DEATH AND SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

There are two sections under the chapter. In the first section, there are eight matters-(1) Merits of the remembrance of death, (2) Long hope, (3) Intoxication of death, (4) Prophet's death and that of his companions, (5) Death of noted persons, (6) Funeral prayer and visit of graves and graveyards, (7) Meaning of death and conditions upto blowing of Trumpet, (8) To know the conditions of dead persons in dream.

Merits of the remembrance of death. Know, 0 dear readers, that the man who is grossly immerged in the world and cheated by its charming coquetries, in unmindful of the remembrance of death. He does not remember death. When he is reminded of it, he does not like it. God said regarding such man : The death from which you flee away must meet you. Thereafter you will be led to the knower of the world seen and unseen. You will then be informed of what you did-62:6.

Mankind is divided into three classes-(1) One who is addicted to the world, (2) one who is repentant and (3) one who has surrendered to God. The man who is addicted to the world does not remember death. He hates death and lives far away from the remembrance of death. (2) The repentant man remembers death and fears it. Often he does not like death as he fears to die before he makes sincere Tauba or repentance or purifies his soul from corrupt deeds. He does not think bad of meeting with death and God, only because he is not fully prepared for it. He is always busy in preparation to meet them. (3) The Aref or God-addicted man always remembers death as he likes to meet with his Beloved. The lover cannot forget to meet with his Beloved. He loves to meet with death to save himself from the house of sin and live in the nighbourhood of God. When death came to Hazrat Huzaifa, he said : The friend has come at the time of need. There is no use to repent. 0 God, if Thou knowest that poverty is dearer to me than riches, disease is dearer to me than health, death is dearer to me than life, make death easy for me till I meet Thee.

Merits of the remembrance of death. The Holy Prophet said : Think more of that which destroys happiness. Hazrat Ayesha 4:383once-asked the Prophet : 0 Prophet of God, will anybody rise with the martyrs? He said : That one will rise with them who remembers death twenty times a day.

The reason of this good is that remembrance of death keeps him far away from this world of deception and compels him to prepare for the next world. The Prophet said : The gift of a believer is death. The reason is that the world is a prison for the believer as he lives here in difficulties and wants, control his passions and drives away the devil, so death gives him relief from this punishment. The Prophet said : Death expiates the sins of every Muslim. He meant such a believer from whose tongue and hands other Muslims remain safe, who is repository of the character and conduct of a believer and whose mind is not polluted with sins other than minor sins. The Prophet said Remember death too much as it obliterates sins and makes you God-fearing in this world. Once the Prophet came out towards the mosque, on the way he found some people engaged in cutting jokes and telling stories. He said to them : Remember death. Beware by One in whose hand there is my life, had you known what I known, you would have laughed little and wept much. Hazrat Ibn Omar said : I along with ten other companions were near the Messenger of God. Then an Ansari asked him: 0 Prophet of God who is the wisest and honoured of men? He said: Those who remember death most and prepare most for it. They pass away with this honour in the world and the next.

Saying of sages. Caliph Omar-bin-Abdul Aziz gathered together every night the learned men and heard froni them of death, resurrection and next world. The saint Ibrahim Taimer said : Two things robbed men of the pleasures of this world-thought of death and fear of standing before God. The saint Ashas said : Whenever we went to the great saint Hasan Basari, he used to talk with us about death, hell and the next world. Once a man complained of his hardness of heart to Hazrat Ayesha. She said : Remember death most, your mind will become soft. He obeyed this and his mind became soft. When death was talked of before Jesus Christ, blood flowed within his veins. When talks of death were held before David, he wept so much that his hairs stood on end. When God's grace was talked of, he returned to his previous condition. The saint Hasan Basari said : I found no wise man who did not become sad for fear of death.

4:384Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz once said to a sage : Give me admonition. He said : Nobody from Adam down to your father was safe from death. Now your turn has come. At this Hazrat Omar began to weep. The great saint Rabi-bin-Asem dug a grave within his house. He used to sleep there daily several times. This reminded him of death. He said : If the remembrance of death goes out of my mind even for an hour, my mind becomes polluted.

MODE OF THINKING OF DEATH

Know, 0 readers, that death is terrible. People are unmindful of death as they do not think of it. He who remembers it, does not do so with his whole heart. So death-thought does not cast any influence on him. The mode of thinking of death is to free your mind from all thoughts and put in it only thoughts of death. Be like one who embarks on perilous sea voyage. When thought of death covers his whole mind and becomes predominant, his worldly happiness decreases and his heart breaks. The best mode of thinking of death is to remember the death of friends and neighbours, their burial underneath the ground and their faces and conditions in the graves. How their beautiful faces have become foods for worms and insects, how their wives and children, being orphans and stricken by extreme poverty, are passing their days miserably, how their properties have been destroyed. Think individually one by one. Think how death overtook them suddenly without any notice and how unprepared they were for death and the next world. The saint Abu Darda said : When mention is made of the death of a man, think yourself as one of them. Ibn Masud said : He who takes lessons from the condition of others is fortunate. The Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz said : Don't you see that you equip for a traveller with goods for going to God each morning or evening and put him underneath the ground, while he leaves his friends and dear relatives and his properties and riches for ever? The saint Muti once looked towards his house and got satisfaction. At this he began to weep and said : By God, had there been no death, I would have taken great pleasure in looking towards you. Had the place which I will occupy after death would not have been narrow, I would have cooled my eyes by seeing this world. Thereafter he began to cry like a child.

4:385PANGS OF DEATH

The wise Loqman said to his son : 0 dear son, you don't know when death will attack you. Be prepared for it before it suddenly overtakes you. Know that he who has suffered the pangs of death, will only understand them, but he who has not suffered them may only understand them, but he who has not suffered them may only understand them by conjecture or seeing the pangs of death of another.

Conjecture: The body which does not contain life does not feel pangs. It is only the body with life that feels them. This shows that life only feels the pangs. When any animal receives a wound or is burnt by fire, the effect of it falls upon his life. It feels pain to the extent which comes upon it. It is less felt because of its expressions in flesh, blood and other organs of the body. When life only suffers without any other thing, the feeling of pangs is very severe. The pangs of death are felt by life only as it is snatched away from the bodily limbs which contain life. If a thorn pinches a limb, it affects a portion of life. If a part of the body is burnt by fire, it effects the whole body as there is life in every portion of the body. When that life is snatched from every limb, what a greater agony it feels. It is snatched away from every sinew, from every joint and even from the root of every hair from head to foot. The crying of man's voice is then cut off as he reaches the pinnacle of pangs and pains. The Prophet said Repentance is not accepted when a man reaches his final stage. God says in verse 4:18- Repentance is not for those who go on doing evil deeds until when death comes to one of them, he says Surely I now repent. He said : 0 God, make the pangs of death over Muhammad easy. The Prophets and the friends of God feared death. Jesus Christ said: 0 my disciples, pray to God that He may make the pangs of death easy on me. I am dead-alive on understanding how great are the pangs of death.

It has been related that a party of the Banu Israel were passing once by the side of a grave-yard. They began to talk : If anyone of you prays to God that a man from this graveyard may rise up and give us information of the graves, it would have been good. They therefore prayed to God for this. Suddenly a dead man rose up from a grave and in the place between his eyes, there were signs of prostration. He said: 0 people, what do you want from me? I have been suffering from the effects of the pangs of 4:386death for the last fifty years. What I suffered at the time of death has not yet been lessened. Hazrat Ayesha said : I don't believe that the pangs of death may lessen in the case of anybody as I saw the great pangs of death of the Messenger of Allah at the time of his death. The Prophet said : 0 God, you are taking life from the sinews, bones and even from the finger tips. 0 God, make the pangs of death easy for me. He said at the time of his death : The pangs of strikes of 300 hundred swords fell upon me.

Once he was asked about the pangs of death. He said : The pangs of death which are not easy are equal to the pangs that are caused by the constant snatching of ironhook with three heads after it is penetrated in to the two eyes. Once the Prophet went to a patient and said : I know what pangs you are suffering from. There is no sinew of his which is not suffering the pangs of death. Hazrat Ali gave encouragement to the joining in Jehad and said If you do not join Jehad, then face death. By One in whose hand there is my life, it is easy for me to bear the strokes of death by one thousand swords than to suffer the pangs on death bed. The great saint Shaddad-bin-Anas said : Death is the most terrible of all the dangers of this world and of the next. It is more painful than the cutting to pieces by sword or by scissors or being burnt in kettle. If a dead man could have risen and informed the inmates of the world of the pangs of death, they would not get any benefit by being alive and would have been deprived of sleep.

The Prophet said: Sudden death is solace to a believer and a grief to a non-believer. He said: If the hair of a dead man is placed upon the inmates of the heaven and earth, they all will die by the pressure of its weight, as every hair is subject to death and if death falls upon anything, that thing also dies. At the time of death of Prophet Ibrahim, God said to him, 0 my friend, how do you perceive death? He said : That is just like the repeated snatching and drawing of a heated iron hook in wet wool. God said : I have made it easy for you. It has been related that when the soul of Moses was taken before God, He asked him 0 Moses, how did you find death pangs? He said : I have found my life just like a sparrow. If a living bird is roasted in a cauldron, it cannot fly, nor it can be safe from the death pangs. I suffered death pangs just as it suffered. It is reported that at the time of the death of the Prophet there was a pot of water near him. He dived his hand in it and began to wash his face and said : 0 God, make death pang 4:387easy for me. Hazrat Fatima said at that time, 0 my father, what a great pain over you! The Prophet said: There will remain no pain on your father after this day. Hazrat Omar once said to Ka'ab Ahbar : 0 Ka'ab, give me some information about death. He said 0 Commander of the Faithful, death is like a hook full of numerous thorns and penetrated into stomach. Every thorn is fixed to every sinew. Thereafter a man draws it with great force and accepts what comes out therefrom and rejects what does not come out.

Three terrors of death: The first terror is the terrible pangs at the time of death. The second terror is the sight of the figure of the angel of death and entry of fear and terror in mind. The third terror is that the sinner sees his place in Hell and the virtuous one sees also his place in Paradise. The first we have described above. It has been narrated that the Prophet Ibrahim said to the angel of death : Can you show me once your own figure when you take the life of a sinner? He said : You will not withstand it. Ibraham said : Yes, I shall withstand it. The angel of death said : Turn your face from my front. Then he turned his face from his front and saw that the body of the angel of death is deep dark complexioned, having rough straight hairs, stency, covered with black dress, flames of fire coming out of his mouth and nostrils in streams. At this, Abraham fell down senseless. On regaining consciousness, he saw the angel of death in his previous form and he said : 0 angel of death: If the sinner sees nothing except your figure at the time of his death, it will be sufficient punishment for him.

The Prophet said: The Prophet David was prone to fear. Whenever he went out, he closed all the doom of his house. Once he went out thus closing all the doors of his house. His wife later on saw someone inside the closed house. She asked him : How have you entered the house? If David comes, he will cast danger on your head. When Devid came and saw him, he asked him Who are you? He said : I am that one whom the kings and emperors fear and the friends of God cannot prevent him. He said : By God, your are then the angel of death. A t this, he covered himself with blanket.

It has been narrated that once Jesus Christ was passing by a human skeleton, He stroke it with his foot and said : Speak with me by the permission of God. The skeleton said : I was a king of Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES ^Q9 this place. I was seated on the throne with crown on my head and with my soldiers all round me and with all my pomp and grandeur. Just at the time the angel of death came to me. My limbs became paralysed at my seeing him and my life went away with him.

The Prophet Abraham had a place of worship. Whenever he came out of it, he close its doors. Once day he returned and found some one inside it. He asked him : Who inducted you in my house ? He said The owner of the house inducted me in it. He said : I am its owner. He said : He who is the Lord of yourself and mine has inducted me therein. He said : Are you an angel ? He said : I am the angel of death. He said : Will you show me your form with which you take the life of a believer ? He said : I am showing it. Turn your face from me. Then he saw him like a good handsome youth with white cloth on him and his body was filled up with good scent. He said : 0 angel of death, if a believer does not see anything about your form except only this, that is sufficient reward for him. Then he sees at that time two angels who write the book of deeds.

The third terror at the time of death is that the dying man sees his place either in Hell or in Paradise. His life does not come out until he hears the announcement of the angels about his place either in Hell or in Paradise. The Prophet said : Nobody from among you will come out of the world till he knows his destination and till he sees his place either in Hell or in Paradise. He also said : Whose loves to meet me, God also loves to meet him. God does not desire to meet one who does not desire to meet me. The companion said : Nobody of us likes death He said The matter is not that. If the condition of the believer becomes easy regarding what will come over him, he loves to meet God and God also loves to meet him.

Once Merwan went to Abu Hurairah at the time of his death and said : 0 God, make death easy for him. Hazrat Abu Hurairah said : 0 God, make it difficult for me. Then be wept and said : By God, I don't weep because I am sorry to leave this world but I look towards two things from my Lord-Hell or Paradise. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : The believer has got no other happiness than that of meeting with God. The day of death is the day of happiness for one who feels joy at his meeting with God.

4:389DUTIES ON THE EVE OF DEATH

Know, 0 readers, that the conditions which are necessary for a dying man are the following-to be clam, to be peaceful, to recite with tongue the Kalema Shahadat and to have good conjecture about God in mind.

Calm attitude: The Prophet said : Look to the dying man with his three conditions. When perspiration comes out on his forehead, when his eyes shed tears and when his lips become dry, the blessings of God are poured upon him. When his throat gives out gurgling sound, his colour becomes red, his lips become mud- coloured,the punishment of God befalls on him. The Prophet said : Teach your dying man to recite "There is no deity but God" because it obliterates sins. The Prophet said; He who knows' at the time of death that there is no deity but God. will enter Paradise. Hazrat Osman said : When death comes to a man, teach him, 'there is no deity but God; as he who dies reciting this Kalema will enter paradise. Hazrat Omar said : Be present before your dying men and remind them of Allah's names, because they see what you do not see and teach them that' there is no deity but God: The Prophet said : The angel of death came to a dying man and found nothing in his heart. Then he pierced his tongue and found in a corner that it recites 'there is no deity but Allah.' God forgave him for this. The object of this utterance is that at the time of death, that there should be no thought in his mind except the thought of God, and no goal in his mind except the goal to meet with Him.

TO HAVE GOOD THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD

The Prophet said : God says : I am with My servant who harbour good thoughts about Me. Once the people went to a dying man and said : How are you? He said : I hope to get God's mercy and i fear sins. The Prophet said : God gives the man who harbours these two thoughts at this time what he wishes and keeps him safe from what he fears. The great saint Sabet Bonani said : A young man was addicted to pleasure. His mother used to give him advice and said: 0 my darling, remember the inevitable hour which will come to you one day. When death came to him his mother fell upon him and said : 0 my darling I warned you repeatedly of this catastrophe. He said : 0 mother, my Lord is merciful. I hope that He will show me something of His mercy 4:390today. The saint Sabet said : Owing to his good conjecture about God, He showed him mercy. The saint Jaber said that a young man was conceited. When death came to him, his mother said to him : 0 my darling, give me some admonition. He said : I am giving, don't go with my ring as there is the name of God therein. Perchance Allah will show mercy on me for that. When he was buried. Jaber dreamt him and he said : Info?m my martyr that the Kalema has done me benefit and God has forgiven me. Once a desert Beduin fell ill He was told that he would die. He said Where shall I be taken? The said : To God. He said : I am not unwilling to go to Him. He will surely do me good.

GRIEF AT THE TIME OF MEETING WITH ANGEL OF DEATH

Hazrat Sulaiman said to the angel of death: Why do I not find you to do justice among the people? You take away the life of one and give up that of another. He said : I am not more informed than you about this. It is written in a book wherein there are the names of all and it remains with me.

The great saint Wahab-bin-Monabbahg said once that a powerful king intended to visit a country. He ordered his best dress to be brought and he put on it. He ordered the best horse to be brought and he rode on it. Then he started with his followers The devil then advanced and puffed him up with pride. He looked down the ordinary men in the street. At that moment, a poor man with tattered rags on his body advanced to the emperor and saluted him, but the latter did not respond to his salutation out of extreme hatred. Then the poor man advanced forward and caught hold of the reins of his horse whereupon the emperor ordered him to give up the reign saying: You have done a most heinous act. The poor man said : I have some urgent matter with you. The emperor said : Be patient, I am getting down. The man said : That won't be He began to pullout the reign of the horse with greater force. The emperor said : Say what you have got to say. The man said : That is a secret talk. The emperor drew his ears close to him and the man said : I am the angel of death. At this, the colour of the emperor changed and his tongue stopped. He said : Give me a little time so that I may go to my family and arrange things. The angel of death said: That can't be He then drew out the life of the emperor and he fell down dead on the ground.

4:391The angel of death advanced farther and met with a believer whom he greeted. The believer returned his greeting. He said : I have got something to tell you in secret. The believer consented to hear. At this the angel of death said : I am the angel of death. The believer said : Welcome to you. I am waiting for you for long. By God, there is nothing dearer to me than my meeting with you. The angel of death said : Fulfill your needs. The believer said There is nothing dearer to me at this moment than my meeting with the Lord. The angel said : Choose in what way I can take your life. The believer said: Let me pray after ablution and take my life while I am in prostration. The angel of death took his life in that condition., It is narrated that a man acquired vast wealth. He constructed many buildings and adorned them with iron gates. There were innumerable slaves and slave girls therein. Then he prepared a grand feast and brought all his beautiful wives. Then he ascended the throne and began to shake his legs placing one of his legs upon another in pride. Then he said : 0 self, enjoy it for long long years. Hardly had he finished this talk's a poor man with tattered rags on him came to the door and began to knock it. The guard at once rushed to the door and enquired of his whereabouts. He said : Take your master to me, The guard said Will our master come down to a man like you? He began to knock the door with a greater force. The guard rushed on him and he said: I am the angel of death. Go and inform him to come to me. When he came, he took his life.

Hazrat Wahab-bin-Monabbah said: The angel of death took the life of a great tyrant and ascended the heaven. The angel asked him: 0 angel of death have you ever felt kindness in your. mind in taking the life of a man? He said : Yes once I felt kindness when a pregnant woman was alone in a dense jungle. She gave birth to a son there and I was ordered to take her life at that very moment. I felt kindness for her helplessness and for the condition of her just born child. The angel said : You have taken the life of the mother of a mighty emperor who was that helpless child. He said: All praise is for God who does what He wishes.

The great saint Ata-bin-Yasin said: The angel of death gets a list of persons on the 15th night of Shaban each year and he is ordered to take the lives of those persons in the list in that year.

4:392Hazrat Khaisamah narrated that the angel of death came to the Darbar of Sulaiman and was staring at one of his courtiers for long. When he went away the courtier asked Solaiman : Who is that man who stared at me? He said that he was the angel of death. The courtier said : I think he has come to take my life. Please save me from him. Solaiman ordered the air to throw him to India. The air carried out his order. The angel of death came to Solaiman again who said: You stared for long at one of my courtiers. The angel of death said : Yes, I have been ordered to take his life in some place in India but I have seen him here. I thought : How can I take his life in India when he has been here at the moment. More wonderful it is that I found him at the appointed time in the fixed place in India and then I took his life there.

4:393SECTION IV

THE DEATH OF THE PROPHET AND THE FOUR CALIPHS

Know, 0 readers, that there is an excellent example in the life of the Holy Prophet to be followed by every man of every' profession. He was the dearest friend of God, His beloved, His chosen Prophet and messenger. Look to him Has he been given a moment's time than what was fixed for him to live longer? He suffered the pangs of death and that was disclosed on his face, his colour was changed and there was profuse perspiration on his face. Those who were present there began to weep at the sight of his pangs of death. Inspite of his messengership he could not annual what was decreased for him. This is the condition of one who will rise first out of the graves on the resurrection day, one who was the greatest of the Prophets, saints and the leaders of mankind.

Hazrat Ibn Masud said: We entered the room of Ayesha to meet the Holy Prophet at the time of his death. He stared at us and began to shed tears and said : Welcome to you, may God grant you long life. May He give you refuge. May he help you. I give you may last instructions to fear God. I give you my last advice as a warner of God. Don't show pride over the dwellers of towns and cities and over God. Death is near. I shall have to return to God, to Sidratul Montaha (farthest lotetree), to my resting place Paradise, to the full Fountain. Take my words to your people and to those people who enter your religion after me. Salman and God's mercy on my behalf.

It has been reported that the Prophet asked Gebrail : Who will remain after me for my people? God revealed to Gebrail Give good news to my friend that I will not give punishment to his people. Give him further good news that on the Resurrection Day he will rise first from the grave and he will be your leader. Paradise will be unlawful for the followers of other peoples till his people do not enter it. He said: Then my eyes became cool.

Hazrat Ayesha said that the Messenger of God said to them during his illness : Wash me with seven cups from seven water-skins. We did that. He became cool as a result and prayed with the people and prayed for the martyrs of Uhud. He gave instructions regarding the Ansars and said : 0 refugees, your 4:394number is increasing, but the number of Ansars will not increase and it will remain what is is today The Ansars are my own people and I took refuge with them. Honour their religious people and forgive their faults. Thereafter he said : One servant was asked to choose either of the two things : This world or what is near God. He chose what is near God. At this Hazrat Abu Bakr began to weep as he applied it to the case of the Prophet. The Prophet said 0 Abu Bakr, close these doors (pathways) towards the mosque for your people, but shut not the door of Abu Bakr as I know not of any companion better than Abu Bakr.

Hazrat Ayesha said : The Prophet expired leaning against the place between any breast and throat. God united my saliva and his at the time of his death. My brother Abdur Rahaman entered my room with a tooth pick. He looked at it and I understood that he would be pleased to get it. I told him: Shall I take the tooth- pick for you? He hinted with his head and I took it from him and I got it entered into his mouth. When it seemed hard to him, I said to him: I am making it soft for you. When he hinted it with his head, I made it soft for him. There was a water pot in his front. He entered therein his hand and said : There is no deity but God, there are surely death pangs. There is no deity but God, there are surely death pangs. Then he put his hand in its right place and said : To the Highest Companion.