In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
A death of a loved one is a painful experience for anyone and the eyes shed tears and the heart grieved. Those who have experienced this know how painful it was. Those who are experiencing it, remember that Allah tests us in this worldly life and it is an opportunity to realize the meaning and purpose of this life for ourselves and for our loved ones.
Allah Almighty said,
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ ﴿١٥٥﴾ ٱلَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـٰبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا لِلَّـهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيْهِ رَٰجِعُونَ ﴿١٥٦[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:155-156]
And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, (155) Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return." (156)
The most severely tested of the people are the Prophets.
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I said: “O Messenger of Allah, which of the people are most sorely tested?” He said: “The Prophets, then the next best and the next best. A man will be tested in accordance with his level of religious commitment. If his religious commitment is strong, he will be tested more severely, and if his religious commitment is weak, he will be tested in accordance with his religious commitment. Calamity will keep befalling a person until he walks on the earth with no sin on him.” [At-Tirmidhi]
Ibrahim, the son of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam and Maria, died in the tenth year of the Hijrah. He was sixteen months old (eighteen months old in another account) and under the care of a nurse when he died. Upon hearing what had happened to his son, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam went to the house of the nurse, held Ibrahim in his hands, and tears flowed from his eyes.
He said, "The eyes send their tears and the heart is saddened, but we do not say anything except that which pleases our Lord. Indeed, O Ibrahim, we are bereaved by your departure from us." Then he turned his face towards the mountain before his and said, "O Mountain! If you were as sorrowful as I am, you would certainly crumble into pieces! But we say what Allah has ordered us: (We are the servants of Allah and we will return to Him; We thank Allah, the Creator of the Universe)"
While the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam was grieving for his son Ibrahim, Usama ibn Zayd started to cry. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam warned him not to. Usama said, "I saw you crying." The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam answered: "I have not commanded you against sadness, but against raising your voice in grief."
While preparing the grave for Ibrahim, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam saw an opening between the clay and ordered the Companions to fill it in. He filled the opening with sand and said: "Tombstones are neither good nor ill, but they help appease the living. Anything that man does, Allah wishes him to do well."
Narrated Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him): We went with Allah’s Apostle (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) to the blacksmith Abu Saif, and he was the husband of the wet-nurse of Ibrahim (the son of the Prophet). Allah’s Apostle took Ibrahim and kissed him and smelled him and later we entered Abu Saif’s house and at that time Ibrahim was in his last breaths, and the eyes of Allah’s Apostle (sallallahu alayhi wassallam) started shedding tears. ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf said, “O Allah’s Apostle, even you are weeping!” He said, “O Ibn ‘Auf, this is mercy.” Then he wept more and said, “The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord, O Ibrahim ! Indeed we are grieved by your separation.”” [Bukhari]
Death is an exemplary lesson in every way for the living ones. But we tend not to contemplate death too much, and for some people it is a taboo to talk about death. Why? Because we prefer to forget the things that can remind us of it. We do not regard death as an opportunity to realize the meaning and purpose of life for ourselves and for our loved ones.
Every death experienced indeed is devastating if it is allowed to kill the beauty and divinity in the outlook of those who are still alive. Those who have lost their way in the darkness of mourning and fate are so greatly removed from the viewpoint of Maulana, who considered death to be the wedding night (night of reunion with Allah). Those who do not have the strength or maturity to bear the sadness contradict themselves hen they recite amantu billahi ... wa al-yawmi al-akhiri(I belief in Allah ... and in the Day of Judgment). On the other hand, for those who "Frequently mention death which dispels pleasure and makes it bitter,” (hadith in Tirmidhi), life becomes more open to love, compassion, justice and sharing due to the fact that it does not become immured within material aspects.
After his child had passed away, the humane, yet dignified and dependable attitude shown by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam as a father - a father who had lost many of his children before - removed the banality of death and transformed it into a lesson. Even when experiencing the greatest of pain, we can see that he still maintained a lofty level in his servitude to Allah: the heart grieves, tears drop, but the tongue does not rebel. This is the act of someone who knows their limits. This is the non-offending stance of the spirit in the position of consent; shaken, yet not aggrieved. This is the lament of the heart which turns into tears in the eye and into inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (To Allah we belong and to Him we will return) on the tongues. Only this can extinguish the fire within the hearts that has become a blaze. The wailing and laments that bring people to rebellion and make the tongue an excuse for fire may change the status of this pain, the essence of which is peculiar to this world, and cause it to surround the afterlife. The humanity of silently crying versus the evil of hear-rendering laments... The choice is ours.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam invited the believers to goodness, which is the best form of servitude, and encouraged them to perform what is pleasant in words and deeds. "Allah who is beautiful and loves beauty" [Muslim] revealed that the deeds become pleasant only with beautiful and appropriate words and thus broadened our horizon from another perspective.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّـهَ وَقُولُوا۟ قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا ﴿٧٠﴾ يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَـٰلَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّـهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا ﴿٧١[Qur'an, Al-Ahzab 33:70]
O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. (70) He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. (71)
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassallam, whose heart was scorched with sadness for his son, encouraged his Companions to do their best when they had a task to perform. This understanding and sensitivity, which put forward the notion of looking into the future with hope and not becoming estranged from life even during an incident that could cause the color of life to fade, like death, led the Muslims to become the most prolific and profound craftsmen who made works throughout history that reflected this inner beauty.
Thus, a new path was designated for people, granting them the grace of searching for beauty in everything they performed and realizing the beauty that lies within the universe. This prospect, which takes its principle from the tawheed (Oneness of God) that is in harmony with the beauty created by Allah, surrounds even the daily life and leads the aesthetic to acquire a divine quality that is reflected in all the beauty of the world.
We ask Allah to grant us to become those who create new beauty in our efforts to reach the beauty of servitude to Him. Ameen.
Please keep my family in your du'a and for our loved one who passed away in a tragic accident and for members of my family who are being treated and in critical care. May Allah reward you.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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