Death is inevitable. It is the one thing that we can be certain about in life.
We are born to die. Every soul shall have a taste of death no matter who they
are. This is confirmed for us many times in the Quran:
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: and only on the Day of Judgement
shall you be paid your full recompense." (Quran 3:185)
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by
good, by way of trial. To Us must you return." (21:35)
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: In the end to Us shall you be
brought back." (29:57)
Death is not pure annihilation, but rather both the living and dead are aware,
but there is a difference that can't be compared. Death is merely movement from
one world to another. It can be described as a journey through a wormhole to a
separate dimension of existence.
Narrated 'Abdullah bin Mus'ud: "Allah's Apostle, the true and truly inspired
said, '(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the
womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for
a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah
sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down
his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his livelihood, his (date of) death, and
whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed
into him'"[Bukhari]
No
one knows where, how and when he or she will die.
"Verily, the knowledge
of the hour is with Allah (alone). It is He who sends down rain, and He who
knows what is in the wombs, nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn
on the morrow. Nor does anyone know in
what land he is to die. Verily, with Allah is full knowledge and He is
acquainted (with all things.)" (31:34) Nor does anyone have the right to
take his or her own life. If they do they will
automatically go to Hell. The One who gave life is the only one who has the
right to take life.
When
someone begins to die the Angel of Death or Izraeel comes to take the soul out
of the body and puts it in a place called the Barzakh.
"Say: 'The Angel of
Death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls. Then shall you be
brought back to your Lord." (32:11) "Wherever you are, Death will
find you out, even if you are in towers built up strong and high! " (4:78)
Life after death...
"The
trumpet will be sounded when all that are in the heavens and in
the earth will swoon except such as will please Allah (to exempt).
Then will a second one be sounded, when, behold, they will be
standing and looking on!" (39:68) "The trumpet shall be sounded,
when behold! From the sepulchres (men and women) will rush forth to
their Lord! They will say: 'Ah! Woe unto us! Who had raised us up
from out beds of repose?' (A voice will say: ) 'This is what Allah,
Most Gracious had promised, and true was the word of the messengers!"
(36:51-52)
Everyone will be raised up with the same identification features down
to our very fingerprints. "Does man think that We cannot assemble
his bones? Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the
very tips of his fingers." (75:3-4)
All
will be waiting for the Court of
Allah, the Court of Justice to decide for them. The Day of Assembly
is a day of fear, agony and anxiety. It is a day when each of us
will be worried about what will happen to us personally. "At length,
when there comes the Deafening Noise--that day shall a man flee from
his own brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his
wife and his children. Each one of them, that Day, will have enough
concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others."
(80:33-37)
With
the heat of sun, sweating, and presence of too many people next
to one another, the situation will be very scary and chaotic. "O
mankind! Fear your Lord! For the convulsion of the Hour (of
Judgement) will be a thing terrible! The Day you shall see it, every
mother giving suck shall forget her suckling babe, and every pregnant
female shall drop her load (unformed). You shall see mankind as in a
drunken riot, yet not drunk; but dreadful will be the Chastisement of
Allah." (22:1-2)
On this day seven groups of people will be protected by Allah, these
are mentioned in Hadith: "Seven types of people will be under the
shelter of mercy on the Day when there will be no shade other than
that of Allah's mercy: 1) a just imam, 2) a young person who kept
busy in Allah's worship, 3) a person whose heart is attached to the
masjid, 4)two people who loved each other for Allah's sake, gathered
for His sake and parted, remembering Him, 5) a man who was invited by
a beautiful and charming woman but declined her offer, saying "I fear
Allah"; 6) a person who gave charity so secretly that their left hand
did not know what was given by the right hand , and 7) a person who
remembered Allah privately, so that their eyes brimmed with tears."
[Bukhari, Muslim]
Each person shall then be grouped behind his or her leader, prophet,
messenger, mentor, celebrity, etc. All will be put in lines waiting
for the Court of Allah to take place and our journey to continue. "On
the day We shall call together all human beings with their
(respective) Imams" (17:71)
All
will be waiting for the Court of
Allah, the Court of Justice to decide for them. The Day of Assembly
is a day of fear, agony and anxiety. It is a day when each of us
will be worried about what will happen to us personally. "At length,
when there comes the Deafening Noise--that day shall a man flee from
his own brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his
wife and his children. Each one of them, that Day, will have enough
concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others."
(80:33-37)
Judgement
Day will be our next stop. This is the day when Allah personally will judge everyone directly with absolute justice.
Abu Hurayrah related that the prophet (saw) said: "Every servant of Allah
will remain standing before Allah on the Day of Judgement until he
has answered five questions about five things: His life--how he spent
it; his knowledge--how much he acted upon it; his wealth--how he
acquired it and how he spent it; and his body (and health)--how he
used it." [Muslim]
Each person will then receive their book that contains each and every
thing they have done from the time of birth till death. This book
includes activities, appearance and intention. Such a book could be
similar to videotape which records all these three parameters. It is
not unfathomable to think about this in a time in which we have
CDRoms whose glinting thin surface contains encyclopedias full of
information.
"Then he who is given his Record in his right hand, soon will his
account be taken by an easy reckoning, and he will turn to his
people, rejoicing!" (84:7-9) "And he that will be given his Record in
his left hand will say: "Ah! Would that my record had not been given
to me!" (69:25) Their faces will be in gloom and they will be
distressed with fear and anxiety. They will wish and beg to start
their life all over again on the earth
Allah will also select a third group of people: "And those Foremost
(in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter). These will be those
Nearest to Allah. In Gardens of bliss: a number of people from those
of old, and a few from those of later times. (They will be) on
Thrones encrusted (with gold and precious stones), reclining on them,
facing each other." (56:10-16)
This is where we near the end of our journey. We shall enter the
everlasting domain, which comprises of the Garden and the Fire.
There is no trip after it for it is the Domain of Eternity.
We
shall pass over Hellfire, some of us remaining while others
continue on. "Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy
Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. But We shall save those
who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrongdoers therein,
(humbled) to their knees." (19:71-72)
The prophet (saw) said: "The mildest punishment to be inflicted upon
a person in Hell is that he will be made to wear a pair of sandals
made of fire which will be so hot that they will make his brain boil
like things boil on a stove. He will imagine that no one is
undergoing a punishment more severe although his punishment, in
reality, will be the mildest in Hell." [Bukhari, Muslim]
Others who are not qualified to enter Paradise or Hell may be taken
to a waiting station called Al- A'raf, to wait until forgiveness is
given to them through the Mercy of Allah.
Others will finally end their journey with their life in Paradise.
It is the last destination and hope of every person to arrive here.
It is reserved for believers who submitted themselves to Allah and
followed His teachings. They are the ones whose loyalty and obedience
were to Allah. Paradise has all the beauties of life to enjoy
without ever being tired. It is a life of excitement, peace and
happiness. The prophet (saw) said: "Allah, the Almighty, says, 'I
have prepared for My righteous servants that which no eyes have ever
seen, no ears have ever heard and no heart has ever conceieved.'"
[Bukhari, Muslim]
This
Life After is called the Real and the True Life. The Quran
explicitly refers to the Life After as the True Life while the life
in this world is a superficial one. "What is the life of this world
but amusement and play? But verily the Home of the Hereafter -- that
is Life indeed, if they but knew." (29:64)
The
prophet (saw) related in a true dream he had:
" He saw one of the muslims. The Angel of Death came to take his
soul but his correct behavior towards his parents came and drove the
Angel of Death away from him.'
" He saw another of the muslims surrounded by shaytans. Then his
remembrance of Allah came and made the shaytans fly from him.'
"Then he saw a thrid muslim surrounded by the angels of punishment.
His prayer came and rescued him from their hands.'
"The tongue of a fourth muslim was lolling out from thirst and
whenever he approached a pool of water, he was stopped and driven
away. Then his fasting of Ramadan came and gave him water to drink.'
" He saw another man and the prophets sitting in circles. Everytime
the muslim approached one of the circles, he was stopped and driven
away. His ghusl for janaba came, took hold of his hand, and sat him
down in the circle.'
"Another muslim had darkness in front of him, behind him, on his
right, on his left and above him. He was completely lost in it.
Then his hajj and umra came and led him out of the darkness into the
light.'
"Another muslim was being pursued by flames and sparks of fire. His
sadaqa formed a veil between him and the fire and shaded his head.'
"Another muslim was speaking to a group of believers who would not
speak to him. His upholding of kinship came and told the group of
believers that he had maintained ties of kinship and ordered them to
speak to him. Then the believers spoke to him and shook hands with
him.'
"Another muslim was surrounded by the Zabaniyya (angels of Jahannam).
His commanding the right and forbidding the wrong came and rescued
him from them and put him among the angels of mercy.'
"Another muslim was kneeling with a veil between him and Allah. His
good character came, took his hand and Allah let him enter His
presence.'
"Another muslim had received his book in his left hand. His fear of
Allah came and took his book and placed it in his right hand.'
"The scales of another muslim were light in the balance. Those of his
children who had died young came and made the scales level.'
"Another muslim was standing on the brink of Jahannam. His hope in
Allah came and rescued him from it, and he withdrew from it.'
"Another muslim had fallen into the fire. The tears that he had wept
out of fear from Allah came and rescued him from it.'
"Another muslim was standing on the Sirat trembling like a leaf in a
strong wind. His good opinion of Allah came and his terror was
allayed and he was able to go on.'
"Another muslim was crawling on the Sirat, sometimes creeping, and
sometimes just clinging on. His prayer came and put him on his feet
and rescued him.'
"Another muslim reached the gates of the Garden but they were locked
against him. His testimony that there is no god but Allah came and
opened the gates for him and let him into the garden."
Let us pray that we are among those who work to have an easy trip and
have as the end to their journey, the final abode of Paradise. O
Allah, We seek refuge with You from the punishment of the grave. O
Allah, help us to live and die as Muslims and help us to understand
the true object of this life. O Allah, grant us good in this life
and good in the life to come, and save us from the torment of the
Hellfire.
"We hear and we obey. Forgive us, our Lord!
To You is the journey's end." (2:285)
Ameen.
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: and only on the Day of
Judgement shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is save
far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the
object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and
chattels of deception" (3:185)
Sources: "The Soul's Journey after Death" by Layla Mabrouk
"Death and Dying" by Dr. Ahmad Sakr
"The World of the Angels" by Sh. Abdul Hamid Kishk
"A Treasury of Ahadith" by Dr. Mazhar U. Kazi
Quran Al-Kareem trans. Abdullah Yusuf Ali
