Journey to Allah Workshop

Day 1

6th March 2016

From the moment Allah created us, we began our journey back to Him. The goal of this journey is Allah. We don't just want Paradise - we want to reach Allah.

While we're here on earth, the journeying isn't through physical movement, but by our hearts. Everything revolves around the heart. The Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

"Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it is sound, all the body is sound and if it be diseased, all of it (the body) is diseased. Truly it is the heart." [Agreed upon]

The rest of your journey is dependent on the state of your heart. Most people don't like to hear about death and the Day of Judgement because we talk about it independently from Allah. It just evokes fear in their hearts. They don't want to die. But when you know who you're going to meet, you'll look forward to meeting Him. - And its the love factor that's missing from our journey. We have hope and fear when we hear about Paradise and Hell, but we lack love of Allah. The Prophet said, "Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet Him" [Bukhari]

In (2:255):

“Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever

Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber, nor sleep

overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth.

Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what

happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the

Hereafter . And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that

which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no

fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great .”

This is the greatest verse in the Qur'an. If you read it after every obligatory prayer, nothing will prevent you from entering Paradise, except death.

Delete all the attachments from your life. Everyone else is worthless. They cannot harm you or benefit you. Don't be busy with anyone except Allah.

He is the Ever-Living, the One who never dies. He never leaves us for even a blink of an eye, but it is us that separate ourselves from Him through heedlessness. To Him belongs the whole dominion. Everyone else is poor; they don't own anything. He knows about our past, present, future. He knows what you're doing, what you're thinking, what you will think in the future. I attach my heart to someone who knows about me without me having to speak. Who knows what I'm going through. I attach my heart to the One whose footstool is bigger than the heavens and earth. This gives us so much comfort. The One whom I attach my heart to is powerful.

In (57:1-6):

“Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah, and He is the All-Mighty, All-Wise.”

“His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, It is He Who gives life and causes death; and He is Able to do all things.”

Allah is the One who gave us life and He is the One who causes death. No one can tell you when, where, and why you'll die. Everything is decreed by Allah, from the beginning until the end.

“He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him). And He is the All-Knower of everything.” He is the First - No one precedes Him. So you should make Him first in your life.

“He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days and then Istawa (rose over) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty). He knows what goes into the earth and what comes forth from it, what descends from the heaven and what ascends thereto. And He is with you (by His Knowledge) wheresoever you may be. And Allah is the All-Seer of what you do.”

He knows about anything that goes inside the earth. He knows about everyone going under the ground. He knows about the souls going up and down. And He is with us wherever we are. He is with us during our entire journey – and this is something we need to believe. He is not with us physically but by His knowledge, hearing, seeing, because He rose over the throne.

“His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. And to Allah return all the matters (for decision).”

“He merges night into day (i.e. the decrease in the hours of the night is added into the hours of the day), and merges day into night (i.e. the decrease in the hours of the day is added into the hours of the night), and He has full knowledge of whatsoever is in the breasts.”

In (59:22-24):

“He is Allah, than Whom there is La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He) the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen (open). He is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.”

“He is Allah than Whom there is La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He) the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him.”

“He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor of all things, the Bestower of forms. To Him belong the Best Names . All that is in the heavens and the earth glorify Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”

He is the King. But the disbelievers will only realize He is the King on the Day of Judgement; that's why Allah said in (1:4):

“The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)”

In this life, the Kingship of Allah is only apparent to the one who believes inh. The one who doesn't believe fails to see the ownership and kingship of Allah. In reality we don't own anything. We don't own our clothes, our eyes, our house, our children. People don't want to die because they think they own things in this world. We will leave as we were created - with nothing. We don't even own feelings - to make people love or hate us. We are nothing but slaves of Allah. Allah is the Owner of peace. We want peace in our lives, when we leave this life, in our graves. We want to go to Dar As-Salaam. Only Allah, As-Salaam, can give it to us. We need the name of Allah Al-Mu’min in our journey, because there's so much fear. In (10:62):

“No doubt! Verily, the Auliya' of Allah [i.e. those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which he has forbidden), and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)], no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve”

We need security in our lives. We are restless. We don't know how we will face death, how we'll be alone in our grave, deal with the horrors of the Day of Judgement. We need Al-Mu’min during all this. A lot of people become religious only when they have a need. When there's no problem in their lives they don't feel the need to read Quran or pray. Allah will respond to them, but Islam is far more than this. We don't enjoy the sweetness of loving Allah. The disbeliever will regret on the Day of Judgement because they'll be able to witness the greatness of Allah but that can't do anything about it. Enjoy knowing Allah in this life so that you can enjoy seeing Him in the next. The worst punishment on the Day of Judgement is: (83:15)

“Nay! Surely, they (evil-doers) will be veiled from seeing their Lord that Day.”

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In (84:6):

“O man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your deeds and actions (good or bad), a sure returning, so you will meet (i.e. the results of your deeds which you did).”

After I know this - What should I do? In (45:15):

“Whosoever does a good deed, it is for his ownself, and whosoever does evil, it is against (his ownself). Then to your Lord you will be made to return.” If you want to meet Allah you need to do righteous good deeds. You need to be suitable to meet Allah. When you do good deeds the only person you are benefiting is yourself. And when you do evil, it's against yourself. Don't think that Allah will be harmed if you don't pray. Don't think that when you oppress people, you're only harming them. Don't think that when you violate the rules of Allah you are harming anyone. No one will be harmed except yourself. Our life on earth is made up of three things: 1) Things which happen to us. We are not accountable for this. E.g. Someone oppressed you. You will not be accountable for this, but you will be accountable for what you did in response. 2) Things which Allah created in us E.g. Where we were born, what we look like, etc. Allah won't ask us about this, but we are responsible if they were a means of making us proud, mock others, etc. 3) Things which come out from from us These are our deeds and we're responsible for them.

E.g. Someone made fun of your child and called her short. Instead of telling off the other child, or telling her to defend herself - You need to say, "Who made you like this?" Allah said in (95:4):

“Verily, We created man of the best stature (mould),” Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: “Indeed among the excellence of a person’s Islam is that he leaves alone that which does not concern him.” [Tirmithi] What people do to you and how Allah created you doesn't concern you. What concerns you is your reaction and your deeds. Leave the people - Allah will judge them. We play so many roles in our life - we play the role of judging people, retribution, etc. No wonder we can't concentrate in life. Sometimes we give excuses to ourselves for the bad we do and accuse others. Whoever does good it's for himself. Whoever does evil it's against himself. In (53:39-42):

“And that man can have nothing but what he does (good or bad)”

“And that his deeds will be seen”

“Then he will be recompensed with a full and the best recompense”

“And that to your Lord (Allah) is the End (Return of everything).”

We aren't dead yet. While we're alive, we still have the opportunity to strive. And then we'll see all what we did of striving on the Day of Judgement. So while you're one earth focus on striving. Don't get distracted worrying about others, criticizing this one, hating another, etc. The inhabitants of the graves didn't accomplish all the jobs they set out to do nor did they collect all of their rights. Don't waste your life trying to do that, because you'll never be able to. Make life easy for yourself - Detach yourself from everything and attach yourself to Allah. Your good deeds will be your friends. Nothing else is important. You do the striving in this world. Allah will ask you what you did. And you will see all what you did in your life on the Day of Judgement. Now be busy striving. Don't be busy criticizing people, etc. Everyone will be recompensed in full. No one will enter their destinations without having their scores settled. Allah will even judge between the animals. The return and the end is to Allah. But know - You can't strive without Allah's help. The Prophet said: "No one of you will enter Paradise by his deeds alone." They asked, "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Not even me, unless Allah covers me with His Grace and Mercy" (Bukhari) In (1:5-6):

“You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything)”

“Guide us to the Straight Way”

Don't depend on yourself. We can't do good deeds without Allah's help.

Your will isn't something you write once and leave. It's something you need to continuously update. You may change your mind, or new matters might arise.

You're reminding your children of their faith. They're Muslims.

We don't want people who remind us and make us attached of to Dunya while we're dying. We don't want people who tell us about the hellfire, or make us lose hope in Allah. We don't want people who excessively praise us when

we're dying and make us think good of ourselves. We need people who will give us hope in Allah.

You're already in a scary situation. If people around you forcefully insist on you saying La Ilaha Ila Allah it can put even more fear in your heart and you may not be able to say it. You need people to be gentle with you.

Choose whom you accompany in life, because they'll be around you during death.

Before the dead person meets Allah and goes to the grave he needs to be clean. This is the best way to leave this life. Have the person who washes you be someone you trust and is close to you.

The money should not be more than 1/3rd. It's something separate from inheritance.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ovSoePCTi6U/VtzmudzXDUI/AAAAAAAABe8/uvteAdVaRFo/s640/blogger-image-1553666556.jpg

Our life and time are a trust from Allah. In (103:1-3):

“By Al-'Asr (the time).”

“Verily! Man is in loss”

“Except those who believe (in Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'ruf)which Allah has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar)which Allah has forbidden), and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allah's Cause during preaching His religion of Islamic Monotheism or Jihad, etc.)”

When you look back at the past, you hardly remember the feelings you felt. Nothing remains of feelings except the feelings you felt for Allah. Make your concern the hereafter. Ask yourself - For how long will I be the same person? What am I waiting for? In (75:14-15):

Everyone is a witness for himself. We all know our shortcomings and sins. Why am I persisting in sin? How many acts of worship am I leaving? What am I waiting for? In (50:19):

“And the stupor of death will come in truth: "This is what you have been avoiding!"

In (62:8):

“Say (to them): "Verily, the death from which you flee will surely meet you, then you will be sent back to (Allah), the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you used to do."

All of us are going to die. Death comes to the sick, it comes to the healthy, the poor, the rich, the messengers, the doctors, etc. There is no one but he will die. And this reminds you of Allah's name AlHayy. Everyone else will die - so why should I attach myself to them? In (25:58):

“And put your trust (O Muhammad ) in the Ever Living One Who dies not, and glorify His Praises, and Sufficient is He as the All-Knower of the sins of His slaves”

We think death is an abstract matter. But it's something real - It's a creation of Allah. Allah said in (67:2):

“Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving”

Narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri said: The Messenger of Allah said: “Death will be brought forth in the form of a black and white speckled ram, and a caller will cry out, ‘O people of Paradise!’ They will crane their necks and look, and he will say, ‘Do you recognize this?’ They will say, ‘Yes, it is death,’ and all of them will have seen it. Then he will cry out, ‘O people of Hell!’ They will crane their necks and look, and he will say, ‘Do you recognize this?’ They will say, ‘Yes, it is death,’ and all of them will have seen it. Then the ram will be slaughtered, and he (the caller) will say, ‘O people of Paradise, it is eternal and there will be no death; O people of Hell, it is eternal and there will be no death.’” Then he recited:

“And warn them (O Muhammad) of the Day of grief and regrets, when the case has been decided, while (now) they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not" [19:39] Death can occur for a reason or no reason at all. If Allah wrote that a person would die at a certain time or place, He will create a reason for the peron to go to that place. So we can't say, "If only he didn't go there..." Don't give the power to the means - they're just a test for the people who are alive. Allah is Al-Azeez. Usamah bin Zayd said that the Messenger of Allah ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص said:

When you know you're going to die and everyone else is going to die, you will deal with people in the best way – Because you don't know if this is your last meeting with them. In (4:78):

"Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you even if you are in fortresses built up strong and high”

How will I die? Ibn Kathir said, "Whoever lives upon something will die upon

it..." Death is the beginning of your Day of Judgement. We have two types of Qiyama:

1) Minor (i.e. The Individual Qiyama/Death)

2) Major

Your death is a path to the Major Qiyama – The Day of Judgement.

- The Agony of Death -

Death is the biggest calamity that we’ll face in our lives. It will attack the body and take the soul from every vein and cell in your body. You won't be able to think or control yourself. You'll still be alive - but your actions will be according to what's established in your heart. So examine your heart now and ask yourself what it's attached to. If it's attached to Allah, at the time of the agony of death, your attachment will show on your tongue. The agony of death shows the reality of a person. You could tell someone to say La Ilaha Illa Allah and they'll be talking about their business, or whatever occupied their hearts in this world. Some of the righteous were asked to describing the agony of death while they were facing it. One of them said, "It is as if the heavens is on the earth and I'm breathing through a needle" We need the mercy of Allah. We can't flee to anyone except Allah. Only He can make it easy for us. So attach your heart to Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem. In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah said: "..I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful slave: he hates death and I hate hurting him."

- The Soul -

Don't investigate or try to find more information about it. Allah said in (17:85):

“And they ask you (O Muhammad ) concerning the Ruh (the Spirit); Say: "The Ruh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little."

- What Happens During Death-

In (56:83-85):

“Then why do you not (intervene) when (the soul of a dying person) reaches the throat?”

“And you at the moment are looking on”

“But We (i.e. Our angels who take the soul) are nearer to him than you, but you see not”

The soul will go to the throat. The time of death is a critical time - so the people around you need to be gentle and make you think good of Allah. The Shaytan will also be present at this moment. Even at your last moment he wants to mislead you. He might come in the form of your parents urging you to accept another religion, or praise you until you get deceived by yourself, etc. This is frightening, but attach yourself to the names of Allah Al-Hafeeth, Al-Wakeel, As-Samee’, Al-Aleem. Only He can protect you from the Shaytan. We need to attach ourselves to Allah in every stage of the journey because we can’t trust ourselves and our knowledge. The more names of Allah you learn and act upon in life, the more power we’ll have during these times – because we’re attaching ourselves to Allah. In (3:8):

"Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower."

And in a part of a longer Dua:

The Angel of Death is one Angel responsible for taking all the souls. Allah gave him the ability to do so, even though so many people may be dying at once. But he won't come alone. He has other helpers from the Angels. The Angel of Death will sit behind your head and the helpers will fill the room to where your sight extends. No one can see these Angels except the dying person. Sometimes Allah may allow situation to happen to increase us in certainty. A lady was dying and her husband was next to her. Suddenly she told her husband to cover her - she could see a man and she was not wearing Hijab. And then she died. Don't ever give up your religion for human beings, because no one will face your death except you. In (75:26-30):

“Nay, when (the soul) reaches to the collar bone (i.e. up to the throat in its exit)”

“And it will be said: "Who can cure him and save him from death?"

“And he (the dying person) will conclude that it was (the time) of departing (death)”

“And leg will be joined with another leg (shrouded)”

“The drive will be, on that Day, to your Lord (Allah)!”

- The Death of the Believer - The Angels will descend with faces as bright as the sun and sit around you as far as your eye can see. The Angel of death will sit behind you head and say, “Good soul, come out to forgiveness and pleasure from Allah!” Your soul will go out like water flowing out of the mouth of a water skin - without any difficulty. In (87:27-30):

“(It will be said to the pious): "O (you) the one in (complete) rest and satisfaction!”

"Come back to your Lord, Well-pleased (yourself) and well-pleasing unto Him!”

"Enter you, then, among My honoured slaves”

"And enter you My Paradise!"

You'll want to die because you want to meet Allah. The soul will not remain with the Angel of Death for not even a blink of an eye. It'll go to the other Angels almost immediately. They'll put it in a shroud from Paradise and perfume it with the sweetest smell of musk. And then your body becomes the body. The first thing detached from you is your name. So the angels take care of the soul, and the people take care of the body. Most of our concern in life revolves around our body - but it will be put in the ground in the end. If there was value in it, it wouldn't be put in the dust, it wouldn't decay. What's important is our soul. It goes up. In (91:9-10):

“Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allah ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds)”

”And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allah has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism, etc. or by doing every kind of evil wicked deeds).”

And Allah said in (7:26):

“O Children of Adam! We have bestowed raiment upon you to cover yourselves (screen your private parts, etc.) and as an adornment, and the raiment of righteousness, that is better. Such are among the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, that they may remember (i.e. leave falsehood and follow truth).”

One mistake we do is that we give ourselves a title before we die. Whenever the thought comes to you that you're a good person, then remind yourself that you're still alive - You don't know. But when you die your test is over. You know your value now. The Angels will come, and you won't feel alone. They'll give you the glad tidings. In (41:30-32):

“Verily, those who say: "Our Lord is Allah (Alone)," and then they Istaqamu , on them the angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): "Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!”

"We have been your friends in the life of this world and are (so) in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have (all) that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have (all) for which you ask for.”

"An entertainment from (Allah), the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

In life everything affects our body, and then accordingly our soul. In the hereafter everything is focused on our soul, and you'll see the effect of it on the body. That's why we may see a person smiling while dead. On the Day of Judgement, it'll be united. In (50:22):

“(It will be said to the sinners): "Indeed you were heedless of this, now We have removed your covering, and sharp is your sight this Day!"

Now we feel like we're there but not really there. On the Day of Judgement it'll all be united and real. The believer will want everything to be done quickly because he wants to go to his place in Paradise; he wants to meet Allah. The Angels will shroud the believer’s soul and take him up to the heavens. Every time you go up in an elevator, or a plane, remember this. You will reach the first heaven, and there are gates.

The keepers of the first heaven will say, "Who is this good soul?" And the Angels will say, "This is the soul so and so" and call you with the best names you were called in this world. The same thing will happen in the second heaven, the third, fourth, - until you reach the seventh heaven. All the heavens will open for you. And Allah will say: "Register the book of My slave in ‘Illiyun and take him back to earth. I created them from it and I return them to it and I will bring them forth from it again.” In (83:18-21):

“Nay! Verily, the Record (writing of the deeds) of Al-Abrar (the pious who fear Allah and avoid evil), is (preserved) in 'Illiyyun.”

“And what will make you know what 'Illiyyun is?”

“A Register inscribed.”

“To which bear witness those nearest (to Allah, i.e. the angels).”

- The Death of the Hypocrite/Disbeliever-

Think about giving birth - there are births which are easy and others which are very difficult. Everything in this Dunya is a reminder about something in the hereafter.

The Angels will come to the hypocrite/disbeliever with dark faces and sit as far as his eye can see. The Angel of death will say: "O you foul soul, come out to the anger and wrath of your Lord." The soul will not want to come out of fear, so the Angel of Death will pull it out like multi-pronged skewers being pulled through a wet wool, tearing his veins and arteries. In (8:50-51):

“And if you could see when the angels take away the souls of those who disbelieve (at death), they smite their faces and their backs, (saying): "Taste the punishment of the blazing Fire."

"This is because of that which your hands had forwarded. And verily, Allah is not unjust to His slaves."

The soul will struggle until it comes out like:

“By those (angels) who pull out (the souls of the disbelievers and the wicked) with great violence”

And the person will say - in (23:99-100):

“Until, when death comes to one of them (those who join partners with Allah), he says: "My Lord! Send me back,”

"So that I may do good in that which I have left behind!" No! It is but a word that he speaks, and behind them is Barzakh (a barrier) until the Day when they will be resurrected.”

He won't want to return to increase in the Dunya. Out of Allah's mercy He tells us what will happen. Why are you wasting your time? Do good deeds. We're still living the chance. We need to take advantage of all the opportunities Allah gave us. With one minute of your life you can do so many good. We're still alive and can repent. But when the soul leaves, the time for repentance is over. The soul is with the Angels and they shroud it with a shroud from the hellfire. People are shrouding the body, and the Angels are shrouding the soul. It then embarks on its journey to the sky. It will reach the first heaven and the keepers will ask who this evil soul is. They will say so-and-so and call him by the worst names he was known in this world. The gates of the heaven will not open for him. In (7:40):

“Verily, those who belie Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and treat them with arrogance, for them the gates of heaven will not be opened, and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle (which is impossible). Thus do We recompense the Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners, etc.).”

His soul will then be thrown into his body from all the way up there. Allah sis not oppressing them, they wronged themselves. Allah is Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, He gave them the opportunity in life, but they didn't make use of it.