worthy of worship except Allaah and thatMuhammadis His Slave and
Messenger;as well as his family and all his companions.
Fear of an evil end had broken the hearts of our
righteousSalaf)predecessors(.Sufyaan Ath-Thawricried one night until
the morning, and when he was asked whether he cried due to his fear of
his sins, he replied:"No, I am more scared of having an evil end"
Ibn Katheer,said:"People who are righteous inwardly and outwardly and
whose actions coincide with their words, Allaah willing, will not have
an evil way to end their lives; and never was this reported about
anyone before. It is only those who are evil inwardly and outwardly;
those who are daring and indulge in major great sins and who are
frequent in committing minor sins. This type of people, who are used
to this practice will continue to do so until they die without
repenting."
The Prophetsaid:"Verily, deeds are but by the way they
end."]Al-Bukhaari[. This is why our right predecessorsfeared their
ends because no one knows how he will end his life and in which state
he will depart.
For this reason,Huthayfah,was happy to die before the trials about
which the Prophet,, informed them and said:"All perfect praise be to
Allaah who has hastened my death before these trials".
One of the signs indicating that the person died whilst having a good
end is dying whilst performing a righteous deed.Anas,narrated that he
heard the Prophetsaying:"Do not be impressed with someone's actions
)thinking they are righteous( until you see how his end is, because
one would be performing a )righteous( deed for a long period of his
life, and should he die upon such a deed he would enter Paradise, but
he switches to performing evil deeds )before his death(. The slave
would be performing a )bad( deed for a long period of his life, and
should he die upon such a deed he would enter Hell, but he switches to
performing good deeds )before his death( and when Allaah Wills good
for a slave He uses him before his death"The companionsasked:"O
messenger of Allaah! How does Allaah use him?"He,, responded:"He
enables him to perform a good deed, then ends his life upon
it."]Ahmad[
Huthayfah,narrated that the Messenger of Allaah,said:"He who says;
'Laa ilaaha illallaah' )i.e., 'None is worthy of worship except
Allaah'( seeking the pleasure of Allaah, and it being his final
statement, will enter Paradise; he who fasts sincerely, seeking the
pleasure of Allaah, and died whilst in this state, will enter
Paradise; he who spends in charity, sincerely seeking the pleasure of
Allaah, and it being the last thing he did before dieing, will enter
Paradise."
Jaabir,reported:"I heard the Prophetsaying:"Every slave will be
resurrected in the state upon which he died"]Muslim[. Imaam
As-Suyootisaid:"This narration refers to the state of obedience or
disobedience".Maalik Ibn Deenaarused to say:"If I can afford
)physically( not to ever sleep I would not sleep"he was asked about
the reason, to which he said:"I fear that the angel of death would
come to me whilst I am sleeping and I would like that he comes whilst
I am engaged in a righteous deed".
An example highlighting one of the best ways to die is for a
disbeliever to embrace Islaam then immediately die.Anasreported:"A
young Jewish boy who was in the service of the Prophetfell ill. The
Prophetwent to visit him. He sat down by his head and said to
him:"Embrace Islam."The little boy looked at his father who was
sitting beside him. He said: 'Obey Abul-Qaasim )i.e., the Messenger of
Allaah(.' So he embraced Islam and the Prophetstepped out
saying:"Praise be to Allaah Who has saved him from
Hell-fire."]Al-Bukhaari[.
Allaah guided a man from the Philippines to the light of Islaam on
Wednesday in the city ofTaa'ifin the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and he
was taught some of the merits of Islaam and on Thursday he started
reciting some chapters of the Qur'aan and on Friday morning he passed
away, after only two days of him becoming a Muslim.
Uttering the testimonies of faith prior to death is a good deed and
another example for one's good end.Mu'aath ibn Jabal,narrated that the
Prophetsaid:"He whose final words are: 'Laa Ilaaha Illallaah' )i.e.,
'None is worthy of worship except Allaah'( will enter
Paradise."]Al-Haakim[.
'Abdullaah Ibn 'Amr Ibn Al-'Aas,reported that when his fatherwas on
his death bed he said:"O Allaah! You commanded me with many commands
and I fell short in many of them. O Allaah! You forbade me from many
matters, but I transgressed. O Allaah! None has the right to be
worshipped but You"then he continued repeating this until he died.
Many of theSalafdied whilst praying, which is another example for a
good way to end life.'Abdullaah Ibn Abi As-Sarhsupplicated one night
after having performedQiyaamsaying:"O Allaah! Make my last deed in
this life the performance of Fajr prayer"Then he performed ablution
and prayedFajrand died whilst concluding his prayer.
Abu Tha'labahused to say:"I hope that Allaah will not make me suffer
upon death like I see some people do"Then he started
performingQiyaamand died whilst in the position of prostration. That
night his daughter saw in her dream that her father died, so she woke
up terrified and went to her mother asking about her father, so she
told her that he was prayingQiyaam.They went to check on him and found
him in the position of prostration and when they moved him he fell to
his side.
A young man prayed theFajrprayer with the congregation and sat in the
mosque reciting the Qur'aan and waiting for the sun to rise so that he
may pray twoRak'ahsand he did not know that it was the last hour of
his life, and died whilst in that state.
A fifty five year old lady was admitted into ER )the emergency room(
as a result of getting a heart attack which made her heart stop
beating completely. When the physicians were trying to make a heart
massage with special equipment a very astonishing thing happened,
which doctors had never seen before that day … the woman suddenly
opened her eyes and spoke calmly saying a few words … she did not
complain of any pain … she did not scream asking for their assistance
… she did not ask for her husband or children … she simply uttered the
two testimonies of faith … then the heart stopped again. She repeated
this three times … then she died … and her face illuminated. When her
husband was asked about the type of woman she was, he said:"I married
her more than thirty five years ago, and since then I have never seen
her abandon the Witr prayer )i.e. the odd-numbered Rak'ahs after the
optional night prayer( unless she was sick or during her monthly
period".
Dying whilst fasting is yet another example exemplifying a good end,
like in the case ofAsmaa' Bint Abu Bakrand her son'Urwah,.
Some people die whilst in the state ofIhraamwhich entitles the person
to a great reward, as in the narration about the Companion who died as
a result of his animal kicking him whilst in the state ofIhraam)for
eitherHajjor'Umrah(, hesaid:"Wash him with water and lote-tree
)leaves(, shroud him in his own garments and do not cover his head,
because he will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection uttering the
Talbiyah.".
There are some people who die whilst reciting the Qur'aan, like in the
case of'Uthmaan Ibn 'Affaan¸who was known to be a person who
continuously recited the Qur'aan day and night. Hewas martyred whilst
reciting the Qur'aan in his house. OnceIbn 'Abbaas,recited the saying
of Allaah which means:"Is one who is devoutly obedient during periods
of the night, prostrating and standing ]in prayer[, fearing the
Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, ]like one who does
not[?"]Quran 39: 9[ then he said:"I swear by Allaah! This applies to
'Uthmaan Ibn 'Affaan".
One of the best examples indicating a good end is being
martyred.Al-MiqdaamIbn Ma'di Karib,narrated that the Prophetsaid:"A
martyr has six bounties: He will be forgiven with the first drop of
his blood that is spilt; He will see his place in Paradise )at the
time of death(; He will be saved from the 'Great Horror' )on the Day
of Judgment(: A Crown of Dignity will be placed on his head, which
contains many corundum, each one being more precious than this life
and all that it contains; He will have seventy two Women of Paradise;
And, he will be allowed to intercede for seventy of his family members
)who would have otherwise gone to hell(."]At-Tirmithi[.
Shaddaad Ibn Al-Haad,narrated:"A Bedouin came to the Prophetaccepted
Islaam and said: 'I wish to migrate )to Madeenah('. So the
Prophetasked some of his companions to take care of him. Then after a
battle, the Muslims had gained some booty so the Prophetdivided it and
gave the Bedouin's share to some of his companions to look after, as
the Bedouin was still at the rearguard. When the Bedouin returned,
they gave him his share, so he asked them: 'What is this?' they
replied: 'It is your share from the booty which the Prophetgave us to
hold on to for you.' So the Bedouin took the booty and went to the
Prophetand asked: 'What is this?' The Prophetreplied:"Your share of
the booty."The Bedouin said:'This is not why I believe in you and
follow you; rather, I follow you so that I can get shot by an arrow
right here, )and then he pointed to his throat( then die and enter
Paradise.' The Prophetsaid:"If you are sincere then Allaah will grant
you your wish."After a short while, fighting resumed and the Bedouin's
body was brought to the Prophetwith an arrow in his throat at exactly
the spot where he had pointed to the Prophet. ThereuponThe
Prophetsaid:"He was sincere so Allaah granted him his wish."Then using
his own garment, the Prophetshrouded the Bedouin, prayed the funeral
prayer over him and was heard by his companions to say during the
prayer:"O Allaah! This is Your slave who migrated for Your sake and
was killed as a martyr – and I testify to this".Which testimony could
ever be more honorable, sincere and truthful than this great one given
by the Prophet?
A truck driver by the name ofAbu Dujaanah, was known in his town to be
an evil person who consumed intoxicants. One day, he got in a deadly
car accident, but Allaah rescued him from death. Allaah decreed that
two righteous young men see the accident and rush to him whilst he was
unconscious and took him with them and when he woke up they told him
to performGhusl)ritual bath( which he did, then they instructed him to
pray, and after he prayed they said to him:"Allaah Has rescued you
from death and had you died upon the state you were in, it would have
been the worse way to die and be resurrected. You should repent to
Allaah and shun all sins"their words affected him deeply, and he
shunned his evil company with whom he used to hang around, and started
practicing. A few months later, he traveled to Bosnia forJihaad, and
Allaah granted him martyrdom there. His body remained with the enemies
thrown in an open field for two and a half months after he was killed,
and then a swap of dead bodies happened between theMujaahideenand the
Serbs, and when the brothers opened the plastic bag in which he was
kept for this long period, they saw his face smiling and an extremely
pleasant scent emanating from his body.
These were but some examples of how a good end may be, and we ask
Allaah to bless us and grant us a good way to end our lives.
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