Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the Salaf constantly reminded themselves, and others, about the point where the rizq (provision) and the ajal (lifespan) would collide, resulting in the termination of all desires. A point where the mahdood (limited life that has a beginning and an end) would finish its journey, and the abbadie
(infinite, everlasting life) would begin. All of this being decreed by
Allah who is al-Azzalee (eternal, has no beginning and no end). Mawt (death) is something that we need to persistently think and contemplate about all the time.
The linguistic meaning of mawt
Al-Kufr (Disbelief)
إِنَّكَلاتُسْمِعُالْمَوْتَىوَلاتُسْمِعُالصُّمَّالدُّعَاءَإِذَاوَلَّوْامُدْبِرِينَ
Truly thou canst not cause the dead to listen, nor canst thou cause the deaf to hear the call, (especially) when they turn back in retreat. [27:80]
فَإِنَّكَلاتُسْمِعُالْمَوْتَىوَلاتُسْمِعُالصُّمَّالدُّعَاءَإِذَاوَلَّوْامُدْبِرِينَ
So verily thou canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call, when they show their backs and turn away. [30:52]
Al-'Aql (Sanity)
أَوَمَنْكَانَمَيْتًافَأَحْيَيْنَاهُوَجَعَلْنَالَهُنُورًايَمْشِيبِهِفِيالنَّاسِكَمَنْمَثَلُهُفِيالظُّلُمَاتِلَيْسَبِخَارِجٍمِنْهَاكَذَلِكَزُيِّنَلِلْكَافِرِينَمَاكَانُوايَعْمَلُونَ
Can he who was dead, to whom We gave life, and a light whereby he can walk amongst men, be like him who is in the depths of darkness, from which he can never come out? Thus to those without faith their own deeds seem pleasing. [6:122]
Al-Shiddah (Hardship)
يَتَجَرَّعُهُوَلايَكَادُيُسِيغُهُوَيَأْتِيهِالْمَوْتُمِنْكُلِّمَكَانٍوَمَاهُوَبِمَيِّتٍوَمِنْوَرَائِهِعَذَابٌغَلِيظٌ
In gulps will he sip it, but never will he be near swallowing it down his throat: death will come to him from every quarter, yet will he not die: and in front of him will be a chastisement unrelenting. [14:17]
Al-Khawf (Fear)
يَتَجَرَّعُهُوَلايَكَادُيُسِيغُهُوَيَأْتِيهِالْمَوْتُمِنْكُلِّمَكَانٍوَمَاهُوَبِمَيِّتٍوَمِنْوَرَائِهِعَذَابٌغَلِيظٌ
In gulps will he sip it, but never will he be near swallowing it down his throat: death will come to him from every quarter, yet will he not die: and in front of him will be a chastisement unrelenting. [14:17]
Al-Zulm (The Humiliation)
Al-Ma’siyah (The Disobedience)
Al-Harrram (The Extremely Hot)
Al-Nawm (The Sleep)
Al-Hatef (The Death)
The Types of Death
Generally speaking, most of the focus on death is around the real or big death. However, there are some deaths that lead up to the big death which the Salaf tasted and experienced.
1. Al-Mawt ul-Abyad (The White Death)
This is when you have not eaten or drank for a long time. You have been starved to death and this could be because of a famine, drought or you are being tortured by the enemy because of your Deen, and they refuse to give you any solids or liquids.
Abdullah ibn 'Abbaas (ra) said Abu Dharr al-Ghifaari (ra) suffered from white death. It has been reported in the Seerah that Abu Dharr (ra) had heard everyone talking about the Deen of Islam, exactly like Allah foretells us in the Qur'aan al-Kareem:
عَمَّيَتَسَاءَلُونَ
What are they asking one another? [78:1]
عَنِالنَّبَإِالْعَظِيمِ
Concerning the Great News, (i.e. Islam, tawheed, Qur'aan, Aakhirah, Muhammad (pbuh) etc.) [78:2]
As a result of this talk and opinion, Abu Dharr (ra) came to Makkah intent on meeting Muhammad (pbuh). Having posed the question to the residents of Makkah as to the whereabouts of Muhammad (pbuh), the pagans automatically reacted very nastily to Abu Dharr and before he knew it he was being attacked and beaten up just because he had inquired about the Prophet (pbuh). This caused Abu Dharr (ra) to have nothing to eat for thirty days and all he lived off was Zam Zam water. The effects of this type of death were that it he grew very weak and became thin, which left wrinkles on his stomach.
Its been authentically reported in Muslim that some Sahaabah (ra) were afflicted by so much hunger that they lost the ability to hear and see. In another report in at-Tirmidhi, when the Prophet (pbuh) led the prayer, some Sahaabah belonging to the group called Ahl us-Suffah fell down from their standing posture on account of the (extreme weakness due to the) intensity of hunger.
If anyone dies because of White Death then he has attained a death like a shaheed (martyr), i.e. will receive the same reward as the shaheed but not necessarily the same exemptions as the shaheed e.g. there will be accountability for the person who dies because of White Death.
Today the Muslims are fasting and how common is it to see people having three or four course meals just to open their fasts? The son of Aadam says, 'I have eaten until I am no longer able to eat anymore' and yet the Prophet (pbuh) advised us not to eat till we are full, and Imaam Ali (ra) said, 'Do not make your stomach the graveyard for the animals'. Also a tremendous amount of food is wasted or thrown away with little care or consideration. We should fear Allah because Adam (as) was tested by food and it is our test till the Day of Judgement.
2. Al-Mawt ul-Akhdar (The Green Death)
It takes its name from the green coloured patches sewn on his clothes to hide and conceal his 'awrah (private parts). He was known as Sahaabi Akhdar and he was from the 'Asharah Mubasharah (the ten promised Paradise). His name was 'Umar ibn al-Khattaab (ra). 'Umar (ra) had the Persian and Roman empires under his control yet he refused to live the luxurious lifestyles of the emperors that had ruled these territories in the past simply because he chose the Hereafter over this world.
While Abu Darda was still in Syria, the Khaleef Umar (ra) came on an inspection tour of the region. One night he went to visit Abu Darda at his home. There was no light in the house. Abu Darda welcomed Umar (ra) and sat him down. The two men conversed in the darkness. As they did so, Umar (ra) felt Abu Darda’s pillow and realized it was an animal’s saddle. He touched the place where Abu Darda lay and knew it was just small pebbles. He also felt the sheet with which he covered himself and was astonished to find it so flimsy that it couldn’t possibly protect him from the cold of Damascus. Umar (ra) asked him: “Shouldn't I make things more comfortable for you? Shouldn't I send something for you?” “Do you remember, Umar,” said Abu Darda, “a saying which the Prophet (pbuh) told us?” “What is it?” asked Umar. “Did he not say: 'Let what is sufficient for anyone of you in this world be like the provisions of a rider?'” “Yes,” said Umar. “And what have we done after this, Oh Umar?” asked Abu Darda. Both men wept no doubt thinking about the vast riches that had come the way of Muslims with the expansion of Islam and their preoccupation with amassing wealth and worldly possessions. With deep sorrow and sadness, both men continued to reflect on this situation until the break of dawn.
Today the apostate rulers of the Muslim world have no shame in front of Allah. They openly live extravagant and opulent lives, stealing the wealth of the Ummah and utilizing it to entertain themselves and their Kaafir friends. They are willing to donate millions of pounds to keep zoos in the West alive and overlook the suffering of millions of Muslims starving in Africa.
Mus'ab ibn Umayr (ra) was born in a very rich family. When he embraced the Deen of Islam he sacrificed his high quality life just to come close to his Lord and worship Allah sincerely. To the extent when he was martyred in the Battle of Uhud there was not enough material (kafan) to cover his body. When the Sahaabah covered his head, his feet and legs would show, and when the Sahaabah covered his feet and legs, his head would show. Muhammad (pbuh) instructed the Sahaabah to cover his head with the cloth and use some leaves to cover his legs and feet.
Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'Poverty (faqr) is kufr so kill it.' Imaam Ali (ra) said, 'If poverty was a man I would kill it.' The reason being that if someone is deprived of the absolute basic necessities (e.g. food, clothing and shelter) in life then he or she will prostate to anything just to get those essentials. That’s why the taaghout regimes in the Muslim world always suppress the Muslims by not giving them adequate food, depriving them of fuels like oil and electricity, until the crusading missionaries come in and give some rice, tents and blankets in the name of Jesus, converting them easily to their false beliefs.
3. Al-Mawt ul-Ahmar (The Red Death)
A great example of suffering for something noble occurred with one of the great warriors of Islam called Khaalid bin Waleed (ra), the Sword of Allah. He went to every battle chasing the shahaadah, and he made du'aa, “Oh Allah, take from my body as much as you like.” He sought the shahaadah (martyrdom) everywhere, but in the end Allah decreed that he should die Siddeeq in his bed, all the while he was crying to be killed in the battlefield. He was so emotionally worked up on his deathbed that he kept waving the sword about and his last words were, “I die even as a camel dies. I die in bed, in shame. May the eyes of cowards never find rest in sleep!”
Imaam Ali (ra) said, 'One man at the time of Muhammad (pbuh) was passing by a road in al-Madeenah and saw a very pretty woman and they stopped and stared at each other. This man kept on walking and looking at her beauty until he walked into something because his full attention was on her and not on where he was going. This caused him to hurt his nose and as a result it started to bleed. Shaytaan had made them look at each other in lustful manner. This is when the man decided that he would not clean himself until he saw Muhammad (pbuh) and explained to him (pbuh) what had happened. When he told Muhammad (pbuh) what had happened the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'This is a punishment for what you did.'
This circumstance then caused [24:30] to be revealed:
قُلْلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَيَغُضُّوامِنْأَبْصَارِهِمْوَيَحْفَظُوافُرُوجَهُمْ
ذَلِكَأَزْكَىلَهُمْإِنَّاللَّهَخَبِيرٌبِمَايَصْنَعُونَ
Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze & guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do [24:30]
Many people break down because of their lusts, they cannot control themselves nor their limbs and end up committing grave acts such as adultery, drinking alcohol, gambling or taking drugs. Abu Hurayrah (ra) said the Prophet (pbuh) said, 'The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer.' [Muslim and Ibn Maajah]
How many of us really feel hurt when we miss the salaah in jamaa’ah (i.e. to miss tahiyyat ul-masjid, the adhaan, the du'aa, the iqamaah and the 27 times more reward for praying collectively etc.)?
You desperately want the higher reward but arrived late and as a result it plays on your mind and you start to suffer. Especially when you know you cannot catch it up again. That is on a normal day what about when it happens in a day in the month of Ramadaan where the good deeds are multiplied many times over. How would you try to recover from such a situation? Take a look at what happened to Umar (ra) and how he dealt with a similar situation:
Umar (RA) left his orchard to pray Salaat ul-'Asr. Upon reaching there, he found that the people had already prayed, thus missing the jamaa’ah. As a result, he returned to his orchard and gave it away as charity to the needy. [Mukhtasir Minhaaj al-Qaasideen p.379]
4. Al-Mawt ul-Aswad (The Black Death)
Al-Fudhayl ibn Iyaad [d.187AH] said, 'Whoever complains about a calamity which comes his way, it is as if he has complained against his Lord.'
How many Prophets and Messengers withstood the barrage thrown at them by their peoples? They were strong, brave, patient, firm, solid, uncompromising and resolute in propagating the message of tawheed. Nooh (as) did da'wah to his people during the day and in the night, publicly and privately for 950 years. Ayoob (as) underwent every single illness and disease that existed on the face of this planet and he (as) never erred because of these calamities and tests. The disciples of 'Esaa (as) were sawn in half yet they refused to accept disbelief.
Shuraih [d. 80AH] once heard a friend complaining about some difficulty which had come his way. He took him by the hand and said, 'Beware of taking your troubles to other than Allah. For the one to whom you confide can only be either a friend or an enemy. If he is a friend, then you will make him sad for you and he cannot benefit you anyway. If he is an enemy, he will be pleased and take some advantage over you. Look at this eye of mine. By Allah, I have not seen any person or the way to go with it for 15 years and I have never told anyone about it until this moment.'
If we are not being tested by Black Death then we need to question our lifestyles, who are our companions, why have we got it so easy? Do we really love Allah or are we picking and choosing the fiqh that benefits us? Are the Kuffaar pleased with us?
Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'The people who receive the severest trials are the Prophets, then those most like them, then those most like them.' [Ibn Maajah]
In this time of fitnah if we are free from trials then we are the fitnah in the eyes of Allah. How many of us can sincerely say we have bled for Islam, we have cried for Islam, we have sweated hard for Islam, we have become tired because of our work in promoting Islam? Muslims do not go out to seek trouble; rather, what we carry should cause this friction (verbal and physical) in society.
Do not be like the person who gets a calamity in a material aspect of his life (e.g. car gets stolen or the house catches fire) and feels as if his whole world has been torn apart. Rather, he should be grateful to Allah that the Shaytaan never entered his heart and stole his Imaan, and remember every affliction is an atonement for your sins.
'Aa'ishah (ra) reported that Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'No calamity befalls a Muslim but that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it, even though it were the prick he receives from a thorn.' [Al-Bukhaari]
5. Al-Mawt ul-Asghar (The Small Death)
اللَّهُيَتَوَفَّىالأنْفُسَحِينَمَوْتِهَاوَالَّتِيلَمْتَمُتْفِيمَنَامِهَا
فَيُمْسِكُالَّتِيقَضَىعَلَيْهَاالْمَوْتَوَيُرْسِلُالأخْرَىإِلَىأَجَلٍ
مُسَمًّىإِنَّفِيذَلِكَلآيَاتٍلِقَوْمٍيَتَفَكَّرُونَ
It is Allah who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed. Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply [39:42]
One of the biggest weaknesses in the Ummah is that they sleep far too much and even if they are not tired they force themselves to go to sleep just because the time to go to bed has arrived. When analogizing to the Salaf it is like comparing the fit and healthy when he walks to the one who is a cripple. Most of us can spend half of our lives just in bed and this is the culture of the one who is lazy or the one who has no meaning to life.
Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'My Ummah will remain good as long as they eat little and sleep less' and every morning the mu'adhdhin declares, 'As-Salaatu Khairum Minan Nawm (prayer is better than sleep), As-Salaatu Khairum Minan Nawm (prayer is better than sleep),' yet the Muslim is fast asleep, in a deep sleep. Imaam ash-Shaafi'ie [d.204H] said, 'If you keep missing Salaat ul-Fajr it is obligatory (fard) on you to pay someone to wake you up.'
The Salaf used to ascribe the destruction of the previous nations on a few traits and one of those being excessive sleeping. There are some Muslims who deliberately abuse the various rulings of Islam by not giving the entire picture or circumstances surrounding the occurrence. Many of the deviant Sufis promote the sunnah of having a siesta and quote a number of hadeeths on the topic. Especially the one that says it is recommended for you to go to sleep after Salaat uz-Zuhr. Hence, you see many taxi drivers taking naps during this time and then doing a full night shift. When the correct understanding behind going to sleep after Salaat ul-Zuhr is that the divine pre-requisite condition is that you do qiyaam ul-layl i.e. do 'ibaadaat throughout the night.
Another famous case is where the people say your sleeping is 'ibaadah. Again, this is linked to why you have fallen sleep, it is only 'ibaadah if you strived to get closer to Allah by enjoining good and forbidding evil, reading the Qur'aan etc. and as a result of this you have become tired and fall asleep. Once Ibn Mas'ood (ra) was asleep and in his sleep he was reciting the Qur'aan, afterwards he said, 'Verily the sleeping of the servant is worship.' The Sahaabah were famous for working a few hours a day and going to sleep for a few hours at night. They invested their precious time for the Hereafter. They forsook their sleep and divorced their beds and made appointments with their Lord Allah.
كَانُواقَلِيلامِنَاللَّيْلِمَايَهْجَعُونَ
They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night [51:17]
6. Al-Mawt Al-Akbar (The Big Death)
كُلُّنَفْسٍذَائِقَةُالْمَوْتِوَنَبْلُوكُمْبِالشَّرِّوَالْخَيْرِفِتْنَةً
وَإِلَيْنَاتُرْجَعُونَ
Every soul is going to taste death, and we shall make a trial of you with evil and with good, and to us you will be returned. [21:35]
It is the opposite of life, it is when there is no growing, no moving, no consuming, no discharging, no sensing, no feeling and no breathing, death does not equal life.
Which one of these two angels would you like to meet?
وَالنَّازِعَاتِغَرْقًا
By the (angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence [79:1]
وَالنَّاشِطَاتِنَشْطًا
By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed); [79:2]
The answer is definitely the latter one. But are we sincerely preparing ourselves for the latter one or are we more deserving of the former one but hope to meet the latter one.
Do you want to sell pearls for dung or musk for excrement?
Again the answer is no we do not want to participate in such a bad transaction. However the facts and figures show us that the majority of people have traded the Jannah for Jahannam. They do not want to talk about death, it is deemed as a taboo subject, or they are too scared to face up to the inevitable. If somebody was to ask you are you afraid of a cat, table or a flower the answer would be a categorical No. Yet death carries the same attributes of these items and the answer is mostly yes I am very scared of death. The common denominating attribute of all these things is that they are all created (al-mahdood). Therefore, we should know that even death has to die and we as Muslims should never fear death rather we should only fear Allah. Mundhir ibn Umayr (ra) was nicknamed al-Mu’niqu lil-Mawt (the one who embraced death) because he used to rush into the battlefield by himself leaving the rest of his companions behind so he could seek death and become martyred by making Allah's word the highest.
Imaam Abu Haneefah [d.150H] would read the entire Qur'aan twice in two rak'ah of salaah. One man heard about this and didn’t believe it was true; so he wanted to see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears if this was indeed true. The man tried to do this but couldn’t keep up with the Imaam this was not because he got tired or nodded off to sleep; rather it was game over for him - the angel of death took his soul away halfway through his observational exercise.
وَمَاكَانَلِنَفْسٍأَنْتَمُوتَإِلابِإِذْنِاللَّهِكِتَابًامُؤَجَّلا
And no person can ever die except by Allah’s leave and at an appointed term. [3:145]
Conclusion
Do not die on the path of Ahl ul-Bid'ah wal-Firqah as Allah has decreed them to taste the Hellfire for a temporary period of time. Some of these deviant sects have a warped outlook on life they try to justify all their evil innovations with Islamic proofs.
These heretics say we don’t need to pray all the time or fast all the time and they try to convince you using the following verse:
وَاعْبُدْرَبَّكَحَتَّىيَأْتِيَكَالْيَقِينُ
And keep worshipping your Lord until you have conviction. [15:99]
These Sufis say once you have acquired a level of conviction you do not need to worship your Lord anymore, you are in a realm which is between you and Allah i.e. you choose what you want to do and your Lord will be happy with whatever you choose to do. These misguided sects forget that whenever we come across any revelation (wahy) then it must be cross checked with other revelation (Qur'aan with Hadeeth) and then the understandings of our Pious Predecessors (as-Salaf us-Saalih) from the first three generations will be extracted to determine the true meaning of the subject matter. And the authentic Sunnah clarifies the word yaqeen used in the above verse to mean the undeniable certainty i.e. death as is explained by Umm al-Ansaari who said Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'As for Uthmaan ibn Ma’zun death has come to him.' [Al-Bukhaari]
Muhammad (pbuh) said, 'If a slave remains in prostration from the day he is born till his death and remains obedient to Allah, still he will consider his worship insignificant on the Day of Judgement and will long to return to the world to do more righteous deeds.' [Ahmad and Tafseer Ibn Katheer]
The degree of the Kalimah of the people varies: we have the corpse that is totally dead, the one who is asleep that needs to be aroused, those that are sitting or lying down need to be motivated and the best of testimonies is of those who are standing (Qaa'imoon) steadfastly and strongly:
وَالَّذِينَهُمْبِشَهَادَاتِهِمْقَائِمُونَ
And those who stand firm in their testimonies. [70:33]
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