FAITH IN THE AKHIRAT IS THE SOURCE OF SERENITY

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, who created us and all that exists – known and unknown to us, visible and invisible; and greetings and peace be upon Muhammad, His Prophet, sent as a mercy and grace to the worlds.

A thinking person always remembers the purpose of his coming to this world and spends his time in deeds that bring benefit both in this life and in the next. Such a person spends his time wisely, not allowing himself to fall into aimless pastime – after all, for every minute spent in vain, he will have to bear responsibility. Therefore, whatever a person does, this activity must be filled with meaning – either for the benefit of this life, or for the benefit of eternal life.

Allah created man in Paradise and sent him to this world to test him, so that he, having passed the test with dignity, would earn his place in Paradise and, by the grace of Allah, return there forever. In this world, both good and bad people – all are in the same place. In the Akhirah, it will be different: one place is prepared for good people, and another for bad people. Whether this or that person will end up in a place for bad people or in a place for good people – we do not know, only the Creator knows. And what we do know is that we must live in accordance with the purpose of our creation.

Just as an employer generously rewards the work of a person who does his job with dignity, in the same way the Creator does not leave the work of those who live in accordance with His commandments unpaid. A person who works hard for the sake of earthly life ensures a comfortable stay for himself in this world; in the same way, by working for the sake of the afterlife, a person, by the will of Allah, will find well-being in the Akhirah.

Surah Zilzal says: “Whoever does even the smallest amount of good will be rewarded according to his merits, and whoever does even the smallest amount of evil will be rewarded accordingly.” However, our merciful Creator reminds us not to lose hope in Allah’s forgiveness. He says: “O you who do evil to yourselves (commit sins), do not despair of Allah’s forgiveness.”

How should we live in such a case?

We should live by obeying the commands of Allah Almighty and performing acts of worship (ibada) to the best of our ability.

In business relations, we should strictly adhere to the principle of honesty; our relations with neighbors should be based on mutual assistance; and in relations with relatives, we should adhere to sila-i rahim (care and respect for the rights of relatives, strengthening family ties).

In the society in which we live, we must serve as an example and role model so that the younger generation that follows in our footsteps will also be people worthy of emulation.

We must be careful not to commit injustice against the people with whom we do business; as well as against our employees and subordinates. This is necessary so that on the Day of Judgement we will not have to answer for the injustice committed.

Under no circumstances should we put money on interest, and if we have to take out a loan, then preference should be given to interest-free (Islamic) banks.

When we make a promise, including a promise to attend an appointed meeting, we must keep our word; we must avoid lying when we talk about anything; we must responsibly and carefully guard the valuables entrusted to us. These three points, if violated, are the characteristic signs of munafiqeen (hypocrites posing as true believers).

When selling goods, we should not swear or swear to make it more convincing; if the goods have a defect, we must inform the buyer about it. We must sell the goods to the buyer exactly as they were shown to him; under no circumstances should we make a mistake in weighing them.

If we take goods for sale, the agreed amount must be paid strictly on time. If for some reason we are unable to pay on time, we must notify the supplier in advance, without waiting for the day of payment.

If someone owes us money, we should not allow ourselves to treat the debtor badly. If the person is in a difficult situation, we must give him additional time. If the debtor has gone completely bankrupt, and the amount of the debt does not put us in a difficult situation, we must forgive this debt for the sake of Allah.

However, if the debtor tries to deliberately evade payment of the debt, we should, within the bounds of human decency, stand firm and strive to receive from the debtor what is rightfully ours. At the end of each year, we should take stock of our property, calculate the amount of profit received and losses incurred, calculate the amount of zakat and distribute it among the needy, starting with relatives.

Also, if possible, in addition to zakat, one should do sadaqah jariyah (continuous charity) so that our book of deeds does not close after death. The hadith says that the book of the deceased is not closed for three reasons: the spread of knowledge that brings good; righteous descendants who offer prayers for the deceased and do good in his name; and sadaqah jariyah. That is, if during our lifetime we send part of our income to the Akhirat, then, with the permission of Allah, a favorable outcome will await us in the Akhirat. Of course, our good deeds should be solely for the sake of Allah, and not for the sake of gaining the approval of others.

The hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “A person endlessly repeats: “My property, my property!” But besides food, clothing, and what he gives for the future in the Akhirat, what other property does a person have?” Everything else belongs to his heirs…

Dear brothers and sisters! We should never spend our time in laziness, but rather we should work tirelessly for the good of this life and the next. We should take care of our family so that they do not need anything. We should visit relatives and help those in need; we should be an example in our good deeds. We should not think about anything with our colleagues or co-workers that goes beyond business relations. The only exception is when we intend to get married.

Young people! Electronic devices such as computers and smartphones should not enslave us; we should “enslave” them, that is, use them exclusively for business, and not for idle pastime. After completing the necessary tasks, we should turn off or put the device aside. Allah has given us intelligence, and we should not be distracted from important activities, be it work or study, by “hanging out” on the Internet for hours.

If you have free time, it is better to read a good book. While driving, we should not listen to only music; it is also important to devote time to news and useful information about Islam, in order to stay informed and acquire useful knowledge. Nowadays, thank God, there are many radio stations, among which there is sure to be something useful. If we listen to music 24 hours a day, will it give us anything spiritually or materially?

In comparison, if we adhere to daily dhikr (remembrance of Allah), then during a car ride we can recite salawat to the Prophet Muhammad, kalimah and other dhikr, thereby doing something that will tip the scales in our favor on the Day of Judgement, when absolutely all our actions and deeds will be weighed.

My grandmother told me a parable that she once heard from my grandfather: “On the Day of Judgement, when a person’s deeds were weighed, the scales with his sins turned out to be heavier. The man had already lost hope, but then a single piece of paper fell on the opposite side of the scale. At that moment, the scales began to move, and the scale of good deeds outweighed the scale of sins. What was written on that piece of paper? “La ilaha illa Allah”, sincerely uttered by the man during his lifetime!”

Life in a modern metropolis has many advantages, but it is not without its disadvantages: stress and hours-long traffic jams are inevitable companions of life in a big city. But we can use traffic jams as an opportunity to work for the good of the Akhirah! Business consultants say: “Turn a crisis into new opportunities.” How can we do this in this situation? It is very simple: while we are stuck in a traffic jam, we can plant trees in the Garden of Eden. The longer we are stuck in a traffic jam, the more trees we can plant…

One of the companions of the Prophet, Abdullah ibn Masud, narrates in a hadith quoted by Tirmidhi: “Our Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “There are no trees in the Garden of Eden, plant trees there.” The companions asked: “O Messenger of Allah, how can we plant trees in the Garden of Eden?” Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) replied: “Recite tesbih, tahmeed, temjid and tehlil.” That is, plant trees in the Garden of Eden, saying: “Subhanallah,” “Alhamdulillah,” “La ilaha illallah,” “Allahu akbar,” and “La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.”

In another hadith, our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “There are two words that are easy on the tongue, but heavy on the scales of deeds and dear to the All-Merciful Allah: “Subhanallah-i-wa-bihamdihi, subhanallah-il-azim.” The sins of a person who recites this dhikr (remembrance of Allah) 100 times in the morning and evening will be forgiven, and on the Day of Judgement no one will appear before the Almighty with a dhikr more worthy of reward – except for those who recite this dhikr even more.”

In another hadith, the poor companions of the Prophet asked him: “O Messenger of Allah, the rich people gain sawab (merit before Allah) by giving alms and paying zakat. How can we be equal to them?” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) replied: “I will teach you a dhikr that will help you to equal the good deeds of those who are ahead of you and to surpass those who do good deeds on par with you: if after each prayer you recite Subhan-Allah, Alhamdulillah, and Allahu Akbar 33 times, and then La ilahe illa-Allahu wahdehu la sherike leh, lehu-l-mulku wa lehu-l-hamdu wa huwe ala kulli shay’in qadir, then your sins will be forgiven, even if they are like the foam of the sea.”

In one of the sermons that I happened to listen to, Esad Joshan quoted the following hadith: “The face of the one who says “La ilaha illallah” 100 times a day will shine like the moon on the Day of Judgement.”

So, instead of spending every morning and every evening on the road, regretting the time lost in traffic jams, getting irritated and complaining, or aimlessly listening to music for hours, we can perform daily dhikr (remembrance of Allah), reciting “Subhanallah”, “La ilaha illallah”, “Allahu akbar”, “Alhamdulillah”, “Ya Hadi, ya Latif” and other dhikr, turning, with the permission of the Almighty, the situation to our advantage and contributing to our future in the Akhirah.

I want to give you another example. We are not always able to fall asleep quickly at night, sometimes our thoughts are spinning and sleep does not come. There are many pieces of advice on what to do in this situation: from limiting certain foods/drinks before bed to “counting sheep”.

My recommendation is this: turn off the light or reduce the lighting to a minimum, lie on your right side and say “Allah” or “La ilaha illallah” until you fall asleep. In this way, we not only help ourselves fall asleep faster, but also have time to add something to our collection of sawabs (merits before the Almighty) before going to bed.

SILA-I RAHIM

One of the important aspects of the Muslim faith is sila-i rahim, that is, visiting relatives and maintaining family ties. I offer endless shukur (gratitude) to Allah the Most High, who commands us to perform sila-i rahim, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, of everything visible and invisible; the One who makes the earth, the moon, the sun and the stars rotate in space without any support; and I also greet His Messenger, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Performing sila-i rahim is strongly recommended and even prescribed by both the Quran and the Hadith. Sila-i Rahim means regularly visiting relatives, starting with the closest ones, inquiring about their health and affairs, and also fulfilling their needs and desires to the best of one’s ability.

In the 90th verse of Surah An-Nahl, which is recited during the Friday sermon, Allah the Most High says: “Indeed, Allah commands justice and goodness and helping relatives; and He forbids fornication and evil and oppression. Allah guides you that you may reflect and heed His advice.”

In the 26th verse of Surah Al-Isra it says: “And give to the relatives their due,” which means: “Do good to the relatives and respect their rights.”

Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The reward for sadaqah (charity) given to relatives is doubled.”

Our Prophet also said: “Whoever wants his worldly provision (rizq) to be abundant and his life to be long, let him perform sila-i rahim.”

We are living in a truly difficult time, when materialism is coming to the fore; when the Internet, computers and smartphones on one hand, and the endless concern for daily bread on the other, lead to an increasingly isolated way of life and the disappearance of warmth, warmth and care between people. However, despite all the difficulties, we must live in accordance with the instructions of Allah and His Messenger, caring for our Hereafter (Akhirat) on an equal basis with caring for earthly life.

We must observe the fards (obligatory prescriptions) of Islam, such as: salah (namaz, daily prayers), sawm (oraza, fasting), as well as hajj and zakat, if we have the financial means. In addition, we should engage in charity: contribute to the construction of mosques, hospitals, schools, bridges and roads, if we have the means to do so. We must not lose ourselves completely in caring for earthly life, we must always remember about the future life in the Akhirat.

As for young people, students should be as diligent as possible in their studies; and those who are already working – in their job responsibilities. One should also remember to treat elders with respect: stand up when greeting elders; do not sit with one leg crossed in their presence. Young people should reflect on the purpose of our coming into this world, not allow themselves to be captivated by the Internet and electronics; young people, just like all of us, should diligently take care of their lot in the Akhirah, just as in earthly life.

May Allah send mercy on my grandfather and all the ancestors! My aunt says: “When I got married, the first thing my father would ask me every time we met was: “Daughter, do you do your namaz, do you remember to pray on time?” May Allah be pleased with them, my ancestors served as a good example for me. In the same way, we should serve as a good example for future generations.

It is very important to maintain relationships with relatives and not lose touch with them. If possible, relatives should be visited regularly, and if this is not possible, then at least call each other as often as possible and be aware of important events in each other’s lives.

Young people should keep in touch with their cousins, second cousins, etc.; ask how they are doing, and if a young relative for some reason cannot share his or her problem with his or her parents, then it is imperative to help him or her find a solution. If joint efforts fail to resolve the problem, then you need to act as a negotiator, a mediator between the young relative who has found himself in a difficult situation, and his parents. This is also a kind of sila-i rahim.

May the help of Allah the Most High be with us, and may He send us and our descendants the blessing to live according to His commandments and the instructions of our Prophet. May Allah have mercy on our ancestors.

ABOUT CLEANLINESS

Islam attaches great importance to cleanliness and requires us to maintain cleanliness in everything that concerns our health and religious duties. A person whose clothes, body or place of prayer are not clean cannot perform namaz (daily prayer). And since namaz is a condition of Islam, and cleanliness is a condition of namaz, then a person who does not observe cleanliness is not a full-fledged Muslim. Without abdest (minor ablution), we cannot do namaz, touch the Holy Quran and perform some other types of worship. A person whose clothes and body are not clean cannot appear before people or before the Almighty.

In addition, if we do not pay attention to cleanliness, our health may be at risk. Therefore, as Muslims, we must maintain cleanliness around us: keep our houses, streets, squares, places under trees, ponds and running water clean. Cleanliness is not only a duty related to the worship of Allah, but we must also maintain cleanliness in social, moral and medical terms.

The cleanliness of a Muslim who strictly follows the precepts of Islam and knows the value of health must be impeccable. The tongue, heart, soul and thoughts of Muslims must always be spiritually clean, and their clothes, home, cities and villages, roads and squares – physically.

In Surah Al-Muddathsir Allah says: “O you who are wrapped in your coverings! Rise up and warn, and extol your Lord, and keep your clothes clean, and avoid all impurity.”

According to the hadith, Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Cleanliness is half of the Iman (Muslim faith).”

Every Muslim believer must keep not only his house clean, but also his yard, surrounding area and street. In another hadith, the Prophet said: “Keep your yards clean, do not be like the Jews, keep your territories clean.” The essence of this hadith is that people who leave manure and carcasses of dead animals on the streets and in public places, do not clean up after themselves after making a sacrifice, relieve themselves in places where others pass or rest, do wrong.

Once, the Prophet warned his companions to beware of three things that cause a curse. The companions asked what these things were. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) answered: “Relieving oneself in the shade of trees, on roads and near wells.”

The Prophet categorically forbade relieving oneself in reservoirs and running water. Nowadays, it is well known that when sewage gets into water, the pathogen of such a dangerous disease as cholera is transmitted to humans either directly through the water or through the consumption of raw food that has come into contact with contaminated water. Therefore, those who do not want to incur the wrath of the people and be cursed should beware of such outrageous behavior.

A person who observes the precepts of Islam should also not relieve himself in the street. Such behavior is incompatible with the lifestyle of a Muslim and unworthy of a self-respecting person. Even a cat, which has neither reason nor a sense of responsibility, digs a hole before relieving itself and then buries it. A sensible Muslim should learn a lesson from this. People who relieve themselves somewhere around the corner desecrate the streets and dirty their clothes; the prayer performed by a person in dirty clothes is at risk. In another hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Be clean from urine – most of the torment in qabra (grave) is caused by contamination by urine.”

In addition, our Prophet said that the barakat (divine blessing, abundance) of a meal is in washing hands before and after eating. The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: “How pleasant are those who thoroughly clean their hands and teeth after eating and during ablution!” The meal of a person who adheres to this sunnah will bring abundance, and he himself will be praised by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

Maintaining cleanliness as a duty of a Muslim brings many benefits. Our Prophet said: “If someone goes to bed without cleaning his hands from the remains of fatty food (meat, fish, etc.), and suffers any harm in connection with this, let him blame himself alone.”

We should also keep our clothes clean. It is not shameful to be poor, to wear worn-out clothes, but it is shameful not to keep your clothes clean. A Muslim visiting a mosque must be sure to keep his socks clean – a bad smell is extremely unpleasant to others. A Muslim engaged in the sale of meat or fish must change his work clothes for clean ones before going to the mosque.

A Muslim must wash himself completely at least once a week. It is also necessary to trim his nails on time and shorten his moustache so that the moustache does not cover his lips. Our Prophet said: “Allah commands every Muslim to wash his head and body (at least once) every seven days.”

To summarize, a decent Muslim must maintain cleanliness both internally and externally; keep his clothes and body, his home, streets and public places clean. In no way should the concepts of cleanliness and Islam be separated. Cleanliness is merged with Islam; Islam and filth cannot coexist. Where there is Islam, there is no place for filth.

FAITH IN THE AKHIRAT IS THE SOURCE OF PEACE

(While writing this section, I sometimes referred to the works of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, an Islamic theologian, scholar and interpreter of the Holy Quran).

In this life, true peace can only be achieved through faith in the Akhirat (hereafter). Correct faith (following the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet) and living according to this faith allow one to find peace both in this world and after death. That is, 50-100 years in this world lived with dignity and faith, obeying the commands of Allah, give a person peace during life and incomparable happiness in the Akhirat.

Allah Almighty told us through His prophets that He created people according to plan, and that in the Akhirat a person will suffer a fate in accordance with his deeds, good and bad, in this world. We live in the era of information technology, and therefore no one can claim that they knew nothing and had never heard about this.

Let’s try to approach the issue from this side: as is known, an employer, giving an assignment to his employee, after some time checks whether he has completed the task. And if the employee does not fulfill the duties assigned to him, he will be fined or fired.

Now let’s draw an analogy. Allah Almighty has bestowed upon us countless blessings, we will cite only a few of them: first of all, He gave us life, creating us as animate beings; gave us a body and various organs in it; gave us reason and endowed us with the ability to think. If Allah had not created us, we would not exist, we would not be. All these blessings are only what concerns the very fact of existence; and we also have children, a home, a profession, friends… Allah Almighty, who gave us all this and sent us into this world, did not leave us here on our own.

Throughout the history of mankind, God sent prophets to people. Starting with the first prophet Adam (peace be upon him) and ending with the last prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Allah Almighty, through 25 prophets known to us by name and many thousands of other prophets whose names have not reached our days, informed mankind how we should live in this world and worship Allah.

From the Holy Scriptures and the information conveyed to us by the prophets, we learn about the creation of mankind, about the onset of Qiyamat (the End of the World) and what awaits people after Qiyamat. We must make every effort to live our lives according to the commands of Allah, conveyed to us by His prophets, and to worship. In other words, we must try to live in accordance with the commandments of our Creator, Allah the Most High. After all, if we live in obedience to the commands of Allah, He promises us that after death He will bestow upon us even more generous blessings than those we already have in this world.

Our Lord addresses us through His Scriptures and prophets, saying: “If you spend this life doing good and performing acts of worship (ibadah); if you commit evil unintentionally, but realize it and repent; if you are grateful to Me for the blessings that I have bestowed upon you, I will increase these blessings and love you, and after death I will place you in Paradise and reward you with blessings that are truly incalculable.”

Our Lord, through all His prophets, informs us that after death there will be eternal life in the Akhirah, where there is no place for sickness, old age and death as in this world; that in the Akhirah people will be eternally young, remaining at the age of 33 years forever; and that life there will last forever. Now let’s think about it: isn’t eternal life worth living the 50-100 years allotted to us, showing patience, believing and obeying the commands of Allah, who has bestowed upon us so many blessings and sent us into this world to test us?

Living in this world, we know that one day our turn will come, as the turn of our great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers has come – we will all die sooner or later. Endless life in the Akhirat is much more important than a short life in this world. Whether our eternal life will be good or bad depends on our actions in this life. If we, by doing good deeds, plant seeds that bear fruit in eternal life – isn’t it worth it?

Why is it so important to believe in the Akhirat, and what awaits a person after death? Belief in resurrection and reward after death is one of the foundations of iman (Muslim faith). Resurrection after death is as certain as the coming of morning after night and the coming of spring after winter. If you look around carefully and reflect, everything visible and invisible points to the existence of the Akhirat. Believing in Allah but not believing in the Akhirat is like believing in the sun but denying the light that comes from it, because Allah, through all His prophets, admonishes that He will resurrect people after death and bring them to justice.

Allah Almighty does not back down from His promise. He creates everything according to plan; it is impossible to imagine that any of His creations would be in vain and devoid of meaning. And it is meaningless to create a person so perfect only to destroy him in the end.

Would a gardener burn and destroy a garden that he personally cultivated, putting his labor into it? In the same way, Allah Almighty after Qiyamat (the End of the World) will turn the universe into the Akhirat, which will last forever.

After death, the human body is buried and turns to dust, but the soul is immortal and continues to live. On the Day of Resurrection (Qiyama), Allah Almighty will create a new body for a person, clothe the soul in it, and a new, endless life will begin for the person. Death is a second birth.

Allah Almighty miraculously raised us in our mother’s womb for nine months, and then sent us into this world through birth. After death, He will resurrect us again and send us to a completely different, eternal life.

Reward or punishment… In every country, honest citizens who follow the laws live in peace and tranquility. Is there a country where murderers, thieves, bandits and swindlers could roam freely? Can we talk about justice in such a country? Criminals are always caught and punished. Thus, faith in the Akhirah fills earthly life with meaning and brings great benefit.

Belief in the Akhirat is a great source of comfort for a person: would a newborn baby cry knowing that he has come to a more beautiful world than his mother’s womb? In the same way, a person who believes in the Akhirat perceives death as a birth into the eternal world, does not fear death and does good deeds for his own benefit in the Akhirat.

A soldier, having completed his military service, returns to his family with joy, for he has fulfilled his duty and returned to his homeland, where hundreds of friends and relatives are waiting for him; or a student, having studied in foreign lands, will he cry upon returning to his homeland? So this world is like an army or a university. Death is demobilization, graduation, returning to the real homeland, to the Akhirat, where we will meet with many friends and relatives.

Faith in the Akhirat is an undeniable source of peace not only for an individual, but also for society. A person who believes that on the Day of Judgment he will have to answer, carefully avoids committing evil, cruelty and injustice. Such a person monitors his behavior and tries to do as much good as possible, because he is sure that the more benefit he brings to people, the more good deeds he does, the greater the reward he will receive in the Akhirat. Thus, both the person himself and the whole society are in prosperity and peace.

Belief in the Akhirat is a source of hope and consolation. A person who has lost a loved one – a parent, a brother or sister, a relative or a friend – can find consolation in the belief in the Akhirat. Young people are consoled by the hope that their loved ones will go to Paradise, and the elderly – by the thought that in the Akhirat they will meet their deceased loved ones again.

Belief in the Akhirat is the greatest source of consolation for the very old. Day after day they think about their approaching death, and if there is no belief in the Akhirat, they become despondent. If you look closely at the faces of old people who believe in the Akhirat and those who do not, you will see the difference. The faces of the former are illuminated by an inner radiance, while the faces of the latter express despair. In the hearts of the former, hope lives, while the latter live in fear of inevitable death.

Old people who believe in the Akhirat know that after death they will meet all their deceased loved ones, that the Akhirat is not a dark hole in the ground, but a paradise garden, or, God forbid, a hellish abyss. They know that the good deeds done during life await them in the Akhirat; and, freed from the oppression of old age, infirmity and illness, they will find a new, endless life in a new world. In the Akhirat, we will receive everything that is due to us…

People who have suffered from various kinds of injustice and oppression in this world know that in the Akhirat they will receive everything that their offenders owe them, and they find consolation in this. Someone was unjustly deprived of property, and someone – of life. In addition, those who suffer from natural disasters – earthquakes, floods, fires and epidemics – do not despair, because they know that if they are patient, all the hardships they endure will be counted as sadaqah (charity) or sawab (merit before Allah) in the Akhirat.

Belief in the Akhirat also curbs excesses. Young people and influential people are wary of oppressing the weak and defenseless, treating them unfairly, fearing punishment in the Akhirat. They do not seek to oppress the weak, on the contrary, they help the needy in order to receive a reward in the Akhirat and use their opportunities in this world, turning them into capital for the Akhirat.

Belief in the Akhirat teaches a person patience and prevents them from committing sins. In this world, a person cannot get everything he wants; but believers know that what they could not get in this life will await them in eternal life; Believers find comfort in this thought and try to live this life righteously.

In Surah Az-Zalzalah, our Lord says that whoever does even a little bit of good, as well as whoever does even a little bit of evil, will be rewarded in the Hereafter. A person who believes in the Hereafter will not envy the blessings that others have, will not be despondent because he himself does not have such blessings, but will remain calm and peaceful. The characteristics of a believer are to be grateful to Allah for everything He has given; to help the poor; to patiently endure hardships and not to grumble at Allah.

Now let us see what our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) says about death.

With death, the soul leaves the body, and life in the qabra (grave) begins. In the grave, two angels interrogate the person. They ask: “Who is your Lord?”, “What is your faith?”, “Who is your prophet?” and so on. Those who believed in Allah and did good deeds during their lifetime will easily answer these questions; those who did not believe will not be able to answer correctly. After death, a person’s Qabr (grave) will become either a paradise or a hellish abyss for him, depending on how he lived his life in this world.

Life in Qabr will end with the onset of Qiyamat (the End of the World). The Holy Quran and our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) inform us that the beginning of Qiyamat will be announced by the horn of the angel Israfil. When Israfil blows his horn for the first time, there will be no living creature left on earth, and the mountains will crumble to dust.

After this, some time will pass, the duration of which is known only to Allah, and the horn of Israfil will sound again; then all the dead will be resurrected.

There may be people who do not believe in resurrection, but Allah, the Most High, just as He created us for the first time, has the power to create (resurrect) us again. Allah is in the act of creation every moment: every moment He creates a new person, a new tree, a new animal and many other things that we do not know about.

All Abrahamic religions inform us about the onset of Qiyamat and resurrection from the dead. Let us think about it: a picture painted by an artist, like a building erected by an architect, does not come into being by itself; so Allah, who created this vast universe and gave life to billions of living beings, certainly has the power to create man again.

After the resurrection, all people will gather in Mahshar (the Place of Standing), where the Judgment will take place, during which all the good and evil committed by a person in this world will be presented to him, and his deeds will be weighed on the scales.

Those who do not believe in the Day of Judgment and do evil in this world will bite their elbows and lament: “Oh, if only I had believed! If only I had listened to the words of those who admonished me! If only I had obeyed the will of Allah and lived according to His commandments!” But it will be too late.

According to what our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, the place of Mahshar will be very hot, but seven groups of people will be there in comfort; on the Day of Judgment, when there will be no shade to escape the heat, they will be in the shade of the Throne of Allah (Al-Arsh), and will not experience any hardship. These people are:

1-The just head of state and leader;

2-The boy/girl who grows in the worship of Allah;

3-The boy/girl whose heart is attached to the mosque;

4- Those who love one another for the sake of Allah, and those who gather and disperse for the sake of Allah;

5- A valiant man who refuses the proposal of a woman of influence in society, saying: “I fear Allah”;

6- A man who gives sadaqah so secretly that the left hand is unaware of the charity given by the right hand;

7- A man whose eyes fill with tears while remembering Allah in secluded places.

In the Mahshar (the place of the Great Judgment), people will be resurrected and brought to justice alongside those they loved and followed in life. Each person will be given a book in which all of his deeds in this world are recorded, down to the smallest detail.

During the Great Judgment, a person will be asked: how did he spend his life in this world, how did he use the knowledge he had; how did he earn his wealth and how did he spend it; how did he use the body Allah gave him, and so on. There, a person’s good deeds and sins will be weighed on scales; if the scale of good is heavier, the person deserves Paradise, but if the scale of sins is heavier, then Hell.

Our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave us the good news: the first question will be about prayer, and people who successfully answer it will find it easier to answer all the subsequent questions. The mercy of Allah is so great that there will be people who, having earned a stay in Hell, will be pardoned and sent to Paradise.

Also in Mahshar there is Kawsar – the spring of our Prophet. No person, having quenched his thirst from this spring, will experience it again. Thanks to the intercession of our Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Allah Almighty will forgive the sins of many believers, after which people will begin to cross the Sirat Bridge to Paradise.

We know about the Sirat Bridge that it runs over Hell and leads to Paradise. Those whose deeds were pleasing to God (who lived according to the commandments of Allah), thanks to their fear of God (taqwa), will cross the bridge quickly and reach Paradise.

Those whose deeds were less pleasing to God will move along the bridge more slowly. Those whose deeds were not pleasing to God will fall into Hell. Those who went to Hell who believed in Allah and His Messengers during their lifetime will remain in Hell until they atone for their sins. After that, by the grace of Allah, they will go back to Paradise.

Life in this world is like a field: just as we reap what we sow in the field, all our deeds in this world, all the good and evil we did during our lifetime, will return to us in the Akhirah. In this world, good people and bad people live together. In the Akhirah, good people will be with good people, and bad people will be with bad people.

All good people and those who do good deeds will gather in Paradise, and all bad people and those who do evil and harm society will be gathered in Hell. Hell is a fiery abyss where the evildoers, sinners, immoral, arrogant and haughty, rude and merciless people who deny Allah will be thrown.

Paradise is an abode of reward prepared by Allah Almighty for those whom He loves – the good and pious slaves of Allah. Allah Almighty says that amazing blessings await such people in Paradise, beyond the power of human reason and imagination.

The key to Paradise is iman (faith in the truth of Islam). That is, it is faith in Allah, who created us and everything that exists, visible and invisible, known and unknown; in His prophets; in His Holy Scriptures; in the Akhirah; in His angels; as well as faith in qadar and qada (the predestination of Allah).

Allah the Almighty will either forgive the sins of a person who believes in Him, or place a person in Paradise after he atones for his sins in Hell. In Paradise, Allah has prepared many blessings for His believing slaves: people in Paradise will be forever young and will find everything they wish for.

The greatest of the blessings of Paradise is the day of Friday, when the curtains are lifted and the inhabitants of Paradise gather to behold the divine beauty of Allah. The manifestation of the beauty of Allah is so beautiful that at this moment all the other blessings of Paradise are forgotten. Allah the Almighty tells those in Paradise that He is pleased with them, and they answer that they are pleased with Allah (insha’Allah, we will also be among them).

And now let us think carefully. Allah the Almighty, who has given us so many blessings, also gave us a soul and mind that are not given to anyone except man, jinn and angels; but since the angels were not given nafs (self, ego), they do not oppose the commands of Allah. People have not yet been able to fully understand the essence of such phenomena as soul and mind. Soul and mind, along with the physical body, are blessings of Allah that give us the property of being human. Can one imagine a person without a soul and mind?

A creature without a soul and mind, living solely by animal instincts, is not a human. We can better understand the value of the blessings bestowed upon us by reflecting on the presence of a soul and mind in addition to a physical body. Among the creations of Allah, there are things both visible to the eye and invisible. If it were not for the soul and mind, would we have the opportunity to love, miss, talk and communicate, do good deeds, take care of our family, make plans for the future?

Allah Almighty did not create us so that we would live in this world endlessly and aimlessly. We must use the blessings Allah has given us – our lives, property, minds and souls – according to His will and benefit our family, our environment, our country and all of humanity. We must always thank and pray to our Lord, asking for His blessings, for asking in prayer is also worship. Moreover, the essence of worshiping Allah is in prayer.

Whatever we want – be it small or big, material or spiritual – we must ask our Lord for it. We must pray to Allah to bestow blessings on all of humanity, our country, our family and our children. We must pray for the forgiveness of our deceased relatives and do charity on their behalf.

If we have sinned, willingly or unwillingly, we must repent and ask Allah Almighty to forgive us. If we sincerely repent, sincerely regretting what we have done, our Lord, whose mercy truly knows no bounds, inshallah, will not refuse our request and will forgive us.

Allah the Almighty, who created us, through His prophets and Scriptures explained to us what and how we should believe, and how we should live. Just as any equipment, machine, etc. necessarily comes with an operating manual, in the same way our guide to life is the Holy Quran, our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Sunnah of our Prophet.

If we live by fulfilling the will of Allah and observing His prohibitions, we will live this life happily and find happiness in the Akhirah… All our efforts and efforts, inshallah, will be counted and our Lord will reward us with His mercy, Paradise and the sight of His divine beauty, and grant us eternal happiness. Amen.

ADNAN CALIŞKAN

May 2021