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.”

Muslims, 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 and never expose ourselves to a single virus or bacteria, still we will die. Allah says,

 

قُلْ لَوْ كُنْتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَى مَضَاجِعِهِمْ

 

the translation of which is, “Say, ‘Even if you had been inside your homes, those people for whom killing was decreed would have gone out to their place of death.’” And 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.” 

Death does not have to have precursors or a cause - it can come suddenly unannounced and unexplained to anyone anywhere at any time, no matter how young. No one can state with any certainty that they will be here tomorrow, let alone next year or in ten years time. And the proof of that is all around us, with people in their prime dying or being killed at every moment. Just switch on the news or open a newspaper. But from such deaths, it is all too easy to detach ourselves and think of them as happening to someone else and having no connection to us or our own lives. That illusion of permanence is strong, especially in the modern era, and is not easily shaken. So Allah tests us with deaths that are closer to home, deaths of people whom we loved, 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 devastating. Look at how the Companions were when the Messenger of Allah passed away. 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 his forever 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. Ibn Masud said,

 

ما من نفس بارة أو فاجرة إلا والموت خير لها، فإن كانت بارة فقد قال اللَّه تعالى {وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّه خَيْرٌ لْلأَبْرَارِ} وإن كانت فاجرة فقد قال اللَّه تعالى {إِنَّمَا نُمْلِي لَهُمْ لِيَزْدَادُوا إِثْماً وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ} 

 

“There is no person, be he good or bad, except that death is better for him. If he is good, then Allah has said, ‘What is with Allah is better for those who are good’, and if he is bad then Allah has said, ‘We only give them more time so they can do more wrong action. They will have a humiliating punishment.’ Indeed, it is said that every soul is presented with the choice of going back to this world, but declines due to the fact that they do not want to 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 expiation for every Muslim.” They have finished their exams, done what was required of them and have moved on to an abode where they will enjoy the fruits of those endeavours and reap what they wrought. And there they will find themselves in the company of those whom they loved:

 

لما احتضر بلال رضي الله عنه نادت امرأته: واحزاناه! فقال: واطرباه! غداً ألقى الأحبة  محمداً و حزبه

 

When Bilal was near death, his wife called out, “O sorrow!” Bilal replied,“What joy! I will meet those I love, Muhammad and his party!”

For such people, and indeed for every Muslim, death is a joy. But for us, it is a reminder. 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 riches in this world, since none of that can be taken into the grave with us. When Sulayman heard a man congratulating him on the immense kingdom that Allah had given him, he replied,

 

لتسبيحة في صحيفة مؤمن خير مما أعطى ابن داود، فإن ما أعطى ابن داود يذهب والتسبيحة تبقى

 

“A single subhanallah in the pages of a believer is better than all this that the son of Dawud has been given, for what the son of Dawud has been given will fade away, but the subhanallah will last forever.” 

The death of those we love is a mercy from Allah, for if it were not for it we would continue through life in our heedlessness and illusions of immortality. The Prophet said,

 

لولا ثلاث في ابن آدم ما طأطأ رأسه شئ : المرض، والفقر، والموت

 

“If it were not free 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

 

“The one who remembers death most often and the one who is well-prepared to meet it; these are the wise; honorable in this life and dignified in the Hereafter.” That is why they always live as if they were going to die at any moment.

 

 عن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما كان يقول: إذا أمسيتَ فلا تنتظرُ الصباح، وإذا أصبحتَ فلا تنتظرُ المساء، وخذ من صحتِك لمرضِك، ومن حياتِك لموتك

 

Ibn Umar is narrated as having said, “When it is evening, do not await the morning, and when it is morning, do not await the evening. Take from your health for when you will be ill, and take from your life for when you will be dead.’”

So do not let this death pass without reflecting upon your own mortality and the imminence of your own impending death, and take it as your cue to stop putting off till tomorrow what you can do today. We ask Allah to have mercy on Hajja Sharifa and all the other Muslims who have passed away. We ask Him to put light and expanse in their graves and raise them up in the company of those whom they love, the Prophet, his Companions and all of the salihun on the Day of Rising. And we ask that He allow us to follow in their footsteps and be reunited with them in jannat al-firdaws. We ask Allah that He give us all the best of seals and protect us from falling into kufr. And we ask Him to make us people who take full advantage of every moment that He has allotted us.

 

أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله لي و لكم و لسائر 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 وتابعي التابعين 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.

 

Muslims, the fact that death brings with it nothing but good for the Muslim does not mean that we actively seek to bring it about. The deen of Allah attaches a great deal of importance to the preservation of one’s life and good health - indeed that is one of the essential principles of the deen, so much so that one is permitted and indeed required to even leave doing the five pillars if doing them will cause you harm, injury or death. The preservation of your life takes precedence over all. As the Prophet said,

لا ضرر ولا ضرار

 

“No harm and no harming.” No causing harm to yourself and no causing harm to others. Your body, your life, is a gift from your Lord and you are duty bound to look after it the best you can - to keep it warm, well-clothed and well-fed and to not subject it to any abuse, self-inflicted or otherwise. Indeed, it is one of the most precious gifts anybody can receive and so it must be treated with honour and respect. Think of how you treat those treasured gifts given to you by loved ones, or bestowed upon you by institution or state. A medal for valour from an army, or a certificate from a centre of education - how you frame them or polish them and afford them pride of place in your home. Well, your life is an infinitely more valuable gift, so treat it with at least the same respect and never throw it away. For, aside from shirk, there is no wrong action worse than that of suicide. For it is an act for which tawba is impossible, for you are no longer alive to make tawba. And it is expressly forbidden in the Quran and Sunna. 

Allah says,

 

ومن يقتل مؤمناً متعمداً فجزاؤه جهنم خالداً فيها وغضب الله عليه ولعنه وأعد له عذاباً عظيما

 

the translation of which is, “If anyone kills a believer deliberately, his reward will be Hell wherein he will remain timelessly, and Allah will be angry with him and curse him and set aside for him an immense punishment.” And He says,

 

ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم إن الله كان بكم رحيما

 

the translation of which is, “Do not kill yourselves. Verily Allah is merciful towards you.” And He says,

 

ولا تلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة

 

the translation of which is, “Do not hurl yourselves into destruction.” And the Prophet said,

 

من قتل نفسه بحديدة فحديدته في يده يتوجأ بها في بطنه في نار جهنم خالدا مخلدا فيها أبدا ، ومن شرب سماً ، فقتل نفسه فهو يتحساه في نار جهنم خالدا مخلدا فيها أبدا ، ومن تردى من جبل فقتل نفسه فهو يتردى في نار جهنم خالدا مخلدا فيها أبدا

 

If anyone kills himself with a blade, he will have that blade in his hand, stabbing himself in the stomach with it, in the Fire of Hell wherein he will remain timelessly forever; if anyone kills himself by drinking poison, he will sip that poison in the Fire of Hell wherein he will remain timelessly forever; and if anyone kills himself by throwing himself off a mountain, he will fall into the Fire of Hell wherein he will remain timelessly forever.” And the Prophet also said,

 

كان برجل جراح فقتل نفسه فقال الله بدرني عبدي بنفسه حرمت عليه الجنة

 

“A man was severely wounded and so killed himself. So Allah said, ‘My slave has rushed himself to me, so I have made the Garden haraam for him.” This is referring to a man who fought hard on the side of the Muslims in the time of the Prophet and displayed great bravery and prowess, but was wounded and was suffering great pain at the end of the battle, so he killed himself. When he heard of how the man met his fate, the Prophet said that he was in the Fire. And the same is true for all who take a similar course of action.

Your body is not yours to do with as you will - it is an amanah from Allah and He takes it back to Him when He wants. You are not free to end your life when and if you will, and if you take that course of action, you must be aware of the consequences. And it does not matter if you sacrifice your life in a way that apparently serves the cause of Islam or of Muslims who are oppressed as we saw in the story of the man who fought jihad and then at the end took his life. For the truth is that no problem is ever resolved by resorting to what is haram. The Prophet said,

ما جعل الله شفاءكم فيما حرم عليكم 

 

Suicide bombing, and every other sort of suicide, is categorically haraam and is a perversion of the hanif deen. And those who call on others to do it and declare it permissible and praiseworthy are just as much to blame. We ask Allah to rid the Muslim umma of this cancerous ideology and bring back the healthy respect for life and constant remembrance of death that was the hallmark of the great men and women of this umma. And we ask that He forgive those who have transgressed unwittingly and punish those who use their influence to corrupt and pervert the minds of our young men and women. We ask that He give strength to this deen and give us victory over our enemies. And that He make the word of Islam uppermost and place that of kufr beneath it.

 

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، 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 (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.

اللهم لا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا تسلط علينا بذنوبنا من لا يخافك ولا يرحمنا

اللهم أصلح لنا ديننا الذي هو عصمة امرنا وأصلح لنا دنيانا التي فيها معاشنا وأصلح لنا آخرتنا التي إليها معادنا واجعل الحياة زيادة لنا في كل خير واجعل الموت راحة لنا من كل شر

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.