The Inevitable : Reflection On Death And Beyond by Dr A 'id al-Qarni

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THE INEVITABLE
Reflections on Death and Beyond
IIPH
Dr. 'Â'id al-Qarni
وجاءت سكرة الموت بالحق
الدار العالمية للكتاب الإسلامي
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Contents
Pronunciation and Transliteration Chart..
7
Arabic honorific symbols.
Hadith grade terms
11
12
About the Word 'Lord'.
Is Copyright Applicable to Islamic Books?
Publisher's Note....
13
14
17
Translator's Foreword..
18
The final moments...
21
Death is sufficient reminder..
50
When you are placed in the grave.
Visiting graves
64
75
Rulings on death and what comes after it
91
Death announcements (na'i) and
weeping for the deceased
The day when the contents of
137
the graves are turned over..
The greatest calamity....
The path to paradise
. 157
179
202
Seekers of paradise
217
How beautiful paradise is!
230
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The final moments
Praise
raise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and blessings and peace be upon the noblest of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad (salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam - blessings and peace be upon him) and all his family and Companions (radiya Allahu 'anhum - may Allah be pleased with all of them).
To proceed:
The moment of death, as viewed by the early generations, is something to which we will all come. There is no one among us who will not die; there is no one among us who will not reach that moment when his soul departs; there is no one among us who is not approaching that moment. By Allah, we shall surely experience it. Kings and subjects, leaders and followers, rich and poor, the nations who came before us, all have experienced the moment of death.
... هَلْ تُحِسُّ مِنْهُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ أَوْ تَسْمَعُ لَهُمْ رِكَزا ) (سورة مريم: ٩٨)
...Do you see any one of them or hear even a whisper of them?>> (Maryam 19: 98)1
This topic may be viewed from the following angles:
1- Death as mentioned in the Qur'an
2- Death as mentioned in reports from the Prophet ()
3- Death as viewed by the righteous early generations and by the heedless who do not think of death.
The meanings of the verses of the Qur'an in this book (with some minor changes to the punctuation) are taken from The Majestic Qur'an, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab. (Editor)
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Death is sufficient reminder
Praise
raise be to Allah; we seek His help, His forgiveness and His guidance. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad () is His slave and Messenger. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and upon his family and Companions.
The poet al-Hafidh al-Hakami (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
As for death, remember it and what lies beyond it, for no one will be safe from it.
It is the criterion by which
a person's status will undoubtedly become clear,
for the grave is either one of the gardens of paradise
or one of the ditches of hell.
If it is good, then what comes after it
will be a better abode that our Lord has prepared for His slave,
and if it is bad, then what comes after it will be worse.
Woe to the one who turns away from the path of Allah. By Allah, if you realised what lies ahead of you,
you would not have laughed and you would have wept much.
Each of us will join the caravan of death, and will reach this inevitable end, this moment that Allah has decreed for the son of Adam, namely the moment of death in which the tyrant will be
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THE INEVITABLE
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Reminders of death help an individual maintain a balanced life, so that when he goes through ease he does not become arrogant or transgress against others, and when he goes through hardship he does not panic and fall into despair.
Thi
s book is a timely reminder of death, for thinking of death deters one from persisting in sin and prompts one to do righteous deeds that may lead one to paradise, whereas forgetting about death may lead to one following whims and desires, and committing evil deeds that could lead one to hell.
In this book, the author has also mentioned incidents from the lives of the Companions, successors, and other pious predecessors that highlight their concern for life after death despite their good deeds.
About the author
Dr. 'Â'id al-Qarni is a prolific writer of both poetry and prose in Arabic. His PhD is in Hadith Sciences, and he is well known in the Arabic-speaking Muslim world for his inspiring lectures and speeches. He has written more than 30 books to date. His most famous and popular books, translated and published by the IIPH, include Don't Be Sad, You Can Be the Happiest Woman in the World and Muhammad As If You Can See Him.
ISBN 978-603-501-407-6
IPH
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