The remembrance of death wipes out the pleasures of this world

The remembrance of death wipes out the pleasures of this world

Consider this life as a respite for the preparation of the hereafter

 

Weekly lecture of Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi in Masjid Abul Hasanaat

 

Human beings have not come into this world to stay here forever.  After a stipulated time, they have to depart from this material realm to the eternal realm.  Human beings are like travelers the hereafter is their destination.

 

Allah Most High has decreed death for everyone, be it a king or a beggar, a master or a slave.  None can escape death whether they hide in desolate forests or strong forts.  When the appointed comes, the angel of death draws out their soul.

 

Allah Most High says in Surah Jumu’a:

 

Say: ‘The death from which you are fleeing is bound to catch up with you.  Surah Jumu’a (62:08)

 

These are the words of Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi, Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia, Founder-Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center, in the weekly lecture conducted under the aegis of AHIRC in Masjid Abul Hasanaat.

 

Death is a reality which cannot be denied.  However, Satan and the Self have deluded us human beings to believe that this world is everything.  We don’t have any regard for the hereafter.  We ignore the commands of the Shariah to follows the desires of their flesh.  We have no regard, neither for the rights of Allah Most High nor for the rights of fellow human beings.  When immersed into heedlessness, the angel of death will come and draw out our souls.  At that moment, we will feel really regretful.  On the other hand, if it is someone who has prepared for the hereafter beforehand, someone who remembered death, then that pious person is taken with respect and honor.

 

The revered Mufti said that by remembering death, the love of this material world is dispelled from the heart and one turns to the hereafter.  For this reason, the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Remember the one which extinguishes pleasures, death.  (Jame’ Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2477).

 

The revered Mufti explained this Hadith in detail and said that if a group of people are engaged in revelry and someone informs that a policeman will come and beat them and drive them away, suddenly all the pleasure will turn to displeasure.  Similarly human beings are busy in the revelry of this world and they have also been informed that the angel of death can come at any time and draw out their souls.  In spite of this, we are busy in our pleasures.  The major reason for this is that we have forgotten death.

 

The revered Mufti said that a successful and wise person is the one who prepares for death before it comes, who adorns his/her life with good deeds and makes himself/herself an embodiment of good manners and high morals and who repents sincerely before the door of repentance is closed forever.

 

The revered Mufti said that at least before sleeping, one should sit alone and think on all the sins that we have committed that day, repent for them, reflect over the ephemeral nature of the world and remember death.

 

Earlier, Maulvi Hafidh Syed Misbahuddin Umair Naqshbandi had addressed the gathering.  The session ended with Salaam on the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  After the lecture, there was a session of Dhikr and Sulook.  Maulana Hafidh Hamid Mohiuddin Badee led the proceedings.