"God has humbled the son of Adam with death, and has made the world an abode of life, then an abode of death, and made the Hereafter an abode of recompense, then an abode of eternal abiding" --- Prophet Muhammad (sa)
As a religion, Islam is an appeal to the conscience of the humans to deploy their God-given Free Will to lead a clear and pure life in the path of God. It is an open invitation to everyone to recognize the true purpose of life- the Worship of the Divine to the exclusion of all other so called 'deities'- by purifying their souls, by getting rid of the spiritual and moral diseases that otherwise come in the way of such higher realization. And 'Muslims' are those who subordinate and surrender their personal needs and desires to conform to the Will and commandments of Allah and His Messenger and strive in His cause. The trade-off they have to make is between the chance gains of this life and the enduring rewards of the Hereafter. Hence, to live in obedience to the dictates of religion and to die in that state of submission to the Will of Allah, is a conscious choice that every true believer makes through her belief and practice in every day life.
In his Friday Sermon of 20 July 2018 (06 Dhul Qaddah 1439 AH), Muhyi-ud-Din Al Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius speaks about the transient nature of our worldly life to remind us about the inevitability of our accountability in the world to come.
In this eloquent discourse steeped in Qur'anic wisdom and illuminating insights, Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba) provides a series of practical guidelines that followers of the Divine Path can keep in mind in their everyday life. For, everyone has to be prepared to face the record of their deeds on the Day of Resurrection. As Hadhrat Saheb (atba) notes, a believer can prepare herself for that ultimate reality of Facing God on the Day of Judgement in the following way: by recognizing the truthfulness of the Divine Messages and prophecies chronicled in the Qur'an and the Ahadith; by learning from the exemplary lives of the Divine servants of the past; by recognizing the value of invoking fervent prayers directed to the court of the Almighty for steadfastness and courage to remain in the spiritual path, and also by recalling the fleeting nature of life and the unavoidable journey to the grave after death. It is also instructive to note that embracing the True Path/Faith is a favour that one does to one's own self and nobody else, and it is certainly not a favour to God. Our extolling God cannot add to His glory, nor does our disobedience to His Elects can take away of His grandeur and dignity. On the other hand, when you earnestly strive in the path of glorification and sublime obedience, God bestows purification and radiance to your soul in this very world- indeed happy endings are for the truly devout. Whether to remain in obedience to God and receive the benefits of enduring blessings, or to disobey the Divine commands in search of fleeting pleasures that will only bring ultimate loss- that is the choice that every human has to make in life, reminds Hadhrat Khalifatullah (atba).
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
Recall
Death
For
all of us, our journey on earth is limited. Sooner or later we will
have to return to our Creator and present ourselves before Him. Those
who fear Allah the most have only one wish, which is, to stay in His
obedience - the obedience of Allah - throughout their lives. This, in
order to prevent them from dying while they were in disobedience of
Allah because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “Every
slave will be resurrected in the state upon which
he died” (Muslim)
The
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) here speaks of our state when we die either
as a disbeliever or as a believer. Each individual must therefore
seek by all means to hold firm to his faith, the true faith (i.e.
Islam), throughout his life on earth so that when he dies, despite
that his family may be crying over losing a loved one, but the person
(now dead), will be happy to join his Creator. For
this, he must:
(1)
Believe in the word of Allah and Muhammad (pbuh).
It
is so easy for us to believe in the words of people like us. If we
are told that tomorrow there will be an increase in the price of
fuel, how many of us will rush today itself to the gas stations to
refuel?
In
the fourth chapter of the Holy Quran, Allah says: “Allah!
There is no god but He: He will surely gather you together on the Day
of Judgment, about which there is no doubt. And whose word can be
truer than Allah’s?” (An-Nisa, 4:
88)
From
this verse, it is clear that everything that Allah and His Messenger
(pbuh) predicted will certainly happen. So be sure of the following
words:
“Truly,
man is a clear witness against himself, despite all the excuses he
may put forward.” (Al-Qiyamah 75:
15-16).
“This
Day, We shall seal up their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us,
and their legs will bear witness to what they used to earn.”
(Ya-Sin 36: 66).
“So
whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant),
shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom
(or a small ant), shall see it.”
(Az-Zalzala 99: 8-9).
Do
not give up the Quran. If you abandon it you will only reap sadness
because the Quran contains our healing. Allah tells us about the
Quran: “And We reveal of the Quran
that which is a healing and a mercy for believers though it increase
the evil-doers in naught save ruin.”
(Bani Israel 17: 83).
And
if we turn our backs on the Quran, Allah says to us: “And
whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a
depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection
blind.” (Taha 20: 125).
Know
that this Quran was sent to remove our sadness because in the same
Surah, Allah tells us: “We have not
sent down the Quran unto you to cause you distress.”
(Taha 20: 3).
(2)
We must learn the stories of the prophets before we leave this
temporal world.
Allah
says to the Holy Prophet (pbuh): “All
that we relate to you of the stories of the messengers, is in order
that We may make strong and firm your heart thereby: in them there
come to you the Truth, as well as an exhortation and a message of
remembrance to those who believe.”
(Hud 11: 121)
These
stories are, in fact, filled with lessons for us to reflect on. For
example, the sea that opened before Musa (as) or Allah’s response
to the invocation of Yunus (as) from the stomach of a fish, without
forgetting the words of Ibrahim (as) when he was going to be thrown
into a great fire: “Allah
suffices for me...”, and many
more. They are the ones we must take as models.
(3)
Invocations (Dua).
One
of the greatest and most effective weapons that believers have at
their disposal but which they neglect is invocation (Dua).
And yet Allah Himself and His prophets have taught us the best words
we can use to invoke Him. Allah teaches us in the Holy Quran:
“(They
say): ‘Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after
You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the
Grantor of bounties without measure.’”
(Al-Imran 3: 9).
'The
Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, as
do the believers. Each one (of them) believes in Allah, His angels,
His books, and His messengers. ‘We make no distinction (they say)
between one and another of His messengers.’ And they say: ‘We
hear, and we obey: ‘(We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to
You is the end of all journeys.' (Al-Baqara
2: 286)
The
invocation that was taught to us by our Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
is as follows: Ya
muqallib al-qulub, thabbit qalbi ‘ala deenika
- O You who turn hearts, strengthen my
heart in Your religion.
(4)
Know the importance of staying steadfast in the obedience of Allah.
It
is necessary for us to reflect on the words of Allah who speak to us
of a sure and most trying state of our life. The Sakraat
(The state where our soul is permanently detached from our physical
body for the hereafter). Our loved ones shall be powerless (against
the death of their loved one) that day, but let’s see what Allah
tells us in the Holy Quran:
“Lo!
those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and afterward are upright, the
angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but hear good
tidings of the paradise which ye are promised. "We are your
protectors in this life and in the Hereafter: therein shall ye have
all that your souls shall desire; therein shall ye have all that ye
ask for!- A gift of welcome from One Forgiving, Merciful.”
(Fussilat 41: 31-33).
See
for yourself the importance of standing firm (of being steadfast in
our faith, the true faith – Islam) and taking Allah as our
Protector and trusting in His All Power and Existence as our One
Creator.
(5)
Know the value of this temporal world.
The
Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, “What is the example
of this worldly life in comparison to the Hereafter other than one of
you dipping his finger in the sea? Let him see what he brings forth.”
(Muslim) This leads us to think about how this world is nothing
compared to what Allah has reserved for us in the hereafter.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran: “O you who
believe! What is the matter with you, that when you are asked to
march forth in the Cause of Allah you cling heavily to the earth? Are
you pleased with the life of this world rather than the Hereafter?
But little is the enjoyment of the life of this world as compared
with the Hereafter.” (At-Tauba 9:
38).
(6)
Remember death and the grave.
Imagine
your body, wrapped in a white sheet, lying in your home, waiting for
you to be placed in the Janaza.
Along the way, you will be accompanied by your loved ones, your
wealth and your actions. But once you are placed in the grave, two of
them will return, your loved ones and your wealth. You will find
yourself at that moment with your actions only. It is up to you, as
long as you have the time, which of your actions will accompany you
in your grave.
Hasan
Al-Basri (ra) said, “O
son of Adam, you are
nothing but a
mere collection of days.
Whenever a day
passes by,
a part of you
passes away.”
(7)
Know that none of our deeds benefit or harm Allah.
Our
efforts to stay in the obedience of Allah will benefit no one but us.
In a (sacred) Hadith Qudsi
Allah has said:
So
ask yourself, if I remain in the obedience of Allah, who will benefit
from it? Just like if I disobey Allah, who will be to blame and find
himself in trouble? The choice is yours.
May
Allah help us all to remember death, and do all that we can to live
our life in the obedience of Allah so that our present and future
life be safe from the pangs of evil and against the discontent of
Allah. Our existence depends on it! Insha-Allah,
Ameen.