Part 4

RANKS OF THE FEARFUL

realise that they should be taken as an example, for they are from the Prophets, scholars, and friends of Allah.

In Muslim, ‘A’ishah (radiyAllah ‘anhd) reported, ‘The Prophet (38) was called to the funeral of a boy from the Ansar. I said: ‘Glad tidings to him, O Messenger of Allah! (He is) a bird from the birds of Paradise, he never knew evil or performed it.’ The Prophet (38) said, “Or something other than that, O ‘A’ishah? Allah has created people for Paradise; He created them for it while they were in the loins of their fathers. And Allah has created peo-

ple for the Hellfire, He created them for it while they were in the loins of their fathers.”

From the most amazing statements that outwardly give hope, but in reality is truly a strong cause of fear are Allah’s Words:

eat tied eed een lk a ae a GD sical AeA ls ESD; “But indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever

repents and believes and does righteousness and then continues upon guidance”

for He stipulated these four conditions for forgiveness, and it is difficult to perfect them.

Another cause of fear is His statement:

“By al-‘Asr. Indeed mankind is in loss.”

He then mentioned four conditions that are the cause of salva-

Chapter Five: The Treatment Leading to Fear

tion from this loss:

Wyrele IY! OiAioG Sb weswanis “Except for those who have believed and done right-

cous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience”

ROMS er errr Y or GIy Ae Le wy AFIS go bE GT “9

“And if We had Willed, We could have given every soul its guidance, but the word from Me will come into effect (that) ‘I will surely fill Hell with jinn and people all together”

It is known that if everything was not based on decree, then everyone would hope they could be safe from this threat, but since this Word of Allah has come into effect since before creation, it is not possible to change - rather we have no option but to accept it. Were it not that Allah had been kind to those who know Him and made their hearts stronger with hope, then their hearts would

have been burned by the fire of fear.

Abia’'l-Darda’ (radiyAllah ‘anhu) said, ‘No one feels safe that their iman (belief) will not be taken away when they die, except that it is

taken away from them.’

RANKS OF THE FEARFUL

When Sufyan al-Thawri was close to death he began to cry, soa man said to him, ‘O Aba ‘Abdillah, I think you must have (accumulated) many sins.’ Sufyan picked up some dirt and said, ‘By Allah, my sins mean as much to me as this. Rather, I fear that I will have my éman (faith) taken away before I die.’

Sahl said, “The seeker of Allah fears that he will be tested with

sins, but the knowledgeable person about Allah fears that he will be tested with £ufr (disbelief).’

It was narrated that a Prophet (32) complained to Allah about hunger and poverty, so Allah revealed to him: “My slave, are you not satisfied that I have protected your heart from disbelieving in Me, so you ask of Me for this worldly life?” [In response] he took

some dirt and put it on his head, saying: “Rather I am satisfied, so protect me from disbelief”!

If this is the level of fear of those who have knowledge of [the

consequences] an evil end, despite their strong belief, then how can a person with weak faith not fear?

" Aba Talib al-Makki (d. 386 AH) in his Oat a/-Quiib, p. 380. Ibn Qudamah also recorded it in his Minhdj al-Qasidin, 4/69.

An Evil End to One’s Life

An evil end has its causes that occur before death, such as innovation, hypocrisy, pride, and other blameworthy characteristics. This is why the Sa/afhad a strong fear of hypocrisy.

Some of them said, ‘If I knew that I was free of hypocrisy, this would be more beloved to me than thé whole world.’ They did not intend by that the hypocrisy of belief, rather they intended the hypocrisy of actions, as was narrated in the authentic hadith: “The sign of a hypocrite is in three things: If he speaks he lies, and if he promises he does not fulfill it, and if he is entrusted he

An evil end has two levels, and the first one is greater; that the heart is to overcome with doubt (or denial of Islam) when the agony of death comes - and we seek Allih’s refuge from that. This would be a cause for eternal torment.

The second is less severe, and it is that a person becomes angry with the Decree of Allah, or he is unjust in writing his will before

* Al-Bukhari, #33 and Muslim, #59.

RANKS OF THE FEARFUL

his death, or he dies while persisting upon sin.

It was narrated that Shayfan never tries harder against humans than at the moments before death. He says to his helpers: “Take

care of this one, for if you miss him today you will never catch him.’

It was also narrated that the Prophet (4%) used to say in du‘a’:

Al-Khattabi said: ‘And that refers to [Shayfan] taking control over mankind at this time (of death), so he misguides him and prevents him from repentance. Or he prevents him from correcting an oppression that he committed. Or he makes him despair from the Mercy of Allah and to hate death, so he is not pleased with

* Yatakhabatani is a word that has a number of profound meanings including: to strike, clash and jolt with the aim of throwing off-balance. Essentially it denotes influencing negatively and actively causing confusion.

> Aba Dawid, #1552 and al-Nasa’i, #5546-8 and others.

It was declared sahih by al-Albani, Sabib Aba Dawid, sce also, Sahih al-Jami‘

Al-Khattab said, “His secking refuge in the ‘floundering of Shaytan at death’, that is if Shayfdn scizes him when he leaves this world, preventing him from repenting or hinders him from mending his affairs, leaving an injustice or he makes him despair from the mercy of Allah or makes him hate death or be sorry for this life, so he becomes discontented with Allah’s decree in dissolution, going to the hereafter, so one has a bad end and he meets his Lord while he is discontented with Him, It was narrated that the Shayfdn is never tougher on a man then at the time of his death and he tells his assistants: “Take this person! if you miss him today you will never catch him again.’ We seck refuge in Allah from his evil, we ask him to bless our death and to have a good end.”

Chapter Six: An Evil End to One's Life

the Decree of Allah, the Almighty.’

There is no way to enumerate all of the reasons that cause of an evil death in detail, but it is possible to indicate some of the major

As for death while denying or doubting one’s iman, then the cause of this is bid‘ah. This means for a person to have an incorrect belief regarding Allah, His Attributes, or His actions. He holds this belief either out of imitation of others, or due to his own incorrect reasoning; so when the veil is lifted at the time of death, he realises the falseness of his belief [due to innovation], so he thinks that everything he believed likewise has no basis. But whoever has a belief regarding Allah and His Attributes that is generally upon the way of the Sa/af[i.e. the Companions of the Prophet (48) and those who followed them], without searching deeply regarding that, then he is far from this danger, if Allah Wills.

As for a bad ending upon sins, then the cause of this is weakness of faith, which causes a person to commit many sins. Sins extinguish the light of faith, and if one’s faith is weakened, then the love of Allah is also weakened. When the stupor of death comes, this weakness increases because he knows that he will leave this world soon. And the true cause of this bad end is the love of this life and feeling comfortable in it, along with weakness of faith that causes a weakness in his love of Allah. So whoever finds in his heart a strong love for Allah, then this will overcome his love of this life, and he is further removed from this danger. He dies upon the love of Allah and he will come as a good slave that is yearning to meet his Master. It is known how much joy he will feel merely by coming to Him, let alone what he deserves of being honoured after that.

RANKS OF THE FEARFUL

As for a person who dies possessing thoughts of criticism regarding the Decree of Allah, or he is persistently disobeying Him, then such a person will come to Allah like a person who is forced to return to Him, and it is obvious what he deserves of punishment.

The person who seeks the path of safety stays away from the causes of destruction, for the thought of being misled or misguided from the Straight Path is something that rankles the heart of a fearful person.

It was narrated in Bukhari and Muslim in the hadith of Sahl ibn Sa‘d that the Messenger of Allah (8) said, “Verily a man performs the deeds of a person of the Hellfire, while he is (truly) from the people of Paradise. And verily a man performs the deeds of a person of Paradise, while he is (truly) from the people of the Hellfire.’”*

It was also narrated: “When the soul of a slave is raised to the sky the angels say (in amazement): ‘Subhan Allah! This slave was saved from Shaytan, how did he attain success?”

If the meaning of an evil ending becomes known to you, then beware of its causes and prepare to defend against it. Beware of procrastination in preparation, for this life is short and every breath could be your last. A person will also die upon the way he lived his life, and he will be resurrected upon what he died upon.

Know that you will not be able to prepare except if you are

* Ibn al-Jawzi recorded it in his Ta/bis Iblis, 1/45 (p. 299).

Chapter Six: An Evil End to One's Life