Author: Amine Mansouri

Death and the Grave

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

“Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.” 21:35

This is a topic many of us try to forget or put to the side. It’s a reality we must remind ourselves of regularly. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Say, ‘Indeed, the death from which you flee – indeed, it will meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you about what you used to do.'” 62:8

No matter what we try to do, death is the only guarantee given to mankind and it can either be a huge torment or a great gift.

When death comes to the person they will be in the “agony (or intoxication) of death” (sakrat ul mout). This is a state when one will not be fully conscious of the surroundings. Allah says:

“And the intoxication of death will bring the truth; that is what you were trying to avoid.” 50:19

Once the moment comes Allah will remove the “veil” covering the eyes and one will see the previously unseen – angels.

There are many narrations regarding what happens after we pass away and the grave. The death of the mu’min, the true believer is explained in the following narration:

Imam Ahmad narrated that al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“Verily, when the believing slave is about to depart this world and enter the hereafter, angels from heaven with white faces will come down, faces as bright as the sun. They will bring with them one of the shrouds of Paradise and some of the perfume of Paradise. They will sit with the soul as far as the eye can see.

Then the Angel of Death comes to him and sits by his head and says, ‘O pure soul, come out to the forgiveness and pleasure of Allah.’ Then his soul comes flowing out like water flowing from a cup. Then he takes the soul, and no sooner does he seize it but the angels take it and place it in that shroud and perfume.

Then out of it comes the most excellent fragrance of musk to be found on the face of the earth. Then they ascend with it and they do not pass by any group of angels but the angels ask, ‘Who is this pure soul?’ and they reply, ‘It is so and so the son of so and so’ – using the best names by which he was known on earth.

Then they bring it to the lowest heaven, and ask for it to be opened, and it is opened for him. Those who are of high rank in each heaven accompany it until they approach the next heaven, and so it goes until it reaches the seventh heaven.

Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘Record the book of My slave in ‘Illiyoon (the highest heaven) and take him back to the earth, for I created them from it, and I shall return them to it, then I shall take them out from it again.’

Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and make him sit up.”

The soul of the disbeliever is narrated as follows:

“The soul of a non-Muslim or evil soul is removed like a multi-pointed skewer is removed from wet wool that causes the veins and nerves to sever”. [Abu Dawud]

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], “Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation for what you used to say against Allah other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant.” 6:93

Note that Allah here uses the word “mujrimun” meaning “wrongdoers” so this is not limited to disbelievers.

“And if you could but see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieved… They are striking their faces and their backs and [saying], “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire.” 8:50

The narration continues:

“Then the angels ascend with it and they do not pass by any group of angels but the angels ask, ‘Who is this evil soul?’ and they reply, ‘It is So and so the son of So and so’ – using the worst names by which he was known on earth. Then they bring it to the lowest heaven, and ask for it to be opened, and it is not opened for him.”

Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited (interpretation of the meaning):

“… For them the gates of heaven will not be opened, and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle” 7:40

Then he said, “Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘Record the book of My slave in Sijjeen (the lowest Hell) in the lowest earth. Then his soul is cast down.” (some scholars mention the soul is dropped to the earth and the pain is felt).

Then he (ﷺ) recited (interpretation of the meaning):

“… and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place.” 22:31

He said, “Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and make him sit up”. “

[Classed authentic by Sheikh al’Albaani].

The returning of the soul to the body is not as it is when the person is alive but in a different form. The stage between death and the day of resurrection is named “al barzakh” translating to “interval” or “barrier” between two things.

The two angels will then question the soul:

We must realise brothers and sisters, that on that day our tongues will only speak that which is in the heart. Whether we worshipped Allah in this world will determine what we say to these angels and will then determine our fate in the grave.

We will discuss specific narrations of the punishment and bliss in the grave in another post. For now, let remind ourselves of where we are inevitably going to end up. We must prepare ourselves for that moment from now.

Allah mentions the regret of the soul many times in the Qur’an – let us not be of one of them. These are a few:

“And spend [in the way of Allah ] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, ‘My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.'” 63:10

“[For such is the state of the disbelievers and wrongdoers], until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My Lord, send me back

That I might do righteousness in that which I left behind.’ No! It is only a word he is saying; and behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected.” 23:99-100

“If you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, [saying], ‘Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness. Indeed, we are [now] certain.'” 32:12

The fact that we are still in this world is a gift of Allah – let us never forget his mercy upon the people who turn back to Him in this life:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'” 39:53

Allah know best.

The main issue with Atheism

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Atheistic statements and ideas have played with many Muslims’ belief in Allah. In modern times Atheism is being portrayed as the normal view of the human being and everything else requires some sort of faith. We are going to explore here the arguments that can be put forth to counter Atheism.

Let us first understand what the Atheistic belief really is; there are many different ‘sects’ in Atheism but the core idea of it is that there is no God. For some of them they claim to have answers to how the universe came into existence while others simply say that “we still do not have any evidence but it is definitely not to do with any kind of creator”.

Allah asks a very simple question to the Atheists in the Qur’an:

“Were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?” 52:35

An educated Atheist will not deny that the universe had a beginning as this has basically been proven in science – the expanding universe for example. However, when one asks the Atheist what happened before the universe, this is when there are unsure answers. They will simply say that they do not know.

This is the first issue because if they have no knowledge of what happened prior to the existence of the universe then why do they call themselves “Atheists”? Since the word itself translates to “without God” while “Agnostic” means “without knowledge”. Thus we can derive that they are not disbelievers of God because of any proof, they simply deny God in any circumstance.

There is one main deductive argument to give to an atheist which is broken down into 3 parts:

  1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
  2. The universe began to exist.
  3. Therefore, the universe has a cause.

What we must ask though is what kind of cause is this? Since if we simply claim that there was a cause, that had a cause, that had a cause etc. then we can progressively and infinitely keep saying the same thing which has no basis.

Therefore, it is more than logical to say that there has to be a cause which did not have a cause; it had no beginning; it has the knowledge and creative capacity to change the situation.

The Atheist can only deny one of two of these premises. The first premise is that they can claim that not everything that exists had a cause. However, they cannot answer why and how things do not just pop into existence on a day to day basis – there is simply no proof of this happening at all even with all the modern technology.

The second premise is that the universe always existed thus it is infinite. However, modern science directly opposes this idea through the expanding universe (i.e. “∞ + 1” is a paradox which has no sense).

Another argument we can put forth to the Atheist is what is known as the “fine tuning argument”. Fine tuning is the idea that the universe is so fine tuned and balanced as to allow life to exist. Paul Davies (a well-known cosmologist) has said that there is a broad agreement between physicists and cosmologists that the universe is fine tuned for human life.

This is an agreements between both believers and disbelievers. There are only 3 options to choose when it comes to how this universe became so finely tuned:

  1. It evolved somehow: This option is not available in physics as there is no actual evidence for it at all. No serious physicist has ever made such a proposition thus it is simply unscientific.
  2. It is a chance factor: This means that the universe was a random generation – it happened by chance. Roger Penrose (a renowned physicist at Oxford University) was talking about the entropy level at the beginning of the universe; entropy is a measure of thermal energy. He says that the possibility of the entropy level being the way it is at the beginning of the universe is: 1010 × 123. This is an extremely high number and this is one calculation for only one of the components of the universe. From this we can say that the idea that the universe is a chance factor is simply ridiculous.
  3. There was a creator: An infinite being outside of boundaries of space and time – a being that invented space and time itself.

These are the logical arguments and statements about the start of the universe. However, we must all understand, especially the Muslims, that it is a natural predisposition to believe in God. Studies in Oxford University in 2011 showed that belief in God is a predisposed belief within children. So to believe in God nobody has to follow any kind of logic, there is no intelligence or smartness involved in this notion.

This is why we see many scientists and seemingly “smart” people disbelieving while in many uneducated areas around the world, we find people worshipping one God.

Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we have testified.’ [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, ‘Indeed, we were of this unaware.'” 7:172

All the progenies of Adam were given the natural feeling to believe in Allah. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ” Allah says: I created all of My servants as hunafa’ (pure monotheists – believers in one God), but the devils diverted them from their belief.” [Muslim]

We cannot claim that it was merely environmental or situational that we deny the existence of God. It is within human nature, and the only way to remove that belief is to force it through following the whisper of the devils and lying to ourselves about all the proofs we see around us everyday until our hearts harden.

Let us remember, Allah does not turn His back on anyone – we are all His slaves. He did not create human beings as disbelievers, every single soul is given the ability to search for answers to why we are in this world and with sincerity it will inevitably lead to Allah – He simply asks that we take a step towards Him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks I am, and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.'” [Bukhari]

Allah knows best.

Why is delaying marriage a problem?

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Delaying marriage has become a crisis in the modern Muslim world. It seems that the youngsters have been brain washed about the idea of marriage from secular culture; the West put forward that marriage is for when one is older after they have ‘lived life’.

The other extreme which is more common amongst the true young believers is that the parents and surrounding family make it too difficult:

  • The mahr (dowry) is made too high.
  • The expectations of the wedding are too much to handle.
  • Probably the worst point of all is that the wali rejects a man or a daughter from marrying their child due to cultural differences.

None of these are from the sunnah and it is causing great fitna amongst the young especially in the west where zina is widespread. We have made zina so much more accessible than a halal marriage and it is corrupting the new generation.

Many of the young men claim that they cannot get married due to the fact that they do not have a job, house, car etc. and many of the women do not wish to marry such a man. Allah mentions in the Qur’an:

“And marry the unmarried among you and the righteous among your male slaves (Allah’s slaves) and female slaves (Allah’s slaves). If they should be poor, Allah will enrich them from His bounty, and Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.” 24:32

Allah commands the believers to marry the righteous from among us including those who are poor or lack in funds – He will enrich them Himself. At the end of the day the rizkh (provision) is always from Allah and not from the job or money source we have.

There are many stories in which a couple went into marriage and soon after the man lost everything from his job to the house and everything in between. Who can guarantee us stability out of Allah’s decree?

The key in all of this is to have the right intentions and follow the Islamic teachings in finding a spouse while staying away from haram. Without Allah’s baraka (blessing) there will be corruption in the marriage.

Some of us also take the wedding itself too far. We expect so much from the celebration as to delay the marriage for the couple to save up enough to have it, at the end almost bankrupting them. Our weddings must be made simpler to make marriage easier and also kept halal to gain the most blessing from Allah.

For the biggest issue many of us delay marriage due to not finding someone within our culture. This is a form of racism in Islam. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “When someone whose religion and character you are pleased with proposes to (someone under the care) of one of you, then marry to him. If you do not do so, then there will be trial (fitnah) in the land and corruption (fasad).” [Tirmidhi]

For the father who rejects a man due to his culture, you are directly opposing the order of the prophet (ﷺ).

The prophet also mentions: “A woman may be married for four things: her wealth, her lineage, her beauty and her religious commitment. Seek the one who is religiously-committed, may your hands be rubbed with dust (i.e., may you prosper).”

This is for the men looking merely at one thing. When looking for marriage the first and foremost aspect to look into is the deen of the woman. Many of the men especially in the later generations do not look past the physical beauty of the potential spouse. They find the woman attractive and move directly for marriage.

Let us all take heed of these signs and guidance from Allah. Our new generations are suffering and most of that responsibility is on the shoulders of the parents. There will come a day when Allah will question us all. The youngster who delayed marriage because they claim they are young or lacking funds only to end up in haram. The parents who reject a righteous believer asking for the daughters hand. The parents who delay the children’s marriage for reasons such as studies.

What will we say to Allah?

May Allah make it easy on our youth and soften the hearts of the parents.

Allah knows best.

Creation of Mankind

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Before the existence of mankind, the world was occupied by another creation of Allah named the jinn. They, just like us, have a choice in life – to choose right or wrong and whether or not to worship the creator. Unlike the mala’ika (angels) who simply follow Allah’s commands without option.

The jinn occupying the earth caused great calamity. Blood shed and corruption diseased the land until Allah sent the angels to fight against them pushing them into the seas. Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And when your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority [mankind].’ They said, ‘Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?’Allah said, ‘Indeed, I know that which you do not know.'” 2:30

Allah paints a scene where He announces to the angels that he is to create another life form to live on earth. To which they responded knowing very well what previously happened with the jinn – that a life form with choice will cause more blood shed. They doubted the new creation and Allah responded accordingly.

Allah continues:

“And He taught Adam the names – all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, ‘Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful.'” 2:31

They said, “Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise.” 2:32

Allah then created mankind gave them knowledge which the angels did not have – thus proving to them His mightiness. They, as humble creatures accepted that they were wrong. Allah introduces the first human being:

He said, ‘O Adam, inform them of their names.’ And when he had informed them of their names, He said, ‘Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed.'” 2:33

Moving forward Allah ordered Adam – of human creation – to prove the knowledge he was given. Allah then commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam.

And [mention] when We said to the angels, “Prostrate before Adam”; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. 2:34

The shaytan (devil) who was formerly known as Iblees (he is from the jinn) reached such a noble state as to be with the angels.  Thus why he was commanded to prostrate along with them which he then refused.

“[ Allah ] said, ‘O Iblees, what prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My hands? Were you arrogant [then], or were you [already] among the haughty?'” 38:75

“He said, ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay.'” 38:76

He was arrogant and thus was expelled as a disbeliever and cursed until the day of judgement. He then asked Allah to give him until mankind is resurrected.

Shaytan wishes to get back at mankind, through his humiliation his plan is to take us all with him to jahanam (hell). He blames the humans as a whole for his expulsion and curse thus will be relentless with his revenge.

[ Allah ] said, “Then get out of Paradise, for indeed, you are expelled.

And indeed, upon you is My curse until the Day of Recompense.”

He said, “My Lord, then reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected.”

[ Allah ] said, “So indeed, you are of those reprieved

Until the Day of the time well-known.”

[Iblees] said, “By your might, I will surely mislead them all

Except, among them, Your chosen servants.”

[38:77-83]

Iblees vows to manipulate humans to do sin and do evil – except the true righteous servants who follow the path of Allah. This is the greatest test put upon mankind by Allah through the shaytan.

This is the introduction to mankind that is given to us in the Qur’an. Allah created us with the ability to make choices and these choices determine our fate when we return to Him after we pass.

Allah knows best.

Laylat-ul-Qadr

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Time has flew past and we have already reached the last 10 nights of Ramadan. These are the nights in which there is unlimited blessing and in one night specifically is worth a whole lot more than any other. Here are some hadiths pertaining to Laylat-ul-Qadr:

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Whoever establishes Optional Night Salah on the night of Qadr (Night of power) in sincere faith and hoping for Allah’s Reward, Allah shall erase his previous sins.” [Bukhari]

Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Ramadan approached, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “This month has come to you, and in it there is a night that is better than a thousand months. Whoever is deprived of it is deprived of all goodness, and no one is deprived of its goodness except one who is truly deprived.” [Ibn Majah authenticated by al-Albaani]

`A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: “When the last ten nights began Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) kept awake at night (for prayer and devotion), wakened his family, and prepared himself to observe Salah (with more vigor).” [Muslim]

She (may Allah be pleased with her) also narrated: “The Messenger of Allah used to encourage the people to pray Qiyam in Ramadan, without insisting on that. He said: “Whoever spends the nights of Ramadan in prayer out of faith and in the hope of reward, he will be forgiven his previous sins.” [al Nasa’i authenticated by al-Albaani]

There is a difference of opinion when it comes to which night exactly Laylat-ul-Qadr is; the idea that it is for sure on the 27th is not conclusive. As we have seen above, the Prophet (pbuh) used to search for it in the last 10 nights. There are many hadith that mention different narrations, one of which:

Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “Once I went to Abu Sa`id Al Khudry and asked him: Won’t you come with us to the date-palm trees to have a talk?

So, Abu Sa`id went out and I asked him: Tell me what you heard from the Prophet (ﷺ) about the Night of Qadr. 

Abu Sa`id replied: Once Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) performed I`tikaf (seclusion) on the first ten days of the month of Ramadan and we did the same with him.

Gabriel came to him and said: The night you are looking for is ahead of you. So, the Prophet (ﷺ) performed the I`tikaf in the middle (second) ten days of the month of Ramadan and we too performed I`tikaf with him.

Gabriel came to him and said: The night which you are looking for is ahead of you. In the morning of the 20th of Ramadan the Prophet (ﷺ) delivered a sermon saying: Whoever has performed I`tikaf with me should continue it. I have been shown the Night of “Qadr”, but have forgotten its date, but it is in the odd nights of the last ten nights.

I saw in my dream that I was prostrating in mud and water. In those days the roof of the mosque was made of branches of date-palm trees. At that time the sky was clear and no cloud was visible, but suddenly a cloud came and it rained.

The Prophet (ﷺ) led us in the prayer and I saw the traces of mud on the forehead and on the nose of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ). So, it was the confirmation of that dream.” [Bukhari]

Think of it this way: we know for sure that it is the last 10 nights of ramadan, however, we will not know when those last 10 nights have started until we know when Eid is (since Eid is determined by the moon sighting and marks the end of ramadan). Thus in order for us to be sure we have gained its blessings, we must increase in worship in all of these last nights.

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Search for it in the last ten nights [i.e., Laylat-ul-Qadr (the Night of Decree)] If one among you shows slackness and weakness (in the earlier part of Ramadan), it should not be allowed to prevail upon him in the last week.” [Sahih Ahmad]

May Allah give us the strength to make the most of these nights and accept all our worship.

Allah knows best.

The Heart vs The Mind

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Allah says in the Qur’an:

Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder. For indeed, there are stones from which rivers burst forth, and there are some of them that split open and water comes out, and there are some of them that fall down for fear of Allah . And Allah is not unaware of what you do.

[2:74]

We know that we as human beings have physical hearts and the hearts of our souls. So what exactly is the relationship or the role of the heart compared to the mind?

You see, our minds they process things. We analyse, we understand, we memorise, we learn and thus our minds progressively develop. In other words, a mind of a child at 4 years of age is less advanced than that of a of a 9 or 10 year old, and that 10 year old is not as advanced at 20 etc. So the mind is constantly growing, maturing and acquiring more and more knowledge as we age.

However, the heart is a different kind of entity. The heart doesn’t mature or grow; the heart fluctuates. Some days we have really good days as far as remembering Allah and being cautious of Allah. On other days it is really bad. We have ups and downs in the heart and the heart can become hard and it can also become soft. It can die and can come back to life etc. 

So, on the one hand we have this entity that matures and on the other hand we have this other entity inside of us that is very volatile, very fragile. We have to take care of our hearts. In other words, sometimes we may know something in our minds but the heart still needs it; a reminder about Allah or a principle of Islam for example. Sometimes we start thinking “I already know this”, but in fact our hearts still need it to be told again and again.

Now from an Islamic or a Qur’anic perspective, when we make a decision, does it come from our minds or our hearts? How exactly do we make our decisions?

The answer to that is actually a combination of both, but the heart is in the driver’s seat as far as the Qur’an portrays.

For example, let’s say there is a young person who smokes. This person reads about how harmful smoking really is, is told at school about how it effects the lungs, the doctor is trying to make them stop etc. If one was to ask this person if they know that it is bad, they will say yes. Then if one asks them why they smoke? They never give an intellectual answer, “I like it” or “I will stop soon” or whatever.

So let’s say his same person is in their house upstairs smoking in their room and they see their dad pulling up on the driveway. What happens? The cigarette is immediately flushed down the toilet, air freshener comes out, gum in the mouth. Why? This is due to the fear of the father in their heart.

The lesson here is that if we do not have fear in the heart then even if we know it’s bad for us, we still do it anyway.

Now let’s take a look at an example from the Qur’an. In Surat Al-Baqarah and other places, Allah outlines the story of the Israelites, at the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) – they were known to be very intelligent people. Now they did not have any doubt that the Prophet (ﷺ) was indeed the final messenger from Allah – intellectually they understood this, and yet they still opposed him because their hearts were not willing to accept a gentile.

They were given so many miracles. One of which was a dead man being brought back to life in front of their eyes. Now the mind cannot play any tricks with this – a genuine miracle that they saw for themselves. Something outside the scope of our reality, but Allah says even after all this their hearts became hard, which means that if we let our intellect take control on its own, we have nowhere to go.

For us we have the miracle of the Qur’an and the Sunnah – the endless wisdom in Allah’s word and the Prophecies given by His Prophet (ﷺ) along with perfected narrations about his character. We can only benefit from it if our hearts are softened. A hard heart can get softer, it can be revitalised – as long as we are still breathing it is never too late.

May Allah soften our hearts and forgive our shortcomings, for it is the sins we commit that harden our hearts.

Allah knows best.