The Last Stage Of journey......Islamic Concept n Beliefs.....!

In the Name of Allah,the Most Beneficent,the Most Merciful !



For every single person,there is an appointed time;
A fixed time…and to be precise…fixed number of Breaths that he/she will take.And when that particular time of yours has arrived;Not a second earlier and not a second later,Angel of death will be there to take your soul.

No one but Allah knows when you are going to die;
Where you are going to die and how you are going to die.

At the time of Prophet Suleiman, there was a man and he was sitting in the court of Prophet Suleiman.Another man came in and this person was none other than the Angel of death in Human form.Angel of Death came in and began surprisingly staring at that young man who was sitting next to Prophet Suleiman.

After a little while, the Angel of death left and this young man asked prophet Suleiman who was that person. And that He was gazing at me like he had never seen another Human being in life.Prophet Suleiman informed him that he was the Angel of Death.That young man became frightened for his life.He said, “O Prophet Suleiman the way he was looking at me, he was definitely thinking about taking my life. So you please do something”.

Prophet Suleiman told him even if that is so, what I can do about that.
The young man requested Prophet Suleiman and said, “you have power over the winds, order those winds to take me to a far off country”.Prophet Suleiman ordered the winds, and the winds carried this man to a far off country. But as soon as he landed in that land, the Angel of Death was there in front of him to take out his soul.

At a later time Angel of Death came in to Prophet Suleiman and he recalled about that young man and asked the Angel of Death what was the matter that he was surprisingly staring at that young man.

The Angel of Death replied,” Almighty Allah had ordered me to take out his soul shortly after the time I saw him in your presence and that too in a very far off land from here. I was surprised to see him here and I was wondering how I am going to take his soul in that land when he is sitting here next to you and how he is going to reach that land in such a short time. But that man voluntarily chose to reach the place where he was destined to be at that particular time and I take out his soul where I was supposed to take it”.




INSHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONCLUDED !

 

In the Name of Allah,the Most Beneficent,the Most Merciful !



As per Quranic narration,there are two states of Death.


One state :

Verse: Then how will it be when the angels will take their souls at death, smiting their faces and their backs? 47:27

Verse:" And if you could but see when the wrong-doers are in the agonies of death, while the Angels are stretching forth their hands saying: "Deliver your souls! This day you shall be recompensed with the torment of degradation because of what you used to utter against Allah other than the truth". 6:93

Verse : And if you could see when the angels take away the souls of those who disbelieve, they smite their faces and their backs, (saying): "Taste the punishment of the blazing Fire.This is because of that which your hands had forwarded (evil deeds). And verily, Allah is not unjust to His slaves." 8:50


Verse: "Those whose lives the angels take while they are doing wrong to themselves (involved in sins). Then, they will make false submission (saying): "We used not to do any evil." (The angels will reply): "Yes! Truly, Allah is All-Knower of what you used to do. 16:28


Second state :

Verse: Those whose lives the angels take while they are in a pious state saying to them: Salamun 'Alaikum (peace be on you) enter you Paradise, because of the good which you used to do." 16:32


Verse: Verily, those who say: "Our Lord is Allah," and then they stand firm , on them the angels will descend at the time of their death (saying): "Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised! 41:30


Verse: (It will be said to the pious): "O you the one in complete rest and satisfaction! "Come back to your Lord, Well-pleased and well-pleasing unto HIM! "Enter you, then, among MY honored slaves,"And enter you My Paradise!" 89:27-30


Prophet Ibraheem(peace be upon Him) and the Angel lzraeel/Angel of Death (peace be upon Him):


It is said that once Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) asked Angel lzraeel (peace be upon Him) to show him the aspect in which He appears while taking the souls of wicked person.The Angel told him that he would not be able to bear the sight, but Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) said that he could stand it and insisted.The Angel then asked him to turn aside. After a short while the Angel said, "turn around and look here" and Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) turned round to him. What he met his gaze, there was a most horrible giant- like figure dressed in black, dark-complexioned and long-haired, with each hair standing stiffly on end, giving off a most disgusting smell, with flames of fire leaping up from his mouth and nostrils! Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) could not bear to look at Him and swooned. When He regained consciousness,Angel Izraeel had resumed his normal form. Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) then said, 'Even if there was no other affliction for the wicked, the terrible ordeal of seeing you in such a horrible form, should suffice for their punishment".
Then Prophet Ibraheem(peace be upon Him) asked Angel to show the aspect in which He appears when taking soul of a pious person.This time Angel Izraeel appeared as the most handsome person Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) had ever seen, wearing a very pleasant look; a handsome young man elegantly dressed, with most pleasant smell emanating from his body. Prophet Ibraheem (peace be upon Him) was delighted to see this form of Angel and said, "Even if there were no other joy for a pious person than the bliss of seeing you in this form at the time of death,should suffice for his pleasures."


INSHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONCLUDED !

 

In the Name of Allah,the Most Beneficent,the Most Merciful !


Hadith:

Reported by Al-Baraa Ibn Aazeb:

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon Him) said: "When a pious believer is about to depart from this world and go forward into the Next World, angels with faces as bright as the sun descend from the heavens and sit around him in throngs stretching as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head and says, "Good soul, come out to forgiveness and pleasure from Allah!" Then his soul emerges like a drop of water flows from a water-skin and the angel takes hold of it. When he has grasped it, the other angels do not leave it in his hand even for the twinkling of an eye. They take it and place it in a perfumed shroud and fragrance issues from it like the sweetest scent of musk found on the face of the earth.

Then they bear it upwards and whenever they take it past a company of angels, they ask, 'Who is this good soul?' and the angels with the soul reply, 'So-and-so the son of so-and-so,' using the best names by which people used to call him in this world. They bring him to the lowest heaven and ask for the gate to be opened for him. It is opened for him and angels who are near Allah from each of the heavens accompany him to the subsequent heaven until he reaches to the heaven where Allah the Great is. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says, 'Register the book of My slave in 'Illiyun and take him back to earth. I created them from it and I return them to it and I will bring them forth from it again.'

His soul is then returned to his body and two angels come to him. They make him sit up and say to him, 'Who is your Lord?' He replies, 'My Lord is Allah.' They ask him, 'What is your religion?' He replies, 'My religion is Islam.' They ask him, 'Who is this man who was sent among you?' He replies, 'The Messenger of Allah.' They ask him, 'How did you come to know these things?' He replies, 'I read the Book of Allah, believed it, and declared it to be true.' Then a Voice from on high declares, 'My slave has spoken the truth, so spread out carpets from the Garden for him and open a gate of the Garden for him!'

Then some of its fragrance and perfume comes to him, his grave is expanded for him as far as the eye can see, and a man with beautiful garments and a fragrant scent comes to him and says, 'Rejoice in what delights you for this is the day which you were promised.' He asks, 'Who are you? Yours is a face which presages good.'He replies, 'I am your good actions.' Then he says, 'O Lord, let the Last Hour come soon so that I may rejoin my family and my property!'

When a wrongdoer is about to depart from this world and go forward into the Next World, angels with black faces descend from the heavens carrying rough hair-cloth and sit around him in throngs stretching as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head and says, 'Foul soul, come out to the wrath and anger of Allah!' Then his soul divides up in his body and it is dragged out like a skewer is pulled out of wet wool. Then the angel takes hold of it. When he has grasped it, the other angels do not leave it in his hand even for the twinkling of an eye. They take it and wrap it in the rough haircloth and a stench comes out of it like the worst stench of a corpse on the face of the earth.

Then they take it up and whenever they take it past a company of angels, they ask, 'Who is this foul soul?' and the angels with the soul reply, 'So-and-so the son of so-and-so,' using the worst names by which people used to call him in this world. They bring him to the lowest heaven and ask for the gate to be opened for him. It does not get opened.

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then recited;

'The gates of heaven will not be opened to them nor will they enter the Garden until the camel passes through the eye of the needle.' (7:40)

Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic, will say, 'Register his book in Sijjin in the lowest earth.' Then his soul is flung down. The Prophet then recited;

'Whoever associates anything with Allah, it is as though he has fallen from heaven and the birds snatch him away or the wind sweeps him headlong into a place far away.' (22:31)

Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and say to him, 'Who is your Lord?' He replies, 'Alas, alas, I do not know!' Then a voice calls from on high, 'My slave has lied, so spread out carpets from the Fire for him and open a gate of the Fire for him!' then a hot blast from it comes to him, his grave is made so narrow for him that his ribs are pressed together, and a man with a hideous face and clothing and a foul odour comes to him and says, 'Grieve on account of what has brought you disgrace for this is the day which you were promised.' He asks, 'Who are you? Yours is a face which presages evil.' He replies, 'I am your bad actions.'Then he says, 'O Lord, do not let the Last Hour come!"


INSHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONCLUDED !

 

May Allah give us such realizations.

 

In the Name of Allah,the Most Beneficent,the Most Merciful !


Here I want to draw your attention to the fact that not only the Angels are present at the time of one's death but so is the Satan.


SATAN’S LAST CHANCE AND PRESENCE AT THE TIME OF DEATH :

Satan makes his most desperate attempt at the time that a person is dying. He sees this as his last chance and is nearer to the dying person than ever before. He tries his best to have the person die as a disbeliever.

Satan’s intent at this stage is to evilly, sinfully and wickedly influence a dying person’s last deeds and actions. He knows that this is his final chance to make this person go astray before the dying person’s soul is taken up to meet its Lord.

Many incidences have been related in which people ended their lives on a bad note, i.e. a sin, and so have been recounted as having died in a difficult or infamous way.

For example, the son of Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal, Abdullah bin Ahmed, said:

"When death approached my father, I sat with him and in my hand was a scrap of cloth with which I wanted to tie his beard and he began to drift in and out of consciousness, then he opened his eyes and said, indicating with his hand:

‘No, not yet. No, not yet.’

And he repeated it three times. After the third repetition, I said to him: ‘Oh, my father! What is this thing which you have said at this time? You fall into unconsciousness so that we say that you have gone, then you return (to consciousness) and say:

"No, not yet. No, not yet."

He said to me,‘Oh, my son! Do you not know?’

I said: ‘No’.

He said,‘Satan – may Allah's curse be upon him – stood before me, he lowered himself on his knuckles and said to me: "Oh, Ahmad! You have eluded/escaped me." But I replied: "No, not yet, not yet until I die!”Imam Ahmad meant that a person never gets rid of Shaitan until he actually dies.

This is a very intimidating moment. May Allah protect us from falling prey to the accursed Satan...aamen !

Imaam-al-Qurtubi mentions that a great number of pious and dependable scholars are known to have witnessed the presence of Satan at death.

We should never forget that the Satan is the avowed enemy of the Mankind.His ultimate goal is to mislead us.

Quran says,

"Iblees (Satan) said: "Because You have sent me astray, surely I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on Your Straight Path.Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and You will not find most of them as thankful ones. (Quran,7:16,17)

He has such confidence in ensnaring his victims that he openly declares his strategy of approaching them from all sides and making them succumb to his temptations.

His first victims were the first of Mankind itself...Aadam and Eve !

Quran says,

“O Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you, as he got your parents (Adam and Hawwa’ (Eve)) out of Paradise,”(Quran,7: 27).

Quran goes on to say,

“Surely,Satan is an enemy to you (Mankind), so treat him as an enemy. He only invites his followers that they may become the dwellers of the blazing Fire” (Quran, 35:6).


We should keep this enmity and hatred of his in mind whenever he tries to seduce and entice us to evil actions.He is someone who we know hates us, wants ill for us and has been waiting for a chance to get us in our most weakest of moments.

Allah said to Satan,

"Certainly, you shall have no authority over My slaves, except those who follow you of those who go astray” (Quran,15:42).



INSHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONCLUDED !

 

In the Name of Allah,the Most Beneficent,the Most Merciful !


Body goes to the soil but what about the Soul?

And what is Soul?

Almighty Allah says in the Quran;

And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the Ruh (the Soul); Say: "The Ruh is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little." 17:85

The Ruh/Soul is a creature of Allah.It is regarded as an immaterial aspect within the body. Ruh (soul) is an entity which differs totally from the physical body. It is subtle, ecclesiastical, enlightened, living and moving.

Soul remains inside the body throughout its life on earth, and at the point of death it departs from the body to reside in the Barzakh (period after death) till the Day of Resurrection.. Like everything else in the Universe it is a creation of God...the Creator.

Hadith:

Reported by Abu Huraira :

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon Him) said, ‘Did you not see when the man died and his eyes were fixedly open?

Abu Huraira said: Yes.

The Prophet (peace be upon Him) said: It is due to the fact that when (the soul leaves the body) his eyesight follows the soul. [Sahih Muslim]

GOD knows best the reality of things we know and of that which we do not know.

What is Barzakh?

Linguistically, “Barzakh” means a veil, barrier or partition between two things. Qurtubi states: ‘The Barzakh is a barrier between two things. It is the stage between this world and the other world - from the time of death until the time of Resurrection. Thus, whoever dies enters the Barzakh”(Qurtubi’s Tafseer, vol.12, p.150). All these various explanations point to one underlined fact that the soul after having separated from its worldly body, enters into a realm behind which there is a barrier forbidding any return.

The technical meaning of Barzakh with respect to the hereafter refers to the transitional stage between one’s life in this world and the eternal life in the next. This transitional period will come to an end when the Hour begins, after which the people will be raised from their graves and will witness the scenes of the Day of Judgment. Even if a person’s corpse was not buried in the grave and instead the body was destroyed – for example through being drowned, burned or eaten by wild animals - their soul will still go to this transitional stage of Barzakh.

Quran says;

Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "My Lord! Send me back, "So that I may do good in that which I have left behind!" No! It is but a word that he speaks, and behind them is barrier (Barzakh) until the Day when they will be resurrected. {23:99-100}

And Allah knows the best.



INSHA-ALLAH,TO BE CONCLUDED !

 

Brother Viswa, Thank You for sharing what your faith teaches.

There are many points which are common like; to keep death in mind to keep ourselves in check, phases of life, seeking God, purifying our souls from evil attributes which Prophet (peace be upon Him) calls "The Greatest Jihad" and leave what others say and trust me ,"jihad" literally means the ultimate striving and doing ones ultimate efforts for the best.

That is what matters and I am seeing myself nowhere near!

I realized this thread is almost 11/12 years old, may be I can add to it if God allows me.

regards,
Yumna