Final Moments of the Pious

Transcription

1 أ ال إ ن أ ول ياء اهلل ال خ وف ع ل يه م و ال ه م ي ز نون (يونس: ٦٢) زبروگں ےک واصل ےک اوحا ل Final Moments of the Pious shaykh al-ḥadīth mawlānā yusuf motala

2 Introduction A human بسم اهلل الرمحن الرحیم being s salvation depends on his state at the time of death. He will enjoy eternal comfort, should he be blessed with the gift of a virtuous end (al-ḥusn al-khātimah), otherwise he will taste boundless punishment. It is for this reason that the noble prophets and the pious servants of the Muslim ummah constantly feared Allāh s attribute of Independent (al-ṣamad), contemplating as to the state in which their souls will be extracted at the time of death. T h e Ch a r a c t e r o f t h e Pi o u s ʿAllāmah ʿAbd al-wahhāb Shaʿrānī r writes in Aḥwāl al-s ādiqi n that to fear Allāh giving one a bad death that will consequently veil him from Him in the fire of Hell is one of the qualities of the pious. Some of them used to remain so immersed in this anxiety that they didn t even realise who was sitting near them. Whenever Ḥasan al-baṣrī r heard the ḥadīth which informs 1

3 that the last person to leave Hell will do so after one thousand years, he would say, I wish for myself to be that person. He was asked, Why do wish for this? He replied, Will he not leave Hell [at some point]? In other words, there will undoubtedly be those who will forever remain in Hell, whereas this person is better than them, and there is a chance of me being one of them - something I dislike. That is why I pray for myself not to be amongst those who will remain therein forever, but to be from those who will one day depart - even if that person is the very last one to leave, as he will at least be safe from this ordeal. Sufyān al-thawrī r would say, Whoever becomes content on his religion, Allāh will make him taste the repercussions of his fearlessness. Imām Abū Ḥanīfah r used to say, The Faith (i mān) of most people is seized at the time of death. This is because Shayṭān digs deep and thus totally uses up his strength to lead astray. Very few survive his tricks. ا لل ه م اح ف ظ ن ا م ن ه May Allāh safeguard us from him. A s t o n i s h m e n t o f t h e A n g e l s Bishr al-ḥāfī r says, When the angels ascend the skies with the soul of a believer who died as a Muslim, they say in astonishment, How did he escape the deception of the world? Rabīʿ ibn al-khuthaym r says. The soul of a person exits in the state that used to be the predominant state before death. To support this point, he mentions a story: I visited someone experiencing the pangs of death. Whenever I would instruct him to repeat ال ا ل ه ا ال اهلل There is no deity but Allāh, he would begin to calculate the amounts of money his debtors owed him and so forth. Muṭrif ibn ʿAbdullāh r says, I do not feel astonished at those who end up being [spiritually] destroyed, but I feel astonished at those who slipped the net and survived [at the time of death]. (As it is not difficult to lose Faith whilst living in this world, but it s dif- 2

4 T h e L e a d e r o f t h e Messe n g e r s g T h e Sta r t o f Illne s s It was Monday 29th Ṣafar, and the Noble Prophet g was returning from a funeral. The headache began while still travelling, and it soon turned into an acute fever. Sayyidunā Abū Saʿīd al-khudrī h reports that when I touched the towel which the Messenger of Allāh g had placed on his blessed head, it emitted heat. So hot was his body that my hand couldn t bear it. I displayed astonishment to which he responded, No one suffers more than the prophets, hence their reward is more than anyone else s. During the illness, for eleven days, he came to the mosque and led ṣalāh himself. His days of illness totalled thirteen or fourteen. 19

5 F i n a l W e e k The Noble Prophet g spent his last week in the house of the Chaste Sayyidah ʿĀ ishah i. She reports that the Noble Prophet g would recite the following supplication and pass his hands over his body whenever he experienced illness: ا ذ ه ب ال ب أ س ر ب الن ا س و اش ف أن ت الش اف ی ال ش ف اء ا ال ش ف اؤک ا ش ف ش ف اء ال ی غ اد ر س ق ام Remove the suffering, Lord of mankind, and heal me, for You are the healer. There is no healing except Your healing, the healing which does not leave any illness behind. [She says], I recited this supplication during those days and blew on the Messenger of Allāh s hand, hoping to pass them on his blessed body. He moved away my hands and supplicated, O Allāh, forgive me and gather me ا لل هم اغ ف ر ل ی و ا ل ق ن ی ب الر ف يق األع ل ی with the exalted companions 8 (bi l-rafi q al-aʿlā). 9 F i v e Day s Be f o r e D e m i s e It was a Wednesday and the Noble Prophet g while sat in a brick or steel tub had water from seven containers that was drawn from seven wells poured onto his blessed head. This method gave him some comfort and, as he felt better, he illuminated the Masjid and addressed, A people was born before you who made the graves of their prophets and the pious places of prostration. Do not do likewise! He also said, Allāh s curse be upon those Jews and Christians who have taken the graves of prophets as places of worship. 10 Do not make my grave a place of prostration after me that it is worshipped According to some scholars, al-rafi q al-aʿlā is a reference to Allāh, while others take it to mean the assembly of angels, prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous. 9 S aḥi ḥ al-bukhāri - from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUtbah ibn Masʿūd h. 10 S aḥi ḥ al-bukhāri, S aḥi ḥ al-muslim - from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀ ishah i. 11 Mu āṭṭā Mālik - from ʿAṭā ibn Yasār h. 20

6 floor as guests are visiting me today - since which door they will use is unknown. He then made a mention about sprinkling the Musk in every corner of the bed before saying, Then make your way to the lower floor and return after a while. You will find me on my bed. Buqayrah reports, I did exactly that. When I reached the upper floor, his soul had been extracted. He seemed as though he was asleep in his bed. 91 His name is mentioned in the list of the Companions j who lived long. He passed away in 32 AH. S ay y i d u n ā ʿA b d u l l ā h ib n M a sʿ ū d h Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd h is from the special servants of the Messenger of Allāh :g صاحب الن ع ل ي و الو س اد ة و الس و اک The one [who would bring] the Prophet s g sandals, cushion and toothstick. Sayyidunā ʿUthmān al-ghanī h paid a visit to him as he endured the pangs of death and asked, What do you suffer from? The fear of my sins is agonising me, said Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd h. Do you desire anything? asked Sayyidunā ʿUthmān h. He replied, My Lord s mercy. Sayyidunā ʿUthmān h asked, You have not taken your salary from the House of Wealth for many years now. That should be given to you. He said, I have no need for it. Your daughters can make use of it after you, Sayyidunā ʿUthmān h remarked. Do you fear poverty for my daughters? he asked. I have instructed them to undertake the recitation of Sūrat al-wāqiʿah سمعت رسول اهلل say, every night as I ve heard the Messenger of Allāh g Whoever recites صلی اهلل علیه وسلم یقول م ن ق ر ء ال و اق ع ة ک ل ل ی ل ة ل ت ص ب ه ف اق ة ا ب د ا Sūrat al-wāqiʿah every night will never encounter poverty. Night as yet had not dawned upon them when Sayyidunā 91 Ibn Saʿd. 64

7 M e e t i n g o f t h e So u l s o f t h e Livin g a n d D e a d The souls of the living and dead meet one another. The evidence for this is overwhelming and sense and stories are the greatest proof. The souls of the dead and living meet just as the souls of the living meet each other. Allāh states in the Qur ān: أهلل ي ت و ف ی األ ن ف س ح ي م و ت ا و ال ت ي ل ت ت يف م ن ام ه ا ف ي م س ك ال ت ي ق ض ع ل ي ه ا امل و ت و ي ر س ل األ خ ر ى إ ل أ ج ل م س م ى. إ ن يف ذ ل ك آل ي ات ل ق و م ي ت ف ك ر ون Allāh takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die during their sleep; then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect Qur ān, 39:

8 Sayyidunā ibn ʿAbbās h says, I have been informed that the souls of the dead and living meet in dreams. Then Allāh keeps hold of the souls of the dead and lets go of the souls of the living. Suddī says, Allāh captures the souls of the living even in the state of sleep. The souls of the living and the dead then recognise each other and talk among themselves. After that, the souls of the living are returned back to their bodies in the world. As for the souls of the dead, when they intend to return to their bodies they are stopped. One meaning of the verse is that the souls of those of who die are stopped [from returning] but those who are living, their souls (which are captured during sleep) are released. The second meaning is that the souls that are stopped and the ones released both belong to the living. Those whose fixed period has elapsed, their souls are stopped and are not returned to their bodies until the Day of Judgment. And those whose period has not expired, their souls to complete the given period are returned to their bodies. Shaykh al-islam has preferred this meaning and has said that both the Qur ān and ḥadīth indicate towards this, because the souls which are given death by sleep, from them, whichever ones have had death ordained upon them, it is them which He has ordered to be stopped. Regards to the souls that are captured at the time of death, they are not to be stopped nor let go off as they belong to a third type. However, the first meaning will take precedence as Allāh has mentioned two deaths - major death (actual death) and minor death (sleep) and two types of souls. One is that upon which the order of death has been proclaimed these souls, Allāh has kept them by Him and given them death, and the other is that type which, due to still having a period left, Allāh has returned to their bodies to complete their lives. Allāh has stated two positions (stopping and releasing) and said that alive is that soul which has been given the death of sleep. If there were only two types of death (death of dying and death of sleep), there would have been no need for و ال ت ی ل ت ت ف ی م ن ام ه ا and those that do not die during their sleep, for they would have died 338