The Journey of Death and Life, by Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said
Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said bequeaths a startling reminder to us, young and old, about the temporal nature of our time in this world.
Bismillah-ir Rahman-ir Raheem
“Every soul with taste death…” (Surah Ahli-Imran, 185)
Allah, Most High, in this verse is telling us about the reality and experience that every single person is going to go through, the experience of death and not just dying. This experience is a part of our long journey of life that we have to go through in order to cross into another life after death.
An Inevitable Journey
Our life is laced by the written Qadr (Will) of Allah, Most High, and we travel through this Qadr, as Allah, Most High described:
“Say, “Indeed, the death from which you flee – indeed, it will meet you.” (Surah Al-Jummah, 8)
In this ayah Allah, Most High is telling us that death is not travelling to us, but that we are travelling to it! Everywhere we go we are shortening the time and the distance of that meeting, and that is why Allah, Most High tells us that we do not know when the meeting will happen but we can be assured that it will:
“Wherever you may be, death will overtake you…” (Surah An-Nisa, 78)
That is why one-third of the Qur’an speaks about life after death. Our life before and after death is one continuous life for us, and that is why the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said: the wise person is the one who accounts himself for his actions and words and works hard, while the foolhardy is the one who follows their desires and keeps wishing for things to happen.
Life and death run in parallel; they go together and they were created together, as Allah, Most High says in Surah Al-Mulk (2):
“The One who created death and life in order to test who will be righteous in their deeds.”
Allah, Most High in this ayah started with death and not life because death comes before life. We all were dead before coming to this life as we were non-existent. So our journey goes from death to life to death to life! Also, Allah, Most High may have mentioned death first because death is the most serious reality in our life; when we come to this dunya (world) we have different choices presented in our lives, but when we die no choice remains.
As we serve and treat those who are in this world with dignity and honor, it is actually more important to deal with those who left this world with dignity and honor. As humans we should continually be learning: Allah, Most High tells us of the children of Adam, peace be upon him, when one son had killed the other and he did not know what to do with the body until Allah, Most High sent him the example of the bird who showed the son of Adam, peace be upon him how to bury the body, and hence we learned how to bury a body with dignity and honor.
When someone dies we take them to their ultimate place: they are no longer going to sleep in their bed, sit at the table where they shared food with family, wear the clothes used to wear; now they have a different set of clothes to wear on their journey from death until the day of resurrection.
Serving those who have died is a great act of worship (ibadah); to look after the body after the soul has departed, to prepare the body and to ensure that the body is buried with dignity and honor, all is a great ibadah. We should remember we are doing this for ourselves when we serve those who have died as it is the only fact in my life and a matter of time that I will be upon the same.
Wasiyah (Bequeathal): To the Family and Friends
Remember what Allah, Most High said about what the righteous ones say when they are faced with a grave calamity or test:
“Indeed, we belong to Allah and indeed we return to Him. Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from Allah and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 156-157)
In the journey of death, it is critical to remember that this is an enormous calamity, and that is why Allah, Most High referred to this calamity as a musibah (difficulty). This calamity entails that you will no longer see the one you used to see all the time. By Allah, Most High referring to it as a musibah it shows that it is understandable for people to grieve, to be sad and to miss those whom they love.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him buried Syeda Khadijah, the one whom he loved, the first to believe, the one who supported him, and the one who gave everything from her wealth, time and life to defend him, He, peace be upon him buried her. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him buried all of his children, his Uncle Hamza, peace be upon him and his son Ibrahim, peace be upon him. When burying Ibrahim, peace be upon him the Sahaba saw tears in the eyes of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and so they said: “Even you Ya the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?” To which the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said: “The eyes send their tears and the heart is saddened, but we do not say anything except that which pleases Allah, Most High. [Turning to Ibrahim, peace be upon him] Indeed, O Ibrahim! We are bereaved by your departure from us.”
Grieving and missing someone is understandable, and it is the Sunnah, however, it is very important to do what is best for the deceased: making supplications and reading Qur’an for them, visiting those whom visited, looking after those they looked after, and whenever we remember them to make supplications for them and to make mention of all their goodness, and to forget where they may have erred. And we should remember what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said in a Hadith: whoever is going through a test, they should remember the greatest test is my departure from this dunya.
Wasiyah (Bequeathal): To Those that Serve
Allah, Most High has honored you with the great responsibility of accompanying, dignifying and honoring someone who is traveling to Allah, Most High, and this is a great form of ibadah (worship). My wasiyah to you is that first we should not take death as something normal, we were supposed to be worried and we should reflect upon what will happen to us when we are in the place of the one we are burying. Reflecting when serving the one we are burying is a verse from the ayat of Allah, Most High – to see someone who was laughing, talking and walking and now you are able to turn them the way you want, you can lower them, raise them and take them wherever; and whatever you do they cannot react – this is a great sign of Allah, Most High. Serving those who have passed is meant to remind us of death. In serving, we should always remember that the ones we are serving are going through the experience of death, so we should deal with them in the way we wanted to be treated when we leave this dunya.
Wasiyah (Bequeathal): To All
Allah, Most High makes us all go through the journey of death in our daily lives, as He said in Surah Az-Zumar (42):
“Allah takes the soul of people when they die and those who did not die Allah takes their souls while they are asleep.”
As we cannot resist sleep and cannot live without it – when we go to sleep we are no longer decision makers, people of authority, not rich or poor, and we become people who cannot respond to anything! This shows us the power of Allah, Most High, the One who controls life, writes our direction and as He said in Surah Al-Waqiah (60):
“We have decreed death among you…” and in Surah Ar-Rahman (26-27): “Everyone on earth will perish. And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor.”
So the absolute is that we will die and we do not have the ability to reject it or cause it delay, because Allah, Most High has absolute power over us:
“And He is the subjugator over His servants, and He sends over you guardian-angels until, when death comes to one of you, Our messengers take him, and they do not fail [in their duties].” (Surah Al-Anam, 61)
Living in this world it is very important to remember the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him that was narrated by Abdullah ibn Omar, may Allah be pleased with him: the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him said to me live in this world as a stranger or as a traveler, and consider yourself from the people of the grave. In relating this, Abdullah ibn Omar, may Allah be pleased with him used to say: if you wake up in the morning do not think you are going to live until the evening, and if you are alive in the evening do not think you will be alive until the morning; take from the time of good health before it goes bad; do things while you are a alive before you die.
We have very limited time in this world and this world often deceives us. It is of utmost importance to remind ourselves and one another about what is to come, and to be concerned with the absolute future.
We beg Allah, Most High to gather us with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, or Shafi and our Guide, and we beg Allah, Most High to make it easy for us to follow His guidance, implement His teachings into our life and to purify our intentions. We beg Allah, Most High to fill our heart with His love and the love of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
To the Harrow Community
May Allah, Most High bless all the brothers and sisters who are working in the service of the mortuary, a great initiative that will benefit the community. We know that people used to travel to places far and away to wash and prepare the bodies of the deceased, and hence we express our gratitude to all the mosques and centers that cooperated with us. To the entire community, this initiative is a blessing from Allah, Most High, to be able to provide this great service in our community. For this blessing, we have to thank Allah, Most High, and may He accept the generosity of those who have donated to this great initiative. We also thank all of brothers and sisters who serve this masjid, planned its building, stood in every corner of the community gathering donations for the building of this masjid, to all the donors, to those who took the responsibility of building the masjid and to those who serve the masjid, past and present.
