1mran
30th April 2007, 12:33 PM
The Hereafter (Part 2)
Lectures notes from the series by Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki
2.4 Sakr (state of Unconciousness)
When you are going from Dunya to Akhirah, its very difficult. Because you have been in this Dunya for about 50 or 60 years and now you going to a completely different world. And the change between these two stages is difficult. At times it doesn’t happen immediately and you will find people going in and out of it many times in this state of Sakr.
The best way to explain this is by thinking about sleep because sleep is the minor death. Allah says, “It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day, then he raises (wakes) you up again that a term appointed (your life period) be fulfilled, then in the end unto Him will be your return. Then He will inform you what you used to do.” (Al-An'am 6:60). So sleep is the minor death. When you are awake, you through certain phases before falling asleep. One state is where you are not actually asleep but not awake either, almost in between. And then you fall asleep. So you go from awakening, then almost asleep, and finally sleep. The same thing happens during death. Just before you die, you reach a stage where you are almost dead, but not completely, you keep going back and forth. So there are moments when you are on that side of the world (i.e. dead) and moments when you are in this side (i.e. alive).
Abdullah ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said his father when into this state and said, “No! not yet, No! Not yet”. Abdullah ibn Ahmad got worried. Imagine you you’re your father say No not yet, No not yet! What would you think it means? I don’t want to go yet, right? So Abdullah was worried, and he asked his father (when his father woke up), “Oh my father, why were you saying No not yet? No not yet?” Imam Ahmad saying that Shaytan was standing right next to me, biting on his fingers and saying “Oh Ahmad you have slipped out of my hands, Oh Ahmad you have slipped out of my hands”, so I was telling No not yet until I Die! The battle between you and me is still happening, until I die. So Shaytan was so upset that he started biting his fingers and saying Oh Ahmad you have slipped away. Look at how the believe keeps on fighting until the last moment, never giving up.
Sheikh Ibn Taymiyah says the reason this happens is because it’s the last chance for Shaytan, if he misses it, if he misses you in the last moment, he missed you! That’s why Shaytan emphasizes on the last moments. Now think about it, if you are losing to Shaytan now, when the battle is easy, what will happen near the end? Shaytan is giving half is energy now and we are losing, so what will happen when he gives us his full attention before we die? This is why in our salah we say, “Narrated Abu Huraira : Allah's Apostle used to invoke (Allah): "Allahumma ini a'udhu bika min 'adhabi-l-Qabr, wa min 'adhabi-nnar, wa min fitnati-l-mahya wa-lmamat, wa min fitnati-l-masih ad-dajjal. (O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire and from the afflictions of life and death, and the afflictions of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal.)" [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 459]
Imam al - Qurtubi also mentions that a great number of pious and dependable cholars are known to have witnessed the presence of shaytan at death. He raltes that he heard of his own respected teachers, imam Abul –Abbas Ahmad bin Umar al –Qurtubi, say, “I visited the brother of out teacher, Shaykh Abu Ja’far Muhammad al – Qurtubi, at Cordova and found him near death. It was said to him, ‘repeat: “La ilaha illa Allah,” to which he replied, “No! No!” when he came around, we mentioned what had occurred. He said, “Two devils came to me, one on my left and the other on my right. One of them said, “Die as a Jew, for verily [Judaism] is the best of religions,” while the other said, “Die as a Christian, for truly [Christianity] is the best of religions.” So I answered them saying, “No! No! How dare you say such a thing to me!” [ Related by Abu Bilal Mustafa al – Kanadi in Mysteries of the Soul Expounded]
2.5 Reasons for Evil Ending
We speak about this because the most important part of your life is the end. “Whoever dies on something will be resurrected on it”, So if you die in hajj making Talbiah, you will be resurrected making Talbiah, and if you die in the battle field as a shaheed, you will be resurrected with all your would and blood still fresh. This is why the most important part of your life is the end. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to make the dua, “O Allah make the best of my deeds, the Last deeds.” It is also reported he said in a hadith Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "… by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it." [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77, Number 593]
2.51 Corruption and Defect in the belief
Lets use an example and analogy to explain this. Let’s assume you bought a computer. And you started using the computer; the first month its working and the second month its working fine. Then you put it through a rigorous application and the computer failed and broke down. So you take it to get fixed and you see find out that there was a defect from day one, but this defect did not come in notice because you were treating it gently. You were using for easy things, but when you used it for something difficult, it broken down because e a hidden defect! So you could be now, thinking your aqeedah is fine, but you have some bid’ah (Innovation) or some doubts about the prophet or Allah or the angels, etc, hidden in the corner of your heart. And then death approaches and Shaytan puts you through the test. And this test is difficult and because of that, your defect comes out. You find out that there some corruption in your belief. And when you find this out, what do you do? You give up your whole beliefs. Because you find there is something wrong and you think there is something wrong with islam and you would loose it all. Just like the computer, you don’t normally get it fixed, if there is a defect, you just throw it away.
And that’s why Ibnul Qayyim says, “We don’t expect Allah would mislead anyone who is on the straight path, except if he had a defect in his heart. We believe that out of the Mercy of Allah, He would not mislead someone who is of true righteousness, there must be something defective in that person’s imaan and that defect shows up in one moment of time”. Allah says, “Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds!” (Al-Kahf 18:103 - 104) So there are some people who doing things they thing are good but are infact not. You find people, who seem very righteous, but they are not following the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and hence their deeds are wasted.
2.52 Diversion from the Straight Path
A Person could be on the straight path and he starts to diverge. When he starts to turn, like in a fork, the angel will be small in the start, but the further you go, the more far off the straight path you stray. Iblees, who was one of the righteous, did that small problem (which was out of arraogance) and he became the worst of creation (by commiting even more sins after, like shirk (associating error with Allah) and not repenting after it). Allah says, “And recite (O Muhammad SAW) to them the story of him to whom We gave Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), but he threw them away, so Shaitân (Satan) followed him up, and he became of those who went astray. And had We willed, We would surely have elevated him therewith but he clung to the earth and followed his own vain desire. So his description is the description of a dog: if you drive him away, he lolls his tongue out, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls his tongue out. Such is the description of the people who reject Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). So relate the stories, perhaps they may reflect.” (Al-A'raf 7:175 - 176) So this man received the Ayats of Allah, but he left the Ayats and followed his desires (because he was clung to this Dunya – look the effect of this world! ) and Shaytan followed him and this man went astray .
So do not follow desires or follow the Dunya, because that’s contrary to what Islam is. What is Islam? Islam is submission to Allah and the one who submits is called a Muslim. We want to follow the religion in accordance to our understanding and to our convenience and spare time! No! We do custom make Islam to suit us! We change ourselves to fit into Islam! We don’t change Islam, but we change our character to become Muslim!
The Prophet (peace be upon him) which has been narrated by Abu Ya`ala, from Hudhaifa and about which Ibn Kathir said, "Its chain of transmission is good." Abu Ya`ala said, "The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said, ‘One of the things that concerns me about my nation is a man who studied the Qur’an, and when its grace started to show on him and he had the appearance of a Muslim, he detached himself from it, and threw it behind his back, and went after his neighbor with a sword and accused him of associating partners with Allah ’. I then asked, ‘Oh, Prophet of Allah, which one is more guilty of associating partners with Allah, the accused or the accuser?’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘It is the accuser.’" So this man has Quran in his heart and showing in his face, but he left the Quran and fell into fitnah and accused someone of shirk and became a mushrik, even though he had Quran in his heart!.
Another story is the Story of Barsisa the worshipper. At the time of Bani Israel, there was a man in a small village, called Barsisa. He was, what you call, a monk. But he was a true Christian. He believed in Tawheed and believed Isa (peace be upon him) was a messenger of Allah. One day three brothers decided to go for Jihad. But they had a sister and they did not want to leave her alone. So they went looking for someone to take care of her. The town people suggested to leave her with Barsisa, because of his piety. So they went to him and when they asked him, he said, “I seek refuge from the cursed Shaytan” and said No! This was because he was scared of falling into sin ( due to the potential fitnah it may cause). Then Shaytan came to Barsisa in the form of Waswasah (Whisperings). Shaytan is very smart and knew Barsisa had a soft heart. So he told Barsisa, “What if they can’t find someone good and leave her with someone bad, wouldn’t that be your fault?” Now Barsisa did not realise this was Shaytan whispering in his heart, and because of his compassion for others, he decided to accept their request and help the woman.
He let her stay in a house opposite the church. He did this so that it would be easy for him to leave her her food outside the church and she could come get it herself. But after sometime, shaytan returned. This time he told Barsisa, “Why don’t you leave the food closer for her, so that people don’t see her moving back and forth alone!” Barsisa agreed and started leaving the food outside the house. But shaytan wasn’t happy with this either, so sometime later, he returned and ask Barsisa, “Why don’t you go in and leave it on the table, so that no one sees her coming out and going in alone all the time!” Again, Barsisa agreed and he started leaving the food on the table.
Then as time went by, Shaytan returned and said to him, “Why don’t you talk to her, she is all alone and has no one to talk to!” Barsisa agreed and started talking to her from behind a door (so as to screen himself). But this would lead them to almost shouting to each other to here themselves. Shaytan asked Barsisa to just go in and talk to her, and finally, he (Shaytan) had got the alone in a room. Shaytan had completed the difficult part. It wasn’t after Barsisa and the woman committed fornication. And to make things worse, she also became pregnant. As soon as the baby was born, Shaytan returned, and said to Barsisa, “What have you done? Look at the result of your evil (ie the child), get ride of the evidence otherwise the brothers will kill you!” Barsisa killed the baby and buried it in the same room the woman was in. Shaytan then told Barsisa, “Do you think you can kill the child of a woman and expect her not to tell anyone?!” and So Barsisa killed her and buried her along side the baby! He then made a fake grace outside and when her brothers returned, he informed them that she died of illness. After seeing the grave and make dua for her, they returned home and accepted Allah’s decree.
Later that night, Shaytan came to them in their dream and informed them about what Barsisa had done and where the child and their sister could be found. The brother got up upset and confused, and informed his brothers of the dream, and they both said they had the same dream. So they believed that it must be true, and when and dug up the fake grave and found it empty. They then dug the placed shaytan showed them in the dream and found the child and woman! Furious, the brothers took Barsisa to the Leader to get his punishment. Barsisa knew that he would be given the death penalty. Shaytan came to Barsisa again, for the final time this time. This time he revealed himself and told him he was the one whispering the thoughts to him. And he said that he could save Barsisa, and as long as Barsisa makes sujood to him! Barsisa, out of desperation made Sujood to him , this confirmed his Kufr (disbelief) and Shaytan said to him "I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!" and left Barsisa was stonned to death and on the day of judgement he will be resurrected making Sujood to Shaytan!So look how shaytan tricked him. He came to him as a friend, but was infact his biggest enemy! (Their allies deceived them) like Shaitân (Satan), when he says to man: "Disbelieve in Allâh." But when (man) disbelieves in Allâh, Shaitân (Satan) says: "I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!" (Al-Hashr 59:16)
Shaytan will never make you sin directly, he will always trick you using Waswasah and he is more patient than any of us. So we should always seek refuge in Allah from Shayatn. Never think you have anough knowledge or are strong enough to take on Shaytan. This is why the Scholars of Islam are the ones with the most Taqwa, fear of Allah. So reflect on the story, if Shaytan told Barsisa to make sujood in the beginning, Barsisa would have said no staright away, but Shaytan has a plan in hand it was a step by step policy that made Barsisa finally breakdown and commit Kufr.
Ibn Al-Jawzi says that there was a man named Abduh ibn Abdur-Raheem, this was in year 280 or 270 hijree, Abduh Ibn Abdur-Raheem. He was a mujahid with the Muslim armies that were fighting in the Roman Empire, and he fought in jihad for a long time. And in one of their battles, actually they were surrounding a Roman fortress, they were surrounding them. And while they were surrounding them this man saw a woman, it was a fitna for him. So he started corresponding with this woman - this woman is a Roman in that city - the Muslim are surrouding them. What he did is he started corresponding with her and he asked her "How can I get in?" So she told thim "Become a Christian and I'll let you in." So he became a Christian and the next day suddenly the Muslims saw this man, this mujahid - he was with them - he's inside with the Romans. This thing depressed them a lot. Cause this man has fought in jihad for a very long time and he knew a lot of Qur'an and he had a lot of knowledge and suddenly now he gave up his religion and he became a Christian to run after that woman.
Then years passed and some Muslims who knew that man, they passed next to that Roman village or fort again. So they saw him and they told him "Come with us." He said "No I can not come with you, that's it, I'm settled here. I'm married and I have children and I have business. I'm already settled here." He gave up his religion, he was a Christian now, hanging in the cross. So they told him "Where did your jihad go, what happend to your jihad, what happened to your knowledge, what happened to your Qur'an?" He said "Oh, I forgot all of that. I forgot all of Qur'an except one verse: “Perhaps (often) will those who disbelieve wish that they were Muslims [those who have submitted themselves to Allâh's Will in Islâm Islâmic Monotheism, this will be on the Day of Resurrection when they will see the disbelievers going to Hell and the Muslims going to Paradise]. Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be preoccupied with (false) hope. They will come to know!” (Al-Hijr 15:2 - 3)
He forgot all of Qur'an except this. He remembers a verse that tells him one day the no believers will desire and wish that they were Muslim. And Allah SWT says "let them eat and let them enjoy themselves, one day the will know.", let the false desires fool them, but one day they will realize the truth. When you diverge form the straight path, this is what happens; This man, he was a mujahid and he knew Qur'an and he memorized a lot of ayat and he had a lot of knowledge, but he didn't stick to the straight path. Fas'takim, Allah SWT tells Rasool'Allah (Peace be upon him) "fas'takim", after you receive the guidance, follow the straight path. And one of the companions came to Rasool'Allah SAW and told him "Give me an advice", O Rasool'Allah give me the best advice, "Give me an advice that I would not have to ask anybody else for another advice", I want you to give me one advice that will be sufficient for me. Rasool'Allah (Peace be upon him) said "Say 'I believe in Allah and then stay on the straight path." Because we can say we believe, we can say we are Muslims, but the important thing is to stay on the straight path. That's where the test is, and that's where a lot of people fail. They follow the truth for a while, but then the winds of change in this world take them from right to left. And this is the ending that happened to him, why?, he missed the thabat, athabat al-haqq, staying on the straight path.
You slip, and you don't know how deep that cliff is. That is the khash'ya of Allah, you know the truth and you are so worried that you're asking Allah SWT seventeen times "eyakana'boodoo wa eyakanas'sta'een, eh'deenas'siraatul mus'takeem", "Oh Allah we seek assistance from You, and worship nobody except You, so guide us to the straight path." We keep on asking Allah in the fareeda seventeen times a day to keep us on the straight path, and then in the nawaafil we read al-Fatiha. Why are we repeating this again and again, "eh'deenas'siraatul mus'takeem", because it's very important to stay on the straight path.
2.53 Insistence on Sinning
A person might be committing small sins. But the Scholars have said that if you keep on doing small sins over and over again, it becomes a Major sin. Ad-dhahabi, in his book about Major sins, he mentions some of the reason for evil endings. He mentions a story of a man who used to be obsessed with chess. When he was dieing, they told him to take the Shahadah, he couldn’t see it. And just before he died, he kept on saying check mate, check mate! This was because he was obsessed with chess. Ad-dhahabi mentions another man was asked to say the Shahadah and he asked for the bottle. This was because he was an alcoholic and that’s the last thing that came in his mind
Ar - abiya bin Saburah said he witness the death of a man who was an accountant. He was told to say the Shahadah and he started mentioned numbers. Ibnul Qayyim mentions the story of a man who was asked to say the Shahadah and he said he could not. He could speak and he was fine, but Allah did not give him the Tawfeeq, because he did not have a live record of the Shahadah. Think of sakaratul maut this way. When you go to sleep you have dreams and these are normally of things you thought about all day. So if you keep on thinking of something, there is a big chance you will dream about it. Also think about what the first thing you think about when you wake up, because death is similar to sleep. Sleep is the minor death. So when you are going from sleep to the state of awakening, its similar to Sakaratul mawt. So if you think you can do what ever you want, sin as much as you want and before you will just say the Shahadah and go to jannah, you are mistaken! Its not that easy! You are plotting against Allah! Why? You are telling Allah I will do what I want no and I will pray when I become old. Allah is saying pray 5 times a day every day, and you are saying I will go round this and do it at the end, but be warned! Allah says, “… they were plotting and Allâh too was planning, and Allâh is the Best of the planners.” (Al-Anfal 8:30)
Another recent story was narrated by scholar whos aid they went to a house were someone was dieing and they were listening to loud umm kalthoom music (umm kalthoom is an Arabic singer). The man was in his last moments of life and they were listening to Arabic music. So the scholar said, “Fear Allah, the man is dieing and you are listening to songs?” and he asked them to switch it off and put on some Quran. But the man got upset and said put the music on because its sooths my heart and then he died. If you grow up on something you will most probably die on it. Don’t think you can outsmart Allah. Allah says, “Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allâh. None feels secure from the Plan of Allâh except the people who are the losers.” (Al-A'raf 7:99)
2.54 Weak Faith
Sulaiman ibn Abdul Malik, the Khalifah of the Muslim world, visited Makkah and medina and was asking if anyone here hate met the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), they said yes, Abu Hazm. So he said bring him here. So the Khalifah asked him a question, “How come we dislike death? How come we don’t want to die?”. Abu Hazm said, “Because you have built in this Dunya and destroyed your Akhirah. So you hate to go from what is established to what is destroyed.” This happens because of weakness of faith. And what causes that? They love of this world. The love of this world can cause a very destructive end of your life. The scholars have said “if somebody has the love of this life in his heart, then just before he dies, when the person realises he is going to leave the lovable Dunya and go to the Akhirah, the person would become to attached to the thing he loves. He would become attached to Dunya. Then the person can start hating Allah because Allah is taking away the Dunya from him. And if this happens you will have eternal hellfire. “…if do not love to meet Allah, he will not love to meet you.”
Muadh ibn Jabal, when he was passing away, he said Welcome to death, I have been waiting for you for a long time. I have waiting for the promise of Allah for a long time. And then he said O death don’t think I wanted to live in this Dunya for the love of this world. The reason I wanted to live in this world was to fast in the long summer days and prayer in the cold winter nights. “…if you love to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet you.” Narrated Aisha: When Allah 's Apostle was in good health, he used to say, "Never does a prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise ( before his death ), and then he is made alive or given option." When the Prophet became ill and his last moments came while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he looked towards the roof of the house and then said, "O Allah! (Please let me be) with the highest companion." Thereupon I said, "Hence he is not going to stay with us? " Then I came to know that his state was the confirmation of the narration he used to mention to us while he was in good health. [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 721]
Lectures notes from the series by Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki
2.4 Sakr (state of Unconciousness)
When you are going from Dunya to Akhirah, its very difficult. Because you have been in this Dunya for about 50 or 60 years and now you going to a completely different world. And the change between these two stages is difficult. At times it doesn’t happen immediately and you will find people going in and out of it many times in this state of Sakr.
The best way to explain this is by thinking about sleep because sleep is the minor death. Allah says, “It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day, then he raises (wakes) you up again that a term appointed (your life period) be fulfilled, then in the end unto Him will be your return. Then He will inform you what you used to do.” (Al-An'am 6:60). So sleep is the minor death. When you are awake, you through certain phases before falling asleep. One state is where you are not actually asleep but not awake either, almost in between. And then you fall asleep. So you go from awakening, then almost asleep, and finally sleep. The same thing happens during death. Just before you die, you reach a stage where you are almost dead, but not completely, you keep going back and forth. So there are moments when you are on that side of the world (i.e. dead) and moments when you are in this side (i.e. alive).
Abdullah ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said his father when into this state and said, “No! not yet, No! Not yet”. Abdullah ibn Ahmad got worried. Imagine you you’re your father say No not yet, No not yet! What would you think it means? I don’t want to go yet, right? So Abdullah was worried, and he asked his father (when his father woke up), “Oh my father, why were you saying No not yet? No not yet?” Imam Ahmad saying that Shaytan was standing right next to me, biting on his fingers and saying “Oh Ahmad you have slipped out of my hands, Oh Ahmad you have slipped out of my hands”, so I was telling No not yet until I Die! The battle between you and me is still happening, until I die. So Shaytan was so upset that he started biting his fingers and saying Oh Ahmad you have slipped away. Look at how the believe keeps on fighting until the last moment, never giving up.
Sheikh Ibn Taymiyah says the reason this happens is because it’s the last chance for Shaytan, if he misses it, if he misses you in the last moment, he missed you! That’s why Shaytan emphasizes on the last moments. Now think about it, if you are losing to Shaytan now, when the battle is easy, what will happen near the end? Shaytan is giving half is energy now and we are losing, so what will happen when he gives us his full attention before we die? This is why in our salah we say, “Narrated Abu Huraira : Allah's Apostle used to invoke (Allah): "Allahumma ini a'udhu bika min 'adhabi-l-Qabr, wa min 'adhabi-nnar, wa min fitnati-l-mahya wa-lmamat, wa min fitnati-l-masih ad-dajjal. (O Allah! I seek refuge with you from the punishment in the grave and from the punishment in the Hell fire and from the afflictions of life and death, and the afflictions of Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal.)" [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 459]
Imam al - Qurtubi also mentions that a great number of pious and dependable cholars are known to have witnessed the presence of shaytan at death. He raltes that he heard of his own respected teachers, imam Abul –Abbas Ahmad bin Umar al –Qurtubi, say, “I visited the brother of out teacher, Shaykh Abu Ja’far Muhammad al – Qurtubi, at Cordova and found him near death. It was said to him, ‘repeat: “La ilaha illa Allah,” to which he replied, “No! No!” when he came around, we mentioned what had occurred. He said, “Two devils came to me, one on my left and the other on my right. One of them said, “Die as a Jew, for verily [Judaism] is the best of religions,” while the other said, “Die as a Christian, for truly [Christianity] is the best of religions.” So I answered them saying, “No! No! How dare you say such a thing to me!” [ Related by Abu Bilal Mustafa al – Kanadi in Mysteries of the Soul Expounded]
2.5 Reasons for Evil Ending
We speak about this because the most important part of your life is the end. “Whoever dies on something will be resurrected on it”, So if you die in hajj making Talbiah, you will be resurrected making Talbiah, and if you die in the battle field as a shaheed, you will be resurrected with all your would and blood still fresh. This is why the most important part of your life is the end. The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to make the dua, “O Allah make the best of my deeds, the Last deeds.” It is also reported he said in a hadith Narrated 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle, the truthful and truly-inspired, said, "… by Allah, a person among you (or a man) may do deeds of the people of the Fire till there is only a cubit or an arm-breadth distance between him and the Fire, but then that writing (which Allah has ordered the angel to write) precedes, and he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it; and a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is only a cubit or two between him and Paradise, and then that writing precedes and he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it." [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 77, Number 593]
2.51 Corruption and Defect in the belief
Lets use an example and analogy to explain this. Let’s assume you bought a computer. And you started using the computer; the first month its working and the second month its working fine. Then you put it through a rigorous application and the computer failed and broke down. So you take it to get fixed and you see find out that there was a defect from day one, but this defect did not come in notice because you were treating it gently. You were using for easy things, but when you used it for something difficult, it broken down because e a hidden defect! So you could be now, thinking your aqeedah is fine, but you have some bid’ah (Innovation) or some doubts about the prophet or Allah or the angels, etc, hidden in the corner of your heart. And then death approaches and Shaytan puts you through the test. And this test is difficult and because of that, your defect comes out. You find out that there some corruption in your belief. And when you find this out, what do you do? You give up your whole beliefs. Because you find there is something wrong and you think there is something wrong with islam and you would loose it all. Just like the computer, you don’t normally get it fixed, if there is a defect, you just throw it away.
And that’s why Ibnul Qayyim says, “We don’t expect Allah would mislead anyone who is on the straight path, except if he had a defect in his heart. We believe that out of the Mercy of Allah, He would not mislead someone who is of true righteousness, there must be something defective in that person’s imaan and that defect shows up in one moment of time”. Allah says, “Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds!” (Al-Kahf 18:103 - 104) So there are some people who doing things they thing are good but are infact not. You find people, who seem very righteous, but they are not following the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and hence their deeds are wasted.
2.52 Diversion from the Straight Path
A Person could be on the straight path and he starts to diverge. When he starts to turn, like in a fork, the angel will be small in the start, but the further you go, the more far off the straight path you stray. Iblees, who was one of the righteous, did that small problem (which was out of arraogance) and he became the worst of creation (by commiting even more sins after, like shirk (associating error with Allah) and not repenting after it). Allah says, “And recite (O Muhammad SAW) to them the story of him to whom We gave Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), but he threw them away, so Shaitân (Satan) followed him up, and he became of those who went astray. And had We willed, We would surely have elevated him therewith but he clung to the earth and followed his own vain desire. So his description is the description of a dog: if you drive him away, he lolls his tongue out, or if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls his tongue out. Such is the description of the people who reject Our Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). So relate the stories, perhaps they may reflect.” (Al-A'raf 7:175 - 176) So this man received the Ayats of Allah, but he left the Ayats and followed his desires (because he was clung to this Dunya – look the effect of this world! ) and Shaytan followed him and this man went astray .
So do not follow desires or follow the Dunya, because that’s contrary to what Islam is. What is Islam? Islam is submission to Allah and the one who submits is called a Muslim. We want to follow the religion in accordance to our understanding and to our convenience and spare time! No! We do custom make Islam to suit us! We change ourselves to fit into Islam! We don’t change Islam, but we change our character to become Muslim!
The Prophet (peace be upon him) which has been narrated by Abu Ya`ala, from Hudhaifa and about which Ibn Kathir said, "Its chain of transmission is good." Abu Ya`ala said, "The Prophet (peace be upon him) has said, ‘One of the things that concerns me about my nation is a man who studied the Qur’an, and when its grace started to show on him and he had the appearance of a Muslim, he detached himself from it, and threw it behind his back, and went after his neighbor with a sword and accused him of associating partners with Allah ’. I then asked, ‘Oh, Prophet of Allah, which one is more guilty of associating partners with Allah, the accused or the accuser?’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘It is the accuser.’" So this man has Quran in his heart and showing in his face, but he left the Quran and fell into fitnah and accused someone of shirk and became a mushrik, even though he had Quran in his heart!.
Another story is the Story of Barsisa the worshipper. At the time of Bani Israel, there was a man in a small village, called Barsisa. He was, what you call, a monk. But he was a true Christian. He believed in Tawheed and believed Isa (peace be upon him) was a messenger of Allah. One day three brothers decided to go for Jihad. But they had a sister and they did not want to leave her alone. So they went looking for someone to take care of her. The town people suggested to leave her with Barsisa, because of his piety. So they went to him and when they asked him, he said, “I seek refuge from the cursed Shaytan” and said No! This was because he was scared of falling into sin ( due to the potential fitnah it may cause). Then Shaytan came to Barsisa in the form of Waswasah (Whisperings). Shaytan is very smart and knew Barsisa had a soft heart. So he told Barsisa, “What if they can’t find someone good and leave her with someone bad, wouldn’t that be your fault?” Now Barsisa did not realise this was Shaytan whispering in his heart, and because of his compassion for others, he decided to accept their request and help the woman.
He let her stay in a house opposite the church. He did this so that it would be easy for him to leave her her food outside the church and she could come get it herself. But after sometime, shaytan returned. This time he told Barsisa, “Why don’t you leave the food closer for her, so that people don’t see her moving back and forth alone!” Barsisa agreed and started leaving the food outside the house. But shaytan wasn’t happy with this either, so sometime later, he returned and ask Barsisa, “Why don’t you go in and leave it on the table, so that no one sees her coming out and going in alone all the time!” Again, Barsisa agreed and he started leaving the food on the table.
Then as time went by, Shaytan returned and said to him, “Why don’t you talk to her, she is all alone and has no one to talk to!” Barsisa agreed and started talking to her from behind a door (so as to screen himself). But this would lead them to almost shouting to each other to here themselves. Shaytan asked Barsisa to just go in and talk to her, and finally, he (Shaytan) had got the alone in a room. Shaytan had completed the difficult part. It wasn’t after Barsisa and the woman committed fornication. And to make things worse, she also became pregnant. As soon as the baby was born, Shaytan returned, and said to Barsisa, “What have you done? Look at the result of your evil (ie the child), get ride of the evidence otherwise the brothers will kill you!” Barsisa killed the baby and buried it in the same room the woman was in. Shaytan then told Barsisa, “Do you think you can kill the child of a woman and expect her not to tell anyone?!” and So Barsisa killed her and buried her along side the baby! He then made a fake grace outside and when her brothers returned, he informed them that she died of illness. After seeing the grave and make dua for her, they returned home and accepted Allah’s decree.
Later that night, Shaytan came to them in their dream and informed them about what Barsisa had done and where the child and their sister could be found. The brother got up upset and confused, and informed his brothers of the dream, and they both said they had the same dream. So they believed that it must be true, and when and dug up the fake grave and found it empty. They then dug the placed shaytan showed them in the dream and found the child and woman! Furious, the brothers took Barsisa to the Leader to get his punishment. Barsisa knew that he would be given the death penalty. Shaytan came to Barsisa again, for the final time this time. This time he revealed himself and told him he was the one whispering the thoughts to him. And he said that he could save Barsisa, and as long as Barsisa makes sujood to him! Barsisa, out of desperation made Sujood to him , this confirmed his Kufr (disbelief) and Shaytan said to him "I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!" and left Barsisa was stonned to death and on the day of judgement he will be resurrected making Sujood to Shaytan!So look how shaytan tricked him. He came to him as a friend, but was infact his biggest enemy! (Their allies deceived them) like Shaitân (Satan), when he says to man: "Disbelieve in Allâh." But when (man) disbelieves in Allâh, Shaitân (Satan) says: "I am free of you, I fear Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists)!" (Al-Hashr 59:16)
Shaytan will never make you sin directly, he will always trick you using Waswasah and he is more patient than any of us. So we should always seek refuge in Allah from Shayatn. Never think you have anough knowledge or are strong enough to take on Shaytan. This is why the Scholars of Islam are the ones with the most Taqwa, fear of Allah. So reflect on the story, if Shaytan told Barsisa to make sujood in the beginning, Barsisa would have said no staright away, but Shaytan has a plan in hand it was a step by step policy that made Barsisa finally breakdown and commit Kufr.
Ibn Al-Jawzi says that there was a man named Abduh ibn Abdur-Raheem, this was in year 280 or 270 hijree, Abduh Ibn Abdur-Raheem. He was a mujahid with the Muslim armies that were fighting in the Roman Empire, and he fought in jihad for a long time. And in one of their battles, actually they were surrounding a Roman fortress, they were surrounding them. And while they were surrounding them this man saw a woman, it was a fitna for him. So he started corresponding with this woman - this woman is a Roman in that city - the Muslim are surrouding them. What he did is he started corresponding with her and he asked her "How can I get in?" So she told thim "Become a Christian and I'll let you in." So he became a Christian and the next day suddenly the Muslims saw this man, this mujahid - he was with them - he's inside with the Romans. This thing depressed them a lot. Cause this man has fought in jihad for a very long time and he knew a lot of Qur'an and he had a lot of knowledge and suddenly now he gave up his religion and he became a Christian to run after that woman.
Then years passed and some Muslims who knew that man, they passed next to that Roman village or fort again. So they saw him and they told him "Come with us." He said "No I can not come with you, that's it, I'm settled here. I'm married and I have children and I have business. I'm already settled here." He gave up his religion, he was a Christian now, hanging in the cross. So they told him "Where did your jihad go, what happend to your jihad, what happened to your knowledge, what happened to your Qur'an?" He said "Oh, I forgot all of that. I forgot all of Qur'an except one verse: “Perhaps (often) will those who disbelieve wish that they were Muslims [those who have submitted themselves to Allâh's Will in Islâm Islâmic Monotheism, this will be on the Day of Resurrection when they will see the disbelievers going to Hell and the Muslims going to Paradise]. Leave them to eat and enjoy, and let them be preoccupied with (false) hope. They will come to know!” (Al-Hijr 15:2 - 3)
He forgot all of Qur'an except this. He remembers a verse that tells him one day the no believers will desire and wish that they were Muslim. And Allah SWT says "let them eat and let them enjoy themselves, one day the will know.", let the false desires fool them, but one day they will realize the truth. When you diverge form the straight path, this is what happens; This man, he was a mujahid and he knew Qur'an and he memorized a lot of ayat and he had a lot of knowledge, but he didn't stick to the straight path. Fas'takim, Allah SWT tells Rasool'Allah (Peace be upon him) "fas'takim", after you receive the guidance, follow the straight path. And one of the companions came to Rasool'Allah SAW and told him "Give me an advice", O Rasool'Allah give me the best advice, "Give me an advice that I would not have to ask anybody else for another advice", I want you to give me one advice that will be sufficient for me. Rasool'Allah (Peace be upon him) said "Say 'I believe in Allah and then stay on the straight path." Because we can say we believe, we can say we are Muslims, but the important thing is to stay on the straight path. That's where the test is, and that's where a lot of people fail. They follow the truth for a while, but then the winds of change in this world take them from right to left. And this is the ending that happened to him, why?, he missed the thabat, athabat al-haqq, staying on the straight path.
You slip, and you don't know how deep that cliff is. That is the khash'ya of Allah, you know the truth and you are so worried that you're asking Allah SWT seventeen times "eyakana'boodoo wa eyakanas'sta'een, eh'deenas'siraatul mus'takeem", "Oh Allah we seek assistance from You, and worship nobody except You, so guide us to the straight path." We keep on asking Allah in the fareeda seventeen times a day to keep us on the straight path, and then in the nawaafil we read al-Fatiha. Why are we repeating this again and again, "eh'deenas'siraatul mus'takeem", because it's very important to stay on the straight path.
2.53 Insistence on Sinning
A person might be committing small sins. But the Scholars have said that if you keep on doing small sins over and over again, it becomes a Major sin. Ad-dhahabi, in his book about Major sins, he mentions some of the reason for evil endings. He mentions a story of a man who used to be obsessed with chess. When he was dieing, they told him to take the Shahadah, he couldn’t see it. And just before he died, he kept on saying check mate, check mate! This was because he was obsessed with chess. Ad-dhahabi mentions another man was asked to say the Shahadah and he asked for the bottle. This was because he was an alcoholic and that’s the last thing that came in his mind
Ar - abiya bin Saburah said he witness the death of a man who was an accountant. He was told to say the Shahadah and he started mentioned numbers. Ibnul Qayyim mentions the story of a man who was asked to say the Shahadah and he said he could not. He could speak and he was fine, but Allah did not give him the Tawfeeq, because he did not have a live record of the Shahadah. Think of sakaratul maut this way. When you go to sleep you have dreams and these are normally of things you thought about all day. So if you keep on thinking of something, there is a big chance you will dream about it. Also think about what the first thing you think about when you wake up, because death is similar to sleep. Sleep is the minor death. So when you are going from sleep to the state of awakening, its similar to Sakaratul mawt. So if you think you can do what ever you want, sin as much as you want and before you will just say the Shahadah and go to jannah, you are mistaken! Its not that easy! You are plotting against Allah! Why? You are telling Allah I will do what I want no and I will pray when I become old. Allah is saying pray 5 times a day every day, and you are saying I will go round this and do it at the end, but be warned! Allah says, “… they were plotting and Allâh too was planning, and Allâh is the Best of the planners.” (Al-Anfal 8:30)
Another recent story was narrated by scholar whos aid they went to a house were someone was dieing and they were listening to loud umm kalthoom music (umm kalthoom is an Arabic singer). The man was in his last moments of life and they were listening to Arabic music. So the scholar said, “Fear Allah, the man is dieing and you are listening to songs?” and he asked them to switch it off and put on some Quran. But the man got upset and said put the music on because its sooths my heart and then he died. If you grow up on something you will most probably die on it. Don’t think you can outsmart Allah. Allah says, “Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allâh. None feels secure from the Plan of Allâh except the people who are the losers.” (Al-A'raf 7:99)
2.54 Weak Faith
Sulaiman ibn Abdul Malik, the Khalifah of the Muslim world, visited Makkah and medina and was asking if anyone here hate met the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), they said yes, Abu Hazm. So he said bring him here. So the Khalifah asked him a question, “How come we dislike death? How come we don’t want to die?”. Abu Hazm said, “Because you have built in this Dunya and destroyed your Akhirah. So you hate to go from what is established to what is destroyed.” This happens because of weakness of faith. And what causes that? They love of this world. The love of this world can cause a very destructive end of your life. The scholars have said “if somebody has the love of this life in his heart, then just before he dies, when the person realises he is going to leave the lovable Dunya and go to the Akhirah, the person would become to attached to the thing he loves. He would become attached to Dunya. Then the person can start hating Allah because Allah is taking away the Dunya from him. And if this happens you will have eternal hellfire. “…if do not love to meet Allah, he will not love to meet you.”
Muadh ibn Jabal, when he was passing away, he said Welcome to death, I have been waiting for you for a long time. I have waiting for the promise of Allah for a long time. And then he said O death don’t think I wanted to live in this Dunya for the love of this world. The reason I wanted to live in this world was to fast in the long summer days and prayer in the cold winter nights. “…if you love to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet you.” Narrated Aisha: When Allah 's Apostle was in good health, he used to say, "Never does a prophet die unless he is shown his place in Paradise ( before his death ), and then he is made alive or given option." When the Prophet became ill and his last moments came while his head was on my thigh, he became unconscious, and when he came to his senses, he looked towards the roof of the house and then said, "O Allah! (Please let me be) with the highest companion." Thereupon I said, "Hence he is not going to stay with us? " Then I came to know that his state was the confirmation of the narration he used to mention to us while he was in good health. [Sahih Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 59, Number 721]