Please explain (a) A Muslim at the death bed and (b) life after death in details as it would help me strengthen my imaan. What happens when a Muslim dies with the kalima. And how can we be so lucky? May Allah reward you for your efforts.
Respected Brother-in-Islam
Assalaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barakaatuhu
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.
and Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
FATWA DEPT.