Joe Bradford - The Remembrance of Death

Allah is whom we praise. We praise Him and we thank Him and we seek refuge in Him from the evil of our souls and the evil of our actions. Whomsoever He guides, none can misguide him. And whomsoever He leads astray, none can guide to the truth.

And I bear witness that there is no one worthy of worship but God Almighty alone, and that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is his slave and messenger. O you who believe, be mindful of Allah as He should be minded. And do not die except as Muslims.

O mankind, be mindful of your Lord who created you from one soul, and from that soul its mate, and from those two spread many men and many women. And be mindful of those you ask your rights from, and the wombs that bore you, for indeed Allah is ever watchful over you. O you who believe, be mindful of Allah and speak the truth.

He will guide you to righteous deeds and forgive you of your sins. And whomsoever obeys Allah and His messenger has achieved the greatest achievement. The best of speech is Allah's speech.

And the best of guidance is Muhammad's guidance, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of affairs are those newly introduced into faith. And everything newly introduced into faith is an innovation, and every innovation goes astray.

And everything which goes astray leads to the hellfire, and that which was promised will come to pass. And there is nothing that can be done to avert it.

(Sahih Muslim)

And Imam Muslim narrates from Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, in his Sahih, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, narrates from his Lord, Exalted and High, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

O My servants, all of you are astray except those I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except those I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except those I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you.

O My servants, you commit errors by night and by day and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will never reach My harm so as to harm Me and you will never reach My benefit so as to benefit Me.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were all as pious as the most pious heart amongst you, that would do nothing to increase My dominion in anything.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were all as wicked as the most wicked heart amongst one man, that would do nothing to decrease My dominion in anything.

O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were to all stand in one place and to ask of Me, and I granted every person his request, that would not diminish what I possess except as much as a needle diminishes the sea when it is dipped into it.

O My servants, these are only your deeds that I record for you. Then I fully recompense you for them. So whoever finds good, let him praise Allah. And whoever finds other than that, should blame no one but himself.

O My servants, I have forbidden injustice upon Myself and I have made it forbidden for you, so do not wrong one another.

I say what you hear, and I ask Allah to forgive you and the rest of the Muslims for all their sins. So ask Him to forgive them. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

The Remembrance of Death

Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon those who have no Prophet after Him, and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who follow them with good till the Day of Judgment.

(Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak ala al-Sahihain)

Al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, may Allah have mercy on him, collects in his Mustadrak al-Sahihain a hadith, an authentic hadith from Sahl ibn Sa'd, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that Jibreel came to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he said to him:

O Muhammad, live as you wish, for you shall die. And love whom you wish, for you will depart from them. And do as you please, for you shall be recompensed. Know that a believer's honor is in his standing at night for prayer, and his dignity is being independent of people.

Live as You Wish, for You Shall Die

When Jibreel alayhi salam said to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, عِشْ مَا شِئْتَ فَإِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ "Live as you wish, for you shall die."

Death is inevitable to each and every one of us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Every soul shall taste death.

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Remember much that which will shave away or cut away all of your desires." Meaning death.

Ibn al-Jawzi rahimahullah ta'ala commenting on the idea of death. He said every person should be ready to die. Every person should never be taken by surprise by their death. Don't be deceived by your youth, and by your strength, and by your health. More young people die than the elderly. Which is why we have so few elderly.

Al-Hasan rahimahullah ta'ala used to say, إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ أَيَّامٌ "You are only days, a collection of days." When a day passes, part of you passes as well.

So each and every one of us that lives, as the day passes, a part of us passes as well. A part of us dies. And a part of us goes closer to the inevitability of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recompensing us for our actions.

Love Whom You Wish, for You Will Depart from Them

He then said to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "Love whom you desire for you shall depart from them." All relationships shall be cut off by death.

In the hadith of Abu Hurairah, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Love whom you love moderately, because one day you may dislike them. One day you might depart from them."

And he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said that three things follow the deceased. His family, his wealth, and his deeds. Two of them return, but only his deeds remain with him in his grave.

So if you have those that you love in your life, express your love for them. And do so in the way that is pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And prepare them for death and your death as you are preparing for yours.

Do What You Please, for You Will Be Recompensed

Do what you please. اِعْمَلْ مَا شِئْتَ فَإِنَّكَ مَجْزِيٌّ بِهِ "Do as you please. For you will be recompensed by it."

This is not a license to do anything that we want. But inevitably each and every one of us has the responsibility for his actions. If we do good, we can expect good. And if we do bad, we can expect bad. Therefore in the time that you have left between now and your death, make sure that you spend it doing that which is good.

Every small and big thing has been recorded.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as we mentioned in the Hadith Qudsi in the first khutbah, said, اِنَّمَا هِيَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ أُحْصِيهَا لَكُمْ ثُمَّ أُوَفِّيكُمْ إِيَّاهَا "These are only your deeds. I record them for you and then I deliver them back to you."

فَمَنْ وَجَدَ خَيْرًا فَلْيَحْمَدِ اللَّهَ So whoever finds good in his book of deeds, should praise Allah. And whoever finds other than that, فَلَا يَلُومَنَّ إِلَّا نَفْسَهُ should blame no one but himself.

We each have the responsibility to do the best that we can.

The Believer's Honor: Standing at Night in Prayer

He then continued and said, شَرَفُ الْمُؤْمِنِ قِيَامُهُ بِاللَّيْلِ "The dignity of a believer, the believer's honor is found when he stands up at night in prayer with no one else around." No one to see him but his Lord, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala praises those who stand up at night in prayer. "They peel their sides away from their beds in the evenings. And they call upon us with fear and hope."

Many of the Salaf when the winter time would come, they would remember death much. But they would also do another thing. They would also stand at night in prayer much. They used to say, الشِّتَاءُ غَنِيمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ الْبَارِدَةُ "The winter is the believer's cold prize."

Coolness during the days that makes it easy to fast. So if you have days to fast for Ramadan, days to make up voluntary fasts, get them in now while the days are shorter. And the nights are longer so there's more time to both sleep and to pray.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

In the third of the night, as it's narrated in al-Tirmidhi, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala descends to the heavens of this world on the third of the night. And He said, "Is there anyone seeking forgiveness so that I might forgive him? Is there anyone asking me so that I may give him?"

So take advantage of these long winter nights. Gain forgiveness from Allah. Prepare for your death. Fill your book of deeds with good deeds in preparation for that day.

Ibn Wahhab Rahimahullah Ta'ala, he said, "Every pleasure has one enjoyment. But worshiping Allah has three pleasures. The pleasure of performing it. The pleasure of remembering the good that you did. And the pleasure of receiving its reward in this life and the next."

The Believer's Dignity: Independence from People

And then he continued and he said, "The believer's dignity," وَعِزُّهُ اِسْتِغْنَاؤُهُ عَنِ النَّاسِ "The believer's dignity is in his independence from people."

Al-Hassan Al-Basri Rahimahullah Ta'ala he used to say, "You will remain honored amongst people as long as you don't seek after what they possess." Umar Radhiallahu Anhu he used to say that greed is poverty and despair is wealth.

When one despairs of something, he gives up on it, then he becomes independent of it. Meaning don't seek after what is in other people's hands. But seek from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

As we mentioned in the Hadith Qudsi from Abu Dharr, كُلُّكُمْ ضَالٌ إِلَّا مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ "Each of you is misguided except those I have guided." Ask Allah for guidance, ask Allah for sustenance, ask Allah for wealth, ask Allah for health, ask Allah for good deeds that are many that fill your scales with good on the day of judgment.

Do not ask people for your needs because you're asking a person whose door is closed. But instead go to the door of Allah for it is always open.

O Allah forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs and strengthen our feet, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah we seek refuge in you from committing injustice and from being wronged. O Allah guide us amongst those you have guided and forgive us all of our sins. O Allah you are the pardoner who is generous and you love to pardon, so pardon us. O Allah make the best of our lives the end of our lives and the best of our deeds our concluding deeds and the best of our days the days that we meet you.

O Allah accept from us indeed you are all hearing and all knowing. O Allah strengthen us for the night prayer and for your remembrance and your gratitude and for completing our acts of worship for you alone. O Allah enrich us with what is lawful instead of what is unlawful and enrich us by your grace and make us independent of all except for you.

Our Lord grant us good in this life and good in the next and protect us from the punishment of the fire.

Servants of Allah, indeed Allah commands justice and good conduct and giving aid to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.

Remember Allah the Great and He will remember you, and thank Him for His blessings and He will increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is greater, and Allah knows what you do. And establish the prayer.