 Respected viewers, brothers and sisters in Islam, As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Welcome to another episode of Laugh From Qiblaa. From between the two holy shrines, the name of Hussain, peace be upon him, and his brother Abul-Fadal Abbas, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them. Tonight, inshallah, we will discuss a topic which is some kind and some sort of undesired by many, if not all, of the people in this world. However, when we think of the next stage of this topic, we can be assured that Allah's mercy can be for the believers. But before we introduce a topic, let's welcome our very special guest, Sayyid Ja'far al-Qazweeni. Assalamu alaikum Sayyidina. How are you? Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Tonight, Sayyidina, as I mentioned, it's an undesired topic, the topic of death, and hereafter. Death, if we can say, is unchangeable. It's irresistible. At the same time, no one can tamper with it. Even Allah SWT says in the holy Quran, every soul will experience the taste of death, and then we test you with both bad and good by a way of trial, and to us you shall return. It's very significant, and Allah SWT mentions this verse, because we see death, and everybody sees death as a way of ending something. But to the believers, and especially the followers of it, It's just the source. It's just the start, as you mentioned. So it's just the beginning of the way. How does Islam, and specifically the Holy Quran, address death? Fawzan. Indeed, my dear brother, as you mentioned, the topic cannot be sugar coated. It is, and also it is very important for us to not forget this matter. Actually, it is the most important thing that we should never forget, and we should always remind ourselves that the angel of death, Israel, will leave absolutely no one alive. Everyone will die. Eventually, no matter how long our life will be, how strong we will be, definitely there will be a day that the angel of death will approach us. The approach of death. This matter is what we shall never forget. And of course, after the angel of death, the angel of death takes out and takes all their lives away, and everyone is dead. It is only him. And then Allah tells him to die. He orders him to die. He orders him to die, and he dies. The only one that is immune, that will not die. And anyone else is not immune from death and the approach of it. Also, there's another verse in the Holy Quran that says Say that death which you flee will surely meet you, and then you'll be returned unto him who knows the unseen and the seen. And he will inform you of what you had been doing. Therefore, a wise person would never forget death. He would always be thinking about it and be ready. And if I'm not ready until now, then I better start getting ready for the infinite life. For the infinite life that we are going to live after our death. In this world, this world is basically a bridge from this life, from this limited life, from this life that is going to end, to the infinite life. In this life, we have to always keep memorizing ourselves that we are in a test that Allah has put us here, and we are in a test, and we have to do well. And every single movement of ours is being recorded. Allah will take us back to him. He will judge us on the day of judgment. We will all be judged for our actions and deeds. And there is no room to deny something that we have done. Because in case we do that, they will play back the exact scene and exactly what we did on the exact timing that are actually accurate. So there is no denying. Everything is being recorded. And we will return to Allah, and He will judge us on the day of judgment. He will judge us in a day that will last 50,000 years. It will feel like it lasted 50,000 years. And also we have in a lot of narrations that state that for the believers, for the mu'mins, for the people who Allah has forgiven and will grant paradise, it will last as long as a prayer it takes. For example, Salat al-Tuhor, the noon prayer, or the afternoon prayer, or even the morning prayer. Two minutes, three minutes, five minutes max. For the believers, it will last maybe five minutes. It will feel like it lasted five minutes. And for other people, they will feel like it lasted 50,000 years as the Qur'an mentions in the states. And that's because all of the horror that they're going to see on that day. Harun al-Larashid, the Abbasid king, when he was about to die, when he was on his deathbed, there was historians say that there was 1,000 doctors around him on that day. Muslims and non-Muslim doctors basically. Doctors from all around the world, from all around the kingdom, they were there. But when they eventually gave him the info that there is nothing that we can do for you. This is death. You are dying. And after he believed that there is nothing that he could do, he kept on repeating, What did my money, my money couldn't do anything for me? My money can do, the millions or the billions that I have can't do anything for me. My kingdom, all these doctors, 1,000 doctors around me and there is no one that can stop death from approaching or that can stop medical mode. And also, we have a lot of... I mean, we see people die every day. There is no room for us to believe that we might not die. Everyone will. It's interesting that Allah SWT mentions Nuh. Peace be upon him. Prophet Nuh that lived around, historians say, around 1950 years, 1,950 years. When the angel of death came to him, Nuh told him that, do I have time to take a shower and change my clothes? He said, no, there is no time for that. I mean, come on, I have been a messenger for the past 1,000 years and I have lived for almost 2,000 years and now I don't have that 15 minutes that I'm asking for. So later in the end he asked them, can I just move from the sun to the shade? So he agreed on that. Yeah, you can move from the sun to the shade. And Jibril and Israel, the death angel, asked him, how did this 1,950 years pass by, how did it go? He said that it felt exactly like when I moved from the sun to the shade. It was just, I mean, almost 2,000 years. It was just a snapshot and it ended so quickly that I feel like it was elasted the same, it took the same duration of time that took me to move from the sun to the shade. But at the same time, nowadays, and every time throughout history, we have had a lot of people that don't see that possible. I mean, they wonder how is it possible? How can Allah SWT recollect us? I mean, this flesh of mine, my bones, they're all going to be vanished. I mean, the flesh takes maybe weeks after someone dies, maybe after I die of weeks, my flesh will be gone, my flesh will be gone. And my bones take some years and they will also vanish and they will go back to its origin as they're going to change to dirt. And we're talking about billions of people all around the universe, all around the world dying. Some have been dead for thousands, maybe millions of years, maybe a million years. So it is not possible to get them back. So this whole thing is a big lie. We will not be recreated. We will not come back to life again. It is just impossible. And we're not talking about a few people thinking this way. We're talking about these days, we're talking about millions of people that just cannot understand the fact that they will be recreated and reborn for the day of judgment and for being judged. Therefore, they say that, okay, I can do whatever I want in this life and I'm just going to be living this life and there will be no life after death and it's the end of the story. So let me just feel free doing whatever I want to do. So as I said, they think that the story is just a big lie. But it is not. How can we convince them? How can we talk about this matter? The carriers of this idea, how can we convince them that this is not correct? Allah SWT answers this question in the Holy Quran. In many occasions, he has spoken through his prophet, peace be upon him, to them. In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. And he has given us examples and forgot his own creation. He says who can quicken these bones when they are decayed? Say, prophet Muhammad, say he who created them the first time. So the answer to this question is basically this, that we have to believe in the unseen. It is not just what we can see that exists. A lot of things in this universe we cannot see, we cannot sense, but are existing. For example, this air that we are taking the oxygen off right now. We can't see this air, how can you prove that this room is filled with air? You tell me that you have to move your hand and you will touch it, you will sense it. Allah SWT has given us five senses as everyone knows. Four of them are in the head and one in the whole body. The sense of seeing and hearing and smelling and tasting and the last thing is the sense of touching. But does that mean that if I cannot notice something with these five tools and equipment that Allah SWT has given me, that means that it doesn't exist? No, not necessarily. And no, it's not like that. The jinnies, the devils, they are all creations of Allah SWT and they are there. Everyone knows that they are there. Everyone and they are mentioned everywhere. And they cannot be seen. But we have to believe in them. If we can't notice something, it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. For example, I give you an example. If I go to sleep now in my room, I wake up in the morning, I see some food on the table. Am I going to... Obviously, obviously, someone has put it there. But I didn't see that someone that put the food on the table. But does that mean that the food walked by itself and got on the table? Definitely. Exactly, definitely. There's someone, there's a cause. There's someone that put that food on the table. It's just me that I was sleeping. I didn't notice it. Our brains, my dear brother, are limited. We are limited creatures. We cannot realize the unlimited. Our brain is like this cup of water. When I put water inside this cup, and it fills, eventually it's going to float. It's going to come out. This is the capacity of this cup. I can't fill it with more water. And our brains are exactly the same. We are limited, our brains are limited. They were created at a certain point of time. But before that, Allah SWT had created many other things. Allah SWT had been there. Has always been there. So, I cannot remember. I cannot, I don't know. Do I know what took place before I was created? No, I don't. And that's normal because Allah SWT created me this way and he made me limited. And I know whatever I sense. And as a believer, I also have to believe and understand that the same creator, Allah SWT that created me the first time, that gave me this brain, that gave me this body, the same creator of this universe that exists and is unlimited and that I cannot realize and recognize them in detail, he has told me that I have to believe in certain things. Even though I don't know, even though I haven't seen it, even though I can't sense it right now. After people die, I can't see what happens to them. But I know that they are being asked in the grave and on the day of judgment. Before that, in the hereafter, from the time that everyone dies until the day of judgment, we have a middle life over there. Where are we going to be? Allah knows. And Allah SWT has given us tips, snapshots. If you're good, you're going to be living good after death. And if I was bad, then I will be hardly judged and punished for being bad, for my bad deeds and actions. So I again say that I don't necessarily have to see that to believe it. And the reason is because the same unlimited creator of us, Allah SWT, is telling me to believe that. And this is an obligation that I have to surrender for. That I have to believe in. Allah SWT is like Allah SWT is saying and telling me that I created you and you belong to me. I bring death upon you whenever I want and I bring you back to life as I did the first time, at the first place. Where were we before we were born? Where were we before we were created? We were nowhere. We didn't exist. So exactly like Allah SWT, Al-Bara, Allah SWT, there's a difference between Al-Khalq and Al-Bara. The difference is that, for example, Jesus, Jesus, PSP upon him, he created. The Quran says that he could make a bird out of mud and he would blow in it and it would become a bird. That's creation. That's creating right there. But the difference is that what he did was a part of Allah SWT. He didn't ascent. He didn't start that at the first place. Allah SWT started us out of nothing. Out of nothing he created us. But Jesus, for example, when he did what's called creation, that was a part of Allah SWT did and that was by the power of Allah SWT and the access. Even Jesus states that when he resurrected the people, or when he made the blind seeing and when he cured the ill, after that he said all of this is done by the will of Allah SWT. It's significant that it's interesting how you mentioned it. Indeed, indeed it is. So when I realized that Allah SWT is capable, was capable of creating me and everything else in this huge, enormous universe, I believe that Allah SWT is also capable of bringing me back. And in the seerah, in the history of prophet, peace be upon him and ahlul bayt, there are so many incidents. In the Holy Quran itself, the story of the four birds that Allah SWT ordered to have them, all minds together and put every piece on a mountain, on the top of the mountain, and they call them and look how they're going to be recreated and reconnected and rebuilt and recreated and they will come back to you. And also there's a very beautiful story in the Holy Quran of I believe prophet that was called Aziz. This person, I believe prophet, some say he was a prophet. Aziz, not Aziz. He, some say that he was a prophet and some others say that he was a good man like Luqman. He walked in, he was in a road trip, he was traveling. He walked in into a village. A village that there had been a battle and everyone had been killed. Everyone had been killed and burned. There was absolutely no life in that village except some crushed bones and skeletons of people that had been dead for maybe a year when he walked in that village. So he was riding a donkey and he had some food along with him. He looked at that village, he looked at that scene and wondered how is Allah SWT going to restaurant everyone in this village? I mean there's absolute silence. There is absolutely no life and they're all dead and their flesh is turned to dirt. How is Allah SWT going to recreate them and re-send them? And because his question was out of curiosity, he wasn't out of denial, he wasn't denying that Allah SWT can, he was just wondering how is Allah SWT going to do that? Allah SWT decided to show him. Allah SWT took his life away. He dropped dead him and his ride, the donkey that was riding. And he stayed dead for 100 years. After 100 years, Allah SWT brought him back to life. So, and I say profit because we have indeneration that stays and also in the Holy Quran that he was asked by the angels of Allah SWT that how long have you been here? He said that I've been here for a day or some hours because Allah SWT they say that Allah SWT took his life sometime in the morning and gave back life to him after sunset, sometime 100 years later after sunset. So he was asked how long have you been here? He said that I have been here for a day or less than that. Then Allah SWT sent him the message that okay, take a look at your donkey. He looked at the scene. He looked at the donkey that was dead and there was nothing left of it but some bones and skeleton. And the flesh had been gone. Everything had been gone. He realized that it's been way longer than a single day that has been here. Allah SWT told him that you have been dead for the past 100 years and the proof is your donkey. And now take a look at your food. He saw his food. He looked at his food. He had some grapes and some dates and some things to drink some kind of juices and yogurt drink he had with him and he looked at his food and it was so fresh. Nothing had happened to it. It wasn't rotten and it wasn't spoiled and the food was there but his donkey was in that. Exactly. So Allah SWT later on told him that okay now I want you to look at the donkey. He was of course shocked and what shocked him even more is that he started watching and seeing that donkey. He started seeing the crushed bones and the skeleton getting all together again getting its color back and then he saw the dirt rising from the ground and coming and covering those bones and then he witnessed the transfer of dirt to flesh and then the color started it started looking exactly like a flesh and then he started seeing the hair growing and maybe that took a couple of minutes only that Allah SWT made this quick for him to see and to witness this and he saw the hair growing again on that flesh and there was his donkey just like it had been it had been dead for half an hour only and then Allah SWT ordered the donkey to get back to life to come back to life and the donkey was alive again. Allah SWT says He was asked He was asked He was asked Hasn't changed Hasn't spoiled Hasn't changed Hasn't spoiled After he witnessed that, after he saw that, Allah SWT brought that fact and that scene to his eye, to one of his senses and to his senses. He saw that, he heard that, he witnessed that. So after that, he said, I know that Allah SWT is capable of reclaiming his life. He's creating us whenever he wants and taking us back to him whenever he wants. And Allah SWT told him that he saw this, he witnessed this. So now you go and speak to who doesn't believe in that and tell them what happened with you. And there are so many other stories that insha'Allah we will speak about tomorrow insha'Allah or in the next episode insha'Allah. I'll give you insha'Allah tomorrow if you are alive. I'll give you some snapshots about the day of judgment. And before and after people are divided into two sections and two sectors, some to paradise and some to hellfire. But it's also significant to note when relating to death, Allah SWT states in the Holy Quran that the purpose behind giving life to people and creating people is to worship Allah SWT and not for worship. But when we think of death and if you will the expired date is near, Allah SWT tends to warn people but at the same time he tends to give a bright side to death. And don't lose hope, exactly, don't be ready and be afraid of that day because it's going to be a hard day on everyone but after the day of judgment it's infinite pleasure that's going to be insha'Allah for us, your brother. Allah SWT at the same time, he says in the Holy Quran, Al-Haqm Al-Takathar, you know multiplying and multiplicity has led you away from thinking of death until you visited the graves, even at the Bait piece, Prophet Muhammad SAW, he says in narration states that once a graveyard or cemetery should be in the middle of the city when we go to Najaf we see the cemetery in the graveyard right in the middle of the city and yeah it's mustahab because it's not there for no purpose, it's there to remind people every day that this is where we can be. Exactly. One time we went to Najaf and there was a scholar with us and when he looked at the graveyard he just stood there, we were walking, he just stood there, we asked him why did you stand? He said because it's weird, you know us people when we tend to see such a scenery, we tend to pause and think about it, are we ready to be in that place? Are we ready to be in a place and do we have enough good deeds for Allah SWT not to overlook our bad deeds but to forgive us? Insha'Allah. It's significant, no, but as of death Allah SWT states in the Holy Quran those who hasten to good deeds and rush to good deeds. There are the near ones in the paradise and the opposite side, Allah SWT tends to give us a scary picture if you will of hell but as scholars say those verses are only there to warn people not to scare them away from religion. Some people they tend to misunderstand that part and think of that religion is only talking about death and there's a lot of verses in the Quran that talk about death and hereafter. Because it's a fact dear brother, because it's a fact, I mean whether I'm a Muslim or I'm not a Muslim, whether I believe in Allah SWT or Allah SWT I don't, death will approach me and the day of judgment is going to be there for me. So the reminders that we have in the Holy Quran indeed as you said and as a lot of narrations state that the believers, the Mu'mineen, the righteous, the martyrs, it will be so easy on them. It will be very easy on them but it is going to be there whether it's going to be easy or hard. It is going to be there and we have to be prepared for it and we shouldn't forget that. Today is only actions and there is no judging and tomorrow is going to be judging and there's going to be no actions, no deeds. One time Prophet Musa peace be upon him, he asked Allah SWT why do you tend to, he's not questioning the will of Allah SWT but he tends to wonder that why does he warn the believers and give hope for the disbelievers. He said because when I warn the believers they tend to come closer to me and they tend to worship me more but when I give hope, and then when I give hope to the disbelievers they tend to repent and ask for forgiveness from Allah SWT. It's actually significant to think of death as a means of transaction from this life into here after but we tend to see a lot of people before they die. They have some sort of, they get very, very sick or they tend to, it's a sort of punishment some people would say from Allah SWT but it's not, the reality it's not because Allah SWT he puts illness into an old person so he can take away, Allah SWT can forgive him for the sins that he's done or something that he's committed in his life. And if I am ill, if I need an operation for example, a surgery, whether I like it or I don't, for example if there's a bullet in my body, whether I like it or I don't, whether I feel sick or I don't, the bullet has to be taken out, it's a fact. And death as well and the hereafter and the life after death as well as you mentioned my dear brother is a fact and also whether I feel sick thinking about it or I don't, the matter and the important point is that we shall be ready for it. Yeah, definitely. And I'll also narrate that it's significant for the believers to, you know, to reserve a spot in a specific cemetery, especially in Najaf, Wadi Salam, for them, you know, just to remind themselves about death. Even scholars in Najaf, a lot of people narrate and they tell stories about them seeing scholars sitting and they have reserved a grave. They sit in the grave and they ask Allah SWT to give me back life so I can go back and do good deeds. They lived that situation before it happened, before it happened so that they are used to it, some kind of sort of. And even in the hereafter, the two angels that come to the death person, they begin asking them, especially the believers at the debate, that's why they say, mama sadaqah, I believe says when the adhan is recited, always recite to it or listen to it so when it comes time for death, you can recite the shahadatain, and significant to actually listen to the adhan because when it comes down to death and you're in a grave and one can come to you, they tend to ask you questions and it's mandatory on everyone, scholars or no scholar, sinner or no sinner, you know, a pious person or not, they ask the same questions, who is your god, who is your prophet, who is your imam, the twelve imams, and whoever hesitates, he tends to have a long life in that mental stage as you mentioned. Yeah, it's a real long story for him. The person who hastens with the answer and says it right away, Allah SWT, it's noticed that that person has lived a pious life, a righteous life, but inshaAllah as you mentioned, we can discuss this topic, it's very depth, inshaAllah we can spend some time tomorrow to discuss it in the next episode. So respect the viewers, thank you very much for tuning in and thank you Sayyid Jafar for attending tonight. Stay tuned for the next episode and for the dear viewers who didn't get the chance to view the previous episodes, they can log on to our YouTube channel Adnan Hussain 3TV to check out the uploads, the Quranic uploads and the Ramadan lecture series, as well as live from Karbala. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Wa alaikum salam wa barakatuh. Saadab u alaykum Sayyiduna. Ma alaikum As-salam u alaykum. Baalakum. Saadab u ala Habibu. Baalakum. Gали baalakum. Wa alaikum As-salam u alaikum. Wa alaikum As-salam u alaikum As-salam u alaikum. Wa alaikum As-salam u alaikum As-salam u alaikum As-salam u alaikum.