logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2018
7m 5s

03 – How Should We Die?

SeekersGuidance.org
About this episode

How Should We Die?

Allah Most High answered this question in the Holy Qur’an, saying, “O you who have believed”—ya ayyuha alladheena aamanu—“fear Allah continuously”—ittaqu allah haqqa tuqatihi—“and never, ever die unless you are in a state of wholehearted submission.”—wa la tamutunna illa wa antum muslimun. (Qur’an, 3:102)

If you think carefully about the end of this verse for a second—“Never, ever die unless you are in a state of wholehearted submission.”—you will find it strange. Isn’t is it strange that Allah Most High is telling us that if we are not in a state of wholehearted submission, that He is then forbidding us, in the strongest of terms—“Never, ever,” He says—from dying?

But what does it mean for Him to forbid us to die? Death is not something we choose. Death is something that He chooses. Death is something that will catch us as even as we run away from it: “Wherever you may be,”—ayna ma takunu—Allah Most High tells us, “Death will catch you,”—yudrikkumul mawt—“even if you be in high, impregnable fortresses.”—wa law kuntum fi burujin mushayyadah. (Qur’an, 4:78) What, then, does it mean for Him to forbid us to die?

Traditional scholars of tafsir anticipated our question. They explained that He is not, in fact, forbidding us to die; rather, He is commanding us to have wholehearted submission when we die.

It’s like when a teacher exhorts his student, “Don’t pray ‘asr unless your heart is present with Allah Most High.” He is not telling his disciple not to pray ‘asr—How could he? Praying ‘asr is an obligation that we owe to Allah Most High! That is not what he is telling him. What he is telling him is that he must focus his heart on Allah Most High while he prays ‘asr.

This is a common rhetorical technique even in English.

Think about the expression again: “Don’t pray ‘asr unless your heart is present with Allah Most High.” Can you see that the teacher is telling his student that his standing before his Lord during the ‘asr prayer is such a tremendous thing that it is not fitting for him to do it without focussing his heart on Him? Can you see that the teacher is telling his student that the reason why his heart isn’t focussedon His Lord in the ‘asr prayer is that he doesn’t realize what a tremendous thing it is?
The teacher is not forbidding his student from praying ‘asr; he is commanding him realize its tremendous significance and focus his heart on Allah Most High while he prays ‘asr.
In the same way, when Allah Most High says, “Never, ever die unless you are in a state of wholehearted submission,” He is telling us that the reason why we don’t have wholehearted submission is that we don’t realize the tremendous significance of death. He is telling us to realize its tremendous significance, to realize that death marks the end of our opportunity to realize the purpose of our lives, and that the reason why someone might not have wholehearted submission when he dies is that he doesn’t realize what a tremendous thing death is. Allah Most High is not forbidding us to die; He is telling us to realize the tremendous significance of our deaths and to have wholehearted submission to Him while we die.
Now, I want you to note what the tremendous significance of death is—to realize the purpose of our lives. That takes us back to the previous episode of this podcast, in which I explained that the purpose of death is to give joy to life by turning its difficulties and pleasures into expressions of our humble slavehood to our generous Maker. The significance of dying does not lie in death; the significance of dying lies in the joyful, meaningful, and purpose-driven life that comes before it.
That means that this verse is, in reality, not telling us how we should die; it is telling us how we should live. To be more specific, it is telling us how we should live the moment before we die. It is telling us to have wholehearted submission to our Maker at the last point of our lives, as we take our last breath just before we die.
Every problem we solve seems to reveal a new problem (smile). Our new problem here is that we don’t know when we will die. The time of our deaths is concealed from us, revealed only to the angels responsible for inscribing our destinies in the Heavenly Preserved Tablet, and to the angels responsible for taking our souls when the appointed time of our death comes. If we don’t know when we will die, how can we fulfill Allah Most High’s command to have wholehearted submission just before we die?
The answer to this question lies in the first part of this verse—“O you who have believed, fear Allah continuously.” Fear Allah continuously, in other words, throughout your life. The question of this episode—“How should we die?”—is therefore another way of asking the question, “How should we live?”
The answer to that question, along with an examination of the first part of this verse, will be the subject of the next episode.
For more podcasts by SeekersHub, visit seekershub.org/podcasts

The post 03 – How Should We Die? appeared first on SeekersGuidance.

Up next
Jun 2019
06- Don’t Long For Death- Shaykh Hamza Karamali
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) taught us not to long for death. But when calamities strike, they can blow the wind out of us, making us forget the purpose of our existence, and, sometimes, making us long for death so that they might end. Hamza unpacks the words of the Holy ... Show More
9m 50s
Jun 2019
What Should You Do When You Are About To Die?- Shaykh Hamza Karamali
We will all, one day, be on the verge of our deaths, staring at the end of our lives, the end of our choices, the end of our actions. We will only take with us what we did before that time. There will be no going back, and there will be nothing more left to do. Or will there, in ... Show More
8m 27s
Dec 2018
04 – How Should We Live?
How Should We Live?  How should we live? Allah Most High tells us, saying, “O you who have believed”—ya ayyuha alladheena aamanu—“fear Allah continuously”—ittaqu allah haqqa tuqatihi—“and never, ever die unless you are in a state of wholehearted submission.”—wa la tamutunna illa ... Show More
6m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
19 Wishing for Death | Surah Al-Jumu'ah
Download the Surah Al-Jumu'ah guided workbook at https://www.bayyinah.com In episode nineteen of A Deeper Look Surah Al-Jumu'ah, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan delves into the Quran's insights on life and death. He highlights the importance of not just fearing death but preparing for it ... Show More
46m 13s
May 2020
Surah Al~Ahqaf by Mansour al salimni
#muslimcentral BENEFITS OF SPREADING DAAWAH 1. Fulfill an Obligation Upon Us Da’wah is recognised by the majority of scholars as being obligatory upon every Muslim. Therefore, we can interpret that the act of da’wah is something of great importance within Islam and more important ... Show More
13m 32s
Feb 2022
DAY 69: Tawakkul In Allah: What Does It Mean? | Sayed Hussain Makke
Tawakkul, trust in Allah, is considered one of the most important weapons of a believer. Ironically, this complete dependence upon Allah can make us more independent, stronger, and better equipped to face the world. But we must understand it for what it is.Listen to Sayed Hussain ... Show More
7m 15s
Oct 2024
Death Is Closer Than You Think | #13 The Disease & The Cure | Ustadh Abdulrahman Hassan
What made the Prophet ﷺ run to a grave, drop to his knees, and cry until the ground was soaked with tears? What he said that day was so profound that it left his companions—and all of us—with a lasting reminder to prepare for the inevitable. This powerful episode from the explana ... Show More
2h 10m
Aug 2022
Quran Chapter 22: Surah Al-Haj (The Pilgrimage) English Translation
(22:1) O mankind, fear the (wrath of) your Lord! Indeed, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) will be an awesome thing. (22:2) On the Day when you witness it, the suckling woman shall utterly neglect the infant she suckles, and every pregnant woman shall cast her burden, and ... Show More
16m 7s
May 2020
27- Sincerity, Vigilance, Meditation, Reflection on Death –Renewing Religion- Ustadh Amjad Tarsin
In this lesson of Renewing Religion, Ustadh Amjad Tarsin, reflects upon the chapters from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya on sincerity, self-examination, meditation and reflecting on death. Ustadh Amjad begins with the chapter on sincerity, explaining that true sincerity can lead habits to b ... Show More
54m 33s
Oct 2024
22 Running from the Inevitable | Surah Al Jumu'ah
Download the Surah Al-Jumu'ah guided workbook at https://www.bayyinah.com In episode twenty two of A Deeper Look Surah Al-Jumu'ah, Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan delves into the profound message that our actions and beliefs must align in preparation for our inevitable return to Allah, wh ... Show More
15m 18s
Apr 2024
DEENTOUR 79 - How we as Muslims deal with other Muslims & Non-Muslims
In this podcast we bring back one of our favorite guests, Abdullah, to speak about how we as Muslims deal with other Muslims and non-Muslims. There is a level of character that the Muslim must exhibit when dealing with other people and that trait is very important to our developm ... Show More
40m 46s