Journey to the Hereafter part 1

Journey to the Hereafter - Part 1

Opening and Introduction

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Our Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) his family, his companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment, and all the Prophets and the Messengers and their followers. My dear brothers and sisters, first of all I would like to say that I'm so happy and glad to be in Ireland.

And as usual, alhamdulillah, this is like home for me. Whenever I find an opportunity to be with you, I don't really hesitate to do that. And really what makes this visit even extra special to me, it's talking about a very important topic, I believe.

Even though I do have a very long trip that will take place very soon, but I thought about, I really don't want to miss this opportunity to talk about this topic, which is related to the hereafter and to the journey of the believers.

The Connection Between Heart and Mind in Faith

And talk about how the heart and the mind of the believers are connected to each other. And in order for us to achieve a healthy mind, to be able to have a correct way of seeing things, and analyzing things, and thinking in the right way, we should have a correct belief, first of all.

We should fill our heart with goodness. As Shaykh al-Islam rahimahullah used to say (إِنَّ الِاعْتِقَادَ الصَّحِيحَ - أَسَاسُ الْإِدْرَاكِ الصَّحِيحِ) - If a person has a correct belief, a righteous belief, he or she will be able to see things from the right perspective. The best politicians are the one who has a correct belief. The best businessmen are the one who has a correct belief. The best fuqaha' are the one who has a correct belief. The best muhaddithin are the one who has a correct belief.

The best zuhad, the best teachers and so on, is always connected to the one who has a right belief.

The Importance of Believing in the Hereafter

And no doubt, one of the most important part of our belief, believing in the hereafter, believing in the next life, believing in the day of judgment, believing in the last day. (إِنَّ الْإِيمَانَ بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْآخِرَةِ عُمُومًا - أَصْلٌ مِنْ أَعْظَمِ أُصُولِ الْإِيمَانِ) - always in the Qur'an and Sunnah, believing in Allah and the day of judgment, they always come alongside.

You always say Allah and the day of the hereafter. For instance, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Qur'an

"(يَعْنِي أَعْلَى دَرَجَةِ الْإِيمَانِ) - highest level of Iman"

(الْإِيمَانُ الصَّالِحُ الْإِيمَانُ الْقَوِيُّ الْإِيمَانُ النَّامِ). (يَعْنِي لَا تَنَالُ هَذِهِ الْمَرْتَبَةَ الْعَالِيَةَ فِي الدِّينِ حَتَّى تَكُونَ الدُّنْيَا فِي يَدِكَ وَلَيْسَ فِي قَلْبِكَ. حَتَّى تُعْطِي مِمَّا تُحِبُّ. حَتَّى تُعْطِي وَتُنْفِقُ مِمَّا تُحِبُّ)

- The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said in so many hadith he would say whoever believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment he should or she should what? be good to their neighbors. Say a woman not travel without a mahram. He should be generous to his guests.

Whoever believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment he or she should be good or generous with their guests.

(Bukhari 6018, Muslim 337)

- mentioning Allah and the Day of Judgment together.

The Quranic Emphasis on Belief in the Hereafter

And iman, believing in the next life, believing in the hereafter, it is part of the belief Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said

- The believers, the one who believe in what Allah have revealed to Ya Muhammad and believe also in what is revealed before you and they believe in the hereafter. They have certainty in their heart and they believe in their heart, but they believe in the hereafter.

- The believers, the one who perform salat, give zakah - And they also believe in the akhira, the hereafter. (Quran 2:3(

Understanding Death - The Destroyer of Pleasures

Today, I will start my lecture by talking about death. (هَاذِمُ اللَّذَّاتِ وَالشَّهَوَاتِ - هَاذِمٌ يَعْنِي يَكْسِرٌ يَعْنِي هَاذِمٌ - يَعْنِي يَنْقُضُ بِسُرْعَةِ الْهَدْمُ هُوَ الِانْقِضَاءُ بِسُرْعَةِ وَالْهَدْمُ هُوَ الْإِزَالَةُ وَالإِهْلَاكُ) - which is death The destroyer of pleasure In another narration the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said The one who attack the pleasures The one who quickly destroy any pleasures or any The pleasures here means the bad pleasures The thing which is not supposed the person have it Like for example the pleasure of committing what is haram or doing what is haram The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in another hadith said Whenever you remember death while you are in a hardship It will make it easy on you And when you remember it in ease time When you taking your time The dunya will be so small in front of you Will look so small in front of you.

The Reality of Death Around Us

They ask the American public What's the thing that American public fear the most What's number fear Number one fear in America you think Can anybody guess No actually number one fear in America is public speaking That's number one fear in America Public speaking Number two is death Number two is death People fear death Death is something really deserve to be respected Deserve to be afraid of Death is something happening around us almost.

Just for you to see the picture from another perspective There is 150,000 person die daily on the face of the earth And those people without people who die because of war Those the one who out of war zones Like out of Iraq, Somalia or earthquake like that Or cyclone that hit Burma I'm talking about average situation There is 150,000 people daily die around you So don't think that there is not much death going on No there is a lot of people dying.

The Inevitability of Death

And guess what That every soul shall taste death As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said

- Every soul shall taste death

- The death will catch you, will hunt you down as we say You will die one day No matter what you try to do No matter how, what kind of health insurance you have How healthy you are The death when it's arrived It's arrived to you as a surprise And nobody can feel that he is safe from death.

And Hassan al-Basri used to say If there is something in this life No human have a doubt about it It will be death If there is something Every human in the face of the earth He doesn't or she doesn't doubt it will be death Have you ever seen anybody said I will never die Maybe some people will say I will die then I will reincarnate Or I will go to another life But everybody agreed there is death Something, fact, nobody denied But he said in the same times We deal with it as it is the most doubtful things in our life As it's something so doubtful You never think that it will happen to you It will never happen to you And that's absolutely not true.

The Islamic View of Death

We as a Muslim We view death as an occurrence Something will occur to you And this is very different from other people's view Because so many philosophers and history philosophy They will tell you death is the inhalation of the souls When the soul will not be exist Now we don't believe that We believe that death something will occur Will happen to you It's basically taking you from one level to another That's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said

- Allah the one who created death and life Created what? Death and life So there are two creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's creation Allah created death as He created life So you go from one level to another.

The Three Stages of Human Existence

Ibn al-Qayyim rahim Allah said Allah created human from body and soul And He made for us three stages We go through three stages The first one in this dunya Where most of the enjoyment, most of the punishment Most of the suffering and most of the rewarding Related to body not to soul (أَكْثَرُ النَّعِيمِ وَالْعَذَابِ فِي الْأَرْضِ فِي الدُّنْيَا لِلْأَجْسَادِ وَالْأَرْوَاحُ تَبَعُ) - Mainly on their bodies In the grave mainly on the souls And in next life Distributed equally between souls and body In hellfire and in jannah So it's an equal balance You go through three stages Which it fits every category that you can think of.

The Unknown Time of Death

We know that the knowledge of this death Nobody knew it except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And Imam Malik once saw a dream He saw the angel of death And he told the angel of death When am I going to die? When am I going to die? The angel of death said like this Imam Malik and he pointed with his five fingers And Imam Malik got scared And he went to ask what is it five days, five months, five years What exactly going to happen? Then he asked Ibn Sireen and he told him Ya Imam Innama yaqulu lak khamsun la ya'lamuhunna illa Allah Wa minha mata tamuotu bi ali ardi tamuot He said that when he said this to you He means there is five things The only one knows when they are going to happen And how it's going to happen One of them is only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows these five things One of them when and where you're going to die So he's telling you even me I don't know when the death will happen I don't know when you are going to die, Ya Malik When you are going to die, Ya Malik.

Stories of Unexpected Death

A doctor, a good doctor Walk into the hospital He said I had a girl, she is in her twenties She was like jumping and waiting for me to come Because I will sign the paper for her to leave the hospital I said wait, let me just I'm waiting for a test from the lab And I will discharge you so you can go home She said no I want to go home, I'm sick, I'm tired of here I want to go home, she's in her twenties He said I signed the paper After I checked that everything is ok He said Wallahi not ten minutes Not ten minutes I was called by the nurses And come back and I see this girl Which was her face full of life To see the death in her eyes And she died in front of me She never expected to die there.

The Story of the Chinese Muslim Woman

Once I was visiting Oklahoma City Which is not far away from here The Islamic Center of Oklahoma And in Oklahoma City The Sheikh Ahmed there I don't know his name The head of the Islamic Center Told me That he got a phone call A phone call of a woman That she didn't sound like a Muslim She called him and she said I have my mother died And I want to bury her in your cemetery He said Sheikh Walid we've been for five years With the city fighting over this piece of land Because we want to bury our people in it Or dead According to the Sunnah Five years Debate over it We win the case on Monday This phone call I got on Thursday I told her I just got the permit And we're not ready to bury anybody She said no my mother said she want to bury it here She said come to Isha She said what's Isha? I don't know what's Isha And he raised more doubt about her If she's a Muslim or not.

She came and she said no we're not Muslims But my mother is a Muslim What's your story? She said my mother She's a Chinese She's a Muslim Chinese woman Who came, migrated to America a long time ago Her father left Islam She decided to leave her father And she went back to China And she left her kids with her Ex-husband basically here Because she didn't accept that Her daughter she said We always have a good relationship with our mother I invited her to come to visit us in Oklahoma She said no I don't feel

good I'm not feeling well She said finally I convinced her to come She arrived to Oklahoma on Wednesday She walked out of the customs She walked out of the airport We're taking her to the car She went straight to the Yellow Pages She picked the Yellow Pages She took Where's the Islam Center of Oklahoma She took the paper And she told her daughter Before she leaves the airport If anything happens to me If I die Those are my brothers Those people who take care of me.

And I told me When she told me that I was so moved When Khutba al-Jumu'ah came I gave Khutba al-Jumu'ah Okay we will bury her She is the first one buried in our cemetery She is the first woman The first Muslim First person to get into the cemetery And I told the brother about her He said over 200 people walked with me in her janaza Her son came Her other daughter came And this one They were shocked They said who are all these people Why are they coming And I told them Those are her brothers.

The Mother's Prayer for Her Children

He said we walk into the janaza After I buried her The first grave And her son gave me a piece of paper He said this is the du'a The supplications that my mother used to read Maybe it will be good for you to pray for her With her own words He said to me When I look to the paper I start crying And they were like moved What's in it It was written in Arabic It says (اللَّهُمَّ احْفَظُ أَوْلَادِي اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ أَوْلَادِي) - She prays for her children To be safe and protected And to be guided And I told him Do you know what your mother All been praying for She wants you To go back to that Belief that you Had in the beginning Basically her wishes in life Is that you became Muslim That you will be protected.

Then he said On the spot Her son said What I can do To make her now here To make her To tell her now I will do whatever it takes Then he said I offered him the Islam And he accepted shahada on the spot Her ex-husband said I want to reserve the Spot next to her Then he told him Oh but this will cost you Then he said Any money I will pay He said no it's not money What? He said you go back If you really believe That this religion is the truth Go back to it Then he said He accepted shahada.

And he said I shall (اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ) On the cemetery When we pray the Asr The one who came from out of town The daughter came out of town Became Muslim And he said for the one Who brought her to our Islam center She is one of the best Member in our community Even if she is not Muslim yet He said very active Very supportive No barbecue No events Nothing We have in the masjid Unless she is the first one to help Donate You name it Very close to the community I mean she came all the way All the way from China To die In Oklahoma When? How? Where? This is nobody knows How he or she will die.

Prohibition of Wishing for Death

The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said There is a book There is a written date For everybody When he or she will die That's why in Islam Nobody should wish death The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said No one shall pray for death That's why It is so wrong When sometimes I see some Non-Muslims When they think about Islam They think that Islam is a religion Calling people to die Calling people to death For death

One of the beautiful words I heard it from sheikh He used to say This is something not easy And when you talk about death The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said Don't pray for death Don't wish death So death is not something like Some people think that Muslims Just waiting to die That's not true Don't pray And don't ask for death Don't ask for death.

(Bukhari 5671, Muslim 2680)

- If he is a good doer He will increase his good deeds If he is the other way around He might It might be This time will give him time to repent Or have Opportunity for him to repent To Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Don't pray for death And don't wish death.

The Proper Prayer Regarding Life and Death

The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said So whoever is calling for death Let him say

(Bukhari 5671)

- said Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) Don't pray for death Don't wish death If you have to say anything Say O Allah If life is good for me Keep me alive If death is good for me So let it be Let it be.

The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said Hadith in Sahih Muslim Hadith of Abu Hurairah (Muslim 2681) He said The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Al mu'min When he lives When he lives Only living He will contribute more good He will add more good To himself To his family To the community To the society That he is living in That's the mu'min As long as he lives There is barakah in his living There is contributions That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will offer He also said in some narrations He said Only those who are forgiven will be relieved Only those who are forgiven will be relieved The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said.

Exceptions to the Rule About Wishing Death

Yes, there is exceptions There is exceptions for For this case One of the exceptions One of the exceptions If the person is in the process of death We would call it The sickness which is right before death (فِي مَرَضِ مَوْتِهِ فِي مَرَضِ مَوْتِهِ) - Somebody is about to die And he sees And he sees that This is the death which is lead to This is the sickness which is lead to death The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said

(Bukhari 4463)

- O Allah, forgive me and have mercy on me And join me with the highest companion The prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said O Allah, forgive me Put your mercy on me And I want the company of the most high I want the company of the most high.

Also Some scholars said You can pray for death Pray for death When you feel that you accomplished your whole entire life and you are about your death and in the process of death, you see that the sickness of death came to you and about to die, you can wish that this will come faster in this case. And because of that, this is the meaning of the verse where Allah subhana wa ta'ala said about Surah Yusuf