Basic Islam 1

Who are we? We are Muslims. A Muslim is a person who follows the commands of Allah and dedicates his life to live by the guidelines laid by Allah. What is our religion? Our religion is Islam. Islam is an Arabic word which means peace and submission. By following the commands of Allah (by submitting our will to the will of Allah) we will get peace in this life and in the hereafter. What does Surrendering our Will mean? We surrender our will to Allah by doing what Allah commands us to do rather than what we want to do. Also it can be seen as doing only what Allah has allowed us to do and refraining from what Allah has forbidden us to do. he e!ample is that we might want to eat something li"e a sweet# which has haram ingredients. If we eat the sweet we are following our own will if we don$t eat the sweet then we are following Allah$s command. What kind of peace do we get ? he peace we get from Islam is %. &eace within our community because Islam teaches us how to live as human beings and to respect and love one another '. &eace within our selves by following the commandments of Allah# Allah gives us peace in our hearts. Also we have the assurance that Allah is with us and he will guide us and help us in this life and give us success in the hereafter. (. &eace within the world by ma"ing all man"ind as one nation. All Muslims are brothers and sisters to one another so they should loo" after and care for one another. If all nations did this then we would have world peace. ). &eace in the hereafter by Allah granting us paradise if we live by and obey Allah$s command

Islam is a Deen Islam is not a religion in the normal sense. Islam is called a *een that means Islam is a complete way of life. Islam tells us how to live ') hours a day# + days a wee". We have to be Muslims everyday not on certain days and we have to follow all that Allah has taught us rather than what we want to obey. Is Islam a new religion? Islam is the religion that was sent by Allah to all his prophets. All nations were guided to follow Allah# to understand Allah and to worship him alone. he religions have changed since then because the followers use to change them. Islam is the only religion that has not been changed by the people because we have the original message in the ,uran and its e!planation in the hadith. Allah said he would guard the ,uran until the day of -udgement. Who is Allah? Allah is the .ord and /reator of everything. 0othing was in e!istence until Allah created it. 1e alone sustains and maintains all creation and he alone has power over everything Where is Allah? Allah is not li"e a person where he might be in a building or a town or a country. Allah is all aware. 1e sees everyone and everything and he hears everything we say 2 even our inner most secrets. Allah is all3"nowing. What does Allah look like? Allah is not li"e anything we can see or imagine. 1e is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. 0o one has seen Allah and no3one "nows what he loo"s li"e. 1e is not li"e anything in creation or anything we can imagine in our minds. Allah is uni4ue. How can we know Allah? By studying the ,uran we are taught about the ,ualities of Allah and through his names (or attributes) we can "now Allah e.g.
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1e is 5ternal 1e is the most3merciful 1e is the creator 1e is self3sustaining 1e all3"nowing 1e is all powerful 1e is the source of peace and perfection Master of the day of -udgement What does a Muslim look like? Muslim comes in all shapes and si6es# different ages and colours. hey are all normal human beings# the only thing that ma"es them different is that they believe in their hearts that Allah is one# he has no partners and he has no sons. here are no other gods apart from Allah. A Muslim also believes that Muhammed is the messenger of Allah. 1e was selected by Allah to deliver the message of Islam to all man"ind. All the people who obey the message are Muslims and all the people who re-ect the message are non3Muslims. What is special about Muhammed and his message? Muhammed was a normal person li"e you and me. he difference was Allah had selected him to tell all man"ind about Allah and how to live their lives. Muhammed was different from other prophets because 1e came to all the people not only to the Arabs. &reviously the other prophets had only come to their own people he message of Muhammed was going to be preserved until the day of -udgement. he ,uran is the word of Allah and it is in the same form# word for word# when it was revealed %)77 years ago. he life of the prophet has been recorded in the 1adiths which are also with us today. he Miracle of Muhammed is with us today. he other miracles the prophets came were only to their people and we can not see them today. he Miracle of the ,uran is with us today for All man"ind to see and witness.

 1e was the last prophet# there will be no more prophets after him. Anyone who claims to be a prophet after Muhammed is a liar and a non3believer.

Basic Islam

lesson !

What was the message of Muhammed? he message of Muhammed was essentially awheed. awheed is to believe in Allah in the correct manner (i.e. he is one# he has no partners and sons). We also believe that he is our /reator lord and Master. 1e created us for a purpose and we as Muslims try and follow Allah$s will and plan so that we are fulfilling our purpose in this life. Wh" did Allah create mankind? Allah tells us in the ,uran that he created us only so that we obey and worship him. o ma"e this simple# .ife is a test. Allah created us and given us free choice in this world to do whatever we want. hrough this Allah wants to see how we live our lives 3 whether we will obey# worship and follow his command by our own free choice. If we follow Allah$s will then he will reward us with &aradise. If we worship other things when we are command to worship Allah alone# we do bad things when we are commanded to do good# when we ignore what Allah has said 3 Allah would then punish us by throwing us in 1ell fire. herefore# we all have a choice in life# we can be Believers (people who believe in Allah and follow Allah$s command) or we can be 8afirs (non3 Believers 2 people who disobey Allah and don$t believe in him). We have complete free choice in whatever we want to do in this life. What did Muhammed bring? he revelation that came to Muhammed were the words of Allah. hese words came to Muhammed through the Angel 9ibrael or Allah put them straight into the heart of &rophet Muhammed. his message was then recited to the people who use to memorise it and use it in prayers (salah). he prophet commanded his scribes to write it down. Once they had recorded it# they use to read it bac" to the prophet to ma"e sure there was no mista"es.

his message is called the ,uran. It has been preserved from those days until today 2 not one word or letter is different from then and today. A person who "nows the ,uran from start to finish is called a 1afi6. his message is still available to the whole world to study and learn. How do we know that the #uran has ne$er been changed? he ,uran is the world of Allah# Muslims have memorised this from the first days right until today. here has been millions of 1afi6 throughout the world. he &rophet himself use to recite it in his prayers and the whole ,uran to the Angel :ibrael in ;amadan. If the ,uran had been changed then they would all have be reading it differently. he faithful scribes recorded the ,uran# they had read it bac" to the prophet when they had written it. All the copies of the ,uran were identical in the early days. he ,uran was collected together and a standard copy was made# copied and sent throughout the whole Muslim world. hese copies are still with us today. here was a complete agreement between the companions of the prophet about what was in the ,uran. All the 1afi6# who use to recite it in ;amadan# also use to recite it the same 2 they also completely agreed with the written copy. here has never been any other version of the ,uran apart from the one we have today. Allah guaranteed that the ,uran would not be changed and he himself has promised that it will be "ept pure until the day of -udgement. Allah$s promises are always true and there is no doubt in his words. What does the #uran teach? he ,uran is a complete manual on how to live our lives. It tells us how to behave# to respect our parents and elders and to live as human beings are supposed to. It teaches us about what is right and what is wrong. he ,uran also tells us about the things that we have never seen with our eyes (the <nseen) 2 the Angels and :inn# *ay of :udgement# 1eaven and 1ell= It tells us about the prophets in the past and how they lived and what trials and tribulations they were put through. he ,uran tells us about how Allah created the universe and everything in it. It tells us about his creation and gives e!amples of its perfect harmony. It tells us how the universe wor"s# the stars# sun# mountains=

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he ,uran tells us about Allah and his 4ualities (attributes and names)# about his mercy and about his wrath. It helps us understand Allah better so that we can appreciate his bounties and become better human beings. he ,uran reasons with the human soul and forces it to face life and search for the truth. It as"s us to use our minds and reason# which Allah has given us# that will lead us to the universal truth that Allah is one. We will also "now Allah$s prophet whom 1e sent to deliver the final message and come closer to Allah through the prophets teachings and advise. What is the Hadith A hadith is information about the prophet3 what the prophet did throughout his mission# what he said# how he treated people# what advise he gave= his is basically the prophet in action. he prophet use to live by the ,uran and everything he did was according to the ,uran# therefore his life becomes an e!ample to us 2 the ,uranic teachings in action. Who wrote the Hadith? he 1adith were originally oral transmission of information. his information was passed down and finally collected by some great scholars li"e Iman Bu"hari and Muslim. hey went to great lengths to prove that the 1adith they collected were true and had not been changed when the information was passed down. hey classified the 1adith through the chain of narrators as authentic (?ahih)# 9ood (1asan)# Wea" (daif) and fabricated (mow6uh). he 1adith has four parts %. he sanad 3 the chain of narration '. he Matan 2 the te!t of the 1adith (. he I"hra- 3 /ollector of the 1adith ). he /lassification of the 1adith he scholars in the past specialised in chec"ing the sanads and chec"ing the hadith through as many sources as possible. his helped to preserve the hadith and give us a good and reliable source of information about the prophet. Which are the most common books of Hadith? he most famous boo"s of 1adith are the ?ahih ?i!. hese si! of the most authenic and agreed upon 1adith from all the boo"s available.
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%. Bu"hari# '. Muslim# (. Abu dawood# ). irmidhi#

>. 0asai @. Ibn Ma-ah

Basic Islam
Who were the &rophets of Allah?

he prophets of Allah were people that were selected by Allah to deliver his message. hese people were normal people that Allah selected to guide the people. Allah would purify their hearts and give them ma"e them his messengers. What did the prophets teach? All the prophets had the same essential message. he message was tawheed 2 Allah is one# he has no partners and he has no sons. hey taught us that we should only worship Allah and ac"nowledge him as our supreme .ord. Allah has given us a life to live# when this is over we will need to account to Allah on the day of -udgement. If we had lived good lives and acted upon his message then he will grant you paradise otherwise Allah will punish us and then send us to 1ell. he prophets did bring different laws depending upon the circumstances of their people. he .aws reflected the time and circumstances of the people. 1owever the essential message# the message that was the bedroc" of all religions3 tawheed3 was the same. How man" prophets did Allah send? We are taught in the 1oly ,uran that every nation was sent a messenger. his means that Allah did not deprive anyone from the one and only true path. 1adith tell us that Allah sent to man"ind %')#777 prophets. he prophets use to guide the people and the people use to obey the messenger. When the messenger passed away# they would add things to their religion and ta"e stuff out. Basically# the message was changed and the people started to become bad and stray from the right path. Allah would then send another messenger to teach the people. Is there e$idence of these prophets?

Aes# when see some of the religions throughout the worlds and some of the older religions which archaeologists have found out about# we find that there is a remar"able similarity between them all. Bor e!ample# some ancient tribes discovered in Africa use to refuse to bow down before anything other than Allah. hey use to say that Allah is a pure being. 1e is not li"e a tree# money or even the moon 3 he is not li"e anything we can see on this earth or in the heavens above. Others use to say that Allah is all3"nowing and sees and hears everything. Other tribes use to say that Allah is independent 2 he does not need anything but everything needs him. his concept of Allah can be seen throughout history. Was there different kinds of prophets? ?ome prophets came with a new message they are "nown as ;asool. hey were given a new message and they preached it to their people. 1owever# some messengers were only sent to revive the message of a previous prophet and they are "nown as 0abi. A ;asool is also a 0abi (they came to revive the old message and laso came with new laws for their people) but a 0abi is not a ;asool (0abi did not bring any new laws) Who was Isa ? Isa was a prophet of Allah sent to his people to bring them bac" onto the right path. 1e was a servant and slave of Allah li"e all the prophets before him. 1owever# when he passed away they e!aggerated their religion ma"ing Isa to be Allah or the son of Allah (Astag3fir3ullah). ?ome of his followers did stay on the right path. What was different about Muhammed? Muhammed came with the ,uran 2 the message that will never be corrupted and he came to the whole of man"ind# not only to his own people. he follows of Muhammed carried his message throughout the whole world. Who were the first followers of Muhammed?

he first people who followed Islam were his close family and friends. 1is wife 8hadi-aD 1is nephew AliD 1is close friend Abu Ba"r and Eayd3 the adopted son of Muhammad. hey became the first Muslims and the first ?ahabah. What was special about the Sahabah? he ?ahabah were the first followers of the &rophet Muhammad. hey were the people who were closest to the prophet and had the privilege of seeing the &rophet with their own eyes# accepting his message and then died with Islam in their hearts. he ?ahabah helped the &rophet in every way during his life and afterwards they became the torchbearers of Islam as they carried the same message throughout the world. hrough the ?ahabah we have additional e!planation of the ,uran. he ?ahabah followed Islam with all aspects of their lives# they too are an e!ample to us. All the 1adith we have were narrated through the ?ahabah. Who were the four rightl" guided 'halifahs( he 8halifahs were four of the most famous companions of the prophet who became the leaders of the Muslims after the &rophet had passed away. Abu Ba"r 2was the first. <mar 2 was the second leader of the Muslims. <thman 2 was the third leader of the Muslims Ali 3 was the fourth leader of the Muslims. heir lives will be studied at a greater level in the classes What is Athar? Athar is the sayings of the ?ahabah (companions of the &rophet (&B<1)) 3 plural Aathaar. 5ven these are given the same priority as the 1adith. he 1oly &rophet says in a 1adithF Follow my Sunnah, and the Sunnah of my rightly guided Khalifahs. In another 1adith the 1oly &rophet (&B<1) saysF

My companions are like the stars whichever one you follow you will be guided. ?o we have been ordered by the &rophet himself to follow the footsteps and the sayings of the ?ahabah.

Basic Islam
What is the *nseen?

he <nseen is 4uite a large part of our beliefs. here are some things that Allah has created that we can no see or hear but we believe in them hese come under the category of the <nseen. +i$e me an e,ample We believe that Allah created the Angels from light. We can not see them but we are told that Allah created them and so we must believe in them. Another e!ample is the :inn that were created by Allah out of smo"eless fire. We can not see them but believe that they e!ist. What are the angels? he angels of Allah are the servants of Allah who carry out whatever Allah commands them to do. he angels do not have freewill li"e man"ind 3 they have no choice in what they do. What -obs do the Angels do? he Angel do all the commands Allah has set them. Bor e!ample# Angel :ibrael is in charge of bring revelation down to Allah$s prophets. Angel I6rafeel (the angel of death) is in charge of death. 1e ta"es away the soul when a 1uman being dies. he Angel Mi"ael is in charge of rain and plantation. Mun"ar and 0a"eer 4uestion a person in their graves when they die. Israfeel blows the trumpet on the day of :udgement. he Angels of Allah never disobey Allah and do not have desires or needs li"e a human being. Allah has many millions of Angels. .an we see Angels?

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0o# we can not see angels. Once the Angel :ibrael came to the prophet and the companions in the form of a man. hey were able to see him them but generally humans never see Angels. he prophet Muhammed &B<1 saw the Angel :ibrael once in his full form. he Angel had si! hundred wings and was massive# filling the whole s"y. We have angels that sit on our left and right shoulders who record our good and bad deeds. We do not see them either and they are not so massive li"e Angel :ibrael. So who or what are the -inn? he :inns are the creations of Allah who were created to worship Allah. hey are made of smo"eless fire and have a free will li"e humans. We get good :inns and bad :inns li"e we get good and bad humans. he :inns are living on 5arth and will need to account for their deeds on the *ay of :udgement -ust li"e us. .an we see -inn? 0o we can not see :inns unless they ta"e the form of a human or of an animal. he :inn however can see us. &rophet ?uliman was a prophet of Allah whom Allah had given control over the :inns. Brom ?uliman$s story we learn that the :inns are able to travel great distances in a split second and that they are very strong 2 they carried the throne of ?heba to ?uliman in the blin" of an eye. Allah has given them great power. When were the -inn created he :inns were created before Man"ind. Infact# we see in the story of Adam that Iblis was a :inn and was in e!istence before Adam. Who is Iblis? Iblis was from the :inn. 1e was a greater worshipper of Allah. 1e was made the leader of the Angels. hey say that there is not a place on earth where the Iblis had not done ?a-dah.

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When Allah created Adam# Allah commanded the angels to bow before Adam. Iblis refused by saying that he was better than Adam 3 Iblis had pride inside his heart. 1e told Allah that I am better than Adam# you created Adam out of clay whilst I am created from smo"eless fireH Allah then banished Iblis from heaven. Iblis made a re4uest to Allah to give him respite until the day of :udgement. Allah granted him this and Iblis promised that he would try his best to deceive and misguide man"ind from the &ath of Allah 3 Iblis became the enemy of man"ind. What is the Da" of -udgement? he *ay of :udgement is the day when man"ind will be brought forth from the 5arth and will need to account for all their deeds they did whilst they were alive on the 5arth. 5very human that lived from the time of Adam until the *ay of :udgement will be brought forth before Allah. When is the Da" of -udgement? 0o one but Allah "nows when the day of :udgement will be. When the prophet of Allah was as"ed by the angel :ibrael about when the day of :udgement will be# the prophet replied that the one who was is being as"ed the 4uestion "nows as much as the one as"ing the 4uestion. his means that neither the prophet nor the Angel :ibrael "new when the day of :udgement will be. We have been given some signs that will appear before the day of :udgement. hese are of two types 2 Ma-or and Minor. What signs ha$e taken place alread"? Most of minor signs have ta"en place and the Ma-or signs will ta"e place -ust before ,iyamat. he Minor signs that have ta"en place include the wide spread of evil and Ignorance# he building of high buildings# usury (interest) will be common# disobedience to parents and many more. What ma/or signs are still to take place ?ome of the ma-or signs still to ta"e place areF the coming of the *a--alD the coming 9og MagogD the coming of IsaD the smo"eD the coming of the beast that will spea" to peopleD the earth4ua"es 2 there will be three ma-or ones of which one will be in Medina. here have never been any earth4ua"es in Medina before. After this a bree6e will come which will
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ta"e away the souls of every believer and the day of :udgemnt will ta"e place. 0o repentance will be accepted after this.

Basic Islam
How does the da" of /udgement begin?

he day of -udgement will begin when the Angel Israfeel will blow the trumpet for the second time . All man"ind will be brought forward from their graves 2 this includes all the people that had lived on the earth from the time of Adam (as) until the day of -udgement. hey will appear before their .ord (Allah) to account for al their action in the worldly life. How long is the da" of -udgement? he day of -udgement will not be the same as a day (ie not ') hours) we have in this life. he day will be will be li"e >7#777 years and for some of the Believers the day will pass 4uic"ly. What will the people be like? &eople will be all in a very worried state on that day. hy will thin" that they should have spent their time on earth more wisely and spent following Allah$s laws. he mother# who is so caring for her children# will be more worried about herself then her children. &eople will as" each other for good deeds and help but everyone will be too worried for themselves. &eople will feel that they had only spent a few hours on 5arth when in actual fact they had spend maybe >7 or @7 years. 0o more good deeds will be accepted on that day. What about the 1arth? he earth will be completely different from today. he earth will be sha"en up and the mountains will become li"e fla"es of cotton wool. he whole universe will be destroyed. he sun will be closer and the people

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will be suffering from the heat and sweating. here will be no shade on that day apart from the shade Allah provides for some of his servants. What will the people do on that da"? he people will turn to their prophets and as" them to intercede to Allah on their behalf. he prophets will be too worried about themselves and will not be able to help their people. he prophets will say go to such and such a prophet and they will continue until they come to Muhammed (&B<1). Our prophet will then go to Allah# bow before him and then as" to intercede on behalf of all the Muslims. What are the scales? Our deeds will be brought forward and put on the scales. his will determine whether we had been good or bad. Our hands# feet# tongues etc will all bear witness against us for all that we did. he earth will also be a witness. If our scales have more good deeds then Allah will allow us to enter (:annat) paradise. If our deeds are more bad then we will be sent to the :ahanam (hell3fire)# unless Allah forgives our sins. Allah will give us scrolls tell us whether we passed the test or not. We will get it in the right hand if we are successful or in the left# behind our bac"s if we are not successful. What is the &ool2Sirat? he &ool3?irat is a bridge# which runs across :ahanam. 5veryone will pass across this bridge to enter paradise. he non3believer or those who failed the test will fall into the fire whilst the good Muslims will pass across it very 4uic"ly and enter paradise. he bridge has been described in a 1adith as being sharper than a sword and thinner than a hair. What will hea$en and hell be like? 1eaven and 1ell ( and even the day of -udgement) is very difficult to imagine. A 1adith tells us that they will be li"e something that no eye has seen# no ear has heard off and has not passed through the heart of any
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person. his means that it is very difficult for us to imagine what it will be li"e but Allah has given us some information to help us understand some aspects of it. Hea$en 3-annah4 A place where every desire is fulfilled# free of any hardship and pain. Abu 1urayrah reported that Allah$s Apostle (peace be upon him) saidF I1e who gets into &aradise Jwill be made to en-oy such an everlastingK bliss that he will neither become destitute nor will his clothes wear out nor will his youthfulness decline.I JMuslimK Hell 3/ahanam452 A place where people are punished for their bad actions# an eternal place of suffering and pain. Muslim narrated in his ?ahihF L1e does not thin" that any other person is tortured more severely than him although he is in the least torture.M JMuslimK Will people e$er come out of Hell2fire? 9enerally# the people in 1ell fire will be there for eternity (forever). here will be some people that will have Iman inside their hearts and Allah will forgive these people eventually and ta"e them out of 1ell fire. One of the Attributes of Allah is that he is all3merciful so he does forgive some of these people even though they may have been bad Muslims in their lives. 1owever# the disbelieves will be in 1ell for eternity. How man" hea$ens are there? here is only one heaven but it has %77 different stages 2 the highest stage is called :annat ul Birdos. he level of :annat a person will go to depends upon how good they were in their life on earth. he greatest rewards a person will be given in heaven is that they will see Allah. 5veryone will be content with whatever Allah gives him or her. hey will be able to meet each other and meet their former family and friends.

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Basic Islam
Wh" do people die?

*eath is the only guaranteed in this life. Allah teaches us that after a person is born he will spend a certain amount of time on earth then 1e will die and that applies to all human beings. herefore# death is the natural progression of a human being -ust as growing up is. It does not matter if you$re a "ing or if you$re a beggar# if you hide in a mighty fortress# or if you have a thousand surgeries# nobody can avoid or cheat death. Allah says in the ,uranF Everyone shall have to die (1oly ,uran) In another place Allah saysF Where ever you are, even in a mighty fortress death will find you *eath brings an end to our temporary life on this earth. It is an occasion of sorrow and grief for the loved ones of the deceased. 0ot even the most foolish of people would deny the concept of death. Are we born sinless? Whenever a child is born it is born free of all sin and is a pure individual. ?ome people believe that a child is born sinful# but Islam has taught us that a child is born free of all sin. It is born is a state of Bitra# which can be seen as a natural state of submission to Allah# and ac"nowledging awheed. When a child grows it gets corrupted and the child beings to learn from its family and the environment in which it lives. his child is no longer on the Bitra unless the parents are Muslims and teach the child about Allah and his *een. herefore# every child is born in a natural state of submission to Allah and is called a Muslim. A person accepting Islam and becoming a Muslim is "nown as reverting to Islam rather than converting to Islam.

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his is because it is reverting or returning to the natural state in which it was born. Wh" does Allah make some people poor? Allah has chosen certain circumstances for people to test them in this life. Bor e!ample# Allah has made some people richer than others# Allah has made some people cleverer than others# Allah has given some people more "nowledge and others less# Allah has made some strong and others wea". Allah is testing us by how we use these things. When we die we will be as"ed about these special blessings Allah has given us within our lives and what we did with them. If Allah gave us wealth# what did we do with itN how did we spend itN Were we grateful to AllahN = Does an"bod" know when the" will die? 0o# nobody "nows when their time is up. his is something that Allah has "ept e!clusive for 1imself. ?ome babies die at birth# and some people live over the age of %77# but nobody "nows for certain. Many a time we have seen or heard when a doctor has said for certain that this person won$t last the day yet he recovers and outlives the doctorH We do not even "now how we will die. ?ome people die in their sleep# some due to some terminal illness# some people die in a very healthy state for no apparent reason at allH 0o body "nows when they will die or how they will die. he Ahadith of the &rophet (&B<1) teach us that Allah has appointed the Angel I6rail who is also "nown as the Angel of death (mala"ul mawt) over death. 1e is responsible to ta"e out our souls and end our lives. What is our dut" to a Muslim who has died? We should try our best to comfort hisOher family# and we should try and understand what grief and sorrow they must be feeling. It is a ?unnat of the &rophet (&B<1) to say comforting words to the family of the deceased. he holy &rophet (&B<1) has taught us what should be done to the deceased. A dead body is given a wash before it is buried. It is then
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covered with white sheets and fragrance is spread over it. A funeral prayer is conducted before burial. his prayer is called ?alatul :ana6ah. ?alatul :ana6ah is a collective obligation (Bardh 8ifayah) on all the Muslims of the locality of the dead person. If a number of them -oin in# the obligation is discharged on behalf of all. But# if no one -oins in# everyone will be considered sinful before Allah. Attending the ?alatul :ana6ah holds great reward. he method of performing this special ?alah will be covered in details under Bi4h Inshallah. Islam does not li"e the idea of burning the body and then burying the ashes or scattering them out to sea. &eople who do this either believe that there is no life after death# or believe that if this is done# Allah would not be able to bring them bac" to life and account them for their deeds. What happens once the person is in the gra$e? he grave is the first stage of Aa"hirah. It has been narrated that whenever 1adhrat <thman (;A) used to stand by a grave# he would cry so e!cessively that his blessed beard would become wet. ?omeone as"ed# LWhy do you not cry so much when mention is made of :annah and :ahannam as you would cry when mention is made of the graveNM 1e replied# LI have heard the 1oly &rophet say# he grave is the first stage from the stages of the Aa"hirah. Whoever passes it easily all the other oncoming stages will be easy on him# and whoever is afflicted with punishment for him the oncoming stages will be even tougher.M he first thing that happens is that two angels by the name of Mun"ar and 0a"eer approach the person and as" himOher three 4uestions. A true believer will have no problems answering these 4uestions. he 4uestions areF %. Who is your .ordN '. What is your ;eligionN (. Who is your &rophetN In the grave# a person# according to how heOshe lived their lives in this world will either be rewarded or punished. his has been proven from the ,uran as well as the 1adith of the &rophet. In one 1adith the 1oly &rophet (&B<1) saidF he grave is either a garden of !aradise or a pit from the pits of "ell
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In another very lengthy 1adith the 1oly &rophet (&B<1) e!plainsF When a true believer is laid to rest in hisOher grave# the grave says# Lout of everybody who has wal"ed upon me# you were the most li"ed to me. 0ow you shall see how I will treat you.M hen the grave e!pands itself as far as the eye can see. hen a window from &aradise is opened for him and heOshe will continue to smell fresh and beautiful fragrances till the *ay of :udgement. When a non3believer is laid in hisOher grave# the grave say unto himOher# Lout of everybody who has wal"ed upon me# you were the most disli"ed to me. 0ow you shall see how I treat you. hen it s4uee6es the person so tightly that the person$s ribs go into each other. hen serpents are released on that person# and they are so venomous that if they were to spit their venom onto earth not one blade of grass would live. And they would continue to bite himOher till the *ay of :udgement. In a famous 1adith the 1oly &rophet (&B<1) has mentioned that the two things that bring upon the punishment of the grave areF %. 0ot ta"ing care when relieving oneself '. Wal"ing around stirring things up# and brea"ing friendship.
May #llah save us all from the punishment of the grave. #amin.

What do "ou ad$ise we do? ;emember death as much as possible. Ma"e use of your time# "eeping in mind that a time will come when I will have to die and go and lie in the grave. It is very strange that if a person is e!periencing great pleasure and having a good time# and he was to find out that the police were loo"ing for him# and they had a warrant for his arrest# all of his happiness# en-oyment will go away. It would be a miracle if he could sleep at night. On the other hand we "now that the Angel of death is always awaiting the order of Allah to e!tract his soul and he will have to e!perience the agony of death# yet this seems to have no effect on his lifestyleN ;emembering death is a means of %. preparing for death '. non3attachment towards the world (. not accumulating wealth ). repentance from sin >. ma"ing use of valuable time

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@. eagerness and attachment in hisOher worship

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