After Life- Bliss or Torment

After Life: Bliss or Torment?

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening Salutations

Allahumma salli ala al-Habib Muhammad, Ya Rabbi salli alayhi wa sallim. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen wa salat wa salam ala Sayyid al-Mursaleen Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim. Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

The Sweetness of the Quran

Alhamdulillah, I just want to bear witness to what Dr. Zainab mentioned just now, that once you, there is a saying first, once you get a taste of sweet potato pie, you'll never want pumpkin again. And seriously, once you experience the sweetness of Quran, nothing else satisfies you. I can bear witness, when I was a student, as a young man here in Washington D.C., recently converted to Islam, I started reading the Quran just in English, I didn't know Arabic at the time that I converted.

Even my first few Ramadans, in the Yusuf Ali translation, they have the Juz in English marked off, 1 30th, 2 30ths. And so we read, myself and my wife, in English, the Juz, the sections of the Quran every day, the translation in Ramadan. And then I learned to recite it in Arabic.

I had a Quran from Turkey, because I converted, well before I went to Turkey, I converted, but there I began to learn. And I have an old Quran, and I would read it and read it, and literally the covers fell off of it, from just handling so much. And it was made from the old dry paper with the yellow pages.

But then when I came back to the States, and I came here to Washington D.C., to American University, but I lived near Howard University, I lived near the corner of 3rd Street and Rhode Island Avenue, there used to be a supermarket there, on the corner, I lived right in back of the supermarket. In any case, I had all of these jazz albums and cassettes, we had cassettes back then, from just my prior life. I used to love listening to jazz, I would stay up all night just listening to jazz music, all sorts of jazz.

Leaving Music for the Quran

And just the Quran, listening to the Quran, and then I got Abdul Basit tapes, and Husseri tapes, and Minshawi tapes. And I boxed up all of my jazz collection, and I took it to this vendor at Howard University, who used to sell music, and I just gave it to him. And I didn't even ask for any money, I just gave it away, because I had no need for it, I had the Quran now.

So I didn't need the jazz anymore. And no one ever told me music is haram. You know, we live, some of you heard Preacher Moss in the haram police, some of you heard Preacher Moss do the haram.

Wooo, Astaghfirullah. Wooo, here come the haram police, Astaghfirullah. Haram, bid'ah, haram, bid'ah, haram, bid'ah.

Wooo, Astaghfirullah. No one told me music's haram, no one beat me down, threatened my life, threatened to lynch me, or burn me in a pile of musical cassettes, and melting black LPs, we had the LPs, tar and feather me with melted LPs, and then throw me in the Potomac River. Just, they introduced me to the Quran, and the message of the Quran, and the sweetness of the Quran, and then I just voluntarily gave up the music, because it couldn't compete.

Because the Quran was too sweet. And to emphasize that message, I don't have to repeat. Because right from the start, it entered your heart.

I used to be wild, and I knew how to freestyle. But then I learned, you don't have to compete, and beguile. Just open the door, and the Quran will bring them more, than you could ever bring with words.

So that's the message that needs to be heard. Moving right along. Moving right along.

The Verse: From Death to Life

So the verse in question that was given, it was recited by the fine young man, who introduced the session. And he said, Allah reminds us, How could you ever reject belief in Allah?

"How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were dead and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you back to life, and then to Him you will be returned."

وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا - And you were dead. فَأَحْيَاكُمْ - And then He brought you to life. ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ - Then He will cause you to die. ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ - Then He will restore you to life. ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ - And then unto Him, you will be returned.

Subhanallah. Who can give us life when we're dead? Just reflect on the many ways we were dead. And in each and every single realm, only Allah could give us life.

From Non-Existence to Existence

So we were dead in the realm of non-existence. So the ulama, they say كُنتَ فِي الْعَدَ - We were in the realm of nothingness. And Allah brought us into the realm of wujud.

Allah brought us into the realm of existence. So when your atheist friends come to you and start making their empty and vacuous and putrid arguments, ask them, can you bring the dead to life? Can you bring something out of nothing? Allah brought us from nothing into something.

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ )Quran 2:28(

We were dead existing in the realm of physicality.

The Gift of Consciousness

In this realm, physical stuff. And Allah brought us to life by giving us consciousness. By giving us consciousness.

This has no consciousness. Who can give this consciousness? We were in this realm. This was us.

And Allah breathed into us the ruh. The animating spirit. And bequeathed onto us consciousness.

And brought us to life. And gave us the capacity to yearn for Him and to know Him. As Ibn Abbas mentions or Ibn Mas'ud.

When Allah mentions:

"I've only created the jinn and humans to worship Me."

That requires consciousness of Allah. How can we worship? How can we reverence? How can we elevate? How can we exalt? How can we love that which we are unaware of? And Ibn Mas'ud mentions, إِلَّا لِيَعْرِفُونِ - In order that you know Me.

Again, how can we know someone or something that we have no consciousness of? No conscious awareness of? This is what we were given. Who can do that? We can't do it. If you can do it, give consciousness to this podium.

Give consciousness to this microphone. We can't do it no matter how hard we try. But Allah gave us consciousness.

In a unique way no other creature possesses. No other creature possesses. We were dead consisting of unformed earth, turab.

The Dignified Human Form

And Allah fashioned us then shaped us. And Allah made us upright. He dignified us.

"We've ennobled the human being."

No other animal is upright. Permanently.

Who stands like this? No other animal. Not the apes. Sometimes they can get up but they have to go back down.

And they're at an angle. Use their very long forearms and short legs. Look how Allah has proportioned us.

If you know the golden mean, we're proportioned according to the golden mean. Just as the Kaaba is proportioned on the earth from north to south. And from east to west.

The direct proportions of the golden mean. Because Allah has made this earth for us. And He's made the Kaaba for us.

And He's made Mecca for us. As the center of our spiritual universe. We're dead, existing with no knowledge.

From Intellectual Death to Knowledge

That's a form of death. And some of you... Read the paper. Well, I flew from Charlotte, North Carolina this morning.

It's after my session yesterday. I went there for a fundraising dinner. Some people were having.

And I flew back this morning. In the airport, I picked up the New York Times. In the New York Times, there was an article.

It's extremely relevant to what we're talking about here. Written by a prisoner in Attica prison. In upstate New York.

Mentioning how he's blessed to be one of the fortunate 1%. In Attica prison, there are 2300 inmates. 23 are in higher educational programs.

Because money for those programs were cut. They were cut. When the philosophy of prison became not to rehabilitate prisoners.

So in 1980, there were 350 college programs. In the prisons in this country. Most of them were publicly funded.

Now, there are a handful. Most of them are privately funded. So prisoners, and the prisoner was saying, are intellectually dead.

And they come back into society intellectually dead. And they're expected to get on with their lives. They're expected not to get on a cycle that will lead them back.

We know the exorbitant recidivism rates. Those who are in college programs, in prisons. It's mentioned in the article.

The recidivism rate is 2%. 2 out of every 100. The recidivism rate in general.

What is it? Some people are familiar with prisons. Anyone? Anyone? Between 40 and 50%. Almost half of every prisoner released will go back.

Because they were mentally dead going in. And they're mentally dead coming out. We were mentally dead.

And Allah brought us to life of knowledge. And taught us the purpose of this life. A person who doesn't know the purpose is dead.

The Living Dead

So that's a form of death. One of the Arab poets mentioned:

إِنَّمَا الْمَيْتُ مَيِّتُ الْأَحْيَاءِ ، لَيْسَ مَنْ مَاتَ فَاسْتَرَاحَ بِالْمَيِّتِ، إِنَّمَا الْمَيْتُ مَنْ يَعِيشُ كَئِيبًا كَاسِفًا بَالُهُ قَلِيلَ الرَّجَاءِ

"The dead are not those who pass away and find rest, rather the dead are those who live with no hope, with their hope shattered in a state of depression, entertaining little hope."

So we were brought to life of knowledge. Only Allah can do that.

Programs and Purpose

We have programs. Are they working? Are they teaching people the purpose of life? They want to know and searching. There was another article in today's New York Times, Sunday Times, about how one little village in Norway had so many of the young people going to fight in Syria.

And most of them got killed. Because if you want to analyze what's happening in Iraq or Syria, what's happening are young people getting sucked up.

Maybe some of you are here from the State Department or some other branch of government taking note.

I mean we're too close to Washington for that not to be the case. If you want to understand the causes of radicalism, then go read the lyrics of Bob Dylan's songs, Only a Pawn in Their Game. And just when you're thinking of some racists who are manipulating poor white folks to become their henchmen for the Ku Klux Klan or something, then the people calling the shots on these groups are manipulating young people to go and die for nothing, to go and murder innocent people, murder other Muslims.

One of these poor people, poor young people from this village, he goes, he gets killed. He marries a girl from Russia who goes there to be a jihadi wife.

And this miskina goes to Istanbul and blows herself up and kills a Turkish policeman.

You know, that's really advancing some great interest. But the bottom line, these kids have empty lives. They have empty lives.

And that's not an Islamic problem. That's a problem brought about by modernity. People in the pre-modern world, they knew what they were there for.

Empty Lives and False Meaning

It might have been simple. It might have been just, I'm a village farmer. They knew and they accepted that.

They were proud of it. They tried to raise the best crops. The girls knew, I'm going to go up and I'm going to be a farmer's wife.

And they were comfortable with that. Now kids grow up, they don't know what they are, who they are, where they're going. They're empty.

They're empty. And so, they try to find meaning in these appeals, these manipulative appeals on the internet. Oh, you have meaning.

You're going to be a shaheed. You're going to be a martyr. You're going to be a mujahid.

No, Allah tells us we're going to be someone who truly worships Allah. We're going to be someone who, through refining our souls, will know Allah. And if we know Allah, we understand we might be in a situation that calls for us to stand up to defend the faith.

But we won't be doing it because we're alienated. This is the common denominator. Most of these kids were misfits and losers.

Looking for purpose and meaning. We won't do it seeking, because we're alienated. We won't do it because we're not in with the in-crowd.

We'll do it because our spiritual maturation leads us to understand that there's a threat to our civilizing mission as Dr. Zainab mentioned. Imran. And that we have to defend that.

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Running Toward Civilization

So we're not running away from the emptiness of what modernity or post-modernity have made us. We're running towards the defense of civilization. And to build civilization.

And to defend the civilizing and humanizing gains that we've made collectively as a human species. That's what jihad is. And if we die, we won't die an empty death as a pawn in someone's geo-strategic game.

We'll die a death of meaning and purpose that will give life and not cause death. (ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ - Thumma yuhyeekum) - And then He gives you life. And we will give life.

Because we've been given life. And we will not bring meaningless death because we are the victims of a meaningless life. So we were dead.

And He taught us our purpose. And He guided us. And He tells us, in the hadith qudsi:

"All My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided. Seek guidance from Me, I will guide you." (Sahih Muslim 2577)

Seek guidance from Me, I will guide you. This is what we should be after.

This is what we should be after. Seeking guidance from Allah so we will no longer be lost. And we will no longer fail to understand the purpose of our existence.

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Dead Following Lust

We were dead following our passionate lust. So a person who just pursues their lust is dead. And this is what the atheists, they're trying to kill us.

The materialists are trying to kill us. They just want us to follow our lust. They want us to surrender to our desires.

Again, we touched on this the other day because when we follow our lust and surrender to our desires, someone makes money. Because we're not just following our lust, we're following their lust. If it was just our lust, we would never pass a billboard that said, aren't you hungry for Burger King now? We just be hungry for whatever we could get our hands on.

No, they want us to be hungry for Burger King now. We would never pass a billboard, the Golden Arches, I'm loving it. Some miskin, I'm hating it.

Never gave it up in 1994. And then I was down to the french fries. Then I found out there was beef tallow in the french fries when a Hindu guy sued McDonald's.

Said, no wonder they were so tasty when they got cold and stuck together. And we pray it was just beef tallow and not lard. No, I'm not loving it.

Some miskin sent me a thing with the Golden Arches, like Muslim, I'm loving it. So I wrote them, I said, why would you denigrate our religion by associating it with one of the symbols and citadels of capitalism and consumerism. I'm not loving it.

We should be loving Allah. We should be loving Allah. But these empty messages, marketing slogans, one-liners, you can't tweet the Quran because the Quran wants you to think deeply.

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Depth vs. Superficiality

You can't think deeply on something that's packaged in 164 characters or whatever Twitter confines you to. We have to reflect. We have to go deep.

The Quran wants us to be deep people and not to be shallow people. Not to just live on the surface of superficial existence and a superficial world following superficial slogans. They want to reduce us to superficial people.

We want to be the Quran. Allah wants us to be deep people. Wants us to be able to:

"Do they not reflect on the Quran?"

Do they not reflect on the Quran? And Dr. Zainab, mashallah Allah preserve her and bless her and bless her family, her noble family.

Said, it starts with the heart.

"Do they not reflect on the Quran or are their hearts sealed up?"

The materialism, the consumerism, the superficiality wants to lock up our hearts. So we don't have the ability to reflect on the Quran.

So that we don't have the ability to plunge into the depths of the Quran. But we have to unleash, we have to break those chains and break those shackles and unleash the potential of our hearts because that's what humanizes us. That is the source of our humanity.

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The Quran Came to the Heart

That is the source of understanding the Quran. The Quran came to the heart of our messenger.

"Say, whoever is an enemy to Jibreel - it is [none but] he who has brought the Quran down upon your heart, by permission of Allah, confirming that which was before it and as guidance and good tidings for the believers."

He brings the revelation down to your heart.

And then the Prophet ﷺ he passed it to the hearts of the companions. And they passed it down to us through our hearts, through our hearts, brothers and sisters. Free your heart by breaking the shackles of materialism and consumerism and all of the other isms and schisms that seek to limit our human potential.

From Adam to Humanity

We were the dead elements of the earth and Allah brought us to light in the loins of our father Adam. Reflect on that. Reflect on we are a physical manifestation of physical, the chromosomes, the DNA that's been handed out, right? Genetic markers that we can trace our ancestry all the way back to Adam. And we were dead.

(كُلُّكُمْ مِنْ آدَمَ وَآدَمُ مِن تُرَابٍ - Kullukum min Adama wa Adamu min Turab)

"All of you are from Adam and Adam is from the earth." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3955)

And from that earth Allah brought us to life. And we came down and down and down from our father Adam.

And we're one united humanity. Brothers and sisters in humanity. We're all related at the end of the day.

We're all related. And we should never forget that. Because when we understand we are one vast human family with one common parentage at the end of the day.

Adam, Adam and Eve. Then it becomes more difficult for people to set us against each other. Just as it would be difficult to set us against our immediate brothers or our immediate sisters.

When we are conscious and aware of the fact that ultimately we are all brothers and sisters. It becomes difficult for someone to manipulate us into fighting and destroying and demeaning and defaming each other. But there are people who have a different view of humanity.

Unity and Recognition

And they want to exploit the differences that Allah placed amongst us so we could recognize His creative power and creative genius.

"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another."

That's what the Quran says - that we know one another.

And not that we do to each other what we see happening in these various places. The evil schemes of the Awliya of Shaytan, the dupes of Satan. Satan wants us to differ.

So what does Allah say? We said (يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَىٰ - Ya ayyuhan nasu inna khalaqnakum min dhakarin wa untha) - We made you from a single set of parents. (وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا - Wa ja'alnakum shu'uban wa qaba'ila li ta'arafou) - And we made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another.

What does Allah say?

"And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought."

He's made you from a single pair. (أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا - An khalaqa lakum min anfusikum azwaja) - He's made from you your spouse to live together with them in peace and tranquility. And He's made between you love and mercy. Surely in this there are signs for people who reflect.

Allah vs. Shaytan

That's what Allah and all those who follow the messengers of Allah desire for humanity, the man and woman as the foundation of human society to come together in love and mercy. What does Shaytan want?

(فَيَتَعَلَّمُونَ مِنْهُمَا مَا يُفَرِّقُونَ بِهِ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَزَوْجِهِ - Fa yata'allamoona minhuma ma yufarriqoona bihi baynal mar'i wa zawjihi)

"And they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife." (Quran 2:102)

He wants to split up with hatred. That's Satan. What does he do?

"Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred."

He places hatred and enmity between you. That's Shaytan.

And that's Allah. Which camp are we in? Who do we follow?

"Say, 'Allah,' then leave them in their [empty] discourse, amusing themselves."

Say Allah. And then leave them in their empty distractions, idly playing.

They're playing games with humanity. They're playing games with us. This is the Quranic message.

The Definition of a Muslim

And look at the people claiming Islam, murdering each other, calling each other to murder each other, denigrating each other, dismissing each other's, the power of la ilaha illallah. This one says, those aren't Muslim, just murder them. Those say those aren't Muslim, just murder them.

But they all go to Hajj. They all face the same Qibla. They eat each other's Dabiha.

Isn't that the definition of the Muslim? Whoever faces our Qibla, and eats our Dabiha, and makes our Hajj, and fast the same Ramadan. There's no Sunni Ramadan and Shi'i Ramadan. There's no Houthi Ramadan and Shafi'i Ramadan in Yemen.

There's no Zaydi Ramadan and the Shafi'i Sunni Ramadan. There's Ramadan. There's no Sunni Hajj and the Shi'i Hajj.

There's Hajj. There's no Sunni la ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah, and the Shi'i la ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah. There's just la ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah.

And our Prophet said the power of that:

“Whoever says la ilaha illallah will enter Paradise.” (Sahih Muslim 26)

No, we want to consign them to hell. And limit the mercy of Allah. If there were Olympic Games for stupidity, there'd be a lot of Muslim gold medalists. No, brothers and sisters, follow the Quran.

Follow the Quran. Never forget the fact. (ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ - Time is up)

The Return to Allah

The end of the verse. (ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ - Then unto Him you are all returned). Never forget that.

This world is not the end of our affair. We talk about injustice. If the world was the end of our affair, we could talk about injustice.

Why were people killed by the tsunami? Why are those people being killed in Iraq or Syria, Tikrit? Why was ISIS slaughtering people? And now why the Shia militia slaughtering people? It's not right. Those babies deserve to live. Those mothers deserve to live.

Why are people manipulating this kid, this later, beautiful name, Ramazanova from Dagestan, who blew herself up in Istanbul. Why did someone manipulate her into thinking she's going to advance the glorious cause of jihad by killing a Turkish policeman in Istanbul who's a Muslim she doesn't even know. And murdering herself and her fetus in her pregnant belly.

It's not right. It's oppressive. It's wrong.

Well, if this were the end of it, we can have those debates, but it's not the end. Because the one who's killed unjustly is a martyr and they'll have eternal life in Jannah. And when you look at the 20 years they had in this world, or 30, or 40, or 50, or 60, or 70, or 80, or 90 for some, or 100.

Eternal Perspective

There was a lady, she lived to be 104 years old. And they asked her, what's the best thing about being 104 years old? You know what she said? There's no peer pressure. You can explain that to the person sitting next to you.

But what is 100 years in this dunya compared to eternity? You couldn't even measure it. From the beginning of time, from Adam, from the creation of the earth until eternity.

(خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا فِي نَعِيمٍ مُّقِيمٍ وَالسَّعَادَةِ الْأَبَدِيَّةِ)

"Eternal bliss, dwelling therein forever."

What would 100 years look like on that continuum? You wouldn't even be, there's no known measure to even detect it. So a little suffering in this world, what does it mean compared to eternal bliss? That's the justice of Allah. And for those oppressors, and those tyrants, and those usurpers, and those exploiters, and murderers.

What is the little power they got in this world that they enjoyed? Before maybe they were taken out by a bomb, or a drone, or their own bodyguard.

Compared to eternity suffering and tormented in hell. That's the justice of Allah.

Preparing for the Return

(ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ - So we have to prepare for the return to Allah). By being aware that indeed we will be returned, do you think we're not this for no reason? Do you think we're not like the monkeys? Some of you think you're like the monkeys. The singing group monkeys.

I love you, yeah, yeah, yeah. Those monkeys. Some of you think you're like monkeys.

But the monkeys can't make an iPad. The monkeys can't make a device that can send an invisible signal. Like some of you are filming right now.

As soon as everything's over, you're going to upload it to YouTube with an invisible signal bouncing off a satellite in geocentric earth orbit being received by a receiver processing it. And then putting it on millions of screens all over the world. And monkeys are still trying to figure out how to get meat out of a nut with sticks.

"(Quran 17:70)"

Allah has ennobled us with His intellect for a purpose. He's given us the spiritual, the ability to know Him for a purpose. And part of that purpose is to understand we're going to return to Him.

(ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ - And then unto us you will all return). And how do we prepare for that? By having a healthy fear of the time we will return and stand before our Lord.

Because if we have a healthy fear of that reality, it affects how we live in this world.

"But as for he who feared the standing before his Lord and restrained the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge." (Quran 79:40-41)

For one who fears مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ - fears the time they will stand before their Lord. وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَى - and restrains the soul from passion, then Paradise is the refuge.

Shaytan's Call to Desires

(ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ - And then unto us you will return). We have to prepare for that return, brothers and sisters.

Otherwise we'll be like the people who just want us to fight and bicker amongst ourselves. Just surrender to the desires that divide us up and divide.

Shaitan wants to create warring factions. And shaitan also wants us to surrender to our desires. Surrender to your desires.

Don't forget about standing before Allah. Forget about accountability before Allah. Forget about the meeting with your Lord.

Just seek to assuage your carnal appetites here and now and forget about tomorrow. That's what shaitan wants. If it feels good, do it.

Surrender to your desires. It's your thing. Do what you want to do.

I can't tell you who to sock it to. This is your thing. You listen to those Muslims, they don't want you to have fun.

Right? Well, since I took shahadah, I had so much fun, people think I'm tripping half the time. I didn't inhale before I was Muslim. At least Obama's honest, right? I inhaled.

I inhaled. Forget Bill Clinton. He's lying.

I inhaled. I don't know about Hillary. I don't want to mess her prospects up.

I'm not even going to ask her, Hillary, did you inhale? Obama was honest. He got elected. Come on, Hillary, tell us.

I inhaled, but I wasn't Muslim. It was pre-shahadah inhalation. Hey, shaitan, just do your thing now.

This World is a Prison for the Believer

(الدُّنْيَا سِجْنُ الْمُؤْمِنِ وَجَنَّةُ الْكَافِرِ)

"This world is a prison for the believer and paradise for the disbeliever." (Sahih Muslim 2956)

And we mentioned the other day, when you're in prison, you don't do your thing, you do the warden's thing.

This is Allah's world. He's the warden.

He tells us what to do, when to do it, how to do it. And he says, if we're a good prisoner, we will get out and we'll never come back. And if we're a good prisoner, we'll never be thrown into the hole.

But in the world we're talking about, the hole is hot. In Attica or Sing Sing or San Quentin or Folsom or Auburn or Rahway or Lorton - We're in Virginia after all. The hole is usually cold.

There's no heat down there. You're in segregation, solitary confinement. In the hole Allah throws people into is hot.

And you have a lot of company. And despite all of that company, hell is greedy. And asks Allah (هَلْ مِن مَّزِيدٍ - Are there any more?) (Quran 50:30)

Allah asks (هَلِ امْتَلَأْتِ - Are you filled up Insatiable appetite).

(هَلْ مِن مَّزِيدٍ - Are there any more?)

Turn to the Quran and Remember Death

Brothers and sisters, save yourself. Turn to the Quran. Remember your Lord.

Think of the time you will die. This world wants us to forget our death. No, Allah wants us to remember:

"Every soul will taste death." (Quran 3:185)

(كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ - Every soul will taste death). (ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ - Then unto us you will return).

And prepare for that. Prepare for that by living the dignified life of a believer. Prepare for that by giving yourself to Allah.

Prepare for that by being an obedient servant of Allah. And you will have bliss in this world. Because... And we'll stop here.

I'm 15 minutes over the time. And Dr. Zainab was before me, so I can't ask her to yield time. And I don't know who's speaking next, so I can't ask them to yield time.

Final Reflections on Death and Return

But brothers and sisters, prepare for your death. Remember the time we will be dead. Remember the time we will go into the grave.

Reflect on the time the dirt will be thrown on us. The next time you go to a funeral, imagine yourself in that coffin. Imagine the dirt being thrown on you.

Imagine the people walking away from your grave site. Imagine the angels questioning you. Imagining one day which hand the record of your deeds, of our deeds will fly into.

Will it be in the right? Will it be in the left? Imagine. Imam Muhasibi wrote a book called al-Tawahhum - Imagining.

Imagine. Think about. Reflect on the reality of death.

And reflect on the fact. The fact. The reality that we will be returned to our Lord.

(Quran 29:57)

Then unto us you will return.

May Allah bless you. As-salamu alaykum.