Your Last Breath - Shaykh
By Yasir Qadhi | 2026-01-07T20:32:08.284148+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Your Last Breath
Shaykh Dr. Yasir Qadhi
Opening
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
"[All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions, and whoever is loyal to him. As to what follows:]"
Community Appreciation
This is my first time coming to your community and masjid. And honestly it has made me very very happy. And I don't say this just as a generic statement. I'm very happy and I feel very fortunate and blessed to be here. And I was speaking to my hosts and the gatherings that we had before. And I said the same thing to them.
That it's very heartwarming to see from my perspective. I'm not trying to make this area criticized or something. But it seems as if you are far away from many other places. Let's put it that way. In a very polite way. And you're driving by what might appear to be empty lands.
And you find this beautiful masjid in the middle of nowhere. And the masjid is full of people. And not just people. But mashallah tabarakallah the friendliness that was here. The brotherliness that was very apparent. Everybody knows everybody else.
There is a strong sense of community. And for that I tell you as somebody who has lived in many cities and visited hundreds if not thousands of mosques. That's a very very big blessing.
Where the community feels a network. They feel as if they are part of a group here. And in many large cities. And you guys know Chicago is around the corner. In many large cities you don't have that. There is friendliness but there is little brotherhood.
You know some people but not beyond that. And what I sensed here, what I saw here, what is apparent. Is that alhamdulillah it's a very tight knit community.
And for this it's a very very big blessing that I hope that inshallah you can appreciate. And from my side I already told my host that you know typically I don't come to communities except every 3-4 years. But for your community inshallah anytime you want.
Inshallah as soon as you are willing I am more than happy to come back alhamdulillah and be a part of this. It's a very beautiful beautiful experience here.
The Purpose of Thinking About Death
So inshallah today let's talk about a rather morbid topic. We don't usually talk about it. And that is death. The reason we talk about death is not so that we feel sad.
The reason that we talk about death is so that we live a productive life. In Islam we are commanded to think of death. But not in a negative manner. Not in a manner that's going to make you go depressed. It's going to make you do nothing. No on the contrary.
The purpose of thinking of death is so that we prepare for it. And the way we prepare for it is how? Is by living the best life that we can. And so Islamically thinking of death actually makes us live a better life.
The whole psychology is reversed. We are taught in this culture that oh just don't think of it. That's not something you really think about. It's a morbid topic right. You don't talk about death. But Allah reminds us in the Quran over and over again.
Quranic Verses About Death
"Wherever you are death is going to overtake you. Even if you are in fortresses that are guarded. You are in fortresses that are guarded."
The angel of death cannot be protected from anybody by anybody by anything. So Allah reminds us.
"Every soul is going to taste death."
And one of the most powerful verses in the Quran about death. It is addressed to none other than the most blessed of all human beings. And that is our Prophet ﷺ. Allah speaks to him directly in the first person.
Listen to this verse and memorize it. Allah speaks to the Prophet ﷺ directly. And Allah says:
"Ya Rasool Allah, if you are going to die, do they think they will live forever? I want you to imagine the psychology of this verse."
Who is speaking to whom? What is the context of revelation? This is in the Quran. You, Ya Rasool Allah, are going to die. And they are going to die.
"We did not give eternal life to any human being."
Then Allah says the same verse. If you are going to die, will they live? Meaning, if anyone, anyone had been given eternal life, who would it be? Who deserves, if any human being were to be given it? It is Rasool Allah ﷺ.
But Allah tells us in the Quran, No one has been given eternal life. If you have not been given eternal life, then do they think they will be spared and saved? And now of course, this verse is coming to us, 1400 years after the death of the Prophet ﷺ. We were born, and he's already passed away.
The Sahaba's Reaction to the Prophet's Death
So the shock of his death is not something that we are always thinking about, we weren't born that way. When these verses came down, even the Sahaba did not fully comprehend them. Because they loved the Prophet ﷺ so much, they couldn't imagine a world without him.
And that's why Anas Ibn Malik said, that the day the Prophet ﷺ entered Medina, it was the happiest day of our lives. And the day that he passed away, it was the saddest day of our lives. This is Anas telling us.
The day that he came, our lives became bright. We were the happiest of happy. And the day that he died, it was the saddest day of our lives.
The death of the Prophet ﷺ was nothing that the Sahaba even thought about, even could contemplate. And that is why when he ﷺ passed away, they didn't know. Is this true? Is it a rumor? You all know what happened.
Umar Ibn Khattab himself, he began marching up and down the masjid when the rumor spread that the Prophet ﷺ passed away. He brought his sword to the masjid. You're not supposed to bring your sword to the masjid.
He brought his sword to the masjid in his anger, in his anxiety, in his grief. And he said, anybody who dares blaspheme and say Rasulullah ﷺ has died, I will cut his head off. I don't want to hear it from anybody.
Because you know when you're emotional, when you lose a loved one, sometimes you don't think rationally. Sometimes you just lose it, as they say. And the love that they had for Rasulullah ﷺ was too much.
And no one could calm Umar down, other than Abu Bakr. No one had the audacity to walk in, verify the Prophet ﷺ has passed away, and then come outside, and then say, sit down, Umar. With the sword drawn, who has that audacity? Sit down, Umar.
And when Umar did not sit down, couldn't care less, he stood on the minbar, and he gave the khutbah, and he recited these verses, that I just recited for you. The same verses, that talk about the death of the
Prophet ﷺ, that we are talking about all the time. Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, he recited them right at that point, when he passed away.
And he said, of the verses that he said:
"When he dies, or he is killed, are you going to turn away from your religion?"
And then he said his famous words as we all know, that if Rasulullah ﷺ has died, then the Lord of Rasulullah is حَيَّ لَا يَمُوتُ He is Al- Hayy and he never dies. And Umar Ibn Khattab, what did he say? He said, when he recited those verses, these verses that I'm just reciting, it was as if, I had never heard them up until that time. And my own feet, gave way, I lost balance, and I slumped to the floor, because I realized, that it had occurred.
Finding Comfort in the Prophet's Death
So the point here that I'm coming across is that, even the Sahaba, they never really thought deeply about the death of the Prophet ﷺ, and yet it was a reality of his life, and of our lives. And that's why he said ﷺ, to the Sahaba he's saying, and to us through them, that whenever any of you is troubled by a calamity, then take solace, in the calamity of my death, for my Ummah will not be tested with a greater calamity than that. (Ibn Majah)
Whenever one of you faces a calamity, then take comfort, in the calamity of my death. What does this mean? Take comfort in the calamity of my death. The meaning is as follows.
Let me give you an example that we understand. An example that we understand. Suppose, suppose, that we went through a tough time, one of us went through a tough time, and let's say you lost $100,000 in the stock market, whatever.
Then you overcame that, you're back on your feet, then you lost a few years later $10,000. When you lose the $10,000, that's pinching you. But you're going to say, you know what, I lost $100,000, and I'm still here today, $10,000 I can deal with.
You see the point here? Take comfort in a larger calamity. And you say, you know what, I did that, we went through, we're here, fine, we can do that. Our Rasul ﷺ is telling the Sahaba, and through the Sahaba he's telling us, when you're facing a calamity, you think you cannot do it, you think everything's going to go haywire, then take comfort that the Ummah faced a calamity bigger than that.
And this is in particular true of the calamities that the Ummah faces, right? Right now we are facing 100 calamities. Iraq is a calamity. Syria and Bilad al-Sham is a calamity.
The Chinese Muslims, everywhere in the world is a calamity. If somebody feels, how is the Ummah, how is the Ummah? The Prophet ﷺ is saying, look, my death was a far bigger calamity for the Ummah than any incident in the region. And yet the Ummah overcame.
And the Ummah rose to the heights. And the Ummah ruled the world. And the Ummah went from Andalusia to China.
And the Ummah, and the Ummah, it overcame that. It overcame that as well. So when one of you is faced with a musiba, with a calamity, take comfort in the calamity of my death.
Because there's not going to be a communal Ummah, a communal calamity that is bigger than that of the Prophet ﷺ. And as well, Allah reminds us of the Quran of the unknown time of death. The unknown time.
The Unknown Time and Place of Death
Nobody knows death. Death is not preserved in his own knowledge. And Allah mentions in the Quran that the soul does not even know where it is going to die.
"The soul does not even know which land it will die in."
Forget the time. You cannot even control the country of your death.
And how many stories we hear. How many incidents that I know and you know. That the person goes to a land for a short trip and nobody thinks that that is going to be the last trip.
And yet he passes away there because it was Allah's Qadr. How many times we hear of a person struggling to go for Umrah or Hajj and they give up hope they cannot go and then Allah blesses them a way. And low and behold that becomes the death that after Umrah, after Hajj, after Madinah a beautiful death occurs and it was written that his Qabr is going to be in Madinah in Baqi'ah.
It was written. And his family himself how am I going to get there? But everything the Hadith of the Prophet ﷺ says, Hadith is in Tirmidhi, that if Allah's Qadr is that a person will die in a certain land then Allah will create a need that causes that man to go to that land to die over there. (Tirmidhi)
You cannot predict it is in Allah's Qadr. Death is something it is going to happen and Allah knows when and where and no one else knows when and where and that is why we are reminded over and over again to think of death not for the sake of morbidity not for the sake of feeling morose and sad but as we said for the sake of productivity for the sake of doing your best you know intelligent students hard working students all of us when we go to our careers we are given deadlines what is the purpose of the deadline one of the purposes plan so that when you get to the deadline you have done it the exam when you sit down you have two hours the smart student keeps on looking at the watch say okay I got to plan this question I got to do this that is the purpose that the reason that you think of the end is so that you do something good before the end so death okay we don't know the exact time agreed but we know it is
going to come so the wise person prepares for that before it comes and that is why our prophet ﷺ said, hadith is in Sunan al-Nasa'i:
Think frequently about that thing which destroys all pleasures. Here is a command to think frequently about death. We are commanded don't just ignore it don't get rid of it.
The Smartest of Muslims
So an honest question don't say it out loud I am asking you to ask yourself and I ask myself this question when was the last time that you thought about death it is an honest question here we have a hadith the prophet ﷺ is saying I am commanding you to think of death frequently frequently some of us haven't thought of death for years and we are commanded to think of it frequently why hadith Ibn Majah tells us why Ibn Umar said that once I was sitting with the prophet ﷺ and a man came and said ya rasulallah who is the best of the muslims man afdal who is the best the prophet ﷺ said:
The one whose manners are the best if your manners are the best you are the best muslim then the man said ya rasulallah who is the adhka the smartest of the muslims who has the most intelligence the IQ do you know what our prophet ﷺ said he said:
The one who remembers death the most and has prepared for what will come after, those are the smartest muslims. The one who thinks of death the most and has prepared for it that is the adhka that is the smartest muslim has nothing to do with an IQ test has nothing to do with SAT grades with GRE has nothing to do with passing an exam of this dunya no you can be highly intelligent in the eyes of Allah and the people think you are just a simple person doesn't matter because real intelligence is not how to pass a test in 2 hours real intelligence is to understand the purpose of life that is real intelligence real intelligence is to know what you are doing here what is the purpose of me being in this earth what am I doing to prepare for the final day and that intelligence is completely separate from the intelligence of this dunya.
Al-hafidh al-dahabi one of the famous scholars of Islam one of the famous ulama of Islam one of the students of Ibn Taymiyyah he writes do not be deceived by the pseudo intelligence of the philosophers don't be deceived by those whose tongues are wild with big words and what not for Allah is pleased with the simple innocent person who has taqwa and he despises the pseudo intellectual who has no religiosity think about this brothers and sisters it's a very true point Allah is pleased with the simple man the people might think oh this is a manual laborer oh this is a farmer doesn't matter what the people think this is a man who believes in Allah lives a good life prepares for the akhira and Allah loves this person raises his
ranks and as for these pseudo philosophers who reject God reject judgment day reject this and that and they say whatever their beliefs might be their IQ has not saved them from Allah's punishment their long words and fancy what good has it done to them when they haven't recognized the purpose of life and they don't have a meaning for their life their life is devoid of any positive meaning.
The Purpose of Faith
And by the way this is one of the most important points of religion why do we need religion wallahi we need religion to live simple as that what is the purpose of faith what is the purpose of life without faith that's the question what is the purpose of life without a higher purpose and faith gives us that higher purpose faith tells us the answers to the biggest questions why are we here who created us what is the purpose what's gonna happen after death no philosophy without faith can answer those questions no ideology no system of this dunya can give us the internal happiness that faith can give us because faith answers the most important questions that every human being is going to ask himself and herself and that is what is the purpose of all of this and there is no good answer without faith people have their answers without faith but those of Iman they have the best answers the most solid answers and the answers that truly make life worth living.
The Average Lifespan of the Ummah
And as well brothers and sisters realize as well that there is another hadith that is somewhat scary for us and that is that our prophet ﷺ he said, hadith is authentic:
The average age of my ummah is between 60 and 70 and few people that will go back and go beyond 70. He is giving us a general mark and that is why because in previous ummah the average age was more in the time of prophet Noah prophet Ibrahim you could have lived longer in our time frame the prophet ﷺ is saying that we have an average age span now this average it always is broken there are those who pass away 15, 20, 25 there are those who live mashallah 100, 150 years but what is the average age what is the average age the average age between 60 and 70 and our prophet ﷺ he passed away at 63 which is on the younger side of that time frame but within that time frame.
The Purpose of Life and Death
So the goal brothers and sisters to think about death as I said is to live a more productive life:
What did Allah begin with? He created death and life. Why? What is the purpose? To test you in your deeds. The purpose of life is to test. The purpose of death is to test you in your life. Notice as well Allah begins with death before life even though we are living life before death. He created death and life why
because Allah knows we are reading this verse when we are alive but he is reminding us what will happen at the end of life.
Two Deaths and Two Lives
And that's why Allah reminds us in the Quran that each one of us essentially has two deaths and two lives in the sense what does it mean two lives the life of this world and the life of the hereafter:
Oh our Lord we were dead twice and you gave us life twice. This is an ayah in the Quran that people are gonna say in the next world people don't say it in this world because they don't believe in the next life when we are resurrected people are gonna say we were dead twice meaning we didn't exist and then we died after life and you gave us life twice meaning the life of this dunya and the life of the aakhirah.
The Primordial Existence
Right, so there is a verse that clearly explains there is gonna be that death then life then death then life but here is the point here as well that the interim between the two lives is not like the interim before the beginning of our first life let me repeat the interim between the life of this dunya and the life of the aakhirah is not like pre-life did we exist before pre-life? did we exist before we were born? I'm asking you a question, who knows? did we exist before we were born? no? yes? where did we exist? but that's not an actual existence this is an existence in Allah's knowledge written in the book, yes? we are written in the book did we exist as separate individuals? no? yes? both of you are right, yes and no how is that possible? depends on what you mean depends on what you mean there was an existence we call it in English primordial existence the existence before existence and this is referenced in the Quran in surah al-a'raf:
This is a very profound verse in the Quran and the ulama explain and clarify it and it goes as follows: Allah as we all know he sent our father Adam down to this world we all know that and our mother Hawa they came down and Allah accepted the repentance of Adam in this dunya:
Adam disobeyed then Allah accepted his tawbah. Where did Allah accept his tawbah according to the reports? In Arafat in the valley of An-Nu'man in Arafat. And when Allah accepted his tawbah, Allah extracted right then and there - this is an interesting point very few people know this but it's in the books of hadith the more secondary books not in the six books and it's the books of theology as well - Allah extracted from Adam every single ruh of every human being that is going to be born from his time up until Qiyamah. Allah created Adam up there not down here and Allah created his body up there and Allah blew the ruh of Adam up there:
So the ruh of Adam Allah created directly himself and Allah shaped Adam himself and Allah blew the ruh into Adam himself so that is Adam. Where was my ruh created? where was your ruh created? in this world when? when Allah accepted the repentance of Adam from the ruh of Adam from the ruh of Adam from the loins of Adam Allah created all of the dhurriya of Adam this is when the khalq happens so our ruh not our bodies our ruh was created at that point in time in Arafat and Allah put all of these arwah, all of these arwah are in front of Allah and then Allah spoke to these arwah so this means the arwah, the ruh they had intellect, they could think they're not body, they're just ruh and Allah asks them in the Quran it says what did he ask them?
This is in the Quran surah al-a'raf 172 look it up, am I not your lord? We all said yes you are our lord so this means we did exist before our existence in this world clear? we did exist we existed only in ruh not in jasad and we existed in a way that we don't have memory of it I don't remember the day of alastu bi rabbikum you don't remember? anybody remember it? no but we answered Allah we answered oh Allah we know you are true we know you are worthy of worship we know you exist and that answering by the way this is what we call the fitrah that's inside of us it's something that's embedded inside we know Allah exists every human being Muslim and kafir Buddhist and Hindu male and female everybody deep down inside there's something called the fitrah and that fitrah goes back to the day of alastu bi rabbikum.
The Soul's Entry into the Body
So all of mankind said yes oh Allah we know you are our lord there's something inside that knows right from wrong now then what happened? then in the wombs of our mothers on the 40th day of conception the hadith in Bukhari says the angel comes and breathes the ruh into the fetus so who breathes my ruh and your ruh into us? the angel unlike Adam who breathed Adam? Allah you guys following or you guys sleeping? you guys awake? yes? okay this quietness answer the question who breathed the ruh into Adam? Allah who breathes the ruh into all of us? the angels big difference big difference on the 40th day the angel comes and breathes the ruh into every lady who is pregnant and our mothers your mothers all of us that's where the ruh comes and then we are born into this world.
Sleep as a Type of Death
Now in this life our ruh and our body are always connected our ruh and our body are always connected there's only one time where the connection becomes partial and not full and that is during time of sleep during the time of sleep when we go to sleep what is sleep? sleep is when the ruh partially leaves the body not fully sleep is when the ruh partially leaves the body not fully and that is why when we go to sleep our ruh remains connected via some mechanism we do not know the scholars say some type of
invisible thread but in the end of the day it's beyond ilm al ghayb but the point is that sleeping is a type of death and this is in the Quran and in the sunnah:
Allah takes the souls when they die and when they go to sleep this is in the Quran but what is the difference? when Allah takes the soul at the time of sleeping the soul is connected when Allah takes the soul at the time of death cut off nothing complete infisal complete disconnection between the soul and the body and that is why it is so common that people die in their sleep because it's a stepping stone they go to sleep and they never wake up and that's common there's no problem.
Sleep and Death in the Afterlife
And that by the way any type of death potentially is good or bad in the sense of we shouldn't read it too much about what time and this and that there are certain signs that are good but any type of death you can interpret inshallah in a positive or negative the main thing is what is the state of iman at the time of death not the physical body if somebody died of a heart attack somebody died of cancer somebody died of going to sleep in and of themselves inshallah there's nothing all can have positive things so don't read it anymore but I'm saying here one of the common types of death is people go to sleep and they don't wake up why? because essentially the soul was taken at sleep and then never sent back and that is why in Jannah there will be no sleeping because our Prophet ﷺ said, hadith is authentic simple hadith:
Sleeping is the brother of death. Our Prophet ﷺ is telling us so because there's gonna be no death in the akhirah there will be no sleep in the akhirah you will say but hold on a second I'm gonna get tired I'm gonna get tired and the response is in Jannah there is never getting tired there is never feeling sleepy there is never a sense of fatigue that's why Jannah is Jannah:
Verily the people of Jannah will be perpetually busy in having fun that's literally how the verse translates they're gonna be perpetually busy enjoying themselves and by the way this is a beautiful combination that is bizarre and weird because when you enjoy yourself you don't say you're busy when you're busy you're always under stress you're not enjoying yourself right to combine شغل and فاكهون even the Arabs here what is شغل it's work you don't smile when you're in شغل right شغل is problem شغل is distress شغل is Monday morning that you have to think about right now you can ignore it it's Friday night but Monday morning is شغل right you don't want شغل and then فاكهون literally that which makes the stomach happy that which makes the brains happy right so having fun and so شغل فاكهون is actually an oxymoron that only works for Jannah means they will have so much opportunity to have fun they're going to be busy having fun they're never going to get tired one thing is done another thing another
Jannah
thing and they're going to be perpetually busy just having fun so there is no tiredness in Jannah there is no fatigue in Jannah and therefore there's no sleep in Jannah and that is why Allah mentions:
Them and their wives they will be in shade reclining on couches. Recline because reclining you do when you're having fun you're not going to go to sleep when you're reclining reclining you read a book you kick your feet out you have you know something on TV whatever you're having a fun time okay so they are مُتَّكِئُونَ because they don't need to go to sleep there's not going to be any sleep in Jannah.
The Angel of Death
So the point being that in this dunya we will never face obviously a permanent a separation of the ruh from the body until the actual time of death comes and of course we all know that the time of death is something that no one knows except Allah and it is something that you cannot delay cannot make it early:
When the time of death comes they can neither delay it by a second nor can they precede it by a second. No human being can change the time of death and death will come as Allah says in the Quran even if they are in protected fortress and every one of us listen to this has an angel assigned just to take our soul it is a common misconception that there is one Malakul Mawt no no there is one head Malakul Mawt yes but every one of us has an angel whose only purpose the only job that he has is you are the Malakul Mawt for so and so you are the Malakul Mawt for so and so because Allah's angels by the way are beyond counting:
You cannot count the number of angels there are more than angels that you can imagine. The heavens are creaking and they have every right to creak because there is not a single space even a hand span except that there is an angel standing doing ruku' prostrating praising Allah the heavens above we think they are empty they are creaking with angels so every one of us has an angel:
Then the Malakul Mawt that has been assigned to you will come and take your soul. There is a Malakul Mawt with your name my name and that Malakul Mawt has been told by Allah I don't know it no human being knows it that Malakul Mawt has been told at this time, at this day, at this location you will go and you will take that person's soul and that Malakul Mawt will come without any problems you cannot protect yourself he is not in your schedule calendar you don't schedule that appointment that
appointment will be put upon you you don't schedule that appointment and when that appointment comes all other appointments will be permanently cancelled that is the reality.
The Experience of Death for the Believer
And Allah mentions in the Quran and the Sunnah as well mentioned that when the person sees the angel the angel comes in two forms so the death begins the Hisab the beginnings of death are the beginnings of Hisab meaning, heaven and hell of course they are decided officially in Judgment Day, of course but from the time of death you start getting an indication where you are headed from the angel of death you start getting an indication because the angel of death will either be coming in a merciful form or in a harsh form so you get the beginnings already.
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Our Prophet ﷺ said when the time for death comes for the believer the angel of death comes and he takes his soul look at the example he gave like water is poured from a glass smooth, clear he takes his soul like water is poured it's just flowing he takes his soul that easily there's no harshness, there's no jerking there's no problem and the most beautiful shrouds are put on him and the most scented perfumes and as far as he can see the angels are surrounding him with good news, glad tidings, happy faces and the angels say to him don't be scared, don't worry we're gonna take care of you:
This is in the Quran those who say Allah is our Lord and they remain firm on that belief the angels will come down in armies and armies as the Prophet said as far as the eyes can see why? because every person is going to be terrified without exception we're all scared of death and when the time of death comes we will be scared, we will be worried so imagine the first thing that you see as your eyes open in the next world you will see beautiful, handsome creations of Allah creations of Allah whose very presence brings you mercy whose very appearance brings you calmness these are as far as the eye can see you are scared and they will say don't worry, la takhaafu you're worried, I'm leaving my family, my children wala tahzanu we're going to take care of them we are your protectors nahnu awliyaukum in this world we took care of you we'll take care of you now as well and then the Prophet ﷺ said the angels will carry him gently one after the other gently pushing him up and up and up until he goes up to Allah and of course he will not see Allah at this time but Allah will say write the name of this servant in the register of good books uktubu kitaba abdi fil iliyyeen because there's iliyyeen and sijjeen write the name of this servant in iliyyeen and then he will be gently taken down gently handled until he reaches his qabr and there the qabr will become a vast place for him he will smell the fragrance of Jannah he will see his palace in Jannah the grave will become light and he will make dua to Allah O Allah hasten judgement day so that I can enter Jannah O Allah hasten qiyamah so that I can enter my palace in Jannah this is the one who will be a good person.
The Experience of Death for the Disbeliever
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And the opposite our Prophet ﷺ said when the fajir, the fasiq, when the kafir when his time comes the angels of punishment will come the very look of them will strike terror into our hearts looking at them and we will be terrified and they will extract the soul the Prophet ﷺ said listen to this example it's a terrifying example like wet wool is dragged through an iron comb imagine wet wool dragged through an iron comb the soul is gonna be literally dragged out tortured to leave because it doesn't want the akhirah it wants to stay it's terrified wants to go back and it will be dragged out in this manner and then the person will see as far as the eye can see the angels of punishment whose very looks will terrify and they will mention him with the worst of names and remind him of the worst of deeds and handle him with the worst of care and then Allah will say put the name of this person in sijjin in the other register not the register of the good deeds the register of the bad people and he will then be returned to his grave where the punishments of the grave will begin and he will see his place in Jahannam and he will say oh Allah never cause the judgment to come oh Allah never cause the judgment to come.
The Grave as the First Station
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And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said the qabr, the grave is the first station of all of the stations of the hereafter the qabr is the first station of all of the stations of the hereafter and that will begin the period of the barzakh the barzakh what is the barzakh? the barzakh literally means the interim literally in Arabic means the middle it's the barrier Allah says in the Quran that:
Between the two oceans there is a barrier that the oceans will not cross so barzakh is a middle, is a barrier and so the barzakh is called barzakh because it is the barrier between this world and the next world between our death and between the qiyamah and the qiyamah begins with the trumpet how long is the barzakh? the barzakh is beyond time and so the one who dies close to judgment day versus the son of Adam who died 50,000 years ago for them the barzakh is the same it's not our time time is a different reality in the barzakh it has nothing to do with our life over here it is a separate reality and there is life in the barzakh and the more righteous a person the more they will enjoy the barzakh and be at comfort in the barzakh so much so the most righteous of all people these are the prophets they will be praying in the barzakh as they would pray in this world the prophet ﷺ said I passed by the qabr of Musa and I saw him standing and praying to Allah so life is so peaceful for them they are standing and praying in the qabr because that's their life and the shaheed his barzakh as well is the barzakh of peace and comfort as the prophet ﷺ said his rooh will be in Jannah flying around literally he won't even be in this dunya and the righteous they will enjoy the barzakh because the barzakh will become the beginnings of jannah as we said he will smell the fragrance of jannah he will see the palace of jannah so he is at peace he knows he is going to go there if anything hasty he wants it to come and the opposite is also true that the
prophet ﷺ said that the qabr is the most terrifying thing I have ever seen nothing is more terrifying than the qabr and he mentioned that the qabr has azab and the qabr has the fitna.
The Tests and Trials of the Grave
There is something called the fitna of the qabr and the azab of the qabr and the na'im of the qabr three things are there what are these things the fitna of the qabr the fitna is the examination of the qabr the test of the qabr this is called the fitna and the fitna is basically munkar and nakir coming and asking you the three questions who is your lord who is your prophet and what is your religion and at that stage there is no cheating on the exam you cannot just memorize the answers and have them on a piece of paper at that stage your life and your lifestyle will answer for you not your tongue at that stage did you really worship Allah that is the question did you follow the prophet ﷺ as a role model that is the question did you live your life in accordance with Islam that is the question your tongue means nothing your life will answer and at that stage if your actions did not live up to your words you will not be able to cheat on the exam this is called the fitna of the qabr and then after this if you pass you get the na'im of the qabr or the blessings of the qabr we talked about them and if you don't you get the azaab of the qabr which is the punishment of the qabr and the punishment of the qabr is the beginnings of the punishment of the hereafter and it is something that we seek refuge from Allah from.
Our prophet ﷺ and Aisha says I never saw the prophet ﷺ pray salah of the five salah except that after it he would say:
(Bukhari)
It's a common dua every time he would pray he would say oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from the fitna of the qabr and from the azaab of the qabr and so the fitna is one thing the azaab is another thing and we seek refuge in Allah from the both of them and we want the qabr to be a place of na'im a place of blessing not a place of torture.
Contact Between the Living and the Dead
And of course this is the barzakh here final point here time is getting up it will be time for Q&A as well is there contact between us and the people of the barzakh is there contact between the people of this dunya and the people of the barzakh the response our scholars have very widely agreed almost unanimous that there is contact between the people of this world and between the people of barzakh but important point this contact is something Allah gives to people that He chooses it is not something that I can form a connection to I don't do something there is not a special phone number that I call you call the barzakh there 1900 charge you 3 minutes no it doesn't work that way there is no way that you can contact somebody in the barzakh through anything that you do it is a gift from Allah or a test and a trial could be a gift it could be both and generally speaking this contact it occurs during sleep why? because when you are asleep you are in the same paradigm the same dimension call it as the barzakh when you
go to sleep that is you are essentially kind of sort of wandering into the barzakh but you are still connected to your body so when you are in your sleep it is very common to see deceased people and our scholars mention it is very likely.
Now here is an important disclaimer if you see somebody who is deceased in the dream it could be one of three things ok one of three things number one it is possible, rare but possible that it is shaytan taking the form of your loved one how will you know this if your loved one says something haram to do something haram for sure this is shaytan shaytan will use the form of your loved one and you get some advice, oh don't worry about stealing the money, go ahead steal the money if there is money you want to steal, you are wondering your conscious is getting to you, you go to sleep you see your loved one, oh don't worry go ahead, this is not Allah and his messenger this is not your loved one telling you to do something haram, this is shaytan using the tactic of your loved one the tactic of looking at somebody that might deceive you definitely throw out the window, not possible not possible that an actual deceased person will come and tell you to do something haram because they know what you should be doing in the next life ok.
The second now how do you know that we said when there is something haram the second it could be from your own imagination you really miss your grandmother you've been thinking about your grandmother all day long, then you go to sleep and you just have a brief vision of your grandmother this is your own imagination in its sleep, right your sleep is projecting your imagination and so you think you see this, how do you know it's your sleep, generally speaking the sign that it is your imagination is that you don't remember what happens, it's just a vague memory and then maybe even when you wake up you have a vague idea, then within the day you forget that, oh you don't even remember that you saw the dream you know when you wake up, generally you have an idea that there was a dream, within 5 minutes you have one inkling, within 10 minutes you've forgotten the whole dream so those types of dreams they are from our own imagination.
The third type of dream which is a gift from Allah as our Prophet said, the true dream is 1 over 46th part of prophethood being a prophet you have 46 things, check check check check, 46 requirements one requirement is your dreams are true and our Prophet said:
(Bukhari)
Nothing is left from prophethood except true dreams so if you see a dream where you have a good conversation with your loved one you remember it or at least snippets of it, and it's overall positive what not, then Inshallah this is a gift from Allah that he gave you for meeting your loved one, okay.
And of course of the greatest in fact the greatest is for us to see the Prophet in a dream, and if we see the Prophet in a dream it must be him, there is no other possibility, because he said when one of you sees me in a dream, then know that you have seen me, because Shaytan cannot take my form which means he
can take other people's forms, that's why I said you have to be careful of the three, but if anybody sees the Prophet in a dream that this is Rasulullah Shaytan cannot take the shape of the Prophet, it's a beautiful beautiful good tidings for those that have seen the Prophet in a dream, and have interacted with him that they have truly seen the Prophet.
Seeing the Dead While Awake
Now question here, bit of a freaky question, can we see the people of the Barzakh when we are awake or if I were to quote a famous movie, can we see dead people can we see dead people while we're awake you should not, well maybe you can, what does it mean you should not why should not, means if you do there is a mental problem, yeah I agree with you we hope that you do not, yes if you do then you need to go see a psychiatrist just basically from a religious perspective you cannot see the arwah of the dead when you are awake, is that clear from a religious perspective you cannot see the souls of the deceased when you are awake if you see the souls of the deceased one of two things either you yourself are a little bit loose up there, right or what else is the other possibility shaytan, very good very good, shaytan we do not believe in ghosts the way that this culture does, we do not believe that the spirits of the dead walk around, no the spirits of the dead are in the Barzakh they've gone they have nothing to do with this world they are completely disconnected we might enter their world when we're asleep but they cannot enter our world ever, the door is shut so the only time is we said in the dream and that is a gift from Allah.
Conclusion and Scholar's Story
Now of course the talk is only part one, inshallah I'll come back and give part two, part two is what happens at the trumpet, ok so inshallah next time I come this will be my topic inshallah that this basically goes from the time of death up until the Barzakh then the next part of the story begins and that is the trumpet and qiyamah and what will happen in qiyamah and the hisab and the ard and the shafa'ah and the qantara and the mizan and all of those various things that are going to take place, the hawl and all of these are there, that's another different topic.
And in the end we pray that Allah blesses us with a good life so that we have a peaceful death, there's an anecdote by the way I want to conclude with and that is as follows, one of the famous scholars of our religion who had read many books, he had travelled far and wide and when he was about to die his students gathered around him and his students said, and I love this story, I quote it all the time, his students said, oh shaykh you are the wisest person we've ever met and you have travelled the world and have read so many books and gems and what not tell us before you depart what is the one piece of advice that you found the most amazing in your travels and journey and reading, what is the thing that really is the most profound for you the scholar said the most profound thing for me is that a child is born and lives his or her whole life surrounded by death everybody dies the grandparents die, the parents die the cousins die, the relatives die the friends die, one after the other but that young man or woman never once thinks that one day he or she is going to die as well what a profound statement we are surrounded
by death every few days we hear of another death, of our people every few days we hear about people that we know, obviously death is a daily occurrence in the world, but I'm saying in our lives every few days, months, weeks, years somebody, oh my god I was just with him, I just met him last week, I just saw him at a party over there, I just, she was at the wedding and then subhanallah the phone call comes and then you're in shock and you say and we never once think that one day the phone will ring and our friend will pick it up and our name will be mentioned on that other side of the phone, it's going to be our name that's going to be mentioned and the other person is going to say, oh my god I was just with so and so, I just prayed fajr, I just had dinner, I just and that's going to be, we never think about that, never.
Final Prayers and Supplications
And that's why brothers and sisters as we conclude the purpose of thinking of death is not to go into depression not to become sad, no the purpose of always thinking of death is to make the best of life and to live life to the maximum meaning prepare for the aakhirah do the best of deeds, leave the greatest of legacies, make sure that when we go, our family our friends, our loved ones they have nothing but the best thoughts of us that when we leave, the malakul mawt comes as the malak of rahmah, that when we go, the angels mention the good things that we did, that when we enter the qabr, our good deeds will make the qabr vast for us and enlightened for us, that on judgment day, our hisaab will be heavy, that is why we think of death.
And we ask that Allah blesses us with a beautiful death, we ask Allah gives us the last phrase in our life, to be la ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah we ask that Allah give us a death of ease and comfort and that he saves us from the sakaratul mawt we ask Allah to allow us to die in medina and to be buried in baqi'ul gharqad the most blessed of all graveyards we ask Allah that he makes our graves a vast place of light, that he makes our graves a place of rahmah and a place of na'im, that he makes our graves a place where we can see our abode in jannah, and smell the fragrances of jannah, and we seek refuge in Allah that our graves become a place of punishment we ask Allah to be resurrected under his shade when there is no shade other than the shade of Allah, we ask Allah to be invited by our prophet directly by our names to drink from the fountain, the hawd the day that there is no water other than the water of the hawd, we ask that Allah allow us to drink from the hawd, a drink, once we drink and we will never be thirsty for all of eternity, we ask Allah to make our scales heavy on judgment day, we ask Allah to be given our books in the right hand, and that we are then boasting to everybody, come look at my book I have come prepared to meet this book we ask Allah that he grant us the shafa'ah of the prophet on judgment day, we ask Allah that he makes our feet firm as we cross over the Sirat, we ask Allah that he gives us light when there is no light other than the light that he bestows upon the believers we ask Allah to be of the first batches that enter Jannah and to be of those who see him on judgment day and in Jannah itself, we ask Allah to be in the company of the prophet Muhammad in Jannatul Firdawsil A'ala, under the throne of Allah for only Allah is capable of doing this, and he is the Rahman and the Rahim and the
Arhamur Rahimin wa aakhiru da'awana wa alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa sallallahu wa sallam wa barak ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.