Hardening of the Heart 3/5
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips
Methods of Cure: (2) Remember Death
The Second Way — Remember Death
The second way is that we remember the Hereafter, to
remember our death. The one thing that we are one
hundred per cent certain of — even if we have some
doubt as to whether there is really a God; even if we
wrongly wonder if what we are practising is really the
truth when there are so many other people doing so
many other things — is that we are going to die.
But our lives are such that we become so occupied with
the things of this life that we forget that we are
going to die. As Allah said, the gathering of wealth
has deluded them to the realities of life and they
only come awake when they end up in their graves.
[At-Takathur 102: "The mutual rivalry for piling up
(the good things of this world) diverts you (from the
more serious things), until ye visit the graves. But
nay, ye soon shall know the reality…"] This is a
fearful statement, that we should live lives
unconscious of our deaths and thereby be lost in
trivialities, things that are really ultimately not
going to benefit us in the next life.
Consequently, Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa
sallam had said, "I used to forbid you from visiting
the graves in the early part of Islam. But now I
command you to visit them because they serve to remind
you of the next life."
["I [once] had forbidden you from visiting graves,
[and I now enjoin] you to do so, so that the visit may
serve as a beneficial reminder." (related by Muslim
and others) ]
[ Al-Haakim’s version : "… for [such visits] soften
the heart, bring tears to the eyes, and serve as a
reminder of the Hereafter, [but be careful] not to
speak forbidden expressions [i.e. while visiting]."
(Sahih al-Jaami' 4584)
To go to the graveyard, reflecting on the state of
those in the grave (not necessarily of your relatives
alone). As the Prophet Sallallahu ‘Alayhi wa sallam
said, "The grave is either a garden from the gardens
of Paradise or a hole from the holes of Hell Fire."
There are people in the graves who are calling out for
help but there is no one to help. When Munkar and
Nakir come and ask them, "Who is your Lord?", "What is
your religion?", "Who was the Prophet that was sent to
you?", they will be unable to answer!
[Volume 2, Book 23, Number 422: Narrated Anas: The
Prophet said, "When a human being is laid in his grave
and his companions return and he even hears their foot
steps, two angels come to him and make him sit and ask
him: What did you use to say about this man, Muhammad
? He will say: I testify that he is Allah's slave and
His Apostle. Then it will be said to him, 'Look at
your place in the Hell-Fire. Allah has given you a
place in Paradise instead of it.' " The Prophet added,
"The dead person will see both his places. But a
non-believer or a hypocrite will say to the angels, 'I
do not know, but I used to say what the people used to
say! It will be said to him, 'Neither did you know nor
did you take the guidance (by reciting the Quran).'
Then he will be hit with an iron hammer between his
two ears, and he will cry and that cry will be heard
by whatever approaches him except human beings and
jinns."]
This is not something we can memorise in preparation
for the questions, because it is not a matter of not
knowing, but that we will be incapable of answering as
part of the degradation of that life. We know that the
answer is the key for the next life, but we cannot use
the key. We don’t have access to it because it never
entered our hearts in this life. If it did not enter
our hearts in this life that Allah is our Lord and
that Muhammad is our Prophet and that Islam is our
religion, then that knowledge will not benefit us in
the next life.
So we are encouraged to visit the graves and on that
basis, this is not unique to men, for the benefits
that come from visiting he graves is not unique to
men. This is why some scholars argue that visiting the
graves is not prohibited to women, but that it is the
frequent visits that are prohibited, due to the
sensitivity of their nature. Hence not regular visits,
but to go from time to time as they need the reminder
just as men need the reminder.
Allah describes those, in the Quran, who when they
reflect on the Hereafter, are affected. It affects
them in the nights. "They slept little in the night
and in the hours before dawn, they were found seeking
Allah’s forgiveness." They wake up in the night with
the remembrance of the life to come — the trials of
the grave and the Judgement to come. These lead them
to get up from their beds at a time when sleep is so
sweet.
Brothers and sisters, let us reflect on that life to
come. Let us reflect on the process after death; the
process in dying itself — how the souls are taken from
the bodies of believers, as the Prophet Sallallahu
‘Alayhi wa sallam said, "like water dropping from the
spout of a bucket; but for the disbelievers, "like
silk being drawn over thorns", tearing away. That soul
that fears Allah is taken in the next life up into the
Heavens and the angels of the Heavens will praise it.
It will return to that body and a Garden from Paradise
will be opened up to it and it will lie in that state
till Resurrection. But for those whose hearts have
hardened towards the remembrance of Allah, the soul
will be barred entrance into the Heavens. It will be
thrown back into the body. Their evil deeds will come
before them as a horrible creature and they will
suffer torments. A widow from Hell will be open and
the heat will be over them until Resurrection.
And what happens on the Resurrection, when we stand
before Allah and answer for each and every deed that
we have done, when nothing escapes Allah, when the
things that we have in this life will be of no benefit
to us. The only thing that will benefit us is to stand
before Allah with a healthy heart.
=====
Leo Imanov
Abdu-lLah
AllahsSlave
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