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DEATH
By Br. SHARIF MUHAMMAD
Ramadan is the month of fasting. It is also the month in which
the Quran was revealed. Allah (SW) Says:
"Ramadan is the month in which the Quran was sent
down, the Quran as guide to mankind, and also clear
signs for guidance and judgement between right and
wrong." (al-Baqara 2:185)
Ramadan is the month of guidance, the month of faith, the month
of Quran, the month of fasting, the month of prayers, the month of
worship, and the month of coming closer to Allah (SW).
Ramadan is the best opportunity for remembrance of Allah and
the Day of Judgement. It is the best opportunity for everyone to
remember one's own mistakes and shortcomings and to pledge to
correct them. Therefore, the best thing one can do in a khutbah in
Ramadan is to remind.
There is a multitude of calamities that are inflicting the
Muslim all over the World in this period of time. Each one of them
deserve a full discussion on its own right. However, Ramadan
should be better utilized in solving the root cause of all our
problems, our miserable, it is the weakness of our innerselves
that is behind all this. Therefore, we should not miss the
opportunity of this blessed month reminding ourselves with the
meanings of faith and righteousness in order to improve our
innerselves.
This Khutba, Insha Allah, will be just that: A reminder. The
topic of this reminder has very deep spiritual significance. It
also has been dealt with numerously in the Quran and the sayings
of our Prophet (SAW). In spite of its importance, most people
rarely remember it and if they do, they usually are not willing to
reflect upon it because for some people it causes some
inconvenience. Let us follow the guidance of the Quran and reflect
upon it. This topic is DEATH.
Death is a very well-known fact. It has always been
indisputable. No one has ever doubted death. although human beings
rarely agree on anything, they have never disagree on their
mortality.
Death is mentioned in the Quran almost everywhere. The word
"Death" and its derivatives "die, dying, dead" is found more than
160 times in the Quran. The Quran has put a lot of emphasis on
death. Why is it that the Quran is consistently reminding the
believers about their own mortality while they already this fact
for centuries ?? To understand why we have to take a close look on
the verses which mention death in the Quran and reflect upon them.
Let us explore some of these verses:
"Every soul shall have a taste of death" (al-
Imran 3:185)
The verse is clear and emphatic. The massage it conveys to us
is: Make no mistake about death, it is foregone conclusion. Every
soul shall taste it no matter what. Listen now to the full verse:
"Every soul shall have a taste of death: And
only on the Day of Judgement shall you be paid
your full recompense. Only he who is saved from
the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have
succeeded. For the life of this world is but goods
of chattels of deception" (al-Imran 3:185)
This verse represents one of the important Tenets of Islam
which is the fact that there is another life after death. Thus,
for us death is not the end of the world it is just the start of
an ever-lasting life. The other fact in this verse also states
with no uncertainty is that the true measure of success is not in
this life. Success is not having a huge sum of money, or a large
family, or a prestigious job, or an impressive title, or a degree
from a respected university, or a big house, or a nice car, all
these are nothing but goods of decepty. The real success is to be
saved from the hell fire and be admitted to paradise. Anything
short of this is a mere deception.
In another verse which conveys a similar meaning is:
"Every soul shall taste death. And We test you
by evil and by good by way of trial. To Us must
you return."
(al-Anbiyaa 21:36)
The message is clear, everyone will die and this life is just a
probation on this earth, our faith will be tested by many things.
Some are tested by calamities and some are tested by good things
of this life and at the end we will return to Allah so that we be
appraised according to our test results. The whole story of each
and everyone of us is
best summarized in these verses:
"We did create man from a quintessence of clay;
Then We placed him as a drop of sperm in a place of
rest firmly fixed then We made the sperm into a
clot of congealed blood; Then of that clot We made
a lump; Then We made out of the lump bones and
clothed the bones with flesh then We developed out
of it another creature. So blessed be Allah the
best to create after that, you will die. On the
day of judgement you will be raised up again."
(al-Muuminun 23:12-16)
This is the history of each one of us, CREATION, LIFE, DEATH,
and the RESURRECTION. So we have to understand that our life on
this earth is just a past, actually a very small past, of the
whole picture. also we should not overestimate the value of this
tiny fraction compared to our whole existence.
There is no escape from death. Allah (SW) says:
"Wherever you are, death will find you out. Even
if you are in towers built up strong and high." (al-
Nisaa 4:78)
No matter how long, one lives nothing will save him/her from
death. Strong towers won't save him. Progress of science will
never overcome death. Advanced health care systems will never
overcome death. Family, friends, money, power, prestige, all are
no avail. Listen to the following verse which describes our
helplessness when death comes:
"Why don't you intervene when the soul of the
dying man reaches the throat and you sit looking
on but We are nearer to him than you are but you
do not see. Then why don't you, if you are exempt
from future account, call back the soul if you are
true in your claim of independence? If the dying
man be of those nearest to Allah, there is for him
rest and satisfaction and a garden of delight. And
if he be of the companions of the right hand for
him is the salutation `Peace be unto you from the
companions of the right hand' And if he be of those
who treat truth as falsehood, those who go wrong,
for him is entertainment with boiling water, and
burning in hell fire. Verily this is the truth and
certainty. So celebrate with praises the name of
Thy Lord, The Supreme." (al-Waqia 56:83-96)
One also finds in the Quran many verses which adnominish the
believers about their obligations in this life before they die.
Allah says:
"O you who believe fear Allah as He should be
feared and die not except in the state of Islam"
(al-Imran 3:102)
Allah is commanding us not to die except as Muslims. But we are
never sure when death will come to us. Thus, we have to be Muslims
all the time. Therefore, the message is a muslim today, tomorrow
and forever, be a Muslim in faith and in your behaviour, be a
Muslim in private and in public. Be a Muslim with others and with
your ownself, be a Muslim when at ease and be a Muslim when in
hardship.
Always be in a state of Islam, in a state of submission to your
Allah, so that when death comes to you will be ready. In the same
meaning is very eloquently put in the following verse:
"O you who believe let not your riches or your
children divert you from the remembrance of Allah
and whoever do this the loss is their own. And
spend in charity out of the substance which we have
bestowed on you before death should come to any of
you and he would say `O my Lord why don't You give
me a respite for a little while? I should then have
given largely in charity anI will be one of the
doers of good. But to no soul will Allah grant
respite when the time appointed for it has come and
Allah is well-acquainted with all that you do."
(al-Munafiqun 63:9-11)
This verse is extremely important to us. It states with no
uncertain terms that there is no second chance when death comes it
is over. If you want to do good, do it now before you are dead. If
you fail to be a good Muslim in this life, you will be the eternal
loser because you will not be granted a second chance. You will
not be given some extra time and there are no exemptions. The same
meaning is emphasized in another verse:
"When death comes to one of them, he would say
`O my Lord send me back to life in order that I
may work righteousness in the things I neglected.'
- `By no means! it is just a word he says.' -
Before them is a partition till the day they are
raised up"(al-Muuminun 23:99-100)
It is the same warning again, Allah is reminding us watch out,
whatever good you might do it now, don't delay it, don't postpone
it. If you fail to do good now it is your mistake, you are already
been warned and all the loss will be yours.
There are numerous references t death in the Quran. The scenes
of death and the scenes of the day of judgement are plenty in the
Quran. They are almost every where. If we support that we read the
Quran everyday, which is the sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), then it
is very likely that we will read about death everyday. If we
follow the Quranic guidance by reflecting upon everything we read,
then we will end up reflecting upon death everyday. The we have to
ask ourselves why is that Allah (SW) wants us to reflect upon
death everyday ? What is the value of such constant reminder ? The
fact is, remembering death has far-reaching implications in the
life of the believer. Remembering death daily can and does
transform the whole life of a believer to the better. Death
awareness helps the believer to set his/her priorities right.
Imagine a believer who reads the Quran everyday, read and
reflect upon death and the Day of Reckoning and then act
accordingly. This believer will certainly be more altruistic, less
greedy, more careful to the needs of the poor and the needy, more
helpful to weak and the helpless, more giving in charity, more
generous because simply this believer asks himself/herself
everyday the same question "Will this money I have saved me from
death ?" Will the money deliver me from hell-fire ?" "Will greed
or saving the money for myself guarantee me the pleasure of my
Lord ?" Actually, it is quite the opposite. The more you spend for
the sake of your Lord (Allah), the more you become closer to Him.
Death remembrance is the best way to become one of those whom
allah has praised in the Quran by saying:
"And those in whose wealth there is a recognized
right for the needy and the destitute and those who
believe in the truth of the Day of Judgement and
those who fear the displeasure of their Lord. For
their Lord's displeasure is one against which there
is no security."(al-Maarij 70:24-28)
Death awareness does create a caring, helpful, generous
believer, in short a truly wonderful person. If death awareness is
spread among a whole community of believers, that community will
be truly wonderful.
Death remembrance also does give the believer a huge spiritual
boost. The believer who is always aware of his/her own mortality
will always be in need t seek refuge with the Almighty. This kind
of believer will be very careful not to displease his Lord and if
it happens that he does something wrong he will be quick to ask
for forgiveness. repentance will become his daily practice since
he remembers that death might come to him at any time, so he is
taking precautions by being always repentant.
This mortality awareness will improve the spiritual quality of
the believer's prayers. If in your prayer you remember very well
that someday you will be a dead man, then you will truly humble
yourself in this prayer. That's why the Prophet (SAW) once advised
us that at the start of every prayer we should consider that, this
prayer as our last prayer in this life. Repentance, prayer,
humbleness, self-restraint, patience, charity, Fear of Allah, and
hope, all of these are the immediate outcomes of death
remembrance.
One of the most important ramifications of continuous death
remembrance is that it emboldens the believer to do JIHAD, to
struggle for the sake of Allah. For the believer he/she is always
aware that he/she will be die sooner or later. Thus he/she will be
certainly prefer an honorable death to ordinary death and the
most honorable death is to die for the cause of Islam, to be a
martyr of faith. Listen how allah praises those who sacrifices
their lives for His sake:
"Allah has purchased of the believers their
souls and their wealth in return for the paradise.
They fight in His cause and kill or get killed. A
promise binding on him in truth through the Torah,
the Gospel, and the Quran and who is more faithful
to his covenant than Allah ? Then rejoice in the
deal which you have concluded. That is the supreme
achievement." (al-Touba 9:111)
This attitude of continuous death awareness and preferring an
honourable death to any other kind of death was the root cause of
all the glories of early Islam.
Those fearless companions of the Prophet (SAW) spread Islam to
the shores of the Atlantic and to the borders of China in less
than one century. They led the most impressive military campaigns
in history and their incentive was very simple: The search of
martyrdom, the most honourable death for a Muslim. Today, it is
the fear of death honourable or otherwise that is making us by far
the most humiliated nation on earth. The massacre of the
Palestinians (February 25th, 1994) is the reminder of the
humiliation. At the core of all the ills of the Muslim World today
lies this simple fact, We, Muslims, fear death. Martyrdom is not
as appealing to us as it was to the early Muslims. We are not
willing to sacrifice our wealth and our standard of living either.
The evidence to this fact is abundant. The Muslim World has
betrayed Bosnia.
Muslims in the East were not willing to sacrifice their standard
of living and threaten an oil and economic embargo against all
those who help the Serbs and those who prevent the Bosnia Muslims
from defending themselves. Muslims in the West didn't .... better,
the amount of help we provided to our Brothers and Sisters in
Bosnia was just peanuts compared to the wealth that Muslims in the
West enjoy.
Muslims are not willing to sacrifice, we consider donating $ 20
"a sacrifice." Why are we not willing to sacrifice ? The same
reason, fear of death, we love life so much, we think we will live
forever. We have to understand that fear of poverty and fear of
honourable death makes cowards out of men. One of the casualties
of our fear of honourable death is that we become afraid of saying
the truth. We are now in the month of fasting. This is the truth,
but when a Muslim ruler of a Muslim country said that fasting is
an obstacle to economic development and it should be abolished,
very few objected. When a Muslim ruler described the hijab of the
women as a "filthy rug" no one objected. When another muslim ruler
said that hijab ...., an act of satan because Eve had no clothes
at all, no one objected. Actually, the only reaction to this
particular comment was a wave of applause from the audience who
happened to be members of parliament of another Muslim country !
In Islam, keeping silence when one should protest is a sin, but
why no one protested ? because life is so dear to Muslims.
Muslims assume they will live for too long. The irony is that
Muslims countries, by and large, have the lowest life expectance
rates on earth ! To sum up, I would remind myself and my dear
brothers and sisters that death is a reality and we to always be
prepared for it. Please, don't assume that we will live for too
long. we usually think that we will live for too long especially
if we are young and healthy. This is not true.
Young people die everyday and for a variety of reasons. I myself
have 2 friends who died in their twenties. One was about 24 the
other was 27 and this one was very healthy indeed. i graduated in
the class of 1986, so far I have been told of 2 the graduates of
my 1986 class who already died. No one has immunity against death.
No one is too heathy to die, or too young to die or too wealthy to
die or too powerful to die or too famous to die.
The question that we should always ask ourselves is not whether
we are going to die, it is what preparations are we making to die
as good Muslims ? We should always be ready, we should always
struggleto improve ourselves until we become the best persons we
can be. We should humble ourselves in our progress. Read the Quran
more and reflect upon what we read more, we should help others, we
should pay more in charity we have to get rid of our greed and
selfishness. We have to love to others what we love to ourselves.
And also we have to sacrifice for the sake of allah by spending
from our wealth, our time, our efforts and if the need arises by
our lives. We have to remember to repent everyday and if possible
during and after every prayer.
Finally, the best way to remember death is to read the Quran. We
have to read Quran everyday. This is major source of spiritual
power in Islam. I would like to remind my brother and sisters that
the day of the 21st of Ramadan. The last 10 nights of Ramadan are
the most blessed nights. One of them is "Lailatul Kadir." The
prophet (SAW) used to work harder in the last 10 nights than in
the rest of the month. We should follow the Sunnah of the Prophet
(SAW) and work harder in these nights, pray more, read Quran more,
spend more in charity and so on.
