AboutIslamBasicFAQ. AchaySathi.com Page 1
About Islam
Basic Frequently Asked Questions
AchaySathi.com
Basic Islam 1
Who are we?
We are Muslims. A Muslim is a person who follows the commands of
Allah and dedicates his life to live by the guidelines laid by Allah.
What is our religion?
Our religion is Islam. Islam is an Arabic word which means peace and
submission.
By following the commands of Allah (by submitting our will to the will
of Allah) we will get peace in this life and in the hereafter.
What does Surrendering our Will mean?
We surrender our will to Allah by doing what Allah commands us to do
rather than what we want to do. Also it can be seen as doing only what
Allah has allowed us to do and refraining from what Allah has forbidden
us to do.
The example is that we might want to eat something like a sweet, which
has haram ingredients. If we eat the sweet we are following our own will
if we don’t eat the sweet then we are following Allah’s command.
What kind of peace do we get ?
The peace we get from Islam is
1. Peace within our community because Islam teaches us how to live as
human beings and to respect and love one another
2. Peace within our selves by following the commandments of Allah,
Allah gives us peace in our hearts. Also we have the assurance that
Allah is with us and he will guide us and help us in this life and give
us success in the hereafter.
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3. Peace within the world by making all mankind as one nation. All
Muslims are brothers and sisters to one another so they should look
after and care for one another. If all nations did this then we would
have world peace.
4. Peace in the hereafter by Allah granting us paradise if we live by and
obey Allah’s command
Islam is a Deen
Islam is not a religion in the normal sense. Islam is called a Deen that
means Islam is a complete way of life. Islam tells us how to live 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. We have to be Muslims everyday not on certain
days and we have to follow all that Allah has taught us rather than what
we want to obey.
Is Islam a new religion?
Islam is the religion that was sent by Allah to all his prophets. All nations
were guided to follow Allah, to understand Allah and to worship him
alone. The religions have changed since then because the followers use to
change them.
Islam is the only religion that has not been changed by the people because
we have the original message in the Quran and its explanation in the
hadith. Allah said he would guard the Quran until the day of judgement.
Who is Allah?
Allah is the Lord and Creator of everything. Nothing was in existence
until Allah created it. He alone sustains and maintains all creation and he
alone has power over everything
Where is Allah?
Allah is not like a person where he might be in a building or a town or a
country. Allah is all aware. He sees everyone and everything and he hears
everything we say – even our inner most secrets. Allah is all-knowing.
What does Allah look like?
Allah is not like anything we can see or imagine. He is beyond the
comprehension of the human mind. No one has seen Allah and no-one
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knows what he looks like. He is not like anything in creation or anything
we can imagine in our minds. Allah is unique.
How can we know Allah?
By studying the Quran we are taught about the Qualities of Allah and
through his names (or attributes) we can know Allah
e.g.
He is Eternal
He is the most-merciful
He is the creator
He is self-sustaining
He all-knowing
He is all powerful
He is the source of peace and perfection
Master of the day of judgement
What does a Muslim look like?
Muslim comes in all shapes and sizes, different ages and colours. They
are all normal human beings, the only thing that makes them different is
that they believe in their hearts that Allah is one, he has no partners and
he has no sons. There are no other gods apart from Allah.
A Muslim also believes that Muhammed is the messenger of Allah. He
was selected by Allah to deliver the message of Islam to all mankind. All
the people who obey the message are Muslims and all the people who
reject the message are non-Muslims.
What is special about Muhammed and his message?
Muhammed was a normal person like you and me. The difference was
Allah had selected him to tell all mankind about Allah and how to live
their lives.
Muhammed was different from other prophets because
He came to all the people not only to the Arabs. Previously the other
prophets had only come to their own people
The message of Muhammed was going to be preserved until the day
of judgement. The Quran is the word of Allah and it is in the same
form, word for word, when it was revealed 1400 years ago. The life of
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the prophet has been recorded in the Hadiths which are also with us
today.
The Miracle of Muhammed is with us today. The other miracles the
prophets came were only to their people and we can not see them
today. The Miracle of the Quran is with us today for All mankind to
see and witness.
He was the last prophet, there will be no more prophets after him.
Anyone who claims to be a prophet after Muhammed is a liar and a
non-believer.
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Basic Islam – lesson 2
What was the message of Muhammed?
The message of Muhammed was essentially Tawheed. Tawheed is to
believe in Allah in the correct manner (i.e. he is one, he has no partners
and sons). We also believe that he is our Creator lord and Master. He
created us for a purpose and we as Muslims try and follow Allah’s will
and plan so that we are fulfilling our purpose in this life.
Why did Allah create mankind?
Allah tells us in the Quran that he created us only so that we obey and
worship him. To make this simple, Life is a test. Allah created us and
given us free choice in this world to do whatever we want. Through this
Allah wants to see how we live our lives - whether we will obey, worship
and follow his command by our own free choice. If we follow Allah’s
will then he will reward us with Paradise.
If we worship other things when we are command to worship Allah
alone, we do bad things when we are commanded to do good, when we
ignore what Allah has said - Allah would then punish us by throwing us
in Hell fire.
Therefore, we all have a choice in life, we can be Believers (people who
believe in Allah and follow Allah’s command) or we can be Kafirs (non-
Believers – people who disobey Allah and don’t believe in him). We have
complete free choice in whatever we want to do in this life.
What did Muhammed bring?
The revelation that came to Muhammed were the words of Allah. These
words came to Muhammed through the Angel Gibrael or Allah put them
straight into the heart of Prophet Muhammed. This message was then
recited to the people who use to memorise it and use it in prayers (salah).
The prophet commanded his scribes to write it down. Once they had
recorded it, they use to read it back to the prophet to make sure there was
no mistakes.
This message is called the Quran. It has been preserved from those days
until today – not one word or letter is different from then and today. A
person who knows the Quran from start to finish is called a Hafiz. This
message is still available to the whole world to study and learn.
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How do we know that the Quran has never been changed?
The Quran is the world of Allah, Muslims have memorised this from the
first days right until today. There has been millions of Hafiz throughout
the world. The Prophet himself use to recite it in his prayers and the
whole Quran to the Angel Jibrael in Ramadan. If the Quran had been
changed then they would all have be reading it differently.
The faithful scribes recorded the Quran, they had read it back to the
prophet when they had written it. All the copies of the Quran were
identical in the early days. The Quran was collected together and a
standard copy was made, copied and sent throughout the whole Muslim
world. These copies are still with us today. There was a complete
agreement between the companions of the prophet about what was in the
Quran. All the Hafiz, who use to recite it in Ramadan, also use to recite it
the same – they also completely agreed with the written copy. There has
never been any other version of the Quran apart from the one we have
today.
Allah guaranteed that the Quran would not be changed and he himself has
promised that it will be kept pure until the day of judgement. Allah’s
promises are always true and there is no doubt in his words.
What does the Quran teach?
The Quran is a complete manual on how to live our lives. It tells us how
to behave, to respect our parents and elders and to live as human beings
are supposed to. It teaches us about what is right and what is wrong. The
Quran also tells us about the things that we have never seen with our eyes
(the Unseen) – the Angels and Jinn, Day of Judgement, Heaven and
Hell… It tells us about the prophets in the past and how they lived and
what trials and tribulations they were put through.
The Quran tells us about how Allah created the universe and everything
in it. It tells us about his creation and gives examples of its perfect
harmony. It tells us how the universe works, the stars, sun, mountains…
The Quran tells us about Allah and his qualities (attributes and names),
about his mercy and about his wrath. It helps us understand Allah better
so that we can appreciate his bounties and become better human beings.
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The Quran reasons with the human soul and forces it to face life and
search for the truth. It asks us to use our minds and reason, which Allah
has given us, that will lead us to the universal truth that Allah is one. We
will also know Allah’s prophet whom He sent to deliver the final message
and come closer to Allah through the prophets teachings and advise.
What is the Hadith
A hadith is information about the prophet- what the prophet did
throughout his mission, what he said, how he treated people, what advise
he gave… This is basically the prophet in action. The prophet use to live
by the Quran and everything he did was according to the Quran, therefore
his life becomes an example to us – the Quranic teachings in action.
Who wrote the Hadith?
The Hadith were originally oral transmission of information. This
information was passed down and finally collected by some great
scholars like Iman Bukhari and Muslim. They went to great lengths to
prove that the Hadith they collected were true and had not been changed
when the information was passed down. They classified the Hadith
through the chain of narrators as authentic (Sahih), Good (Hasan), Weak
(daif) and fabricated (mowzuh).
The Hadith has four parts
1. The sanad - the chain of narration
2. The Matan – the text of the Hadith
3. The Ikhraj - Collector of the Hadith
4. The Classification of the Hadith
The scholars in the past specialised in checking the sanads and checking
the hadith through as many sources as possible. This helped to preserve
the hadith and give us a good and reliable source of information about the
prophet.
Which are the most common books of Hadith?
The most famous books of Hadith are the Sahih Six. These six of the
most authenic and agreed upon Hadith from all the books available.
1. Bukhari,
2. Muslim,
3. Abu dawood,
4. Tirmidhi,
5. Nasai
6. Ibn Majah
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Basic Islam – 3
Who were the Prophets of Allah?
The prophets of Allah were people that were selected by Allah to deliver
his message. These people were normal people that Allah selected to
guide the people. Allah would purify their hearts and give them make
them his messengers.
What did the prophets teach?
All the prophets had the same essential message. The message was
tawheed – Allah is one, he has no partners and he has no sons. They
taught us that we should only worship Allah and acknowledge him as our
supreme Lord. Allah has given us a life to live, when this is over we will
need to account to Allah on the day of judgement. If we had lived good
lives and acted upon his message then he will grant you paradise
otherwise Allah will punish us and then send us to Hell.
The prophets did bring different laws depending upon the circumstances
of their people. The Laws reflected the time and circumstances of the
people. However the essential message, the message that was the bedrock
of all religions- tawheed- was the same.
How many prophets did Allah send?
We are taught in the Holy Quran that every nation was sent a messenger.
This means that Allah did not deprive anyone from the one and only true
path. Hadith tell us that Allah sent to mankind 124,000 prophets.
The prophets use to guide the people and the people use to obey the
messenger. When the messenger passed away, they would add things to
their religion and take stuff out. Basically, the message was changed and
the people started to become bad and stray from the right path. Allah
would then send another messenger to teach the people.
Is there evidence of these prophets?
Yes, when see some of the religions throughout the worlds and some of
the older religions which archaeologists have found out about, we find
that there is a remarkable similarity between them all.
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For example, some ancient tribes discovered in Africa use to refuse to
bow down before anything other than Allah. They use to say that Allah is
a pure being. He is not like a tree, money or even the moon - he is not
like anything we can see on this earth or in the heavens above. Others use
to say that Allah is all-knowing and sees and hears everything. Other
tribes use to say that Allah is independent – he does not need anything but
everything needs him.
This concept of Allah can be seen throughout history.
Was there different kinds of prophets?
Some prophets came with a new message they are known as Rasool.
They were given a new message and they preached it to their people.
However, some messengers were only sent to revive the message of a
previous prophet and they are known as Nabi.
A Rasool is also a Nabi (they came to revive the old message and laso
came with new laws for their people) but a Nabi is not a Rasool (Nabi did
not bring any new laws)
Who was Isa ?
Isa was a prophet of Allah sent to his people to bring them back onto the
right path. He was a servant and slave of Allah like all the prophets
before him. However, when he passed away they exaggerated their
religion making Isa to be Allah or the son of Allah (Astag-fir-ullah).
Some of his followers did stay on the right path.
What was different about Muhammed?
Muhammed came with the Quran – the message that will never be
corrupted and he came to the whole of mankind, not only to his own
people. The follows of Muhammed carried his message throughout the
whole world.
Who were the first followers of Muhammed?
The first people who followed Islam were his close family and friends.
His wife Khadija; His nephew Ali; His close friend Abu Bakr and Zayd-
the adopted son of Muhammad. They became the first Muslims and the
first Sahabah.
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What was special about the Sahabah?
The Sahabah were the first followers of the Prophet Muhammad. They
were the people who were closest to the prophet and had the privilege of
seeing the Prophet with their own eyes, accepting his message and then
died with Islam in their hearts.
The Sahabah helped the Prophet in every way during his life and
afterwards they became the torchbearers of Islam as they carried the same
message throughout the world. Through the Sahabah we have additional
explanation of the Quran. The Sahabah followed Islam with all aspects of
their lives, they too are an example to us. All the Hadith we have were
narrated through the Sahabah.
Who were the four rightly guided Khalifahs.
The Khalifahs were four of the most famous companions of the prophet
who became the leaders of the Muslims after the Prophet had passed
away.
Abu Bakr –was the first.
Umar – was the second leader of the Muslims.
Uthman – was the third leader of the Muslims
Ali - was the fourth leader of the Muslims.
Their lives will be studied at a greater level in the classes
What is Athar?
Athar is the sayings of the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet (PBUH))
- plural Aathaar. Even these are given the same priority as the Hadith.
The Holy Prophet says in a Hadith:
Follow my Sunnah, and the Sunnah of my rightly guided Khalifahs.
In another Hadith the Holy Prophet (PBUH) says:
My companions are like the stars whichever one you follow you will be
guided.
So we have been ordered by the Prophet himself to follow the footsteps
and the sayings of the Sahabah.
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Basic Islam – 4
What is the Unseen?
The Unseen is quite a large part of our beliefs. There are some things that
Allah has created that we can no see or hear but we believe in them These
come under the category of the Unseen.
Give me an example
We believe that Allah created the Angels from light. We can not see them
but we are told that Allah created them and so we must believe in them.
Another example is the Jinn that were created by Allah out of smokeless
fire. We can not see them but believe that they exist.
What are the angels?
The angels of Allah are the servants of Allah who carry out whatever
Allah commands them to do. The angels do not have freewill like
mankind - they have no choice in what they do.
What Jobs do the Angels do?
The Angel do all the commands Allah has set them. For example,
Angel Jibrael is in charge of bring revelation down to Allah’s
prophets.
Angel Izrafeel (the angel of death) is in charge of death. He takes
away the soul when a Human being dies.
The Angel Mikael is in charge of rain and plantation. Munkar and
Nakeer question a person in their graves when they die.
Israfeel blows the trumpet on the day of Judgement.
The Angels of Allah never disobey Allah and do not have desires or
needs like a human being. Allah has many millions of Angels.
Can we see Angels?
No, we can not see angels. Once the Angel Jibrael came to the prophet
and the companions in the form of a man. They were able to see him
them but generally humans never see Angels. The prophet Muhammed
PBUH saw the Angel Jibrael once in his full form. The Angel had six
hundred wings and was massive, filling the whole sky.
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We have angels that sit on our left and right shoulders who record our
good and bad deeds. We do not see them either and they are not so
massive like Angel Jibrael.
So who or what are the Jinn?
The Jinns are the creations of Allah who were created to worship Allah.
They are made of smokeless fire and have a free will like humans. We get
good Jinns and bad Jinns like we get good and bad humans. The Jinns are
living on Earth and will need to account for their deeds on the Day of
Judgement just like us.
Can we see Jinn?
No we can not see Jinns unless they take the form of a human or of an
animal. The Jinn however can see us.
Prophet Suliman was a prophet of Allah whom Allah had given control
over the Jinns. From Suliman’s story we learn that the Jinns are able to
travel great distances in a split second and that they are very strong – they
carried the throne of Sheba to Suliman in the blink of an eye.
Allah has given them great power.
When were the Jinn created
The Jinns were created before Mankind. Infact, we see in the story of
Adam that Iblis was a Jinn and was in existence before Adam.
Who is Iblis?
Iblis was from the Jinn. He was a greater worshipper of Allah. He was
made the leader of the Angels. They say that there is not a place on earth
where the Iblis had not done Sajdah.
When Allah created Adam, Allah commanded the angels to bow before
Adam. Iblis refused by saying that he was better than Adam - Iblis had
pride inside his heart. He told Allah that I am better than Adam, you
created Adam out of clay whilst I am created from smokeless fire!
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Allah then banished Iblis from heaven. Iblis made a request to Allah to
give him respite until the day of Judgement. Allah granted him this and
Iblis promised that he would try his best to deceive and misguide
mankind from the Path of Allah - Iblis became the enemy of mankind.
What is the Day of Judgement?
The Day of Judgement is the day when mankind will be brought forth
from the Earth and will need to account for all their deeds they did whilst
they were alive on the Earth. Every human that lived from the time of
Adam until the Day of Judgement will be brought forth before Allah.
When is the Day of Judgement?
No one but Allah knows when the day of Judgement will be. When the
prophet of Allah was asked by the angel Jibrael about when the day of
Judgement will be, the prophet replied that the one who was is being
asked the question knows as much as the one asking the question. This
means that neither the prophet nor the Angel Jibrael knew when the day
of Judgement will be.
We have been given some signs that will appear before the day of
Judgement. These are of two types – Major and Minor.
What signs have taken place already?
Most of minor signs have taken place and the Major signs will take place
just before Qiyamat. The Minor signs that have taken place include the
wide spread of evil and Ignorance, The building of high buildings, usury
(interest) will be common, disobedience to parents and many more.
What major signs are still to take place
Some of the major signs still to take place are: the coming of the Dajjal;
the coming Gog Magog; the coming of Isa; the smoke; the coming of the
beast that will speak to people; the earthquakes – there will be three
major ones of which one will be in Medina. There have never been any
earthquakes in Medina before. After this a breeze will come which will
take away the souls of every believer and the day of Judgemnt will take
place. No repentance will be accepted after this.
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Basic Islam – 5
How does the day of judgement begin?
The day of judgement will begin when the Angel Israfeel will blow the
trumpet for the second time
. All mankind will be brought forward from their graves – this includes
all the people that had lived on the earth from the time of Adam (as) until
the day of judgement. They will appear before their Lord (Allah) to
account for al their action in the worldly life.
How long is the day of Judgement?
The day of judgement will not be the same as a day (ie not 24 hours) we
have in this life. The day will be will be like 50,000 years and for some
of the Believers the day will pass quickly.
What will the people be like?
People will be all in a very worried state on that day. Thy will think that
they should have spent their time on earth more wisely and spent
following Allah’s laws. The mother, who is so caring for her children,
will be more worried about herself then her children.
People will ask each other for good deeds and help but everyone will be
too worried for themselves. People will feel that they had only spent a
few hours on Earth when in actual fact they had spend maybe 50 or 60
years.
No more good deeds will be accepted on that day.
What about the Earth?
The earth will be completely different from today. The earth will be
shaken up and the mountains will become like flakes of cotton wool. The
whole universe will be destroyed. The sun will be closer and the people
will be suffering from the heat and sweating. There will be no shade on
that day apart from the shade Allah provides for some of his servants.
What will the people do on that day?
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The people will turn to their prophets and ask them to intercede to Allah
on their behalf. The prophets will be too worried about themselves and
will not be able to help their people. The prophets will say go to such and
such a prophet and they will continue until they come to Muhammed
(PBUH). Our prophet will then go to Allah, bow before him and then ask
to intercede on behalf of all the Muslims.
What are the scales?
Our deeds will be brought forward and put on the scales. This will
determine whether we had been good or bad. Our hands, feet, tongues etc
will all bear witness against us for all that we did. The earth will also be a
witness.
If our scales have more good deeds then Allah will allow us to enter
(Jannat) paradise. If our deeds are more bad then we will be sent to the
Jahanam (hell-fire), unless Allah forgives our sins.
Allah will give us scrolls tell us whether we passed the test or not. We
will get it in the right hand if we are successful or in the left, behind our
backs if we are not successful.
What is the Pool-Sirat?
The Pool-Sirat is a bridge, which runs across Jahanam. Everyone will
pass across this bridge to enter paradise. The non-believer or those who
failed the test will fall into the fire whilst the good Muslims will pass
across it very quickly and enter paradise.
The bridge has been described in a Hadith as being sharper than a sword
and thinner than a hair.
What will heaven and hell be like?
Heaven and Hell ( and even the day of judgement) is very difficult to
imagine. A Hadith tells us that they will be like something that no eye has
seen, no ear has heard off and has not passed through the heart of any
person. This means that it is very difficult for us to imagine what it will
be like but Allah has given us some information to help us understand
some aspects of it.
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Heaven (Jannah)– A place where every desire is fulfilled, free of any
hardship and pain.
Abu Hurayrah reported that Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) said:
"He who gets into Paradise [will be made to enjoy such an everlasting]
bliss that he will neither become destitute nor will his clothes wear out
nor will his youthfulness decline." [Muslim]
Hell (jahanam):- A place where people are punished for their bad
actions, an eternal place of suffering and pain.
Muslim narrated in his Sahih:
“He does not think that any other person is tortured more severely than
him although he is in the least torture.” [Muslim]
Will people ever come out of Hell-fire?
Generally, the people in Hell fire will be there for eternity (forever).
There will be some people that will have Iman inside their hearts and
Allah will forgive these people eventually and take them out of Hell fire.
One of the Attributes of Allah is that he is all-merciful so he does forgive
some of these people even though they may have been bad Muslims in
their lives.
However, the disbelieves will be in Hell for eternity.
How many heavens are there?
There is only one heaven but it has 100 different stages – the highest
stage is called Jannat ul Firdos. The level of Jannat a person will go to
depends upon how good they were in their life on earth. The greatest
rewards a person will be given in heaven is that they will see Allah.
Everyone will be content with whatever Allah gives him or her. They will
be able to meet each other and meet their former family and friends.
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Basic Islam – 6
Why do people die?
Death is the only guaranteed in this life. Allah teaches us that after a
person is born he will spend a certain amount of time on earth then He
will die and that applies to all human beings. Therefore, death is the
natural progression of a human being just as growing up is. It does not
matter if you’re a king or if you’re a beggar, if you hide in a mighty
fortress, or if you have a thousand surgeries, nobody can avoid or cheat
death.
Allah says in the Quran:
Everyone shall have to die (Holy Quran)
In another place Allah says:
Where ever you are, even in a mighty fortress death will find you
Death brings an end to our temporary life on this earth. It is an occasion
of sorrow and grief for the loved ones of the deceased. Not even the most
foolish of people would deny the concept of death.
Are we born sinless?
Whenever a child is born it is born free of all sin and is a pure individual.
Some people believe that a child is born sinful, but Islam has taught us
that a child is born free of all sin. It is born is a state of Fitra, which can
be seen as a natural state of submission to Allah, and acknowledging
Tawheed.
When a child grows it gets corrupted and the child beings to learn from
its family and the environment in which it lives. This child is no longer
on the Fitra unless the parents are Muslims and teach the child about
Allah and his Deen.
Therefore, every child is born in a natural state of submission to Allah
and is called a Muslim. A person accepting Islam and becoming a
Muslim is known as reverting to Islam rather than converting to Islam.
This is because it is reverting or returning to the natural state in which it
was born.
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Why does Allah make some people poor?
Allah has chosen certain circumstances for people to test them in this life.
For example, Allah has made some people richer than others, Allah has
made some people cleverer than others, Allah has given some people
more knowledge and others less, Allah has made some strong and others
weak. Allah is testing us by how we use these things.
When we die we will be asked about these special blessings Allah has
given us within our lives and what we did with them. If Allah gave us
wealth, what did we do with it? how did we spend it? Were we grateful to
Allah? …
Does anybody know when they will die?
No, nobody knows when their time is up. This is something that Allah
has kept exclusive for Himself. Some babies die at birth, and some people
live over the age of 100, but nobody knows for certain. Many a time we
have seen or heard when a doctor has said for certain that this person
won’t last the day yet he recovers and outlives the doctor!
We do not even know how we will die. Some people die in their sleep,
some due to some terminal illness, some people die in a very healthy state
for no apparent reason at all! No body knows when they will die or how
they will die.
The Ahadith of the Prophet (PBUH) teach us that Allah has appointed the
Angel Izrail who is also known as the Angel of death (malakul mawt)
over death. He is responsible to take out our souls and end our lives.
What is our duty to a Muslim who has died?
We should try our best to comfort his/her family, and we should try and
understand what grief and sorrow they must be feeling. It is a Sunnat of
the Prophet (PBUH) to say comforting words to the family of the
deceased.
The holy Prophet (PBUH) has taught us what should be done to the
deceased. A dead body is given a wash before it is buried. It is then
covered with white sheets and fragrance is spread over it. A funeral
prayer is conducted before burial. This prayer is called Salatul Janazah.
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Salatul Janazah is a collective obligation (Fardh Kifayah) on all the
Muslims of the locality of the dead person. If a number of them join in,
the obligation is discharged on behalf of all. But, if no one joins in,
everyone will be considered sinful before Allah. Attending the Salatul
Janazah holds great reward. The method of performing this special Salah
will be covered in details under Fiqh Inshallah.
Islam does not like the idea of burning the body and then burying the
ashes or scattering them out to sea. People who do this either believe that
there is no life after death, or believe that if this is done, Allah would not
be able to bring them back to life and account them for their deeds.
What happens once the person is in the grave?
The grave is the first stage of Aakhirah. It has been narrated that
whenever Hadhrat Uthman (RA) used to stand by a grave, he would cry
so excessively that his blessed beard would become wet. Someone asked,
“Why do you not cry so much when mention is made of Jannah and
Jahannam as you would cry when mention is made of the grave?” He
replied, “I have heard the Holy Prophet say, The grave is the first stage
from the stages of the Aakhirah. Whoever passes it easily all the other
oncoming stages will be easy on him, and whoever is afflicted with
punishment for him the oncoming stages will be even tougher.”
The first thing that happens is that two angels by the name of Munkar and
Nakeer approach the person and ask him/her three questions. A true
believer will have no problems answering these questions.
The questions are:
1. Who is your Lord?
2. What is your Religion?
3. Who is your Prophet?
In the grave, a person, according to how he/she lived their lives in this
world will either be rewarded or punished. This has been proven from the
Quran as well as the Hadith of the Prophet.
In one Hadith the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said:
The grave is either a garden of Paradise or a pit from the pits of Hell
In another very lengthy Hadith the Holy Prophet (PBUH) explains:
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When a true believer is laid to rest in his/her grave, the grave says, “out
of everybody who has walked upon me, you were the most liked to me.
Now you shall see how I will treat you.” Then the grave expands itself as
far as the eye can see. Then a window from Paradise is opened for him
and he/she will continue to smell fresh and beautiful fragrances till the
Day of Judgement. When a non-believer is laid in his/her grave, the grave
say unto him/her, “out of everybody who has walked upon me, you were
the most disliked to me. Now you shall see how I treat you. Then it
squeezes the person so tightly that the person’s ribs go into each other.
Then serpents are released on that person, and they are so venomous that
if they were to spit their venom onto earth not one blade of grass would
live. And they would continue to bite him/her till the Day of Judgement.
In a famous Hadith the Holy Prophet (PBUH) has mentioned that the two
things that bring upon the punishment of the grave are:
1. Not taking care when relieving oneself
2. Walking around stirring things up, and breaking friendship.
May Allah save us all from the punishment of the grave. Aamin.
What do you advise we do?
Remember death as much as possible. Make use of your time, keeping in
mind that a time will come when I will have to die and go and lie in the
grave.
It is very strange that if a person is experiencing great pleasure and
having a good time, and he was to find out that the police were looking
for him, and they had a warrant for his arrest, all of his happiness,
enjoyment will go away. It would be a miracle if he could sleep at night.
On the other hand we know that the Angel of death is always awaiting the
order of Allah to extract his soul and he will have to experience the agony
of death, yet this seems to have no effect on his lifestyle?
Remembering death is a means of
1. preparing for death
2. non-attachment towards the world
3. not accumulating wealth
4. repentance from sin
5. making use of valuable time
6. eagerness and attachment in his/her worship
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About Islam
Basic Frequently Asked Questions
AchaySathi.com
