“Goodbye My Beloved” by Muhammad Al Shareef (PART 2)

“Goodbye My Beloved” by Muhammad Al Shareef (PART 2)
ISSUE NO. 006 of 2007
ISSUE DATE. Friday 9th February, 2007
Corresponding Islamic Date: 20th Muharram, 1428
A’ oozu Billahi Minash Shaitaan Nir Rajeem Bissmillaah Hir Rahmaan Nir Raheem
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the Accursed, I begin in the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu ‘Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh
Peace Be Unto You and the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings.
“Goodbye My Beloved”
by Muhammad Al Shareef
(PART 2)

Whatever happens, when someone is patient and says the dua that the Prophet (saw) taught us, that person will be blessed with something better.

The Dua is as follows:

“Inna lillaahi wa inna Ilayhi raaji’oon. Allaahumma ‘jurnee fee museebatee, wakhluf lee khayrun minh.”

Umm Salamah (ra) the narrator of this dua, loved her husband very much. When he died, she states, “I was firm to say the dua, but I thought to myself, how could I get anything better then Abu Salamah? Allah (swt) answered my dua and I married the Messenger of Allah (saw)! And he is better then Abu Salamah (ra).”

May Allah (swt) make all our brothers good husbands like Rasul Allah (saw) and Abu Salamah.

And for those who have had a child die, take glad tidings in the following Hadith:

Abu Moosa al-Ash’aree (ra) narrates: Allah’s Messenger, (saw) said,
“If the child of a servant (of Allah) dies, Allah questions the angels,
‘Have you taken the life of my servant’s child?’

“The angels reply, ‘Yes.’

“Allah then asks them, ‘Have you taken the fruit of his heart?’

“The angels reply, ‘Yes.’

“Then Allah asks them, ‘What did my servant say?’

“They reply, ‘He praised you and refrained (from saying anything unbefitting)’

“At that Allah will say, ‘Build a home for my slave in Jannah and call it Bayt-ul-Hamd (The Home of Thankfulness).’”

Umar (ra) said, “We found the best of our provision to be patience.”


Part II: Towards Patience

The term Al-Qadaa’ wal Qadr is so easily inadequately translated. Some have translated it as pre-destiny, decree, etc.
Once, however, I was passing through a bookstore in Madinah and there I found a book on this topic. The translated had cleverly translated the term Qadr as: Pre-Recording.

So I thought to myself, for our TV culture, now there is a translation we can all understand. Everything that happens to us is pre-recorded with Allah (swt), nothing can happen except by his Will and knowledge.

When a death befalls someone, it is permissible to cry (without wailing) and to feel sadness in the heart.

When the son of Rasul Allah (saw) was dying, he held his small body in his hand and began crying. The Sahaabah who saw him crying inquired, “What are these tears, O Messenger of Allah.”

He (saw) replied, “The eye cries, and the heart is saddened, but we do not say anything other then that which is pleasing to our Lord, and we, indeed O Ibraheem, are saddened by our separation from you.”

However, we have picked up things from the culture of the non-Muslims, things that we do not find in the tradition dictated to us by the Lord of the worlds. For example:

a. To wear black specifically to honor the deceased.

b. Institutionalizing the placing of flowers at the site of the grave.

c. To lower a national flag in honor of the deceased.

d. There is no mention of a ‘moment-of-silence’ in Islam.

e. There is no mention of Qur’an Khanis (gathering people to recite Qur’an for the deceased) in the Sunnah of Muhammad (saw). All goodness is in
following the guidance of our Prophet (saw).

f. There is no mention of gathering people 40 days after the death to recite Qur’an for the deceased.

g. There is no mention of having an annual gathering where guests recite the Qur’an for the deceased.


h. There is no mention in the Sunnah of collectively reciting Suratul-Fatiha for the deceased.

So then what should we do?

1. We should hasten to pay off the debts of the deceased.

2. We should give our condolences to the family of the deceased. This could be done in the Masjid, at the gravesite, at their homes, etc. But excessively long gatherings at the deceased’s home should not be encouraged.

3. We should make food for the family of the deceased and not burden them with having to make food for the entire community.

4. We should all attend the funeral prayer and, for men, follow the funeral to the gravesite. The women should not follow, as Umm Salamah (ra) said, “We were forbidden from following the funeral processions.”

5. We may give Sadaqah on behalf of the deceased, and we may perform Hajj on their behalf.

6. And above all, we should make Dua, and lots of it, for the deceased. This is how the Prophet (saw) taught us, as in the funeral prayer and the hadith of the servants actions being cut off except from three things - he mentioned, “… a pious child that makes dua for (the deceased).”

Narrated Abu Hurayrah (ra), Allah’s Messenger (saw) said to a group of Ansari women, “There is no woman amongst you who has three children of hers die, yet she is patient, hoping for the reward from Allah, except that she shall enter Jannah.”

So a woman amongst them asked,
“What about two children O Messenger of Allah?”

He replied, “Even two.”

Allah’s Blessings on the Islamic New Year, 1428

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