Death of a Believer

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is adapted from a swuhbah from Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) on the 15^th March 2010. 

Our physical strength is dependent on our spiritual selves.  As we grow older, we depend less on our ebbing physical strength and more on our spiritual energy.  Spiritual energy is derived from Divine nourishment.  Divine nourishment is the spiritual fuel we seek from such associations.  It powers our physical bodies, enabling us to continue worshiping the Almighty.  Our physical strength diminishes as we approach death but our spiritual energy and abilities become enhanced and sharpened. 

Man believes pleasure lies in food, drink and in partying.  That is a brief sort of enjoyment.  It does not last very long.  And yet people have lost their mind and set their goal in life to seek this temporary physical gratification.  In stark contrast, Divine Pleasure is a never-ending spring.  It flows without rest, giving continuous pleasure to our souls.  Allah (s.w.t.) Gathers the Divine Pleasure due to a believer all his life, and at the moment of death.  This Pleasure is Heaped upon him after his last breath.  That is why the Prophet (s.a.w.) said that a believer’s happiest moment is when he is returning to meet his Lord.  If the earthly pleasures of all of us were gathered in one instant, it cannot match the pleasure being experienced by a believer in the ecstasy of death.  If the bliss being experienced by a believer is divided out to all the people on earth, all depression and misery would be lifted from their hearts instantly.  An ocean of endless bliss awaits believers upon their death.  More await them, as no pleasure can match an invitation into the Divine Presence for an audience with the Sulthan Himself! 

The Salafis persist in actions that would deny them such a blissful and enviable end.  They suppress their followers, disallowing the recitation of swalawat upon Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  The sight of a Muslim reciting swalawat at the maqam of Rasulullah (s.a.w.) sends them into frenzy. 

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴحزَاب

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَـٰٓٮِٕڪَتَهُ ۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّۚ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيۡهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسۡلِيمًا (٥٦) 

Allah and His angels, Send blessings on the Prophet: O you that believe!  Send you blessings on him and salute him, with all respect. (Surah al-Ahzab:56) 

Allah (s.w.t.) and His Angels are Sending swalawat upon Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  The believers have been Commanded to do so, yet these scholars, themselves from the ummah of Muhammad (s.a.w.), deny him that respect.  The Honour that is contained in this ayat dwarfs all the honour that we give to each other on earth.  All the honour that we bestow on earth, if gathered, is equivalent to an atom in this Ocean of Honour that Allah (s.w.t.) has Bestowed on Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  It is a terrible deviation to forbid the recitation of swalawat.  In the recitation of tahiyyat of the Wahhabis, instead of reading, “as-Salamu'alayka ayyuhan Nabiyu,” salutations be upon you, O Prophet, like the Ahl as -Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah do, they read, “as-Salamu’Alayhi”, which means “salutations be upon he who is absent”.  While we send salam directly to our Prophet (s.a.w.) in our prayers, they send it to one who is absent and distant from themselves. 

The Wahhabis claim to emulate the salaf as-swalihin, the pious predecessors.  But the salaf us-swalihin would never deride the recitation of swalawat or eliminate the swalawat that is recited at the end of the adzan  The Prophet (s.a.w.) said his ummah would break into many sects and that believers are to follow the largest group if such a break-up happened during their lifetime.  While the number of Ahl as -Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah exceeds a billion, there is much smaller group of Salafis.  It is obvious what they should do.  Wahhabis must discard their deviated ideology of belittling Rasulullah (s.a.w.) and to come to Allah (s.w.t.) with a heart full of love for Rasulullah (s.a.w.).  If they persist in their deviant beliefs, they will regret it deeply.  Allah (s.w.t.) will punish them with a lingering taste of bitterness in this life before their deaths.