Your Life Before Your Death

The Value of Two Rak'ahs

And that's what the people who have passed away want. And the people who have died, those people in the grave, they want to come back. They want to come back because they have seen the value of Ibadah, the value of prayer. They know the true value of all of these things that we ourselves don't know the true value of. And they have seen it. And so when it does come, that person will want to return to this world, and he will want to return to this world to just pray two rak'ahs, just pray two rak'ahs. But he will not be able to.

The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) passed by a grave and he said:

"Who is the person that's in this grave?"

And so they said such and such person. And so the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Just two rak'ahs is more beloved to this person than everything in your world, in this worldly life."

Everything. All the cars, all the houses next to the beach, the beachfront houses, the luxury cars, all the money in the world, all the gold and silver, silver and jewelry, it is nothing to him. He would prefer to pray just two rak'ahs in place of that. Give me time to pray two rak'ahs and he doesn't want anything else. Just that.

Everyone in the Grave Wishes to Return

But you know what? Everyone in the grave right now, everybody in the grave right now, they would give everything and anything that they have if they could, to just come back a few moments to worship Allah, just a few moments. But you know what? Everything that they want, we have right now. All the millions and millions of people that have passed away and buried under the earth now, every one of them, they want to come back. They want to be in every single one of our shoes so that they can say Subhanallah, Walhamdulillah, and stand up to pray.

Two rak'ahs are worth more than anything. But death has already come to them and it's too late. But you know, with us it's not too late. With us it's not too late.

The Light Rak'ahs You Belittle

And the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Just two light rak'ahs, for amongst the rak'ahs that you belittle, you think that this is just two rak'ahs, two light rak'ahs, meaning the things that you do extra, and these deeds..."

The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said amongst these deeds, just two light rak'ahs, it's more beloved to him, to the people of the grave, than everything that you have. And so Allah has given us this opportunity.

There is No Cure for Death

And we know there is not a single person on the face of this earth that will say he can live forever. Everyone knows that death will come. It's the certainty. There's no cure for death. There's no cure for death. And there will not be a cure for death. There will not be a cure for death. Some of these people they're thinking, they're putting their, you know some of them, you read on the news right, a person passes away and they freeze their whole body, you know, for many years hoping that maybe, maybe in the future somebody will find a cure for death. But you know there will not be a cure for death. There's no cure for death and there will not be a cure for death.

Death Does Not Wait for Anyone

And so everybody knows that death will come. But the thing is we don't know when death will come. Death does not come to only the people who are sick. Sometimes you're healthy and it comes. Death does not care if you have to take care of your family. You can't say when the angel of death comes, "Well who's going to take care of my family?" He doesn't, the death, the angel of death, when he's ordered to take your soul, he's not going to say, "Oh you got family, let me go back and check on it, see if we can get, we can retract that, this decree."

Death does not care if you're graduating next year. Death does not care if you still have payments to make. Death does not care if you still have to take care of your mother. Death does not care if you haven't gotten married yet. And death does not care if you didn't make Hajj yet. And death does not care if you didn't say goodbye to your father yet. When it comes, it comes. And you don't know when it comes.

Always Be Prepared

And that's why at any moment in time when you are living in this world, you have to prepare for it. Because when it comes, it's too late. You will want to come back to do the two rak'ahs that you should have been doing, but you will not be able to. You will want to come back, all of them will want to come back. When death comes, what will they say? The people, when death comes to them, they will want to come back so that I can do good deeds in the time that has already passed.

The Difficulty of Death

And when death comes, death isn't something that's easy neither. It's something that's difficult. It's hard. And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the final moments of his life, he used to wipe his forehead and put water, and he would say:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari 6510)

"There is no god but Allah. Indeed death has its throes."

And death has its pains. And this is the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

No Day Should Be Wasted

Not a single day that you waste your time, that you waste your time, it will not come back. And even the people of Jannah, they were never regretful. The only time, the only thing that they will be regretful about is the time that they did not spend in the worship of Allah in this life. They're thinking if only they could have increased in the time that they're there. And of course the people of the hellfire and the people of the grave, so all of the people in the future, they will want to be, and those right now in the grave, they want to be in our shoes.

The Story of the Man Who Came Out of His Grave

If they could talk to you right now, if they could talk to us right now, then we will see. And you know during the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) during the time of Bani Israel, the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) told us of a hadith. He said a group of three people, they walked by a grave and they said, "Oh Allah, if only You can bring this person back so that we can ask him how death is, you know how death feels, what it feels like."

And you know SubhanAllah, Allah made it happen. A guy just popped out of his grave, came out of his grave. I think if I saw something like that I might be running away, but the guy just comes out of his grave. But they just made this dua. And so the guy comes out of his grave. So the person that came out had the athar of sujood. He had signs of sujood on his forehead. Which means what type of person is this? This is a righteous person. This is a righteous person. He has the athar of sujood, the signs, the marks, because of his sujoods that he used to make in this life.

And so he comes up and the people are asking him. He's astonished, why is he up again? And alive now? And so they tell him that they just made dua and see how death was. And so he said, "Let me tell you, I've been in the grave for about a hundred years, a hundred years. And just now, just now, the heat of that grave has just lessened for me." This is somebody who is pious. Over a hundred years.

Visit the Graves

So for us, next time if you have the opportunity, go and visit the graves. Don't go and visit the graves and make tawaf and things like that. No. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

(Sahih Muslim 977)

"Indeed, I used to forbid you from visiting the graves."

Why did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) prohibit them? Because he wanted them to be strong, their tawheed to be firm first, so that they wouldn't be in the graves doing things that are wrong, asking the people in the graves and so forth. So he said, "Before I used to forbid you, but now go, فَزُورُوهَا because it reminds you of the hereafter."

So visit, make time to visit the graves, because you're gonna be that person in there. Everyone will be there eventually. And visit the people who are sick so you'll know the blessings of health. Visit the people who have less than you and help them out so that you can be appreciative of the ni'mah, the blessing that you have. And make use of the time.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, he said, "I had never regretted anything except for on the day my regrets came upon me. If a day went by, the sun set, and I knew that my life had decreased a few days, by a day, and I didn't increase in my good deeds."

And so you have to, before you go to sleep, make sure you reflect on what you did. Were you better today than you were yesterday? And are you gonna be better tomorrow than you are today? Reflect on those things and hold yourself accountable. Because Allah will hold you accountable.

The Four Questions on the Day of Resurrection

Because the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) he said in another hadith which is authentic, he said, "On the Day of Resurrection," he said, "the servant will be standing and he will not move from his place until he's asked about four things." And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

(Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2417)

"About his age, how did he spend his time in this life?"

Every single moment while you're alive, Allah will ask you about it. Allah will ask you about it. Every single day, every single moment. And specifically the age in which you're young. When you're still young, there's another question about that age. Because that's a very important time. That's when

you can do all of those things. That's when you have the shahwat, the desires and so forth. But you also have the energy to do all the good that you can. That's when you're strongest.

How did you take advantage of that ni'mah, that blessing? Because it's more important when you're young. Because when you're old, when you're old, I mean, you can't do anything anyways.

Three People Allah Will Not Speak To

And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

(Sahih Muslim 107)

"There are three people, Allah will not purify them, Allah will not speak to them, will not purify them, and they will have a grievous punishment."

"A king who's a liar."

When you're a leader and you're the king, you're the ruler, you have no reason to lie. Nobody is going to punish you when you tell the truth. You don't have reasons to lie because you have authority. You tell the truth. You have to tell the truth. You know other people, if they say certain things, they might get punished for saying the truth. But who's gonna punish you? You have all the authority. You have no reason to lie. And that's why the sin is even greater.

"Old man who commits zina, who commits fornication or adultery."

He's old. He doesn't have the desires like the youth. Why are you going around with a woman like that? I mean that's khubus, that's evil, that's just nasty. You're old. You gotta be in the masjid. You can't be hanging around looking for a woman. And that's why the sin is just greater.

"And then a poor person who is arrogant."

I mean if you're rich and you're arrogant driving around in your Hummer, you know that's a different thing. You got money. But you're poor and you think you have everything. You know like those guys, they hardly have anything. I mean they can't, some of them, they don't even have pants that fit them. They're walking around like sagging like that in the streets, thinking they're everything. عَائِلٌ مُسْتَكْبِرٌ You poor, you arrogant. And Allah will not speak to you on the day of judgment, will not purify you, and you have a grievous punishment, because you have no reason to do that.

The Youth Who Uses His Time Wisely

And so that's why when you, as a youth, when you're alive and you're full of energy, full of strength, and you push all those desires aside, and say (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah) and worship Allah, use your time wisely when you can use it in other things also, that's why the blessing is also great, and the reward is also great. And that's why the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "There will be seven people who will be under the shade of Allah on the day in which there will be no shade except the shade of Allah." And he said:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari 660, Sahih Muslim 1031)

"A youth who uses his time wisely in the obedience of Allah."

Because he's full of energy and full of strength, and he uses that wisely.

Ask for Long Life in Obedience

And so as Muslims, the life that we have been given, we have to make full use of it. And we have to ask Allah to give us long life, we should. But don't just ask Allah, "Ya Allah, give me, allow me to live over a hundred years of age." And don't ask for that only. Don't ask for that and stop there. No.

You know our Shaykh, Shaykh al-Uthaymeen (رَحِمَهُ ٱللَّٰهُ - rahimahullah) some of the people would write questions, and they would ask questions, "May Allah prolong your life, give you long life." He would be very angry. He would be very angry. He would say, "Who did this? No, you don't ask like this." He said, "Ask Allah to prolong a person's life in the obedience of Allah." Because if you have a long life and it's in the disobedience of Allah, it's no good. It's no good. The time that you have, you have to use it in the obedience of Allah.

And that's why the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) would ask, "Who are the best of people?" The Messenger of Allah (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, "Those who have been given long life in the obedience of Allah." And who are the worst? "Those who have been given long life in the disobedience of Allah."

Deeds Are Determined by the End

And so when a person is living in this life, everybody makes mistakes, and everyone makes mistakes. But we have to return to Allah and repent to Allah when we do. And this life, when we're living in this life, Allah will also look at how we live. But the most important time in our life, what is the most important time in our life? The most important time in our life is the end, the end.

(Sahih Al-Bukhari 6607)

"Indeed, deeds are determined by the end, determined by the end."

In the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), a person will be raised up in the condition that he died. So the end of your life is very important. The most important time is when you can say (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah) at the end. But the problem with that is, we don't know when that end is. It can come just like that. You can go out and next thing you know, a person is, you know, you don't return.

A Story of Sudden Death

You know, one of the brothers, he was actually taking a Maghrib course on the way back home, on the way back home, just a cousin of his, cousin of his, he was just playing around with him, or a relative of his, he was playing around with him. And he had just come home from, you know, just like how we're sitting right now, and then he went home. So one of his cousins, you know, he's driving, and he's trying to play a joke with him. So he's going directly towards him, and he's intending to swerve before he gets close to him. But guess what happened? When he swerved to one direction, his cousin jumped in that direction, and he was hit, and his head hit the ground, and that was it. He was just barely out of secondary school. He had just come. But that was the end. Anytime, it can come at anytime.

And so you have to realize that you have to try to do your best to make sure you're always in a state in which Allah is pleased with you, because you don't know when death will come.

A Personal Story: The Death of My Father

You know my father, my father, he was shot in front of the masjid. He was shot in front of the masjid, and it was after Isha prayer. He used to always clean the masjid, you know, the bathrooms and so forth. People didn't really know who actually cleaned, why the bathrooms were cleaned, until after he passed away. Then the bathrooms started to smell, because nobody really took care of that. And he never cleaned the bathroom or anything like that when people were there. Before he would go to work, he would stop in the masjid and he would leave. He would clean everything up and go. He would always look for the times that people would not see him, so nobody knew that he was doing any of these things. But he would always do that.

And he was the last person to, we used to live close to the masjid, next to the masjid. And he came out and I was in the house, and I heard a gunshot. But I didn't think it was a gunshot, because we have Independence Day in July, and people always have fireworks, and this was a few days afterwards. And I'm thinking it's just that, somebody is just burning their leftover M80s or something like that, these fireworks. I don't know if you guys have those things here or not, is it illegal here? But anyways, they burn and you hear all these sounds. And so I hear my father calling me, "Abdul Bari, Abdul Bari, somebody shot me."

So I went to him, and when he saw my face, he said, and then I told him, when I heard that, I said, "Father, I don't care who talks to you from now on, don't say a single word. Just in your heart, you've done a lot of good, and repent to Allah. Ask Allah for forgiveness and ask for His mercy. But don't say a single word after this." And he never said anything after that. The ambulance and everything came, and then the police officer, the detective, started coming around asking me. He's asking me about what was happening, was the masjid open. And I was just walking around telling him what was happening, the area of the masjid. And I was just speaking to him normally. I was a little bit sad, but I wasn't yelling or anything like that, just calm and speaking to him normally, just like how anyone would speak to a person, not during that situation, but after.

The Detective's Observation

In the morning, the detective spoke to some of the other people. He spoke to one of my friends. So the detective, he said, "In all the homicides and murders I've seen in my life, I've never seen somebody like him. It's amazing." So he told me, "You made great da'wah." I said, "What? I didn't even speak about Islam." My friend said, "I didn't speak, I didn't say anything about Islam." He said, "You made great da'wah. The detective came to me and he said, 'In all my days, I've witnessed thousands or hundreds, hundreds of crime scenes. Never seen somebody, especially related to somebody who was just murdered, like him. I even thought that he did it.''" That's the detective.

I said, "It's not humanly possible. It's not humanly possible for somebody to be in that state." You know, most people are going crazy. And so I told him, I said, "Let me tell you, I was sad that what was happening, but my father got something that I want, and I don't even know that I'll have that. His last words were (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah)."

The Virtue of Dying with La Ilaha Illallah

And the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud 3116, Al-Hakim)

"Whosoever's last word is (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah) will enter Paradise."

I don't know on the day that I die that I'll be able to say that. I'm just hoping that I will be. And we ask Allah.

The Most Important Dua of the Prophet

And that's why the dua that the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) asked more than anything was:

(Sunan At-Tirmidhi 2140)

"O Turner of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion."

Aisha was asked, "What supplication did the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) say the most?" And he said, and he is the Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, not like anyone of us. And the dua that he asked more than anyone, anything else, is:

"O Allah, the one who changes hearts, make my heart firm in Your religion, make my heart firm in Your obedience."

And that was the dua that the Prophet (صَلَّىٰ ٱللَّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) asked more than anything else.

Make This Dua Every Day

And we ourselves, every day, when you go outside, before you drive:

Because you never know if you're going to reach home when you're going home. And when you're going to school, you don't know if you're going to reach school or not. And when you go to sleep, do you know that you're going to wake up in the morning? And when you wake up in the morning, do you know that you're going to come back home? Nobody knows. Nobody can guarantee that. It can come at any time.

Are You Ready?

But what you want is, whenever it comes, ask yourself: Are you ready? You might not have time to return. Because a lot of people, they say, "Insha'Allah, after I get married, I'll be good. Insha'Allah, after I make Hajj, then I'll be good. Insha'Allah, after I graduate, then I'll be good. Insha'Allah, after I retire, then I'll be good. Insha'Allah, I'll start going to the masjid after I pay my mortgage," this and that, all kinds of things.

But you know what? I want you to read the Quran, and I want you to read, when Allah speaks about the people of the hellfire, I want you to look and see the reasons. And you'll find one common factor among all of them: procrastination. They always delayed. They always said, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow." But tomorrow never came for them.

Don't Delay Your Repentance

So don't be from those who delay. Don't be from those who say, "I'll do it later." Because you don't know if later will come. You don't know if you'll have that opportunity again. So take advantage of this life now, before it's too late. Take advantage of your youth before your old age. Take advantage of your health before your sickness. Take advantage of your free time before you become busy. Take

advantage of your wealth before you become poor. And take advantage of your life before your death.

May Allah allow us to take advantage of the time that He has given us. May Allah allow us to worship Him in the way that pleases Him. May Allah allow us to die in a state in which He is pleased with us. May Allah make our last words (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ - la ilaha illallah). And may Allah grant us all Jannatul Firdaus.

End of Khutbah