Dimensions of Death - Sayed Mahdi Al-Qazwini

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Al-Rasoul Islamic Society
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[0:09][Music] t muhamad it is said that the Arabs who lived in

[1:02]Arabia during and before the Advent of Islam did not have a

[1:08]clear understanding or a clear picture of the afterlife resurrection and anything

[1:19]to follow after death their philosophy was that we live one life

[1:23]we die once there is no Resurrection after that when we die

[1:36]Quran speaks on behalf that we will die and we will only

[1:43]die once and there is no there's no Resurrection after that so

[1:50]it was unclear in their mind what would happen after this life

[1:55]and because naturally there was no sense of an afterlife a resurrection

[2:00]there was no sense of accountability naturally they believed that they could

[2:05]get away with whatever they wanted and that they could uh they

[2:12]could have classes in society where some were privileged and had more

[2:16]advantages and privileges than others and they can get away with it

[2:19]because at the end of the day who's going to ask you

[2:23]who's going to hold you accountable death to them was simply the

[2:28]death of the body and they could not fathom how this body

[2:33]after being buried in the earth and after disintegrating could come back

[2:40]to life how can it be regenerated and so the Quran uses

[2:48]the word Mo which is death to describe not just the physical

[2:51]dimension of death or the physical aspect of death but other aspects

[2:56]of death also such as intellectual death emotional death death as it

[3:04]relates to sleep so the Arabs when they heard the word death

[3:08]mo mo or death they believe that it was simply a physical

[3:15]phenomenon that we experienced they could not understand how once someone dies

[3:22]they could be brought back to life how they said how could

[3:35]he resurrect the bones after they have turned into dust God tells

[3:40]the prophet say to them that the one who created out of

[3:46]nothing can recreate out of something it's easier to recreate out of

[3:49]something than create out of nothing you could find a pile of

[3:53]scraps and you can uh build something you know if you have

[4:00]enough determination and imagine you can build something out of a pile

[4:04]of scraps you have a better chance of doing that than building

[4:06]out of nothing if you had no materials at all so in

[4:11]order to help them understand how life can be given after death

[4:18]and how one can be resurrected the Quran tells them look to

[4:23]the Earth around you look to the the land around you in

[4:40]the same way that land Earth comes to life after death you

[4:46]know you see in places in the world where they experience drought

[4:51]or little rainfall everything turns yellow and almost dies out but what

[4:56]happens as soon as it gets the first drops of rainfall everything

[4:59]comes back to life so Allah subhana wa tala tells the prophet

[5:03]to tell them don't you see how the Earth around you and

[5:08]the word that's described to that's used to describe that Earth is

[5:16]Mo so M death is something that the Earth can experience too

[5:21]not just us human beings so again the same God that can

[5:26]send down rain and bring life after death can give you life

[5:33]after death as well this is one concept one imagination one context

[5:37]of death that went beyond just their materialistic understanding remember those people

[5:45]they had a a strictly materialistic view on life and the Quran

[5:50]sought to expand their minds and have them think of of things

[5:56]differently and in different contexts so this is one way that the

[5:59]Quran teaches that that death and Resurrection is possible in the same

[6:04]way that the Earth around you the land around you is resurrected

[6:07]and brought back to life death also in the Quran notes refers

[6:13]to the death of feeling in in the Quran when we learn

[6:25]of her story of how she had to uh you know leave

[6:26]her family and she had to go through that ordeal of giving

[6:30]birth on on her own what was her prayer she felt so

[6:32]much pain that she said how I wish I was dead before

[6:44]this not dead as in her life oh she wasn't wishing death

[6:46]upon her life but here some commentators say that what she is

[6:50]wishing upon herself is the death of feeling it was so painful

[6:57]not just the pangs of giving labor but loneliness the loneliness that

[7:03]pained her even more than the actual physical process of given birth

[7:07]so she says and the Quran reminds us of how we can

[7:15]experience that death of feeling those who have hard Hearts their heart

[7:21]is still pumping it's still doing its job it's still pumping oxygenated

[7:25]blood throughout the body yet emotionally it is dead because because it

[7:30]cannot feel the pain of others the prophet peace be upon Him

[7:38]is described in the Quran in the following way a man who

[7:48]feels the pain of others the less fortunate the poor he feels

[7:52]pain for you more than you feel pain for yourself this is

[7:56]someone whose heart is alive and the Quran tells us that some

[7:59]people their it's not their physical body that is dead it's not

[8:05]their mind that it's dead but their heart is dead and the

[8:09]Quran describes this in in one way as hardness of the heart

[8:15]when you have when you experience hard says that there are those

[8:19]that they cannot accept guidance because their hearts are as hard as

[8:24]rocks and even harder than rocks this is the death of feeling

[8:27]this is the death of empathy there is also intellectual death the

[8:35]Quran says says have you seen the one who is dead and

[8:47]he is brought to life we we give him life and we

[8:57]Grant him a light by which he walks among the people light

[9:02]here in in this verse light refers to knowledge in one Hadith

[9:07]it says knowledge is light that Allah casts Into the Heart of

[9:18]whomever he desires so the one who is dead but Allah brings

[9:28]him back to life by giving him Enlightenment and by giving him

[9:32]knowledge so you see the dimensions of life and death in the

[9:37]Quran go beyond just this materialistic understanding and this physical understanding of

[9:43]our bodies being alive or dead our organs being alive or dead

[9:47]the heart can also experience death the mind can experience death we

[9:53]can also experience death in the form of depression psychological death the

[9:59]Quran describes certain people on the day of judgment when they are

[10:03]put in the Hell Fire it says that he is in between

[10:10]the state of life and death it's more than just physical torment

[10:14]when he is in the Hellfire it is psychological torment this is

[10:22]why IMI he says in Dua he he says that and and

[10:33]and perhaps my Lord I am able to Bear My Flesh is

[10:35]able to Bear the burning of the Hellfire yet how am I

[10:40]going to Bear my separation from you and my distance from you

[10:43]so it's not just a a physical torment and a physical punishment

[10:51]it is very much also a psychological one as well the Quran

[10:58]also reminds us that death is similar to sleep how is it

[11:02]similar to sleep he says that Allah subhanahu waaa he takes hold

[11:20]of the souls in two occasions in two instances one one in

[11:27]its sleep the second he says he he he takes the soul

[11:34]he after sleep he sends the soul back until another appointed time

[11:38]meaning that when we sleep and when we die our souls are

[11:43]taken this is the common denominator between sleep and death is the

[11:51]capture of our souls the Quran is telling us every time you

[11:53]are asleep you are that close to death the difference between death

[12:00]and sleep is that in sleep it is a temporary disconnection the

[12:04]soul from the body and in death it is a permanent disconnection

[12:08]this is why death is permanent sleep and sleep is temporary death

[12:15]think about it think about this every night when you sleep that

[12:19]this is temporary death and when finally my soul is taken it

[12:23]will be permanent sleep not to wake up Subhan Allah there are

[12:29]those that we know that they sleep they're seemingly healthy and they

[12:33]don't wake up Allah subhana wa tala decides for this person I've

[12:36]taken your soul and I will keep this soul with me I

[12:39]will not send it back every night Allah is sending your soul

[12:42]back but who guarantees that that soul will be sent back you

[12:48]know when you fly for those of you who are frequent flyers

[12:50]you know every single flight that you go on is on time

[12:55]no not at all never there's always going to be some sort

[12:59]of delight some sort of cancellation so when the soul is being

[13:03]sent back to your body every night think about that what if

[13:07]there is a delay what if there's a cancellation what if I'm

[13:10]not supposed to go and return to this destination I'm supposed to

[13:15]divert and land an emergency landing in another destination this is how

[13:21]close we are every single night so again death in the Quran

[13:25]is more than just a physical thing that happens to us the

[13:32]pre-islamic Arabs believed because they believed only in materialism what you could

[13:37]see what you could feel what you can touch they disregarded any

[13:41]other form of death they believed in it only in a physical

[13:45]phenomenon the Quran also reminds us that death is inevitable and we

[13:54]cannot Escape it even if you were in fortified castles wherever you

[14:05]are death is going to find you one day IM he was

[14:17]taken captive by the guards the soldiers of this was in Sam

[14:23]and they barged into his home the IM had a a certain

[14:29]it a corner in his home that he had a room that

[14:33]he had dedicated for prayer even a certain cloth that he wore

[14:36]that he dedicated for prayer they barged in they took him forcefully

[14:40]and they brought him to the Magus of the Khalifa and of

[14:45]course the Khalifa was sitting with his uh Companions and his Circle

[14:52]his Entourage and it was a jolly time they were laughing they

[14:59]were singing they were drinking they were dancing and when he was

[15:03]brought into the Magus you know usually when you have a guest

[15:05]or a guest of honor they open the curtain for you they

[15:09]did not open the curtain for him they pushed him through the

[15:11]curtain imagine just pushed him through the curtain and when he was

[15:17]brought had him sit right next to him he said my cousin

[15:21]come sit right next to me so he sat next to him

[15:24]they then offered him a drink the IM said by Allah what

[15:30]you have offered me has never mixed with my blood nor the

[15:32]blood of my forefathers and I'm not going to change that he

[15:37]said okay then why don't you sing for us the Khalifa is

[15:40]asking the IM he says Sing for us he says I'm not

[15:44]a singer but I have a few words of poetry I will

[15:45]share and these were words inspired and written Byam but they had

[15:56]not been shared until then and the whole poem is about death

[15:59]about how men will sit in their castles in the highest places

[16:05]thinking that the higher they are the farther they are from the

[16:10]grave and he says when death approaches them it it won't be

[16:15]a smooth transition they won't be you know going down the steps

[16:17]of the ladder calmly into the grave they will fall from a

[16:23]high position not onto the ground but into the ground as deep

[16:27]as they can be buried for powerful words says they wear all

[17:16]kinds of fabrics they put on all sorts of makeup they eat

[17:19]and drink all types of food and drink yet where will be

[17:25]these beds where will be the crowns where will be the jewels

[17:28]Where will will be the silk robes where will be the food

[17:33]and drink when they're in that hole that dark hole of theirs

[17:35]and he says after a lifetime of eating and drinking it is

[17:40]their faces and bodies that will be consumed by the maggots in

[17:44]the grave and immediately the Magus broke immediately it went from a

[17:50]Magus of laughing and dancing and and and fun and joy to

[17:53]basically a Magus of of weeping and crying so much so that

[17:59]the khif thank the IM for the reminder and he said if

[18:01]you have any debts that I can pay off I'll pay them

[18:04]off for you and he did a reminder that all of this

[18:09]is temporary so wherever you are Allah says even if you are

[18:18]in the highest of places the most protected of places the Quran

[18:22]also reminds us every soul Subhan Allah and the and the word

[18:31]here is which means what taste it's just the taste of death

[18:37]Every Soul doesn't say shall consume death all all that the soul

[18:41]needs is to taste death to know the Ultimate Reality Allah subhana

[18:47]wa tala tells those who saw themselves as privileged in It's A

[18:57]specific group of people the Jews at the time is that if

[19:11]you're truly God's chosen people you're God's favored people you're God's favorite

[19:16]people God can't wait to meet you guys again on the day

[19:17]of judgment if all of that is true then wish death upon

[19:22]yourself wish death upon yourself so you can go meet your beloved

[19:26]person that you've claimed has chosen you for himself if you're really

[19:41]truthful the Quran says they will never wish death upon themselves why

[19:47]because they love this Dunya way too much they love it way

[19:52]too much to even think about parting with this dun so then

[19:55]why do you claim that you are God's favorite or God's chosen

[19:58]if you love this D so much so it's an inevitable thing

[20:04]in the context of understanding immortality we said even some were shocked

[20:16]and appalled when he passed away that how could he pass away

[20:21]some even threatened to punish those who asserted that the prophet had

[20:29]passed away they could not believe it and Allah says that we

[20:33]have not given immortality to any man no one we do not

[20:35]need to give immortality to any man IM aliam he says if

[20:42]anyone had had the means to live forever and avoid death it

[20:45]would have been sulan son of daud none of us here if

[20:51]anyone was destined to live forever it should have been suan the

[20:54]son of daud for whom Allah made the Jin and humankind subservient

[21:02]says chapter 34 they build for him whatever he wants armor they

[21:12]would build armor for him pots and pans to cook they would

[21:15]build for him palaces they would build for him Weaponry they would

[21:22]build for him soan asks Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to Grant him

[21:26]a type of kingdom and a type of rule that no one

[21:30]else has had before and no one will have after him and

[21:32]Allah says yes I will grant you I will grant you this

[21:37]is a sign for us that no matter how much we build

[21:40]or is any of us is any of us going to reach

[21:41]the level ofb da no IM aliam says if anyone was to

[21:47]be Eternal it would be him because he was putting good use

[21:53]to it because he was in control of man and Jin soan

[22:05]was overlooking the armies of men and Jin that would work for

[22:12]him in 24-hour shifts 24-hour shifts thousands at a time men and

[22:16]Jin they would build for him around the clock and he was

[22:22]looking above and he had his Cane whether he was standing or

[22:25]he was sitting he was leaning on his Cane and death came

[22:32]to him and according to one report he said when the angel

[22:40]of death came to him he said just just give me one

[22:43]moment to situate myself let me sit down let me situate myself

[22:45]he said no we have to go now said just give me

[22:48]one moment just one moment he said no now I have to

[22:52]take your soul and he took his soul and he was leaning

[22:54]on his Cane and he kept leaning and his body stayed upright

[22:58]while he was dead and his people the men and the Jin

[23:03]and the Jin specifically they were working for him they were tired

[23:06]they were exhausted when we decreed death onto him Allah says that

[23:19]the only thing that indicated to them that he had died was

[23:25]a little termite that we had sent to to eat his staff

[23:27]he had a staff the Quran refers to as a Min now

[23:31]A Min is a special type of Staff it's not just the

[23:33]one that you walk on it's one that you can use to

[23:37]actually prod people because he would walk and see them working and

[23:39]if he saw a lazy one amongst the Jin he would prod

[23:42]them like this so you know they were some of them were

[23:46]a bit frustrated and and they were not satisfied with that treatment

[23:49]so when he died and the staff was eaten through by a

[23:55]termite and he fell when he finally fell it became clear to

[24:07]the Jin that they had been working overtime they had been working

[24:14]overtime during that period of his death to to the point that

[24:16]the termite ate through the staff was overtime and and and and

[24:21]you know if it said that if we knew that he had

[24:25]died we wouldn't have stayed for even one second after this why

[24:26]are we why are we working overtime we're not even going to

[24:30]get paid for this overtime quickly they they they they wanted to

[24:35]you know abandon you know they wanted nothing to do with that

[24:40]work anymore soan Allah subhana wa taala he says even though we

[24:45]gave him everything but yet see how we took his life from

[24:49]him Subhan Allah there's always a balance there's always a balance no

[24:53]one no Prophet no man no W no one has been given

[24:55]everything Allah gives and he takes he G he gave him a

[25:01]great Kingdom but yet he took from him his life against his

[25:05]will not against his will but he understood but even that that

[25:08]that second that millisecond he said no now you're on my time

[25:10]you're not on your time anymore San I gave you your time

[25:14]now you're on my time and I take you when I want

[25:18]how do the IMs of describe death listen to the words of

[25:24]such profound words when he was asked about death death he described

[25:31]it in the following way he said for a Believer for a

[25:33]m it is like casting off dirty casting off dirty and tattered

[25:40]garbs imagine you're forced to wear dirty and tattered garbs some people

[25:48]who work in certain environments you know they they wear the clothes

[25:51]that they have to wear but once they're done with that job

[25:52]that work they can't wait to get out of those clothes right

[25:57]if you're working as a surgeon right you can't wait to get

[25:59]out of those clothes if you're working in construction you can't wait

[26:02]to get out of those clothes when you go home and wash

[26:06]yourself and uh you know and and and and wear something else

[26:08]he says for the believer it's this D death is like casting

[26:15]off dirty and tattered clothes being freed from the shackles and chains

[26:21]of restraint imagine you have locks around your neck and around your

[26:26]hands being freed from those shackles and swap in all of that

[26:30]for the finest delicately scented garments think about the best finest delicately

[26:37]scented garments that you can find that's death for them it is

[26:43]akin to riding the fleetest of mounts best horse that you can

[26:48]find that you sit on the back of and it just takes

[26:50]off it goes it leaves and it is akin to riding the

[26:56]fleetest of mounts and enjoying life in the most comfortable of dwellings

[27:02]think about the most comfortable place that you've ever stayed imagine that

[27:09]place now imagine somewhere which is a 100 a thousand a million

[27:11]a bill a trillion times more comfortable than that infinitely more comfortable

[27:17]than that this is death for the believer however he says for

[27:23]the Infidel it is akin to exchanging the finest garments for dirty

[27:29]rags imagine you're taken out of your brand name clothing and you

[27:34]are put into dirty rags similar to being forced to exist in

[27:37]the most terrifying circumstances so how does Al IM describe it it's

[27:46]changing your clothes changing your wardrobe you see how you get excited

[27:51]sometimes you buy a few new wardrobe items and you're excited about

[27:55]it it's that think about that with Heaven that you are buying

[28:02]new wardrobe items every time you do an act of good you've

[28:04]bought a new wardrobe item for yourself in Paradise you furnished your

[28:11]your grave you furnished your Afterlife with one more adornment the prophet

[28:17]peace be upon him he would advise the nation his followers but

[28:22]especially those that were close to him on is one of the

[28:28]acts that adorns the grave it furnishes the Grave it lightens the

[28:31]Grave it illuminates the grave rather and the prophet peace be upon

[28:39]him would say to he would insist and Sal friends is not

[28:50]difficult to perform in fact if you miss it during the night

[28:55]make it up during the day if you cannot make up or

[29:00]perform all of it at least some of the if you cannot

[29:04]do the 11 at least half of that at least the last

[29:06]three and if not the last three at least the last one

[29:09]on its own even if you have to make it up during

[29:12]the day if you miss F prayer and you're making up your

[29:14]F prayer find some time to dedicate to Sal IM Muhammad jaad

[29:24]he describes death in the following way he said says it is

[29:31]the sleep that comes to you every night with its period being

[29:37]extended until the day of Resurrection think of it it is the

[29:43]sleep that comes to you every night with its period being extended

[29:46]until the day of Resurrection directly what the Quran says IM aliam

[29:59]he would especially during his especially during his rule he would constantly

[30:05]remind the people to be aware of death that death is surrounding

[30:13]us he would say the following he says that Allah has appointed

[30:17]an angel one Angel out of the millions and millions and millions

[30:21]of angels there is an angel who his sole job is to

[30:28]remind people of of death and the way that he reminds people

[30:31]is with the following statements daily this is a daily Proclamation by

[30:39]this Angel oh people continue your reproduction and construction of admirable buildings

[30:44]but you would do well to remember keep reproducing keep building admirable

[30:50]buildings but you would do well to remember that the former will

[30:54]die and the latter will crumble no matter how much you reproduce

[31:02]they will all die your children either before you or after you

[31:06]I know it's not a thought that any of us want to

[31:11]think about our children but it's an inevitability that they will grow

[31:16]old they may become sick and they return to their lord just

[31:19]like we are prepared to our return to our Lord he says

[31:23]the former will die and the lateral will crumble it's okay you

[31:29]can reproduce and you can continue to build this is not dis

[31:32]uh discouraging anyone from reproducing and building you must reproduce and you

[31:39]must build but you would do well knowing that the former will

[31:42]die and the latter will crumble the prophet peace be upon him

[31:48]he would say remember frequently the Demolisher of Desire the demolisher of

[31:58]desire and when he was asked what is the Demolisher of desire

[32:03]he said it is death it is the Demolisher of desire it

[32:08]is Demolisher of all of the things that you love for yourself

[32:14]IMI he said to his son alassan he said oh my son

[32:20]remember death frequently and prepare yourself for its coming so that a

[32:24]sudden death will not take you by surprise some people it takes

[32:31]them by surprise others it may be a shock but it doesn't

[32:33]take them by surprise because they have prepared themselves from it he

[32:44]was once asked he said why do we hate death and worry

[32:48]about it someone was curious he said why is it that people

[32:53]avoid death they shun it they try to run away from it

[32:54]they do everything to extend their life they don't want to hear

[32:58]the word death or dying or even think about what they have

[33:01]to do he responded because while you have refurbished your dwelling in

[33:06]this world and focused your attention on making it as comfortable to

[33:10]you as possible you have neglected your accommodation in the world that

[33:16]is to come indeed all of your actions have made it quite

[33:18]clear that you do not wish to move someone's bought a house

[33:25]but yet they're not moving anything to it they're not picking up

[33:29]any of the items nothing they just bought the house and they

[33:32]say I'm going to move there but they don't move there well

[33:37]obviously they're comfortable in their own dwelling the Imam is saying it's

[33:42]it's it's clear the way that you live this life you're comfortable

[33:44]with it so why would you want to go move to somewhere

[33:46]else and this is why you fear it because you have not

[33:51]spent enough time Furnishing that house if you spend time Furnishing that

[33:54]house you won't fear it anymore you'll actually long for it you

[33:58]will actually have a longing for it this is why IMI he

[34:03]would say in his statement by God the son of Abu Talib

[34:08]describing describing himself he would say by God the son of Abu

[34:12]Talib is more longing for death than a child who is breastfeeding

[34:17]for the breast of his mother see a child's only source of

[34:22]nutrition how hungry he becomes he says I am longing for death

[34:25]I am hungry and thirsty for death the same way this child

[34:30]is longing for his nourishment this was IM aliam the commander of

[34:33]believers who taught us not to just wait for something but to

[34:36]long for it we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to guide us to

[34:41]the right path we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to accept from us

[34:44]oural in these holy months we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to

[34:49]bring relief to all of those worldwide who are suffering and are

[34:53]in need of it for a

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