Khutba on the Impact of Death on the Mumin

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل لكل شيء أجلا مسمّى،  وجعل فيه تذكرة لمن يخشى،نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر. قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَمَنْ زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور

Allah says in His Noble Quran, the translation of which is, “Every self will taste death. You will be paid your wages in full on the Day of Rising. Anyone who is distanced from the Fire and admitted to the Garden has triumphed. The life of the dunya is just the enjoyment of delusion.”
There is one thing that no one can flee from, there is one condition for which there is no cure. No matter how many precautions we take, no matter what vitamins we imbibe, no matter how risk-averse we become, we can never escape death. Even if we lock ourselves in our rooms, eat and drink only the healthiest of food, never expose ourselves to a single virus or bacteria, and have the best doctors and nurses waiting on us hand and foot, still we will die, still we will depart this mortal coil. Allah says,

أَيْنَمَا تَكُونُوا يُدْرِككُّمُ الْمَوْتُ وَلَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُرُوجٍ مُشَيَّدَةٍ

the translation of which is, “Wherever you are, death will catch up with you, even if you are in impregnable fortresses.” No army can hold it at bay, no amount of wealth can pay it off. It can come announced or unannounced, expectedly or unexpectedly. It visits young and old, healthy and sick, wealthy and poor, influential and inconsequential, powerful and weak. It is the great certainty of life. And yet it is all too easy to forget, it is all too easy to be distracted by the vibrancy of life, especially when we or our loved ones are in their primes, and think or assume that we will continue to be here indefinitely. The fact that death can and does come at any moment rarely crosses our minds. We know it at an intellectual level, of course, for we all read and watch what is happening across the world in places such as Syria or Iraq, or even in our own cities where murders, accidents and deaths occur on a daily basis. But it is all too easy to detach oneself from such deaths and think of them as happening to someone else and having no connection to us or our own lives. The illusion of permanence is strong and there is not much that can shake it. So our Lord tests us with deaths that are closer to home, deaths of people whom we love, people whom we knew intimately and personally and whom we expected and assumed would continue to be here. He tests us with these deaths, just as he tests us with life, in order to see how we will respond and what lessons we will take. Allah says,

ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً

the translation of which is, “He who created death and life to test which of you is best in action.” For the truth is that death is always harder for those who remain behind. For it is they that have to endure the loss of a loved one and live the rest of their lives without their company. And that realisation can be truly devastating. It is a sadma, a shock to the system – for that is how the Messenger of Allah described it, a splash of ice cold water to our faces, waking us from our complacency and assumptions of permanence. Look at how the Companions were when the Messenger of Allah passed away. Some refused to accept that he could be dead. They were in such a state of shock that they no longer even recognised themselves or were aware of what they were saying. Indeed, such was the sadness that some felt at his passing that they could no longer bear to be in his city where everything reminded them of him. But they did not despair of the mercy of Allah. They knew that death was not the end, but merely that event whereby a person passes from one form of existence to another. Al-Qurtubi mentions that the ulama say,

الموت ليس بعدم مَحْض ولا فناء صِرْف، وإنما هو انقطاع تعلّق الروح بالبدن ومفارقته، وحيلولةٌ بينهما، وتبدّلُ حال وانتقالٌ من دار إلى دار

“Death is not absolute non-existence or complete annihilation. It is simply the ruh cutting its connection to the body and leaving it behind. It is simply them separating from each other. It is a change of state and a movement from one abode to another.” When a person dies, he does not cease to exist, but rather enters into a more real and permanent form of existence. He leaves behind the temporary transience that is the dunya and takes that form that will be forever his in the Hereafter. Death is when he wakes up, and indeed everything that happened in this life will seem no more real to him than a dream does to us. And for the one who dies, death is always a good thing, regardless of whether that person was a believer or an unbeliever. As for the unbeliever, each additional moment of his time on this planet only serves to increase him in the degree of his punishment, so there is mercy in its shortening. And as for the believer, what lies ahead for him is far greater that anything that has gone before. For him is the bushra, the good news, an existence of neverending bliss. And by bliss, we mean happiness the like of which cannot be experienced in this world. The Messenger of Allah said, 

إنَّ الْمُؤْمِنَ إِذَا حَضَرَهُ الْمَوْتُ بُشِّرَ بِرِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ وَكَرَامَتِهِ فَلَيْسَ شَيْءٌ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا أَمَامَهُ فَأَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ وَأَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ

“When death comes to the believer, he receives the good news of Allah’s Contentment with him and the Honour that awaits, and there is nothing more beloved to him than what lies ahead. For he loves to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet him.”
Indeed, it is said that every soul is given the choice of coming back to this world, but each and every one declines due to the fact that they do not want to again undergo the intense agonies that accompany death. But even those agonies contain nothing but good for the believers. The Prophet said,

ما من مسلم يصيبه أذى من مرض فما سواه إلا حط الله به سيئاته كما تحط الشجرة ورقها

“No Muslim suffers harm, by means of illness or what lies beyond, except that Allah makes his wrong actions fall away just as a tree sheds its leaves.” And he said,

الموت كفارة لكل مسلم

“Death is an expiation for every Muslim.” A kaffara is something that you do that washes away the consequences of a wrong action in the next world. So if you die on la ilaha illallah, Muhammadun rasulullah, death is the best thing that could have happened to you. You have moved from dar al-balaa, the abode of struggle and hardship, to dar al-thawab, the abode of reward. You have gone from a lesser company to a greater one. When Bilal was nearing death, his wife called out, “O sorrow!” But Bilal replied,

واطرباه! غداً ألقى الأحبة محمداً وحزبه

“What joy! Tomorrow I will be with those that I love, Muhammad and his party!” This is true for every Muslim who dies upon the deen. So do not feel bad for them – they have gone on ahead to a Merciful and Loving Lord.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم.

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين. أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته. قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم إِنَّا لِلهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, “We belong to Allah and to Him we return.” For those who have passed on, death is a return to their point of origin, a return to the One whom created them and to whom they belong. It is the ending of one stage and the start of another. But for us who remain, it is a reminder and sometimes a most painful one. It is a reminder of our own mortality and of the shortness of the span which any of us enjoys on this planet. And it is a reminder that the most important things we can do are those that prepare us for the Next World and not those that bring us comfort or riches in this world, since none of that can be taken into the grave with us. They are no benefit to us when we are dead. Allah says,

الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا

the translation of which is, “Wealth and sons are the embellishment of the life of the dunya. But, in your Lord’s sight, right actions which are lasting bring a better reward and give a better basis for hope.” Although it may not seem like it, the death of those we love is a mercy from Allah even for us, for without that happening, the majority of us would continue through life in our heedlessness and illusions of immortality. The Prophet said,

لولا ثلاث في ابن آدم ما طأطأ رأسَه شيء: المرض والفقر والموت

“If it were not for three things present in the human being, nothing would ever cause his head to bow down: illness, poverty and death.” Death gives that sense of urgency to our actions that enables us to act in the now and not put off till the morrow, for it reminds us that our opportunities are limited and that this state of existence can come to an end at any moment. And that is why the people of this world who are truly smart keep death always at the forefront of their minds. The Prophet said,

أكثرهم ذكرا للموت وأحسنهم له استعدادا أولئك الأكياس ذهبوا بشرف الدنيا وكرم الآخرة

“Those who remember death most often and prepare the best for it are the ones who are truly intelligent. Nobility in this world is theirs and great honour in the Next.” We are not talking about morbid introspection or fatalism, we are talking about remembering death in a way that gives perspective and keeps firmly upon the middle way, upon the sirat al-mustaqim. Remembering it in a way that allows no room for despair when we are struggling and no room for self satisfaction and self delusion when things are going our way. The Prophet said,

أكثروا من ذكر هادم اللذات، فإنه ما ذكرَهُ أحد في ضيق إلا وسَّعه، ولا ذكرهُ في سعة إلا ضيَّقها عليه

“Remember the destroyer of pleasures (i.e. death) a lot, for no one remembers while constricted except that he undergoes expansion, and no one remembers it while in a state of expansion except he undergoes constriction.“ In other words, your feet remain always firmly on the ground and nothing in this dunya can distract from your true goal which is the pleasure of your Lord. If you go through life in that state, with the awareness that every act could be your final one, every breath could be your last, then when death does come to you, it will not catch unprepared and unawares. We ask our Lord to make us among those who always pay heed to His reminders and think on death often, but in a way that is healthy and not morbid. We ask that he give us the sabr to endure every musiba that comes our way, and make them the cause of us increasing in right action and not slackening off. We ask that He make our final moments our best ones and rank us among the tayyibun, those to whom the angels say when they take them,

سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمُ ادْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

“Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden for what you did.”

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ. 

اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ، وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى. 

رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ. 

إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.