 I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed devil. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I pray to Allah for our master, our prophet, and our family members. Thank you all dear sisters and brothers for joining us this evening. Often times during the holy month of Ramadan, we talk about concepts like that of the grave and like that about death and like that about the transition from this world to the next. And often times when the first word that we hear is death or grave like is often mentioned within our da'a and supplications and from the pulpit and so on we immediately negatively connotate it with something that is very dark and something that is very distant from us. And the reality of the situation is such that our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is a relationship between a lowly slave and that of an all merciful, all generous, all compassionate creator. And our approach toward understanding about God from a very elementary state when we're very young is often again that of distance. The first picture that you hear when you hear the word God in your mind, the first picture that is created is a angry man sitting up in the skies on a throne ready to throw down some lightning at anyone, for instance, who commits sin. Instead of the reality that we find within the traditions of Ahlul Baith alayhim wassalaam that rather talk about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being someone who cares for us being someone who wants us to attend or reach or kind of get to the heights of human perfection. You see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created the human being not to live in this world but rather it's a transitionary state between this world and the next world. The end goal is for us to attain paradise and the company of Muhammed and Wa'ali Muhammad. And you see that the human being, when you take a look at our traditions, that we have been through so much in reality. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created seven dimensions of life for us. The first one of these is what is known as alam al-anwa when we're Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created our lights in the celestial realm. Then thereafter he transitioned us into what is known as the alam al-dur, the world of spirits where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put us through certain examinations and tests. Again, according to Hadith, these were 2000 years before the creation of the physical Adam, alaihi sarah, physical Prophet Adam. The third life was what is known as alam al-arham or what is known as the life in the womb of our mothers. Then we made a transition into what is known as alam al-dunya, this world that we are in at this moment which we're going to be living in here for 60, 70, 80, however many years. Then thereafter we live in what is known as alam al-barza, the fifth, the world in this group. Then thereafter we live in what is known as alam al-qiyam, the day of judgment which according to traditions is 50,000 years. Then thereafter we enter into alam al-kulit or eternal life again, inshallah, paradise in the company of the messenger and his family, alaihi sarah. So the big question that you want to reflect upon then at this moment is we go through a lot. Our souls experience so much. Why is it that many a time we feel so scared or we feel so worried or we feel so distant from a reality that there's absolutely no doubt about in this transition to human perfection? I often liken it to this example. I mentioned before the world that we lived in before this dunya is that we lived in the womb of our mothers, alam al-arham. We lived there for nine months, for instance. If we were asked when we were in the womb of our mothers whether we would choose to be in this dunya, naturally, probably because we were so comfortable, we were closest to the person that sustained us and that cared for us, our mothers, that we were warned, we were fed normally, often. There was not a lot of drama that transpires in that space, at least for us, of course, for our parents and others. It's a completely different story. If we fast forward 30, 40, 50 years, however old you are, and I ask you this question today, would you prefer to be exactly where you are right now or would you prefer to be in the womb of your mother? Allah's panah wa ta'ada has created this life to be a life of transition. That life as wonderful and as comfortable as it was, we could not live there forever. We could not be there for 30, 40, 50 years, even though on really difficult bad days we might tell ourselves, oh, you know what, I wish I could go back. Generally speaking, we're able to be exposed to the sun, to the moon, to the stars. We live our own lives. We have families, spouses and children. We get to eat all this delicious food, not just through two, but when we were a fetus. Allah's panah wa ta'ada has created this creation so that we're seeking and attaining affection. And that has to be through the transition of numerous stages that we go through during the course of our life and during the course of our distance and our pathway to traversing and seeking closeness and proximity to Allah's panah wa ta'ada. So I want to focus on a couple of questions very briefly this evening. Again often connotated toward this conversation around death is that we talk about punishment, is that we talk about graves, is that we talk about the response of the angels that we need to give when we enter into the grave. We talk about eternal punishment and so on and so forth. And again, often these things are so negatively connotated in our mind, but if we're believers and we're striving on the path toward getting closer to Allah's panah wa ta'ada, the bigger question is why shouldn't we think about death and why shouldn't we reflect upon it in a way that's very different. And again, this is what we learn from Mahdur Bayt, alayhim sallam. But even before we ask that question of why should I sit here and think and contemplate about death, a prerequisite to that question is to ask why not talk about life? A lot of people, they say, why are we always focusing on death? Let's focus on life right now. In reality, what is life except for death? Again, it is a certainty unlike any other certainty that we can ever experience during the course of our lives. Every single one of us, every single one of us are going to experience that death. Again, for the believer, you see there's a transition from this world to the next. Darun ila dar. So then, again, why should we talk about death? Because it's a guarantee and it's something that naturally we are walking toward, we're breathing toward at every step and every moment during the course of our lives. We're getting closer to that than actually the reality or the opposite of our birth, meaning we're closer to death than our birth. And when we want to reflect a little bit upon this notion and upon this subject, we go through it like this, that Allah SWT, like I mentioned before, has created us toward reaching that destination. Naturally, if I'm not planning my future steps during the course of life, I may slip and I may fall and I may not be as successful as traversing this path, knowing exactly where it is that I'm going. Let me give you an example. That if someone decides that they're going to move to a new city, they're going to go move to a new town. I work on a university campus here in the United States. So if someone gets accepted to a new university and they need to travel from their hometown to a completely different part of the world even. Naturally, the smarter thing to do would be to go and visit that place if they have the capacity to do so. Go and find a home, go and find a place, go and see what the best restaurants are, go and see if you have family, friends, so on. You make the necessary preparations to going somewhere where you are absolutely certain that you're going. If you're going to go on vacation, you're not just going to get on a plane, go wherever it is that you're seeking to go to, and then not plan exactly where you're staying, where you're going to eat, what you're going to go and visit, none of that. That would be someone who's not really well prepared in their vacation and not going to make the most of the opportunity that they're seeking. Similarly, when it comes to contemplating about death, contemplating about the afterlife, if we are absolutely certain that we're going there, it's probably good for us to kind of get a good understanding of what it's all about. In other words, get a little bit of a preview of what that's all about. That's number one. The second thing that we gain from contemplating about death is that it allows for us to create a trajectory for our lives. When you're working towards something, there's a lot more opportunity for you to be successful in the midst of that seeking. If I know, for instance, that I am working toward my doctoral degree, toward my bachelor's degree, I am working to this new raise in my job. I am working to this promotion in my place of employment, whatever it is. If you're working towards something and your mind is consistently fixated on it, again, there's just that much more opportunity for you to be successful on this path. But if you're not, and if you don't know what you're working for and you don't set any goals for your life, there's a lot of opportunity to sort of have your life go crooked or have, you know, your trajectory, your pathway just not be as succinct and straightforward as oftentimes we want things to be. It doesn't mean you're going to be completely unsuccessful, but the likelihood of being successful is that much more different. And go ahead and take a look at examples like that of Ali Ibn al-Battala, peace be upon him, versus someone like Muawiyah, for instance. Muawiyah has no idea where he's going. Muawiyah could care less that there's a life beyond this one. So you take a look at the leadership and the courage and the charisma and the beauty of a man like Meir al-Mu'mineen, Ali, alaihi salam, even in the midst of those moments when he was Khalifat al-Muslimeen for those four years and five or six months, he was so careful with the way that he dealt with other people. He was so careful with the way that he spent money that was coming out of the public treasury, for instance. There was such a delicate nature to the way that the Imam, alaihi salam, dealt with others because he knew that this life was not about allowing for it to consume you. And you take a look at the life of the Messenger of God, alaihi salam, the way that he would interact with people who were his enemies, who spoke poorly to him, alaihi salam, and you see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala provides us these examples who think about life beyond this life, meaning, again, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognizes that this pathway, or Ahlul Bayt, alaihi salam, they recognize that this pathway is just a bridge from this world to the next. Just like that one day, the company of some of his companions, the Messenger of God, alaihi salam, he said, I wonder at those who build a bridge, who build a home on a bridge, which they said, oh Messenger of God, who would build a home on a bridge? He said that those who believe that this world is the end all, the ultimate goal, they don't recognize that this life is rather a bridge from again, from the dunya to the akhah. When you go again to take a look, like I mentioned earlier, about the different universes and dimensions that we experience ourselves in, the dunya is only in the middle, alam al-anwa, alam al-darr, alam al-abham, alam al-dunya. After this, we have to go through the barasah. After this, we have to go through the day of judgment. After this, we have to go through eternal life. Why do we fixate our minds, our hearts, our entire beings on something seemingly that's so insignificant? But again, at the same time, Allah ﷻ placed us in this world to live in it. That does not mean that we should not be a people who enjoy from the benefits that Allah ﷻ has given us. Allah ﷻ has created death and life for you, for you to have a better life. That Allah ﷻ has created death and that He's created life for you to have a better life. This brings me to this question that I know that many of us may have. Then why is it then, that seemingly we have this innate nature that has a sense of anxiety or nervousness when we talk about or think about or contemplate about death? Meaning what? That regardless of the positive sort of actions and deeds that we often engage in, we're in the holy month of Ramadan. We're fasting during the day. We're supplicating during the night. Why Allah ﷻ still places this perhaps an easiness within us? Again, it's probably not Allah ﷻ placing a sense of nervousness within our hearts. But again, things that are new and things that are of a transitionary nature, oftentimes they are difficult. It takes time to adjust. Again, when we were born into this dunya, when we were born into the island of dunya, the first thing that a child does is cry. Why? Because all of a sudden, before it was in a sense of darkness, it was in a sense of consistently attaining sustenance from its mother. Now all of a sudden you see light, you see people, the world is so much bigger, why should you even cry? And those first initial days, those first initial weeks for the child, it's always crying because again it's in something new, it's in a completely new state of life, in a completely new existence that it's never experienced before. And this transition that takes time, eventually you realize that this child loves to be in the dunya, it loves the space, it loves the light. We don't understand the reality of the life beyond this one because our intellects don't have the capacity to perceive that till date. In the same way that if you would ask the child again in the womb, the mother, are you looking forward to going into the world? They would say, no, we're good over here, we're comfortable, we don't want to experience anything else. And often some of our scholars, they liken it to this example. But how would you explain the color red to someone who was blind? How would you explain the color red to someone who's blind? You could say it's the color of the strawberries, it's the color of the apple, it's the color of the flower, so on and so forth, it's the color of this paper, for instance. But how are they going to be able to understand that if they've never seen it before? And so what Allah swt without it gives us in terms of symbols, in terms of metaphors within the whole of Quran, within traditions about the date, alaihi salam, that speak to a little bit of the reality of the next world, and reality is not completely understood by our limited intellects in the dunya. So that brings me to this question that I know that many people have been asking on the chat. And that is that, why do people really fear death? And then the better question to ask is, does everyone really fear death? Of course, for someone who sees death as Amrun Adam, which they see death as absolute nothingness, they're going to fear death. Because what is life after this? If this is the be all end all, that there is nothing after this, like of course we don't believe, then naturally it's worrisome to think about, you know, what's the next stage or what's the next step, especially if seemingly there's nothing that you're ever going to experience after the pleasure of this dunya. So for someone who's not a believer, naturally they would trade their entire life for what they don't want to experience, meaning that they're going to live it up in this dunya, so to say, because seemingly there's nothing else, and that includes transgressing the boundaries of Allah's fana huwata'ata, perhaps a lack of basic morality and otherwise and so on, they wouldn't see anything beyond their mortality and this corporeal existence. This is number one. The second types of people who may fear death are those who are sinners, those who commit acts of transgression consistently. When we become attached to this world, and the words of Amir al-Mu'mineen, that the climax or the height of all sin and of all transgression to this world, when we fall in love with this world, then it becomes so difficult to leave it because we're getting so attached to it. And he said that one day, there's a man who came to the messenger of God, he says, oh messenger of God, I'm scared of death. He says, Allah kamalum, he says, do you have wealth? He says, yeah, I have a lot of it. He says, start to give it away slowly. And you'll see that your attachment to this world is not as intense as it is right now. When we see life as only about accumulation, when we see life as only about consumption, food, wealth, sex, so on and so forth, what's going to happen is that we're not going to be that contemplative about the world beyond this one because the only thing that we see is our bank accounts. The only thing that we see is our retirement accounts. The only thing that we see is that which is important for me in the junior without any sort of conversation or contemplation or reflection or pondering about that which will happen after this. When in reality, that's just not the quality of the believer. That's not what we're seeking and not what we're ascending to. Once in a while, we go and we visit the graveyard. Once in a while, you go and you reflect upon your own mortality. We cannot even escape sleeping, let alone escaping something as certain as death. And that brings me to the third type of people. The first again are those who don't believe and of course they're going to fear it. The second are those who are sinners, of course they're going to fear it. And then thirdly, there's the Awliyya of Allah SWT. In that famous hadith in which Allah SWT is speaking to Ibrahim, salamu alayhi. He states, Ibrahim alayhi salam was in a conversation with Allah SWT. He said, oh Allah, I have a sense of anxiety, a sense of nervousness to transition from this world to the next. It's okay, again, it's something new, it's changed. It's okay to feel that way. To which Ibrahim alayhi salam is consoled by the words of Allah SWT. Do you ever see a lover who despises or is worried or scared to meet their beloved? You've been away from your family for a long time. All of a sudden you look forward to that moment when your plane lands and you're getting in the car and you're on your way to your family's house, for instance. If you've missed, for instance, the ziyarat of Imam al-Hussain alayhi salam, you have not been to Medina for many years. You've not been in the house of Allah SWT, especially during these days when we're unable to travel. Many of us perhaps were planning to go for the ziyarat of the Alba'een and maybe we're not sure if we're going to have that opportunity. Just thinking about it, your heart starts to race and hairs start to raise on your body. This bumps because you're looking forward and you're anticipating that moment when your eyes can glance upon that view. Over here, Allah SWT states, your opportunity of ascension in this world and transition from this to the next is like that of you seeing someone you haven't seen in a long time. Yes, there's anxiety. Yes, there's nervousness, but in a positive way. There's something that you're looking forward to. Which is why you take a look at Ahlul Bayt, A.S. This is what the Prophet SAW said. His emotion in terms of demonstration at the time of his passing, he said that he was going to go and meet Rafiq Al-A'la, the best of friends. This is the way that the Prophet SAW, he saw death. At the end of the life of Imam Amir al-Mu'mineena, A.S., two lines. Number one, He said, I've attained victory by the Lord of the Ka'bah. And when one of his companions, the words proximity a man by the name of Asbaq bin Nubata, many of you might be familiar with him. When Asbaq bin Nubata was next to Imam Ali, SAW, he looked at the Imam, A.S. and he started weeping. And Imam Ali, A.S., he states, He states, What are you concerned about? Which Asbaq, of course, others, his famous line, he says, I'm not worried about you and where you're going. I'm worried about me and life without Amir al-Mu'mineena. You see this in the life of Fasayn ibn Ali, SAW. That when he was fighting on the battlefield, the only thing that he saw was the next world. Which is why the enemies, they would respond in, look at Hussain, He's not even thinking about death. He's not concerned about it. He's already living in the world beyond this one. So, by means of our efforts, by means of our supplications, by means of our da'a, by means of our, again, exertion, Whatabattan ilayhi tabteela, Allah SWT, Exert yourself to the, you know, greatest of lands during these days, nights of the holy month of Allah. When we make the necessary effort and prepare ourselves toward recognizing that this world is just a transient thing. But through it, we have the opportunity to attain a world that is far better than this. Allah SWT, in numerous times, mentioned this in the Holy Quran. Waladarul akhara khayrun wa abbaqa, that the next world is better and it's a lot longer lasting. The fruits are taste different. Not only they taste different, they taste better. The experiences are far better. All the moments of enjoyment are a lot longer. You know, for instance, I'll just conclude with this point. Before we open it up for questions and conversation, insha'Allah. It is that every single one of our enjoyments during this dunya, they're limited. They're filled with a little bit of stress and they're filled with a little bit of anxiety. Let me give you an example. Imagine, I don't know, for me personally, I love to eat anything that's sweet. You have like this really delicious cake in front of you. You start eating it and sometimes you think, oh man, this piece is way too small. And you finish eating it and you wish that there was a little bit more. And the only thing that you think about is eating that cake instead of enjoying it is, oh man, you know, this is going to end soon. Similarly, with really happy and enjoyable moments during the course of our lives, at the, for instance, birth of your child, what brings as happiness as, you know, that moment when you first glance at the birth of your child. How beautiful that is. Really, it's sort of a spiritual moment. And at that particular moment, the first question that comes to our mind is what? Is my child healthy? At a wedding, the first question is going to be like, oh my God, who's going to pay for all of this? When you get a job, you got a job you're about to earn, you realize that sometimes that, you know, you're going to have more expenditure now. When you graduate school, you're stressed out about finding work. Oftentimes, even the moments that are most enjoyable to us, soaks up a little bit of anxiety. That's just the nature of the stimuli. The next one, what about the other? Khayran wa abqa. The food tastes better. The food tastes better. Everything is longer lasting. Why wouldn't we want to experience that eternal joy that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will transition us into? Again, provided that we have this positive mindset, that we think about it, that we have a good opinion. But He is the most merciful of those who show mercy, insha'Allah, through our efforts, through our prayers, through our worship, through our service, through our diligence during these days and during these nights of the holy month of Ramadan and beyond, we'll find that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will allow for us to be recipients of His mercy and of His compassion and His generosity and make this transition from this world to the next seamless and then raise us on the day of judgment and the company of the Prophet and then hopefully allow us to be admitted into paradise while holding their hand. Before we open it up for some questions and perhaps some conversation, if I can just ask you all to please recite Sibetul Fatihah for the Salat al-Sawab of the following Marhumin. Firstly, Marhumah Fatima by Mahbub Hasan Ali Herji Muhammed Raza Siwani Ali Asghar Khoja Mr. and Mrs. Karam Ali Bandavi and then finally Mr. and Mrs. Ali Hussain Jivraj Sayyani I can ask you all to please recite One Surah in Mubarakat in Fatihah Bismillah We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to have mercy upon all of us and especially the Marhumin especially on these days of the holy month of Ramadan To answer some of the questions that were coming in the midst of the conversation Firstly, why are there sufferings in the Barzaf when we will suffer for our sins in Qiyamah That's a really good question and I think it's important again to understand that these are not experiences that every single individual will endure What is that mean? That for a believer for a believer we have hadith that tell us that if we go through certain difficulties during the course of the dunya during the course of this life that it could be a means by which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is expiating my sins Meaning that if I go through I don't know an illness if I go through a loss of wealth maybe I don't know at the end of the day me individually I don't know my experiences whether they are a trial for me whether they are a sin that Allah is punishing me for or whether there are means to expiate my sins but for the believer Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will sort of cleanse us of all of our sins in the dunya by means of difficulties and challenges that we endure and if we do not get perfected from our sins in the dunya then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will punish us or put us through certain obstacles in alamin barzakh so that by the time we reach the day of judgment Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will raise us on that day purified of all sin and then enter us into paradise purified of all sin and if we have not gotten our sins purified at the time of death in the barzakh on the day of judgment then in that case obviously we must not be believers but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will admit us into the divine punishment and again if we are believers we love ahlul bayt alayhum salam we are striving in the way to get closer toward God and inshallah we ask Allah to eradicate and to purify all of our sins from our souls in this dunya before we enter into the next day because out of His mercy and His compassion out of His grace this is why we supplicate during these days and nights during the holy month of Ramadan this is why we fast during the month of Ramadan we working to sort of hit that reset button on our souls and allowing for it to enter into a state of cultivation inshallah to be able to continue to purify a second question is in regards to how does the punishment transpire in the grave for someone who does not have a body by means of injury for instance at the end of the day the punishment that we go through in the grave inshallah again may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala save us out of that out of His grace and out of His mercy and out of His intercession the messenger of God and His family alayhum salam it is not necessarily the physical body that is enduring the pain but it is the soul the spiritual dimension so our bodies when we enter into the grave they decay but the soul is that which continues to live and that's what goes through trial and tribulations according to Samara wa hadith and then one other point that I'll throw out there as well is that when we talk about the word grave the word grave that often is pictured into our mind is that a hole in the ground al-qabr according to our Rwayat is not only limited toward that hole in the ground but again it's a completely new spiritual dimension that again probably our intellects don't have the capacity to understand why is there fear and anxiety towards death question number three as I mentioned before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala won't punish all of us and not everyone has that sense of fear and anxiety perhaps even a believer might again because we see it as a transition is something scary something new something we never experienced before that's okay ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala again to make this transition Allahumma inni I ask Allah Allah for me to be at peace at the time of my passing and Allah for me to get forgiveness after my passing and Allah for me to be raised on the day of judgment for instance with your grace and with your compassion and with you accepting my apology why is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned adab so many times Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when you take a look at the whole of Quran whenever he does mention punishment he also mentions rewards and that's something that we don't often focus on it's the style of the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about in the whole of Quran we often neglect that form we often neglect that reality we forget the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he talks about you know sexual issues like that of divorce he'll also talk about marriage when he talks about hell he talks about heaven as well and we also need to focus on that positive aspect as well as only focusing upon the negative but nonetheless Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also speaks about punishment and the way to deter us from stepping into that boundary which is why when you're driving on the highway you see all these signs that say speed limit this many miles per hour situation around COVID and so on there are all of these politicians who are going out in the news every single day at least over here in a place like New York City as difficult as the situation is locally we're going and talking about the necessity to wear face masks and if you don't do this you can be fine why? because again they want to create this deterrence for us from us to not step sort of beyond the laws that have been created and similarly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does the same within the whole of Quran how do we approach death positively question number five again like we've been mentioning we change our mindset we focus on the mercy and the compassion of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rahmatuhu sabaqat ghadabah according to the verse in the whole of Quran according to Ahadith and Ahlul Bayt that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy it's actually something that precedes Israel there are a couple of other questions as well that have been coming in in regards to our relationship with those from our family members after we die or in regards to our responsibilities to those who have deceased and those who have passed on what is our individual responsibility please be sure my dear sisters and brother we're going to save those questions for next for this upcoming Thursday upcoming Thursday inshallah we'll kind of continue at the same exact time 12 p.m. for those of you on the east coast for those of you in Dubai for those of you in Pakistan different parts of the world at the same time 7 p.m. 9 p.m. wherever you are please take a look at the flyer we're going to continue this conversation in terms of now our responsibilities now we have this idea of theoretically understanding what is death the transition from this world to the next we need to change our mindset and change our approach from this world to the next inshallah we're going to be seeing that there's a lot of opportunities for our individual growth and cultivation but then secondly what is exactly that what happens when we enter into the grave what are our responsibilities to making sure that that transition is very easy and smooth from this world to the next what can we do in terms of our relationship with members of our families for instance do we have any relationship with our families and then fourthly and finally what are some of those things that we can do for our family members who have already been deceased inshallah we'll reflect upon inshallah we'll reflect upon these questions and we'll take a look at other verses of the Holy Qur'an and traditions of Ahl al-Bait A.S. and utilizing their guidance and utilizing their wisdom inshallah we're able to transform our approach toward recognizing the mortality of our own existence to something that is rather an opportunity for us to be recipients of the mercy and compassion and the generosity and the grace of Allah SWT we ask Allah SWT the ability to inshallah have the Tawfiq to continue this conversation and we ask Allah SWT to bless us with the intercession of Muhammad and Ali Muhammad in Dunya and in the Barsalaf and in the Akhara and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds may He reach them upon our Master and our Prophet Muhammad and upon Ahl al-Bait A.S.