all the all the
books, everything's numbered in there. Yeah. So I started doing I
started doing like a page a day I did about 12 chapters. Then I got
sidelined but other stuff because a year later we moved my wife and
I we did Amara we moved to Jeddah
and I got caught up in other translation projects, because
that's what happens and then I went to
visit Donald min hadj agenda. I don't know if you got a chance to
go there. When you were talking to everyone. No. Next time you go,
you have to go there Dolman hedge actually the actual original
bookshop, where they make the book. So I went development
agenda. And I was thinking I was thinking about fifth books, right?
Because they're like the big.
They're like the top publishers now Chef cookbooks, right, like,
like if you're into chef, you need to know their own hedge. You need
to know them. And they also do Maliki stuff. They also do Maliki
stuff. But if you are a chef, you will be told the government has
edition and whatever book it is.
So I went down there and I just went into a wedding I asked him,
where's your fix show? So then I went and I was standing there
facing this massive fixed shelf microphone
facing this massive shift fix shelf.
And as I'm staring at I was looking at the titles, some guy
behind me.
He's like looking at a shelf. He says, I just hear this voice
saying, well Mather and Sean's a door
guy like literally certainly mad and he still has a door I mean,
because we live with which literally is what about shuffle.
So door?
Shuffle, pseudo shuffle. So who showed us $1? Oh, yeah, right. So
that was like, Okay, go back. Go over to that shell find it and
it's like this one, right. It's the dolmen has additional one. Oh,
yeah. Like what am I gonna do?
Did I forget,
I need to get back and forth. So I bought the book there and then
took it home and it's okay, I need to start getting cracking on that
get cracking on this. And it started working along like and so
I really started
putting more effort into it. There was a brother in the UK also who
contacted me about it. So like, they'll be like seasoned English,
so he was putting pressure on me about it.
And I started getting weird dreams like is there's a brother in the
UK, I saw his brother from UK. He was in my dreams, like, where's
the book?
Now it's another dream where the concierge of my building in Jeddah
was having a go at me.
Like this, like you, they're sweeping the floor, like, hey,
Matthew showed us the door. Where is it? Subhanallah
Jean so, so so so I just I just really got into it and
really put my head down and I finished in the summer of 2016.
Then I was looking at some publishing options that that just
didn't come together. And it didn't work out for whatever
reason. And I don't want to blame anyone for that. But, but like my
wife especially and her family, they were like, really on my case
like Matic, we've done the book. Where is it? Raining, we're
waiting, we're waiting. So because of this whole COVID thing, I ended
up being in the UK. And again, when I left when I left Jeddah
because of the whole COVID thing, and I was packing my stuff, I
guess I was only thinking when I was packing was I was I was I was
actually thinking about I wasn't thinking longer, I was just
thinking about bringing up books, because I was I was doing my MA
thesis at the time. So I'm just thinking like, needs need some,
like any books from I may bring that with me. I'll bring some flip
books or have some flip books on me. And as I was packing, you
know, I saw shuffling the door on the shelf, I thought I might need
that.
You know, that's I saw the pack that in me. And so around last
fall, because when the when the situation meant that I wasn't
going to go back to agenda at this day, and teach online. And then I
thought you know what, okay, I've got the Arabic book with me. I've
got everything on my laptop. Why don't I just
print it?
For my family and see how it goes right? And then it just wanted to
also start asking my wife and she's asking her sisters, okay,
what do you think about the cover? What do you think about this? How
we get together? Like, okay, and then it's like, well, this
actually looks okay, you know, the company is okay, okay, why don't
we just publish it. So I just, I just did that. So I just put it
on, Lulu sent it around.
And everyone was really happy with it, you know, my wife because it's
especially to women, the sisters were like, really on my case.
Like, we need this book out. My wife was always in my case, her
sisters on my case. And then when we finally came out, and my wife
shared it with all her friends, and they were like, really happy
and, and one sister system really beautiful, which I thought was a
really nice reminder really put things in perspective, because
because my wife was was was sending it out to people and
saying, like, this is my husband translate this and he did it for
my mother and my mother and
Mashallah. And so one sister, like, she ordered it, she got a
copy, and she got back to my wife and she said,
subhanAllah she must have been an amazing woman that this came about
Subhanallah you know, that this this actually this happened
happened for her. Yeah, this doesn't happen from Monday to
Sunday. And that and that just put it in perspective for me eyebrows
Hamdulillah you know, I'm just a tool here, right? I'm just I'm
just an instrument. This this is a laws
love for her. And Allah's mercy for her and I'm just the means of
it. Well, hamdulillah that's, that's great. And, and that's been
the joy So ever since the book has come out.
What's been really enjoyable is
that some of the just emails I get from people are coming from people
and people just, you know, making dua for her. Um, you know, some
will email me from Singapore and say, you know, I saw your book, I
loved it. May Allah have mercy on her. And this is, you know, it's
like, what more more could I ask for?
So, just, and people seem to because again, I it's not just,
yes, it's for her. But I also want to bring that book out. Yes,
there's a theological knowledge that we can use to refute certain
people, but just the solace and the comfort that comes out of
reading this book. And that's, that's been the most
rewarding thing of it all is just when someone says to me, listen,
someone in my family passed away. I read the book, I started reading
the book, I just found so much comfort in reading in a book
abroad. So let's do my heart. I now feel that I know where my
loved one is. And so that's what I've been able to do. So the
beautiful like
One of the great things I've really, really enjoyed, since the
book came out, is
every time I hear about someone passing away, I get an address.
I get an address, like, really? What's his address?
And then it sent him a copy, you know, and then and then, you know,
they might contact with him on a copy, but it's just I'm able to do
that. And that's just, and I feel it's again, I think, I don't know,
I
think for years and years and years, I've really felt because
again, that is a part of life, right? You know, the mortality
rate for life is 100%, we all die when on sabbatical to mouth. So
when someone when someone tells you of death and forms of death,
and you say to them, you know, in the Raji own, right, I'm Allah
hydrocone. And there's only two hours you make, but there's always
this sort of feel like I wish I could do more.
Right, I you know, that person is serious pain. So it's really
fulfilling in that case, where I feel like I'm not just saying that
Isiah, I'm actually giving something people something
meaningful that they can actually benefit from. So I've really
enjoyed that I've just send the book out to
lots of people now in different parts of the world, just
colleagues or people that I hear about whether it's in the US,
Australia,
New Zealand's if Europe, it's been really
that's been really, really rewarding.
What's the website that people can get the book?
Okay, I'll send you the links, so you can put them before below. But
so the main website is Lulu, that's the main publisher. So
lulu.com.
That's, that's where it's published. And Lulu, they print
and distribute throughout Europe, North America and Australia,
right. So if you're in any of these countries,
and New Zealand is including Australia, so they will they will
deliver to Australia.
The exception is Asia. So what I've done with Asia is I've teamed
up with brother Joe Lau that, you know, no books
in Singapore. And so he's he's my distributor over there. So what
he's done is I've sent him
a copy of the book, and they've reproduced the cover, and they're
printing it separately over there. So he's a distributor for there.
So it's now available now books. It's available at water books,
as well in Singapore. And you know, for any anyone who's a
bookshop in the
in anywhere in Asia, basically, you can just contact on our books
and arrange for that. Whereas in the UK, there's also many
propagation in Preston. There's selling copies as well.
If you want to actually walk into a bookstore, but for all for
online purposes, yes. It's Lulu live delivery. So you go to
lulu.com. And you look up the title, the opening the opening of
the hearts. Yeah. So we're on YouTube, we can put a vote we will
do that job. Yeah, like Yeah, I'm telling you, there's really
nothing more powerful than the death of than a righteous death of
a righteous person.
I remember.
Sounds like for this, this was maybe one of your first big ones.
And I can say that I've never witnessed anything in my family.
Like I've never had a family member passed away. I've had my my
wife's grandfather passed away. And her grandmother passed away.
No immediate, immediate, like parents or anything, but I did
have a best friend who passed away. And it was a righteous
passing to an M want to tell that story. But first, I want to
introduce Alex who's cute came while you were relaying the story.
That was really an amazing story about your mother in law.
Mashallah. And did you see this took place in England or in
Pakistan? Is it all England? All in England? All running Sivan,
Allah subhanaw taala. So, before we I tell my story, Alex, do you
have any story like that of a of a debt that was so powerful, I think
maybe you
was Xena. His father, your father in law was that after marriage and
before? That was before we got married? Yeah, she was 16 when her
father passed away.
And then, while we were married my mother in law and also my father,
really, we we've been through almost the whole gamut.
Subhanallah and in her brother a couple of years ago Subhan Allah
Yeah, I didn't I didn't really come prepared to talk about it.
But I mean, a lot of work she had Maggie was saying, really, I can
relate to it. And
the one that I was experienced the most was closest with with my
mother in law. Law law.
Yeah, I learned how much that was. That was really something else.
Actually, I'm not I'm not
gonna have anything to say about science.
I have I have
seen numerous occasions where a righteous person's death
transforms their family.
And you don't need to talk about
the truth of Islam anymore. Because people who don't read,
Don't think, don't study, they witnessed what they witnessed and
they know what they saw.
And there's no reason ever to even broach the topic of the truth of
Allah and His Messenger after that, because it's you see what
you saw. And this is it's the explanation of how there was such
widespread illiteracy, illiteracy in the Islamic world, yet a very
high degree of faith. And is not to do because they're illiterate,
they just listening to the only literate movie that's in the town.
Right? No,
it's that they're on the fitrah. They're pure. And as you said,
like your knees and your other friends. And someone dies, you
start seeing things. Yeah, you can't deny it, you saw yourself,
right. And one incident that I remember, was my best friend and
was an incident is a major, major, major time in our community. And
back in their 90s, such a blessed decade, I was like, you know, I
almost tear up when I think about those years that
we were a small community, very small community, if there was a
gathering of 50 people, that was huge. That was pretty big
gathering of 50 people in New Jersey, in New Jersey, yeah.
There wasn't this boom of, of Muslim population that happened
later on.
But he was basically really one of the star, sons of the community.
And because he has this bold personality, very bold
personality, and he was a tall and slender, young man. And I would
say he was the boldest personality and he was the leader of the
group. There's no doubt he was the leader of the group. He had the
leadership personality of the group, and everyone honored him
and everyone respected him. Even adults knew that he was the
ringleader of our crew.
Well, he decided to in college in our third year of college, I
actually I finished high school early so I can catch up with them
and go to college as a freshman with them. His name is Bessemer
value my love mercy upon and he has a twin brother named cut it
and there was another art teacher or like the local teacher was Dr.
Ibrahim buco and his son Achmed was we were the four that we were
always hanging out. And then there were other great friends too, like
a lot of good guys. But we were the four that were always
together,
like inseparable. We would go by the week sleeping over each
other's homes, if I didn't have girls in my house, they didn't
have girls in their house. So our parents let us sleep over by the
week, right? So
in the summertime, so when we're juniors in college,
he decides to do Italy, a year abroad, semester abroad. So second
semester, he loved Italy. And he went for the Spring term, to
Italy. And he wrote, and most people when they travel for the
first time in there alone for the first time, he went, which he
never was alone. He's a busy house, always a busy community
busy house.
In contrast, unlike me, it was I was always alone down in Toms
River. And pretty much my sister was much older and she was out of
the house. I was always alone. He was never alone. So he was getting
his first shot of being alone, right day after day after day. And
he got very deep and he wrote me very deep like letters, the
contemplation and things like that. Well, we get the news that
there's been an accident, swimming accident, and they can't find and
they can't find it.
So they send in their version of the seals, like the Navy SEALs or
whatever, Italian version and then the Americans go and the Egyptian
authorities were there to a lot of different authorities. It was a
lake and there was one other American with him. His name was
Andrew, he was from Atlanta. Emory University.
He said, we we wanted to swim across this lake. We overestimate
were underestimated the lake
and we couldn't get through. And there was a boat coming, but he
couldn't last. And
he narrates the story. That's so amazing. All right, everybody got
such a dosage of Eman from the story. He said that he was
struggling. He was drowning and he was trying to catch him or get up
and he was trying to hold them up and it was really bad. He said but
then at a certain moment, just like a snap of a finger. He's
stopped, he stopped struggling completely. And he pushed him
away. And then he started saying putting his finger up and saying
something in the Arabic language that he didn't understand. Well,
we know what it was right? Yeah. So we know it's gonna be the
Shahada. Yeah. He then said, I tried to pick him up again. This
time he got upset and he hit me my hand away. Hello, hon Allah. And
then he went down, drought along. And the kid was like they're
searching for the bottom boat. Do you know when we know he didn't go
to shore? He didn't swim ashore? For sure. Right? Yeah, it was. I
can tell you the shock that the whole community was in. Everything
was canceled. There were finals. You could write to the University
of the university postpone the finals of all the Muslim students
who were friends with them. Oh, wow. Yeah. Everyone was just
camped out at their house in Middletown, New Jersey. All the
friends and it was the the mom was just beyond besides yourself. I
can't even imagine her calamity and the father as well. But
that young man, that Italian guy, Andrew, he came back. I don't
think he'd ever seen anything of what he saw. In terms of all the
people that were, as you know, how deaths are everyone's crammed in
the same house. Now, this was an emergency shocker of a death.
Right? Not unexpected, you know, death. So everyone is sleeping
over everyone's cooking food or autonomous at the message for aza.
He'd never seen anything like this. By the end of the weekend
that he spent he took a shot along with Well, right. He said because
he saw it, he said he I saw him just stop struggling, put his
finger up, say the shahada, which he didn't understand of course, at
that time. And then when he tried to save him one more time he
pushed him away completely. And then he passed he drowns Well,
years later, we came to learn that that young man's family like
mother father, you know wife I don't want to misquote but it's
something like three four people all talks to Oh, wow.
Aren't entire friend group. We've been reading about the afterlife.
We've been reading the we know the Hadith that the drowning person is
a Shaheed Yeah, we know these things, right. But now we get to
see it in person. Yeah, absolutely. And like you said,
many people saw dreams that he was, you know, in a in a good
place. And he came to his father in a dream. And he said,
Be one of the machine. Now machine is not a very popular word
in the Quran a couple times. And he said, What is the multiprotein?
He said, go find it.
In surah tell hedge between verse 40 and 50.
The father wakes up and he opens suits and heads and goes to reads
from verse 40. reads all verse 45. Where best shouldn't look between?
Give Good, glad tidings to the multiple gene.
DNA that I saw about two masiva or I don't want to misquote right.
But they have patients. Yeah. Those who when they're struck with
a calamity, they have patients. Yeah.
So Subhanallah, things like that. When it happens. You don't you
won't think twice.
The truth of this deen is as true as the sky is blue, and then we're
on planet Earth. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I think I have a question
for both of you. This is something that they're going to talk about
debt because you've all experienced it. We've all
experience the same thing. Something like this. I just
noticed recently, I was wondering if you've noticed the same thing
is, you know how
people are not Muslim. You know, when they always talk about
someone dying, they say, Oh, we went too soon. Right. So I was
like, it was before their time and they use these kinds of
expressions. And, you know, looking back now because now
they're like, 10, you're looking back now?
It's like, yes, when the death first happens, it's like, yes,
that person leaves a really big gaping hole in your life. This is
just this unfathomable just gap in your life. But then as time goes
on, you sort of look back and you think, yeah, I don't see where
this person fits in. Like I don't see where like headstones had had
this person managed lived. I don't see where they fit in. No no
Savonarola. It's like you're like no that person died. Exactly when
they were supposed to die. A law called that person home at the
right time. There's no too soon to like no happened which was to
happen because I had because I'm looking at now like what's what's
transpired in my own family since that time, I was like, I can't see
where my mother won't fits in now. Yeah.
except, well when she was asked to go. It's a Sunnah of Allah to
that. There's never a vacuum. Yeah, there's always people
filling in different roles and things shifting around. And
there's a reason for that. And there's, it's a Rama. And if you
think about, for example, the death of the prophets of Allah
when he was Saddam, he said, My death is good for you. Yeah. Now
we know that the death of the Prophet was good for us in the
sense that what the prophet meant is, your deeds are shown to me and
I make Toba T for it for you, or make us not qualify for you. And
if I see good, I thank Allah but there's another wisdom for why the
death of the prophets I send them because the death of the went as
the prophets I send them passes, goes to rafiqul it goes to ALLAH
SubhanA which Allah Now the Sahaba have to act. And there is sunnah
for us, and tribulations that could have never arisen in the
time of the messenger sighs of them, because he would have
quelled it as the prophet doesn't. Yeah, religious qualms. religious
debates are now answered by the sahaba. And that those problems
would have never arisen if the prophet was present. And now we
have precedent of how to handle those.
We also have various leadership examples. So normally very
different from saying what to say not, how could you have a
community?
Right? Without if without that doesn't refer back? Well say
Northman? Did things like this? Say? No, I'm going to do things
like that. Right? Which is very different from the prophesy seven,
who's flawless? Of course, if it was the prophet for all that all
that had we had was the prophet who wouldn't be sufficient. Right.
But Allah's wisdom is to show us the fruits of the Prophet. Yeah,
because the fruits of of a tree is very different from the tree
itself, but it is of the tree.
But there's a wisdom for why the prophets I seldom was given this
right.
At that timing, to return back to Allah. So these voids, like you
said, they're filled, but they're oftentimes filled with something
as beneficial, but also relating to the one who passed away. Yeah,
absolutely. So imagine if he sort of was on them had outlived all of
his long term companions. Yeah, what would happen? So yeah.
Very interesting. Because that's a beautiful thing that like you're
talking about like these because that's what happens is that is
after the prophets lie Selim goes back to Allah we have this you
know, the authority comes forward now we can see our authority comes
from an Islam like those companions to forward will
represent has made its way to flee from under when they know and then
and then on what are the annual sets up of Hollywood academics we
even see you can see where these the great folk AHA and then most
of the time they come forward and now that the authority and
structure is now in place, and that's passed on as wouldn't have
happened otherwise, we I've been to another death and other funeral
which this family you'd never write seeing a family react to a
death the way this family reacted, may Allah Tala always keep us
friends. They're an Afghani family. They have about four or
five sons. One of them was on a car in California and there were I
think it's about one that that the coastal highway basically, and two
of them are driving to Jersey guys are driving, the car flips with
them.
One of them comes out without a scratch. I'm telling you, I was
standing right next to them at the funeral. Without a single scratch
on his body. The other one died.
As to what
they brought their body back, I'm at the funeral. And I see like an
army of white coming out the funeral. Allah is Shabaab, the use
of these youth had decided
that they're coming to this funeral with a host of done almost
as if it's a celebration that firstly we know that we they treat
the car accident as the folk ah, as the same as the Hadith that
prophesy Sam said the building falls on him.
So they treat it the same. It's martyrdom. Yeah, it was a half as
of Quran. Yeah.
The father was smiling the entire time. I didn't see him crying.
I've never seen a father like this.
I'm telling you, the man was coming out of every orifice of his
body. Yeah. And I just couldn't stop but looking at him. It
couldn't stop looking at him because he was smiling all the
time. He said my son today is in the best place. He is much better
than living with us on this earth. Right. So why should I be said
that to myself? That nobody needs to speak at this funeral? Yeah, no
one needs cancellation. No nice consolation. The boys were all
wearing white head to tell wait. Even the pants and the shoes were
white
Subhanallah ever since then. When I see people dressed in black at a
funeral I take it as like a
BARROWMAN, why would you wear black? Right? Isn't this supposed
to be the day of like rejoicing for your deceased? What?
Is that more than Christian culture though? Yeah, it was
sometimes.
Voiced by that. Yeah. Because the the prophesy son did wear a black
Imama in defense of Mecca. Yeah. So Black Black is supposed to be a
color of victory. Yeah. Yeah.
But in the culture of the West, though, that's influenced like in
Morocco, for example, whites is a color of mourning.
Because it's heavenly, though, right? Yeah, it's heavenly. Yeah,
I mean, think about it. You want to be optimistic. The prophesy
Saddam did not like that. Someone lights a torch in a grave. Yeah.
Like go to the graveyard and light a torch? Not a lot. Not a lot to
do that. Right. Why? Because it's about symbolism there. These
people are trying to avoid the fire. So don't fire into the
grave.
Yeah, we're all about the symbolism. Because the more
symbols you look at you, it starts to affect your heart. And so to
see people dressing in that, in that way, it's become foreign to
us because there was another death we had in the community. Right. I
don't want to I don't know if the families want us to mention names.
But he was a very older gentleman, a very older man. He was a
gentleman as if he's some stranger. He was somebody who
lived decades in the community. And his kids are decades serving
in the community. Many, many, many kids. That funeral happened he
passed away on a Friday in Ramadan. Right last Friday,
Ramadan. The funeral I think was like Saturday or Sunday is
something like that. Right? Funerals on the weekend now, one
of these weekend funerals in Ramadan. There are no weddings. On
the weekends. There are no gatherings there are no like,
there is no lunch, people aren't doing soccer. Everyone's free on
the weekends. Those funerals are the biggest funerals for Laquan.
Right. And this funeral was massive. But mbyc was was so
packed that day. But on top of that, I remember that right after
as the casket was being carried out. Now cardi Xia had, he opened
with some add some verses from the Buddha. He started reciting from
the Buddha. I had never experienced anything. I had
goosebumps. I had goosebumps as they were carrying the casket out.
And he was reciting some verses of the Buddha. It really just felt
you're ushering someone to paradise. Yeah, that's how I felt.
Yeah. Because the day the death of a Friday, a Friday death is a
weekend in the month of Ramadan. Yeah, everyone was there. It
really felt and I'm like, Well, I was pointing to all the people
that I could I said, this is how this is the goal. That's what
we're what we're living for. You're not living for anything
here. You're never going to have a moment like this. Because any
moment like that, that you have the most glorious day possible.
You still have to wake up the next day, right? Yeah, yeah, you gotta
go about life the next day, right?
This one, that's it? There's no tomorrow there's John Gray. It's
it's possible. Fatima, isn't it?
It's interesting, because I remember it's a long,
a long time ago, because this is not it's like a really ancient
idea. I remember as a as a teenager, around before, you know,
before it became more so I was reading
the histories by by Herodotus, the Greek historian. And he tells a
story in there of some old wise man like this way before Socrates
evil guy called Solon was a wise man. And he was telling the story
about the eldest, these two twin boys grew up and they're both
very, very strong physically, and they were very, very successful
and they'd reached middle age and they were married, they have kids
everything. And, and Solon was asked about them, so like, like,
what's next for them? And he said, the best thing to happen for them
right now is death. So
it's comical but but basically, that's it because because, like,
because that's what you remind me when you said like, because you
have to live another day. It's like not now you've reached that
peak. Yeah.
Now's the time to do it. That's why I said, even our best was so
wise. When he realized and he put two is to put two and two
together. That surah Taha says about the Prophet what is to come
for you is always greater than what is the past? Yeah. And then
that he knew it was known that the prophets I send them His goal was
to bring Islam to Mecca. If if Mecca submits to Islam, the entire
Arabian peninsula will submit to Islam. Yeah, and that was the day
after all of that, that that struggle and the persecution from
them and the mockery from them, that they finally entered Islam or
the conquest of Mecca, then Elijah and not to lie with feta was
revealed. And even our best said that this, this surah is the
marker is the hint. At the prophets time has come Palace
because they can't get any better than this right? The Prophet did
not love any city more than Mecca. So it's not like if he conquered
Byzantium, he'd be happier because Mecca was the city he loved. And
he expressed that so there could be no higher
object goal objective. That's it. So and Allah would not allow for
his messenger to have like a slouching career at the end of his
life, right? Like, many people do. Think about Malcolm X, right?
Yeah, he died at such a time. How many people are there that are
legendary.
There's only one problem. They keep living.
Yeah, they screw it up later in life. And they're tweet something
or say something times change, and they're out of touch. And you're
like, oh, man, his heyday was so much nicer, which we'd have to do,
you'd have to screw it up later in life. Allah's protects his profits
from this, right. Yeah. And that's what we have in our best said
that, that everything else was tying up loose ends. And that's
what the Prophet did. And then he passed away, some Allah who it
was. Well, that's why that's why one of the principles I live by
and I put it in my book, The Big step is we judge the living by the
dead, you know, because because the dead, their book is closed,
right? Whereas, you know, that's why when you're, you put your
trust, and those are the man who passed away because there's an
open showcase. Whereas if you if you if you rely on someone who's
alive, you don't know what's going to happen. That's true.
resemblance mistake currently.
Right. And it's amazing that they say that there was a big chef in
Egypt. And they said to him, you know, this career of yours, we
have to write a movie about you, we have to make a movie about you.
And his response was, Well, you gotta wait till I die first. You
don't know what
I know. I don't know what's gonna happen right? Now, I'm telling you
that that the hospital cots was so important that the funerals of
these ultimate tells you everything about them. Yeah. And
that's why when you attend 12345 of these, you realize perspective.
But that perspective, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger
and bigger. And the issues of life gets smaller and smaller and
smaller. Because you realize, when you when you've witnessed it so
many times that it's seared in your head that arch enemies,
people who hate each other in this life and this community. Yeah. And
when they come to the funeral, it's all tears and hugs, and it's
all gone. Yeah. Now, you've seen this, once you've seen it twice,
you've seen it three times, you realize, what's the point of being
enemies in the first place, don't be enemies, because the person is
going to die, you're gonna cry over them, you're gonna hug their
mom, you're gonna hug their their friends, you're going to pray for
them, you're gonna say good things about them. And I had people that
I had rivalries with. And they died a wonderful death. And I'm
like, maybe I've had a robbery with the wrong person.
Subhanallah
so this interesting will. I've read a few books about the history
of the coming of the Europeans to America, you know, especially the
conquering of South America. And the one thing that really stood
out to me is that death was like, ramping. I mean, we're talking
about whole communities being wiped out. From disease, from war,
from famine, from all the effects of the invasion, right?
Like I'm talking about, in some, in some countries, it was like,
90% of the population just gone.
Wow, we're talking five, 450 500 years ago.
These are all people that lived souls that were created, put on
this earth have left the earth, never having, never having
learned, even, you know, an iota of what the deen teaches us. So, I
mean, they may have been on some fitrah, they may have had some
ancient religion that was from Allah that, you know, there was
some remnants of, but these are people that didn't have even the
most, even a second of worship the way that Allah has prescribed for
us rights for Panama. So every second that we have, we're already
benefiting more than millions of people that have populated this
earth, sort of like, the death of a Muslim is something too. It's a
person that died on Leila and Allah. Yeah, this is the most
tremendous Mercy, the greatest benefit dialog and give us because
the vast majority of people that have lived have lived without that
and died with that. And it's almost as if many of them they
have no recorded history. Nobody remember. I mean, to be honest,
outside of the Muslims and some some some traditional communities.
Most people don't know the great grandparents names. So true. All
right. We die and you're gone. And the only thing that was going to
matter is what you take with you of the How crazy is that? I mean,
I mean, Alex
She lives like five minutes from me. And you know, a YouTube and
Hannah and Jenna, just the FET think that their grandkids won't
even know who I am. I mean, it's like, it's like legal, right? This
is another lineage that we do if we're if we're practicing, and we
observe that right. But many of the city Egyptians, I can tell you
did not protect anything. Right? When they came to the cities, they
lost it all. I don't know my great grandparents names. That's crazy.
I mean, I can ask my mother for her grandparents names, and she'll
know them. So maybe I should I should do that, let's say, but
that's it. Yeah.
Well, let's say a grandmother, let's say I could list who might
the names of my grandparents. And that's about the most that I know
about them. Right? Like, for example, my mom's mom never had
her picture taken. Because they just didn't have camera, like at
that time. Like she didn't have a camera, right? She there's not a
picture of not, none of us know what you look like except my mom.
Right?
But that's like, hold on, is that you lived half your life with that
woman. Half your life with these kids. These kids have no clue
of anything about that woman, right?
And it's just like, Oh, we're forgotten that quick. From this
world. Why and why are we investing so much? Right? And
curious?
Like, it shifts shadow he puts an amazing thing. And he said, the
first the sign that this dunya
just swallows you up and and like the bad dunya not the world, the
Earth, the bad, don't you just say, kicks you to the curb is that
as soon as you die, they stopped calling you by your name. They say
where's the body?
And Alex speaking about the value of having Islam, there were two
brothers. I love this story. It's such an important story. One of
them Sahaba was more
closer to the it was close to the robin used to attend to the
Prophet all the time. The other brother was not he would attend
Juma and come back. All right. And he was not as in the circle of the
Prophet as the other one.
So they said then he died, the one who was close, the prophet died.
And six months later, the other brother died. So they said the
more righteous one died six months before the other one. The second
one, the less Righteous One. And the prophets I sent him said, But
didn't he fat? It didn't he gets six months of extra Salah and one
extra Ramadan? How do you know that that didn't catch him up or
passed his brother? Like we're belittle the basics. We belittle
these things, right. And they're not small
Subhanallah that's why any Muslim who passes away. And this is I
also always wonder about this too. Well, what's the point of going to
a funeral person I don't know. And I'm making dua for this person,
right? We've all been to a masjid. And all of a sudden, so lots of
janazah. And you're like half hearted about it. I don't know
this person. Right. But I realized there's a secret in that.
Some people, if you knew them, you wouldn't make dua for them. It's
the stranger who doesn't know them. who's just going for the
reward of it, and say, no, maybe a stranger will come to my prayer
Janessa let me make a strong dua for this person.
And you see the people crying, and you feel bad for them. So you make
a strong dua for their loved one.
I'm telling you, I think that it's so important that you do that.
Because you don't know sometimes you know, somebody because you
know them. You're it's impossible for you to be as sincere and as
much as the people who don't know them, because sometimes they did
bad things. There are some people who do bad things. Well, I think I
you know, I always tell myself, because I've been in situation and
somebody meshes where there's a Janessa afterwards. And I always
like as soon as the announcement janazah I tell myself to stay.
Yeah, because you just have to ask yourself, listen, one day that
will be me. And I don't want people walking away from my
janazah Yeah, that's it. You just have to tell yourself that I don't
want when I go, I don't want people walk away from my janazah
so inshallah if I stay, I don't know who this person is. Yeah, I'm
going to stay. I'm going to make the Lord to forgive them. And
install Allah will reward me so that when this happens me,
people will stay for me. I don't want people. I don't want that. I
won't be walking away. Alex and I did a little for a min
nobody knew the first time we saw him. He was Muslim in New
Brunswick for a few years. And we watched him until you this man
will look so crisp. He looked like he was a man who had taken a
shower and went to sleep.
This brother were it from the barbershop durian. Exactly,
exactly. It's like he had a he had went for like
Yeah, to the barbershop like that morning or something and passed
away or something. He looks so crisp, and his forehead was
glistening. I remember thinking to myself, it looks like he's about
to sit up, right, like open his eyes. And that's how much new
Riyadh in his face. But
the this man he was about to marry a woman. Woman was not a Muslim,
right? She was a Christian. She saw the funeral. By the end of
that weekend, she became Muslim, full on well, that woman has now
been the cause of probably half a dozen shahada is from her family,
multiple from her family, from her cousins from her friends. She's a
social person, who knows who has a huge family and she knows so many
people in New Brunswick. And so many of her friends in her cousins
have entered Islam. And she's now like one of the leaders in the
conference circle. Yeah, right. But look at she's doing all that
just like you wrote this book. But what was the impetus? Yeah, a man
that nobody knew who became Muslim, and his death is was the
impetus of her becoming Muslim. Allahu Akbar. I'm telling you
death is one of the most amazing things and that Allah chose. You
know, the name of the of the Islamic center is New Brunswick,
Islamic center, right. And North Brunswick now? Yeah.
I think somebody in his family, whoever it was, it might have even
been heard just contacted mbyc Because it was there in New
Brunswick, and that's the New Brunswick Islamic center. So they
were like, I guess that's who we gotta call to handle this. That's
exactly what it was a Google search.
It could have been any number of massage in New Jersey, and the
experience might be very, very different. That's
so Allah, Allah chooses, even though the exact place in time for
the person so that there was, in this case, it caused tremendous
benefit. I still remember that call to this day of just absolute
random stranger calling up and saying, Hey, there's a there's
the, you know, this man is that and he's a Muslim, right? And he
needs to be buried as a Muslim. Right? And then we said, Okay,
let's do it. And then the mother called and said, what's going on?
I have no clue what's going on. I said, Don't worry, we'll take care
of everything here. And we did hamdulillah and
the rest is history from there.
Did you know that I was one of the people that went to see Bassam
during Oh, you went to Italy, right? Yeah. Oh, so we were there
for at the beginning. That's amazing. That's amazing.
Yeah, I remember a bunch of guys went I didn't I wasn't able to go
And subhanAllah that's amazing.
That's a question because you guys are in that the New Jersey in your
Do you Do you know? Do you know money ma'am?
Alcoholic in Nyack New York
I know and I remember the call up but I think is Egyptian from North
Jersey I think no he's he's he's Haitian he's Haitian No, I don't
know him. I don't know that's part of an interesting time because he
he's one of the people that I send the book to because he's very
close by because his because if you're talking to the people who
become Muslim and the relation death and it's it i similar story
happens with this this brother Where
isn't easy. It was a matter of a message. Nyack I think it's
upstate New York.
Like halfway up, halfway up, like all the way to Syracuse, right? So
his, his mother passed away. His mother misunderstood letters in
her 90s. She said that she had a year ago. Wow. And she's in her
90s like 90, like 95 or 94. It is I saw I saw the video and he was
very, very close to his mother. And then she passed away
in March, like Roger, let's refresh on the time. So and, Mr.
Mitchell. I didn't I don't know him that well.
He he just I was put in touch with another brother because he was
asked me to translate some Casitas for him.
So I was doing it for a few months just translate if you could see
this every every couple months for him.
I found out that his mother passed away. So give me an address. So I
sent an address.
And then he got the book and they texted me at all thank you so much
for like he's really happy for it. He said thank you so much. And Kim
the record it came at the right time. This one says We came at the
right time.
Instead of using my quick buzz, I'm really loving it. Then
Subhanallah
he fell ill
and then I think just after Ramadan he passed away Subhan
Allah, he you know he can speak he was putting his he was putting the
hospital and he passed away. And it says and it's just
weird and I still got that WhatsApp message from when I just
go back and that's the last that's the last thing you said to me like
your book came at the right time.
And
And he doesn't know why he's receiving it. Yeah, he doesn't
think he's a mother. Yeah, he's really he's really because it
because it because it's giving him comfort for his mother's day. And
he's just reading about it and he's putting his foot buds. And
then he falls ill and He's in hospital. And then because of
another friend, we know, a common but brother called Mohammed who's
like our contact and he was intrigued. You guys mentioned
Italy because Mohammed lives in Italy, and he flew over to New
York. And he was told, like, Listen, I'm on Baja, like, he's
like, in hospital, they're telling him that this is gonna be his last
day, you know?
You ever you ever think of how impossible it seems that somebody
that you know, you know to be debt? It seems like impossible?
Yeah. It's something we can't fathom. Yeah. And then it happens.
Yeah, like, I mean, sometimes, like you said, the believer knows.
And sometimes it comes as a sudden shock, such as the party, the
restaurant, the Somali, or sorry, the Sudanese reciter, who passed
away about six months ago or eight months ago. All right.
No, rain. Chef, no rain. Chef. No.
In a car accident, that was a big shocker to the whole world,
especially the, you know, the people who are interested station
because he had such a unique Sudanese recitation, you could
find him still online on YouTube. But that was a big shocker, and
some, so it also reminds me of like, you ever get the feeling of
that you were sick really badly. And then you're healthy. And
you're like, I can't even remember what it was like, sickness, right.
But then when you're really sick, you're like, I can't even remember
what health is like, right? It's
like life and death is like that. It's like, I can't imagine some,
you know, the people around me dying, like that moment is
something you can never imagine. But, but it happens. And it
happens. And there's no age. I wonder if someone took the average
age, if you averaged out all the ages of deaths? You know, what
would that age be? We know that the province I sent him said the
average age of are almost 60 to 70. Yeah, right.
Now, I don't know if you saw but but you know, like the percentage
of those who die young, younger than that. And the percentage of
people die older than that.
You know, it's a, it's an interesting question, you know,
that how people say that, life expectancy, years ago used to be
very short, like 4045 years, 50 years. It's not because people
weren't making it into their 70s and 80s and 90s, that the infant
mortality was so high, that
makes sense. So the average age got really short because of all
the children that died, you know, if you go to the, to the cemetery,
where we're most of the people we know, are buried down in whatever,
whatever talent that is millstone military. I don't even know what
that is, but
kind of erode up. 33 130
There's the section with the grace for the children. Yeah. It's huge
upon Allah. Yeah, I think there has to be more children buried
there than there are adults and then Subhanallah
it's in every time every time I go, it's it's bigger. Yeah, so not
all these little grave markers. Subhanallah Rajiv, it's also
interesting, because when you when you read biographies of like, Oh,
they're, like going back 1000 years, either more. They're not
living short lives, right? They're living to be 60s 70s 80s 90s. Even
like all the all the they're living a long life. Yeah. Oh, it's
like this, this this idea. Oh, looks like now life expectancy is
reaching at 85.
I was doing some research for that convert class we had on the
companions. And the number of Sahaba that lived past 100
years a lot. So
yeah, probably more than you hear about people living past 100 Now,
I think it's a really cool community and
like, St. Abu Bakr will get behind
his historische Matt was, yes, that's true.
She's saw it all. She saw she saw her son become the Khalifa and
Mecca and then and he get killed. So I'm get killed, like I work
with father became Muslim after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam returned to Allah subhanaw taala How old was he then? Right?
Yeah, that's true. We're talking we're talking about these are men
in their 60s. Yep. And this is Father. Yeah. Yeah. SubhanAllah.
And so you've been married? Because your lawn, I think was
120. You live to the prophesy set and prayed for his long life and
many offspring. Which, if you think about it, ns had been medic
live 10 years as the prophets assistant. Yeah, you want that
person with that intimate relation to the robit to live a long life
to have many kids and
grandkids and he said he counted over 100
kids and grandkids combined. kids, grandkids and great grandkids.
They didn't marry at the age of 25 and 30. Like us, they married a
lot younger. So they're having grandkids way earlier. Right? And
you could live for generations, great grandkids, he counted over
100 said,
Yeah, I remember I remember she said Mommy will be one said that
the Sahaba that generation, they were more advanced than us in
every single way. Including in terms of understanding of medicine
and technology and science and nutrition and everything else.
There was nothing that we are better than them at
that they that certain things weren't employed or that certain
things weren't developed or put into, into or created or built
simply means that they had more wisdom than us in terms of what
they should and shouldn't do. So like that they were able to live
that long. It's not a coincidence. Only it's, it's, it's the baraka
that Allah placed into it, but also the fact that they took means
Yeah, way better than we do. When it comes to technology. Allah says
Allah mal insana, Madam era, he taught the human being what he
didn't know, if you think of every invention, all that any invention
is, is that at some point or other, Allah has willed to lift a
veil
that was blocking something that already existed. So if it's
discovery, it's not it's
it's, if it's a veil is being lifted. Yeah, you discovered
something. It's always been there. But I loved nailed it for a
reason. He unveiled it, and then you took it. If anybody else had
made that discovery, they would have done the same thing with it.
Right? Yeah. Right. Like one discovery leads to, let's say, a
dozen different technologies or tools. If you had taken that same
discovery was made in the time, if not, they would have made the same
tools. Right? No one's smarter than anyone else. It's just No.
Will you look at some of the Hadith of the Prophet SAW along
with some of them, that in 2020, you go, you know, that could
really mean this. Yeah, that's true. That's very recent. That's
true. And there's gonna be stuff in the future that people are
going to look at these Hadith. Just say, you know, that's
probably something that was just discovered now in 2080.
And, like, when they really already all happened, it all
happened for him. And that's true. And we're looking at for example,
Mecca clock tower and saying the prophets lie Selim, he predicted
that they're going to compete in building these tall buildings,
they might build 100 100 tower of storey building, may be small in a
few years.
And a few more years, they may have these foundations that are
dug so deep, and that you might have 300 storey buildings and 500
storey buildings in the future, who knows? And then you say, well,
that's the extension of the prophets prophecy right? They're
both reason problems. The same theoretical stuff calls like space
ladders started Yeah, it goes all the way up. You have to get a book
you'd have to get a book to ride the elevator up right because
you're gonna be there's gonna be lunch served in the elevator
Well, it's not going up here I don't know what time it must be
much much later where you are but I really thank you for coming out
and staying awake at this time. Right and and really being patient
with us to do this episode. This was to me one of my favorite
episodes because of the topic of death and the stories and I think
you know, the listeners and Shalabh in the let's Allah this
will touch their hearts and they're really benefit. And I
think there's so many people out there that can relate and they can
pass on their own stories of these Bresson deaths and we're gonna
name this episode blessing deaths because that's exactly what it is.
things before we go one chain of it, I just want to apologize for
being late. I had some some things that I had to do. Okay.
Um, the
thing is, my wife was in the background listening, she's
walking around doing stuff. She she actually had a question
regarding
Is there any way that you can increase the likelihood of having
some some some dream about a family member or something of that
anything that I have written about? Okay.
So with that, I think that the thing about
sinking dreams, I think that's good to back it up. First thing is
what what you can do to benefit them.
And this is also making dua for them. This is reciting Quran for
them and I've got this on my blog. I'll send it to you afterwards.
Guys, I translate from the cardroom. And no, we use there's a
section on the benefit of deceased and societally speaking well of
them by reciting Quran for them and then dedicated the reward to
them. Missing all the homos so obviously, karate had the way for
them to like, welcome a lot
send the report this to so and so. And this is discussed my mom was
guilty because the the early day share fees were not of that
opinion. They didn't believe that the that the reward actually
reached but the mama study discusses that in the show so what
I believe it's actually comes up discussion of at least not the
slam I think it was I believe it was a please correct me if I'm
wrong, but I believe was a lead that I understand who it is
lifetime that was his opinion that the reward does not reach for
resetting the brand does not reach. And then
he wants to tell a story that after his passing,
one of his companions saw him in his dreams in his sleep. And he
said to others on slept, what do you say now about this. And he
said to him said read read for me, I can see, I can see it, I can see
it, I can see it.
Did reading for me. So so these are things that you can do for the
charity sadaqa. For them, these are all one of things you can do.
So that's leading into the idea of the dream, right? Well, you're
you're building that relationship with the person because when you
recite core and from them, it's related that when they receive it,
it's like it's like it's coming on trays of light to them in their
grave. So we want to be doing those things. Now. But the dream,
the dream thing is really interesting, because
only a law knows whether you can handle it.
That's the thing, only a law knows whether you can handle it so with
with.
Like, for example, like my family, my wife and her siblings. Like my
wife gets regular dreams of her of her mother, when like one of her
sisters does. And one of her brothers gets like regular dreams.
Other ones don't. Right. And like one sister who was actually there
when she thought that she doesn't get dreams for and so there's
some kind of like the baby like, why are you getting and I'm not
getting it. And the real question is, you're probably not getting it
because you don't need it.
Right? Right. You don't need it. Maybe there are people they do
need it. Right. Whereas you just don't need it. Or if you did get
it.
It would just it would it would devastate you because because like
it did happen to me were about three years after she passed away.
Yeah, about three about two or three years after she passed away.
I did see her in a dream like I never seen her I saw her in one
dream.
And I just like, like, hugged her in the dream. And it was like it
was very, very, like a vivid, very, very, very vivid, vivid
dream. Like I remember like holding her and it was exactly as
I remembered it. But it crushed me Subhanallah like I woke up and I
was just like weeping profusely. I was just it was
almost one of those, it was like she just died again. So it was
just like it was like just way too overwhelming. So it was like the
one hand I was like, because I think I'd wanted to see her dream
I thought maybe left out or something. And then it's shown to
me and it's just like, it just hits me like a ton of bricks. So
it's like it's your careful what you wish for. So to speak, you
know, so
that's my advice is do everything you can for them recycle and for
them dedicated reward to them, give charity for them, dedicate
good deeds to them,
all these things, and inshallah you will see. But if you don't see
them in a dream, there's a wisdom behind it. There's a wisdom behind
it. And Allah knows that wisdom. So maybe it's because it'll
benefit you. But maybe it won't benefit you. It could be just be
too overwhelming for you or, or whatever. And Allah knows best.
That's a good answer. That is a good answer.
All right. Any closing comments, Alex?
One thing? Yeah, actually one thing that I've been thinking
about, very quickly, the sadness that you expressed right now, I
really 100% I felt very much the same way when my mother in law
passed away.
Like I, one of the leaders in our community, and one of her
husband's closest friends, was trying to get me to say something.
At the end, I just, I couldn't it was impossible for me to speak.
At my father's funeral, when my father passed away, I took care of
all the arrangements, I did everything and I barely cried at
all.
Completely composed with it.
Not because it was any less sad. In fact, it's much worse My father
died and not a Muslim. If anything, if my feelings were
completely only for the person that passed away, I should have
been crying a lot more for him.
But my my experience and the experience of everyone that got to
know her was a very righteous woman.
She passed away and on Saturday night, I heard Janessa was the
very next morning and they'd still was like four cars down the street
and he was a huge, huge, huge as a member was like just overnight
notice
Hello.
But I was much more sad about my or it was much harder for me to
deal with my mother in law personally, because of the sadness
that I felt for myself. And for my wife. Yeah. So it's not it's not
that we've necessarily feel bad for the person that passed. We
don't know how
to celebrate them. We just misunderstood. I was feeling for
myself. Yeah, exactly. Now, the more the more righteous and the
more beloved they are, the more we miss them and the harder it is for
us, but for them, we should be happy. Yeah.
We should try to be happy.
Thank you. Thank you, brother so much.
Again, go to lulu.com to get if you're in North America or
England, to get yourself or Europe to get yourself this copy. If
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Kamala Harris Subhan Allah homophobia, Hamrick Michelle Illa,
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Illa Lavina Manuel AMILO site, whatever so but Huck, what's so
the sub