Respected Brother-in-Islam
Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu
Kindly refer below our reply to a similar query.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.
To recite the Kalimah on one’s death bed is indeed a most noble death. To be honoured with this type of a death, one would have to live a life strictly in comformance to the teachings of Shari?ah and following the Sunnah of Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam).
A Muslim on his deathbed is best described by Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) himself. Hadhrat Abu Hurayra (Radhiallaahu Anhu) narrates that Nabi (Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam) said, ?(As for) a dying man, the angels come to him. If the man was pious, they say, ?Come out , O pure soul which was in a pure body. Come out being praised and receive the glad tidings of pleasure and fragrance and of a lord who is not angry (with you).? They continue to utter this until it (the soul) comes out. It then ascends to the sky which opens up for it. It is then asked, ?Who is this?? They will say, ?so and so.? It will then be said, ?Welcome to the pious soul which was in a pious body. Enter being praised and receive the good news of pleasure and fragrance and of a Lord who is not angry.? This utterance will continue until it reaches that heaven wherein Allah is.
When a man is not pious, they (angels) will say, ?Come out O despised soul which was in a despised body. Come out disgraced and receive the news of boiling waters and pus and other punishments of various kinds. This utterance will continue until it (the soul) comes out. It will then be taken to the sky which will be opened for it. It will be asked, ?Who is this?? It will be said, ?So-and-so?. It will then be said, ?You are not welcome. O evil soul which was in an evil body. Return despised and verily the doors of heaven will not be opened for you.? It is then hurled down from the skies and it will go to the grave (wherein perpetual punishment will be meted out to it.? (Mishkaat pg.141)
Life after death is one of the fundamental beliefs of a Mu?min. It is an extremely vast topic which would encompass volumes on its own. In a nut-shell, life after death commences after one is buried. His soul is returned to him and he is questioned by the Malaaikah (angels). If he answers correctly, his life in the Qabr will be a blissful one but on the contrary if he unable to answer or he answers incorrectly, then he will be tormented right until the day of resurrection. On that day, each soul will have to given a detailed account before Allah Ta’ala as to how he/she lived his life. All the Kuffaar will be despatched directly to Jahannum and the pious, righteous believers will be honoured with Jannat. Those of the believers who were wrong doers and had evil ways will be sent to Jahannum for a person (in proportion to his wrong doing) of chastisement and eventually after serving this time will they be allowed into Jannat. As we have mentioned earlier that this is a very vast topic, we suggest that you read up literature on it. A very comprehensive book is, ?The Spectacle of Death? by Khwaja Muhammed Islam.