One
who just focuses on worldly matters remains concerned merely about the present
and future of his worldly life so that he may remain safe from worldly trials
and troubles but one who focuses more on Hereafter not only ponders over
worldly matters but he tries to improve his Hereafter.
Who is a wise person?
A
person humbly said in the blessed court of the Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّمَ, ‘O Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّمَ! Who is the wisest and most cautious
amongst people?’ He صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی
عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّمَ
replied, ‘Those people who remember death abundantly before death and those who
do more preparation for it (death) are the wise; they have earned dignity and honour in the world and Hereafter.’ (Al-Mu’jam-ul-Kabeer,
vol. 12, pp. 318, Hadees 13536)
Dear
Islamic brothers! For the preparation of death, along with performing Salah,
Sawm and other rights of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, fulfilling the rights of parents,
siblings, wife, children, neighbour and other people are also of great importance.
Apart from this, there are also many such pieces of work people generally do
not pay attention to them, for example,
the knowledge of Ghusl-e-Mayyit (giving ritual bath to the deceased), shrouding
and burial.
A wise man not only gains
knowledge about all these matters himself but also provides his family and
children with correct Islamic education regarding these. Such person even buys
a shroud for upholding the remembrance of
death so that if any of his family members die,
he himself easily manages to give Ghusl-e-Mayyit and shroud the deceased
instead of calling or waiting for someone. When a person who remains engaged in
the preparation of his death observes the common practice of crying and doing Noha[1]
(wailing) over the deceased in his family and relatives then he forbids them
from indulging in such types of practices
and informs them about the punishments of Noha mentioned in the blessed
Ahadees. Read the following text regarding what will happen with a person after
his death who does not forbid his family from such practices:
The deceased will be tormented because of his family’s
wailing
The
Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ
وَسَلَّمَ
said: A deceased person is tormented equal to the amount of his family’s
wailing. When the family says! O our honour! O our majesty! Who will be for us after
you? So, the deceased person gets up and sits in the grave and the angels of
torment strike him once on every word of his family, until his joints are
broken and the angels say to him, ‘Were you really like that as your family
said? Did you give them a livelihood? Or
were you their supporter (taking their responsibility)?’ Upon this, he humbly
says in the court of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ by swearing oath by Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ,
‘O Rab عَزَّوَجَلَّ! I was too weak and feeble and You alone are the Holy Who
grants them as well as me sustenance.’ Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ
says, ‘I have inflicted punishment on you because you (before your death) did
not forbid them from doing so (wailing).’ (Qurra-tul-‘Uyoon ma’ Raud-ul-Faaiq, pp.
393)
Faqeeh Millat, ‘Allamah Maulana Mufti
Jalaluddin Ahmad Amjadi رَحْمَۃُ اللہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ said, ‘(Torment
will be inflicted on the deceased) when he has made a will of wailing or there
is a custom of wailing and he has not forbidden (family from doing so).’ (Anwaar-ul-Hadees,
pp. 220)
No entry into Jannah
A
wise man also remains concerned in the matter of debt because this is a very
big burden whereas nowadays people show great negligence in the matter of debt.
Those who delay paying their debt back using some excuses lest they suffer
death and get trapped in the grave.
The
Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ
وَسَلَّمَ
said, ‘I swear by the One in Whose control my soul is! If a person is killed in
the path of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, then brought back to life again, then he is killed in the path
of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ, then brought back to life again, and he owes a debt, he will
not enter Jannah until his debt is paid.’ (Musnad Ahmad, vol. 8, pp. 348, Hadees
22556)
Few important matters
Indeed,
one who does preparation for his death ponders over in his lifetime, pays off
his debt before his death or at least notes it down on any paper and informs
someone about it or let anybody know verbally about it so that debt may be
repaid. Similarly, if someone has to owe him any amount of debt, he even notes
it down and let any reliable person know about it so that it may be collected
and can be included in his legacy. He also shares information regarding his
bank accounts, ATM cards, passwords of ATM cards, important documents and other
such things etc., with any reliable person of his family etc., else the heirs
sometimes become deprived of a big amount and other many important things as
soon as he passes away.
A cancer of society
When
a wise man looks at the widespread evils of society, he also learns that people
take the distribution of inheritance and its precautions for granted due to
their lack of Islamic knowledge and evil practices. People are trampling the
rights of one another; they remain busy quarrelling
and committing many types of impermissible and Haraam acts. So the wise person
informs his family and other heirs about the Shar’i laws of inheritance and
gives them a mindset to have fear of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ when distributing inheritance wealth.
Make a will
Making
a will is also an important piece of work which is done before death. How
should one make a will? What are the points one should keep in view? For this,
a piece of written ‘Wills’ (which is the part of the booklet ‘Madani Will’), authored by Shaykh-e-Tareeqat
Ameer-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat, founder of Dawat-e-Islami, ‘Allamah Maulana Abu Bilal
Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qaadiri Razavi Ziyaee دَامَت
بَرَکاتُہُمُ الْعَالِیَہ,
is incredibly helpful. Every cautious person who does preparation for his death
in the light of these ‘written Wills’ can prepare his will in an excellent way.
Please read the excellence of making a will before death:
‘Will’ is a source of forgiveness
The
Beloved Rasool صَلَّی اللہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ وَاٰلِہٖ
وَسَلَّمَ said, ‘Whoever
dies after making a will dies on [whilst following] a straight path and Sunnah
and he dies with piety and martyrdom and he dies in a state that he has
attained forgiveness.’ (Ibn Majah, vol. 3, pp. 304, Hadees 2701)
It is my plea to all
Muslims that they should not restrict their focus of attention to merely
worldly matters but rather they should also give attention to some pieces of
works regarding their death along with fulfilling the rights of Salah, Sawm,
rights of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ and rights of the people.
[1] It is unanimously agreed that Noha, i.e. to cry loudly
after stating the attributes of the deceased exaggeratedly which is called
‘Bayn’, is Haraam. Likewise, wailing and shouting while saying (i.e.
Oh calamity!), tearing clothes from the chest, scratching the face,
releasing the hair, putting dust on the head, chest beating, beating the
thighs, are all acts of ignorance and Haraam. (Bahar-e-Shari’at, vol. 1,
pp. 854)
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