DEATH I Death is a part of truth despite our denial. Wherever you are, Death will find you out, even if ye are in towers built up strong and high! [Surah An-Nisaa: 78] The pagans of Quraish used to believe that once a person dies, he is not going to be resurrected again. A pagan came to Rasul (sallahu alaihi wassalam) with decayed bones; he rubbed them among his fingers until they fell as dirt. In Surah Yaseen, Allah brings up this subject: 78 And he (pagan) makes comparisons for us and forgets his own creation: He says Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)? 79 Say He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every kind of creation! The Death comes when the soul leaves the body. Allah takes souls at the time of their death and [the souls] of those that do not die during their sleep. He retains those souls for which He has ordained death, whereas He releases the rest for an appointed term. [39:42] Good End: (Usually) If a person grows up doing righteous deeds; He keeps doing them throughout his life; He dies while performing something virtuous; Thus, he is resurrected (on the Judgment Day) in the position of doing good. So if a person spends his life doing good (with sincerity), in sha Allah, his death will come on goodness. It is a blessing of Allah because he will be resurrected in the Hereafter in the state of what he was doing when death came to him. Therefore, we should spend more and more time in doing righteousness work. Similarly, if a person spends his time spreading wickedness and evil, his death will come on death and then he will be resurrected on wickedness. FORGIVENESS BEFORE DEATH: Allah forgives a person - Muslim or non-Muslim- as long as the death doesnt reach his throat. This is called ghargharah. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wassallam) said: Allah accepts the repentance of the servant so long as his spirit has not arrived at his throat. [At-Tirmidhi] SEEKING ALLAHS FORGIVENESS: The Prophet of Allah (sallahu alaihi wassallam) said: When any of you completes the last tashahhud of his prayer, let him seek refuge in Allah from four things, saying, O Allah, verily I seek refuge in you from the punishment of the Hellfire and the torment of the grave; from the fitnah of life and of death; and from the evil fitnah of the false messiah. [Muslim] THE EXPERIENCE OF DEATH: Allah says in the Holy Quran: Every soul will taste death. [3:185] THE ANGEL OF DEATH: Generally, angels do not come to a place where there is picture, statue, dog, or a place that is impure such as bathroom. However, the Angel of Death, Malik-ul-Maut, is able to go everywhere. A person may be in the bathroom and if it is the time of his death, the Angel of Death will come to him. This is because the Angel of Death is on a special mission so he can enter anywhere. *The Angel of Death is frequently referred to as Izrael; however, the authentic sources refer to him as Malik-ul-Maut only. MORE TIME! The human self-instinct begs for more time from the Angel of Death: A good person needs more time to do more good deeds. No matter how good he is, he can never saturate his records with good deeds. A bad person needs time to repent. DILEMMA DURING DEATH: At the time of death two things work hard against the dying person: 1. Nafs (desires) 2. Shaitan (Devil) Shaitan is near to a dying person than ever before. He comes to him and forces him to die as a Jew or a Christian (or as a disbeliever). This is a very intimidating moment. May Allah protect us from falling into his traps (amen). The Prophet (sal allahu alaihi wassallam) said: Verily Shaitan comes to you at all circumstances and affairs of your life, even at the time of eating. [Muslim] The son of great Imam, Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal, narrates the story of his fathers death. Everyone knows that Imam Ahmad was pious and scholarly. When the death came near to him, he almost passed out. The people around him were saying, Laa ilaaha illallaah. However, he kept saying, No…not yet, not yet. This worried people around him. When Imam Ahmad came back to his senses, his son asked him about his statement. Imam Ahmad replied, Shaitan came to me and said: Ahmad, you are free (meaning, I have lost you)! To this, Imam Ahmad replied No, not yet, not yet. Imam Ahmad meant that a person never gets rid of Shaitan until he dies. Al-Qurtubi mentions that a great number of pious and dependable scholars are known to have witnessed the presence of Satan at death. He relates that he heard one of his own respected teachers, Imam Abul-Abbaas Ahmad bin Umar al-Qurtubi, say, I visited the brother of our teacher, sheikh Abu Jafar Muhammad al-Qurtubi at Cordova and found him near death. It was said to him, Repeat Laa ilaaha illallaah,, to which he replied, No! No! When he came to, we mentioned what had occurred. He said, Two devils came to me, one on my left and the other on my right. One of them said, Die as a Jew, for verily it is the best of religions, while the other said, Die as a Christian, for truly it is the best of religions. So I answered them saying, No! No! How dare you say such a thing to me! Similar thing happened to Sheikh-ul-Islam, Ibn-e-Taymiyyah. SUFFERING DURING DEATH: Allah says in Quran: And the agony of death comes, in truth; that is what you wished to avoid. [50:19] The agony of death is called Sakraat-ul-Maut. The above verse implies that every dying person must experience some pain and torment. Aishah (radhiAllaahu anha) related: [On the occasion of his approaching death], Allahs messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) had a small vessel of water placed before him. He began to dip his hands in the water, and wiping his face with them. He said: There is none worthy of worship except Allah. Indeed death brings with it agonies! Then he raised his hand up and kept repeating, In the most exalted company until his soul was taken and his hand fell limp. [Bukhari] Aishah (radhiAllaahu anha) reported: Truly, I saw the messenger of Allah when death approached him. He had a container with some water in it into which he dipped his hand and then wiped his face. Then he said: O Allah! Help me to overcome the agonies of death. A BELIEVERS END: The soul of a dead person moves up from the toe towards the head. This happens even if a person is drowned in the sea or falls from a mountain. The messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said: When the Ruh is taken out, the eyesight follows it. Abu Hurairah (radhiAllaahu anhu) reported that the messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) said: Do you not see that when a person dies his gaze is fixed intently; that occurs when his eyesight follows his nafs [as it comes out]. [Muslim].
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 16:57:25 +0000
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