WHEN A MUSLIM DIES - THE TWO EXTREMES

 

By

Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

It is more than glaring now that what some people believe to be seriousness upon Sunnah is to be unnecessarily harsh and what some people believe to be moderation or steadfastness upon Sunnah is to be carelessly lenient on fundamental aspects of the Deen. These are the two dangerous extremes that we would not stop warning against in sha Allāh.

I was telling a brother recently that anyone who lacks mercy is not of us. Even in this life, someone should feel bad if a kafir is to be thrown into fire, let alone the fire of Allāh on the Day of Judgment. It is because we fear hell-fire for ourselves that we try to abide by the Sunnah to the best of our abilities. In the same vein, we call the Kuffār to Islām and people of bid'ah to Sunnah because hell-fire is not to be joked with. We don't even want our enemies to taste, let alone ourselves. 

The case of those who die upon other than Islām is different because Allāh has ordained hell-fire for them. But in the case of those who apparently die upon Islām, how would a Muslim whose heart is meant to be filled with mercy not use the opportunity to pray Allāh to forgive his or her forgiveness? It may not be mandatory for you to pray for his or her mercy and he or she might not even need your du'ā'. But watch what you say about the dead, so that it wouldn't haunt you. Even if you have to refute the errors of the dead, focus on the errors and not the personality. You just didn't pray for a dead Muslim, you feel bad seeing people praying for him just because you believe he fell into some grave errors. This is serious!

The best favour from Allāh is for someone to die upon Islām, the worst thing that could happen to a human being is to die as a disbeliever in Allāh and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. With the rate of ignorance of the foundations of Islām in our society, even if the only thing our da'wah is able to do is making people to leave bid'ah that takes them out of Islām, wallahi, it is a great achievement because they have hope.

The way some people behave when some Muslims die and they have some things against them that are not even personal is for Allāh to put them in hell - otherwise they will not be contented. The question now is, what will anyone gain in wanting a Muslim enter hell fire before or after his death, even if he had some grave errors? Don't you have errors too that could even be greater than that of the person you have refused to seek mercy of Allāh upon? This religion of Islām is free from emotions. You might be saying you don't wish him hell, but your words and actions shows otherwise. This is different from the case of a Kafir or a person of bid'ah who attacks the Sunnah and its people with full force.

Some people speak and act as if they already have their certificate of paradise already printed and well kept with them. Even the Companions رضي الله عنهم whom Allāh gave glad tidings of paradise did not behave like this. They were so humble. They had their certificate with them, yet they acted as if they were nothing. This is not because they didn't trust the promise of Allāh, it was out of their fear for Allāh. We need to know our levels, by Allāh. This is the way of our salaf.

Don't deceive yourself, if you cannot seek mercy upon the one who you also accept died upon Islām, you are either confused or indirectly saying he died upon kufr. Who knows? As Sheikh Fawzān حفظه الله hinted in a relevant part of his explanation of Sharh us Sunnah, the errors alleged to have been committed could be as a result of ignorance or something else. What if the person has been forgiven or he repented before death and Allāh accepted his repentance without your own knowledge? After all, you aren't Allāh secretary or spokesperson.

However, when a Muslim dies, no matter how pious he was in life, let us avoid exaggerating their personalities as if their paradise is assured. No one will enter paradise no matter how sound he is upon Sunnah, except by the pleasure and mercy of Allāh. Don't over-praise anyone. Don't share or defend the errors of a deceased person. Let us say whatever good we know about the deceaseds and refrain from saying bad things about them. This is what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلّم prescribed. This is what it means to be merciful.

May Allāh forgive our sins and grant us good end.