‘Abdullah
ibn Imam Ahmad(RA) said that he was there when his father was passing away. His
father was going into sakaarah, the state of unconsciousness. When you are
going from dunya to akhirah, it’s a very difficult change. You’ve been in this
world for 60 or 70 years and now you are going to a completely different world.
That change between these two stages is difficult, sometimes it doesn’t happen
immediately. Sometimes you’ll find that the person goes back and forth.
To
simplify this, think of sleep, because sleep is the minor death. Allah says,
“And He is the One who takes your souls when you are sleeping.” Sleep is a
minor death.
You
go through an interface in which you’re not awake and you’re not sleeping. The
same thing happens before death; you are going through this interface between
life and death. There are moments where you are on the other side and on this
side [living].
‘Abdullah’s
father started saying, “la ba’ad. la ba’ad” [meaning] “No, not yet... no, not
yet”. ‘Abdullah was worried. Imagine you hear your father saying, “No, not yet...
no, not yet,” [at the time of death]. What would you interpret it to mean? I
don’t want to die yet, right? You would interpret it as meaning “I do not want
to die yet.” So ‘Abdullah asked his father (when he woke up), “O my father, why
were you saying ‘No, not yet’?” Imam Ahmad said, “Shaytaan was standing right
next to me, biting on his fingers and saying, ‘O Ahmad, you have slipped out of
my hands. O Ahmad, you have slipped out of my hands.’ So I was telling him,
“No, not yet. No, not yet…not until I die.’” [Meaning] The battle between me
and you is happening. Not until I die will I be free from you. Shaytaan was
biting his fingers, so angry and upset, thinking that Imam Ahmad had slipped
out of his hands.
Look
at the believer – how he keeps on fighting until the last moment. We never give
up. If we were proud, we would say, “Yes, I won against you!”
If
this could happen [that you lose at the last moment], it is something extremely
dangerous. Ibn Taymiyyah says that the reason this happens is because shaytaan
realizes that this is his last chance with you. If he misses you in the last
moment, he missed you. That is why shaytaan gives special attention to the last
moments of your life.
Put
a criteria to yourself – if you are losing to shaytaan now, while the battle is
easy, what will happen to you in the last moments, when it gets tough? If you
are already losing the battle now, when shaytaan is giving you half of his
attention, what will happen when he gives you his full attention?
These
are the fitaan. That is why we say in our salaah, “We seek refuge in You from
the fitna of life and death.”
No comments:
Post a Comment