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[ Saturday, January 17, 2004 ]

 

"Hey Hey, Ho Ho, The Hijab Ban's Gotta Go!"

The sis and I joined other sisters in a protest at the French consulate in SF against the French ban on religious symbolism. I might post about it later.

The Lives of Man: The Second Life (Dunya): Sickness and Death

VII. Sickness and Death

 When people fall ill, they should concentrate on asking abundantly for forgiveness, on remembering God, and on repenting of prior sins and times of forgetfulness, since they do not know whether this illness will lead to death, their time having come.

• People should [at these times] make their legacies and give instructions, so that whatever needs to be done, whether for the Hereafter or for the world, is actually carried out, especially as regards anything that they owe other people, for these things are serious, and hard to extricate oneself from.

• In their illness they should think exceedingly well of God.
o Hadith: God says, “I am as My servant thinks Me to be, and I am with him when He remembers Me.”

• Hope should be the predominant state in ill people, especially when the signs of impending death appear, so that they may die thinking well of God, hoping strongly for His generosity and the vastness of His mercy, and yearning to meet Him.
o Hadith: “Those who are pleased to meet God, God is pleased to meet them, and those who dislike to meet God, God dislikes to meet them.” This is because a Muslim, when death is imminent, receives glad tidings of God’s mercy and grace; he is therefore pleased to meet Him, and God is pleased to meet him. A hypocrite, on the other hand, when death is imminent, receives news of God’s chastisement; he is therefore unhappy to meet Him, and God is unhappy to meet him.

• Ill people should make sure that no impurities soil their bodies or clothes, thus preventing them from doing salah. Let them beware very greatly of abandoning salah, for everyone can pray according to his condition, whether sitting, reclining, or in whatever way proves possible. Any of their relatives or friends who happen to be there should encourage, remind, and assist them in performing it.

• Let the sick frequently repeat the words, “There is no god but You; Transcendent are You! I have been among the unjust” [la ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni kuntu min al-zalimin] for it has been related that someone who repeats this forty times and then dies in his illness, dies as a martyr. Let them also recite Surat al-Ikhlas in abundance.

• When the patient seems to be approaching death, those of his family and relatives who are present must watch him. If they notice signs of panic and terror they must remind him of his good works, the immensity of his Lord’s mercy, His forgiveness of the sinful, and His pardon of people of remissness.

• It’s a definite obligation that the dying be encouraged to say, “la ilaha illa’Llah,” because someone’s whose last words are such will enter the Garden (hadith). When the patient recites it once, it’s not necessary that he be asked to repeat it, unless he speaks about something else.

• Hadith: “Recite Ya-Sin to your dying.” This makes the departure of the spirit easier.

• The dying may be subject to various kinds of temptation and it’s therefore recommended that people who are present recite Qur’an in abundance, and mention hadith which condemn the things of the world. It has been related the Satan is nearest to the servant at the time of his death, eager to tempt him.

• It’s sunna for the dying man to lie on his right side, facing the Qibla. When he breathes his last, his eyes should be closed. Those present must ask for much forgiveness and mercy for him and pray for him, for the angels will then say Amin.

• Wishing for death is discouraged, and so is praying for it. If, however, it is because one fears to be tempted or afflicted in one’s practice of religion, then it becomes permitted, and can sometimes even be recommended.
o Hadith: “Let none of you wish for death because of some hardship which has descended upon you. If you must, then say: ‘O Lord God! Give me life for as long as life is better for me, and cause me to die when death is better for me.’”

Next Post: The Lives of Man: The Second Life (Dunya): Afterward of Chapter

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