The Meaning of Taqwa and Reminder about Death and Proper Janaza By Muhammad Munir At Conway Islamic Center

Myrtle Beach SC Alhumdulilah Rabbil Alamin Salatul Salam, ama uth rahmatin al alamin nabina wa mamina, Muhammad ibn Abdulah , alahi min rabihi abdul salati wa taslimi amabad:

We say that the word At-Taqwa is a term; that has been mentioned, explained, spo ken about in the Quran, in the Sunnah, several times; several different styles a nd manners. Sometimes Allah (aza wa jal) commands us with Taqwa; sometimes Allah (subhana wa ta Allah) praises those who perform and practice At-Taqwa. Other times He informs us he is with those who have Taqwa. Some places in the Qu ran, we find, a specific act or statement that we are required or requested to d o; and Allah tells that the exact statement or act is closer to Taqwah. For you to forgive is closer to Taqwah. For you to be, just, it is closer to Taqwa, and so on and so forth. Sometimes we find the result or the reward or the fruit of T aqwa being mentioned. That we save those who use to fear, for those who had Taqw a, and we destroyed those who are evil and so on and so forth. So the point Im tr ying to get to, is that the term At-Taqwa has a very very rich mentioning in the Quran and the Sunnah; in the Quran and the Sunnah. The term Taqwa TaaQafWow and A lif Naqsurah, taqwa, comes from the root word, or is derived from the word Al-Ri qayyah; as you can see, the 3 main letters, WowQaf Yaa or an Alif. That is becaus e in the Arabic language, every single word is derived from either a 3 or 4 lett er root word. You have some words that are going to be 5 letters or 6 letters lo ng. Therefore, All words come from either a 3 letter origin or a 4 letter origin . So we see that the word taqwa has Taa-Qaf-Wow-Yaa or Alif. Thats how many lette rs? 4. So if I want to look up taqwa in the dictionary, if its a simplified dicti onary I can find it. But if its a dictionary that strips the word to the basic or iginal root meaning. Because taqwa is not the original form of it. The original form of it is Wow-Qaf-Aniyaa Khair [Good] or an Alif. Khairul in shaa Allah. The word taqwa comes from Al-Ruqayyiah, which literally means to make a protecti on or a barrier for yourself. For there to be something that you fear, something that you dread, you place between yourself and that thing that you fear, a barr ier, a wall, a shield, a gate, that will screen you from that thing that you fea r and dread. This is what the term taqwa linguistically means. Protection which m eans that you are putting a shield up for yourself. Something that you are afra id of, and that you are placing something between you and that other thing. If i ts a vicious animal, you place between yourself and that animal a gate. If they a re wild animals, you place a fence between your sheep and those wolves that will be too high for those wild dogs, to jump over. Because you fear for your sheep to be, attacked and eaten. Furthermore, just as a person fears a bullet penetrating his chest or torso he w ears a bullet proof vest for protection, so therefore he wears a bullet proof ve st. He puts between himself and something that he fears, a barrier, a barrier, t hat thing he fears is death or injury from the bullet. And the thing that he fea rs of being shot is his chest. So he puts on a bullet proof vest. That is a form of linguistic taqwa, which means Protection. So At-Taqwa doesnt necessarily mean fear. But it means protection, along with fea r of Allah. This is the linguistic meaning of Taqwa, Khair in the shariah, there are several definitions, several interpretations of the term Taqwa; and all of them or many of them are very similar and they mean the same thing at the end of

the day it is just a different type of interpretation. So putting that on pers pective we have a different type of interpretation, khair in shaa Allah, such as , if you were speaking to someone who didnt speak your original language, and you said to them, lets say Arabic for example, and I said, he was taught about he sa id khubz, bread. Good, Khubz and you were the interpreter. And you didnt want to translate to him literally what khubz means. So you brought him a loaf of bread. Said, hatha khubz (This is bread). One loaf was unsliced. Then another interprete r brought him, a sliced loaf. And another interpreter brought him, pita bread. A nd another one came and brought him rote and another one came and brought him di fferent type of wheat bread or grain, and so on and so forth. In the end, its all called khubz (bread). Its just a different type of khubz (bread). Different way of making the khubz (bread), but its all khubz at the end of the day, its all brea d. So similarly, this meaning of taqwa, this comes in the end that this is a ver y important rule when it comes to understanding tafsir. You find the, Ibn Abbas, from the sahabah, they said different things about what this verse means. But theres no contradiction. He said this, he said that, and t heyre all similar; its just a different way of applying what that verse means. Good in shaa Allah. Some of the companions, such as Ali ibn Abu Talib (radi All ahu anhu) said, at-taqwa hear khwufo min an jalil, wa amalu bi-tanzil, al kana-at ubul khalir wa isti dadu ri omi rahir. Ali ibn Abu Talib (radi Allahu an) said in a few basic beautiful words, when he was asked about taqwa, he said that, it is fear from Allah, Al Jalil, The Forever Sublime, and subhana wa ta Ala, wa amala bi-tanzil and acting upon the revelation; acting upon, the revelation; The Quran and the Sunnah. Wal kana atubul khalir and being pleased and content with just a l ittle. Being happy with what? Just a little bit. wa isti dadu ri omi rahir and pre paring yourself for the day in which you shall travel. Preparing yourself for th e day in which you are going to leave; meaning death. So we can see is a very co mprehensive definition of taqwa. Fear from Allah Al-Jalil, which is based upon y ou acting upon the Quran and the Sunnah. Now bidah, now innovations, ok, now ignorance; but youre acting upon what was sent down to Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and then on top of that, you hav e to have piety and zuhd. You have to be, away from the worldly life. You have to be pleased with what you have. Whether you have a lot or you have a little, but youre always pleased with, a little. This is very important point. Many people h ave a misunderstanding of the concept of zuhd. You understand the concept of doi ng away with indulging in the worldly pleasures asceticism or however they call it or word it. And they think is being as you say is to be hungry. Looking hungr y, to be poor, and thats not necessarily zuhd; or kanaa being content. You can hav e a lot of wealth. But youre, if that wealth was taken away from you, you say Alh amdulillah. You dont think of it as a big deal; no difference if it is taken from you. Not really a big deal. But some people, once the wealth is taken away fro m them, then they cant survive. They cant live off grief and anxiety. Its no way th at they can, except what has happened to them. So they arent content, but some pe ople that are extremely wealthy, but they are content with what, if they just ha d a little bit. I remember when I had nothing and now Allah blessed me with a ma nsion. Alhumdulilah. But I can live in a shack if I had to. I can live in a shac k if I, had to. So, he says being content with little doesnt mean that you just n ecessarily, have to have little. Also, It doesnt necessarily mean that you dont, t hat its impermissible to have, been wealthy, no, because the most important thing is your heart and you prepare yourself for death. Remind yourself of death. Speak about death and constantly be conscience that de ath doesnt have any impartiality, or partiality, death doesnt have any racism, dea th isnt prejudice. Death doesnt care what you look like, where you come from, what you have. Your skin could be as black as coal or your skin could be as white as snow, you could be the greatest scholar in the world, or the most ignorant wors hiper monk. You could be rich and wealthy or poor and pauper. It doesnt matter,

death does not care. Where you come from, what you look like, what you talk, if you talk slow, or too fast, northern accent, southern accent, death doesnt care. You have to constantly remind yourself; that I am not protected from death. Deat h could come to me at any second. A heart attack or a car accident. I could get shot with a stray bullet, or anything can happen. And thats why the Prophet (alah i salam) said ak-theru min thikree had ji mil ha that. Make an abundant remembrance of the destroyer of pleasures. Constantly think that the pleasure you have righ t now, is going to be taken away from you. This comfortable life, this comfort t hat we have, this carpet Alhamdulillah, air conditioning, modern, lights, electr icity is going to be taken away from us one day. Whether its in this life, or in the Hereafter. Khair, as Omar (radi Allahu anhu) said, ik sho shu fe in na naama la ta dun. Omar (radi Allahu an) said, be rough, be rigid, be hardcore, because favors dont always stay around. Favors, bounties, dont always remain. As we say, we should always walk, just in c ase, when your car is taken away from you, youre accustomed to walking. While peo ple who drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, never ever walk anywhere. If their ca r breaks down, its the end of the world; right? They have a fit, their whole day is spoiled I have to walk, I had to walk five minutes, ten minutes to the gas st ation. Right? Because theyre accustomed to driving, the comfort, driving to the s tore, everywhere. I dont know of any corner stores here, like, you do, corner sto res up there. Ok, but, is a two second walk to the corner store to get something , you want a snack, you want something to drink, something for your kids, you go right to the corner store. You dont have to drive; to the gas station, or that p lace to get something. There are some people that they drive, up to the street a nd come back. Lazy, lethargic, or whatever the case is. When that car breaks dow n, how do you think their world is going to be? Their accustomed to that pleasur e and they didnt remind themselves that this car can be taken away from them. And a ten minute walk is nothing to someone that walks for ten hours; or for ten da ys; or for ten years. Weve known people whove migrated, from Chad to Saudi Arabia, on foot. You know how far that is? You know where Chad is in Africa? From the Red Sea to Saudi. You k now of course, you know when you get to the Red Sea, you have to take a boat fro m the region in Africa, all the way, to the tip, and then, when you get inside a nd all the way up to Medinah; on foot. Scholars of hadith of the past, many of t hem walked for, for such vast distances, in search of knowledge. And they never complained. Cause they constantly remind themselves that, a horse, a camel is a b ounty of Allah, but it can be taken away from me at anytime. It may be a time which I dont have the comfort of a horse. So we have to remind o urselves of this, and this is from taqwa. And also, being prepared and even more important the Hereafter, hat youre going to travel and you have to leave this co mfortable place. This place that you have these pleasures, youre going to have to leave all of them, your wealth, when you die, your family, theyll cry a little b it and be sad and mourn. But then afterwards, they have to split up your wealth. Its a reality. How much do I inherit? How much do you inherit? My father, left m e the business, he left me the house. Its a reality. This is a reality. Your fami ly will miss you, love you, and cry, but thats going to go away. Now its the money that you left behind, the goes for, to whom the jeep would go to, the truck. Yo ur children will grow up. Some peoples wives will remarry. Life goes on, as they say. We have to prepare ourselves for this harsh reality. We have to prepare yourselv es for the day in which youre going to travel. Youre going to travel, youre going t o travel to Allah (subhana wa ta ala) everybodys going to die. And when you do th is, this helps you practice and actualize the taqwa of Allah (subhana wa ta ala) khair? This is one major statement. Another interpretation, of at-taqwa which w as stated by one of the tabiin; Taqula Habib, that says, that At-Taqwa is, antaq s

halah ha ala nurimin Allah tariju tha wa Allah. Al tu tiru tu tir Allaha ala nuri min Allah tara jirthu Allah. Wa an tan taida an antansi Allaha ala nurimin Allah takh sha atiqa ful wi kabulah. He said, proximally verbatim whatever the case is, he said, for you to obey Alla h, upon a light from Allah, hoping for the reward of Allah; and for you to stay away from disobeying Allah, upon a light from Allah, fearing the punishment of A llah. Taqwa is for you to be obedient to Allah (aza wa jal) based upon a light f rom Allah. What does this mean? Is that you perform good deeds. You do what youre supposed t o do, what youre requested to do; that which is obligatory and recommended. Based upon light, he said; a light, meaning ilb, dalil, Quran and Hadith. I call the adhan, why do I call the adhan, because making the adhan is obedience to Allah. A la nurimin Allah. From light from Allah. Do I call the adhan like this, like that , this time, do I say this, how many times, light, clear dalil. The Prophet says something, he made the iqamah like this, not the adhan, the adhan and the iqama h is different. Khair? Tara ju thawAllah. Hoping and seeking for the reward of All ah (aza wa jal). I made the iqamah, not for people to say mashAllah that brother has a beautiful voice; that brother comes to the masjid, hes devoted. I made the a dhan seeking, Allahs reward. All that and then he said for you to stay away from disobeying Allah, upon a light from Allah, fearing the punishment of Allah (subh ana wa ta ala). Why dont I smoke cigarettes? I dont smoke cigarettes because its ba d for my health. I dont smoke cigarettes because its looked down, its frowned upon in my society, no I dont smoke cigarettes because Allah and His Messenger made th em haram. Thats why, along with them being harmful and so on and so forth. But I stay away from that disobedience from, a light from Allah. Whats the proof that cigarettes are haram. Because the Prophet (sallahu allayhi wa salam) was on ly sent to make the At-Tyibat lawful and to make the Kabaith, filthy, foul, wicked names unlawful. In there lies no doubt that a cigarette is filthy and its foul. A waste of money, waste of time, and its harmful to my health and it is offensive to other people. Thats clear proof that its haram; a clear proof that it is haram . So I leave off smoking of the cigarettes based off of that knowledge. And I fe ar that if I met Allah, when I meet Allah on the day of Judgment, Allah will ask me, why did you smoke cigarettes? Why did you destroy the body that I gave you? Why did you destroy the perfect body that I created you with? Thats taqwa. Its cl ear. and your other interpretations and statements with regards to the meaning o f At-Taqwa, such as that of Abdullah ibn Masud (radi Allahu anhu) in which he sa id, At-Taqwa and he said here that At-Taqwa of Allahu (subhana wa ta ala) Abdull ah ibn Masud, he said, hiya an yu ta Allah fala yu asar wi yuth qu Allaha yuth qu Allahu fala yusa wi yush qu Allah fala yuq fa a qama qala. (radi Allahu an) He s aid, Taqwah, a haqu ti ha ti he to fear Allah as He should be feared, is for Allah to be obeyed and never ever disobeyed; for Allah to be remembered, and never ev er forgotten about. And for Allah, to be thanked for one to appreciate Allah and never be ungrateful or disrespectful to Allah (subhana wa ta ala) that was anot her interpretation. And some scholars say, he, they say, that taqwa, and this is the most comprehensive. Everybody see the point Im trying to get to? All these statements are very simila r.. Theyre all leading to the same final point. Is taqwa consists of 3 main pilla rs, 3 tiers of taqwa, tastikul akbar, inti fam ama-wir, wij tinab an nu wahi. It is, believing and the information, that complies to the commandments, and avoid ing the prohibitions; believing in all information from the Quran and from the S unnah. Allah told you about angels, how they are and how to believe in them. Al lah told us about Jinn, how many Jinn are there, what do they look like, how can they Satan, how can this one be in more than one place, how can he whisper to m e I cant see them. Believe in the Jinn; if you want to achieve taqwa. Allah told us about the grave. He told us about Jannah. He told us about Adam, what happene d; told us about many things in the Quran. Allah told us about His attributes, f

irst and foremost. Allah informed you of His attributes. So you believe in them whole heartedly and theyre real true attributes, perfect attributes, why is becau se thats from taqwa. To believe in what Allah told you about. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salam) explained many things to us; things tha t the human intellect cannot comprehend. Things that the human intellect doesnt s eem to be impossible, but it cant be comprehended; cant grasp. So from taqwa is th at you believe in them. Secondly, en ti thadow imawu. Following, or complying to A llahs commandments. Allah told you to offer the salah (prayer). The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salam) told you to take your lower garment and raise it above your ankles. The Prophet (alayhi salam) he told you not to eat a nd drink with your left hand. Allah the Almighty, the majestic commanded you to perform Hajj, once in your lifetime; and so on and so forth. Anything, that it w as a command from Allah, from Taqwa is that you implement what has been ordained to you. How, why, Im working on it, Im weak, my condition, well, where Im from, No Allah and His Messenger told you to do it, you try your best to do it. And if y ou dont, then youre not going to be able to achieve Taqwa. And if you fall short 1 0%, then its going to be 10% missing from your Taqwa; 20% 20% missing from your T aqwah; 20% thats going to be missing, from those virtues and fruits of taqwa. All ah being with you, Allah protecting you, Allah supporting you; and so on and so forth. The mutaqium. Allah accepting your deeds and so on and so forth, the virtu es of the mutaqim. And then the third and final pillar is, wij tinab an nu wahi av oiding the prohibitions. The Prophet (sAllallahu alayhi wa salam) has forbidden you, from doing an act, from saying a statement, Allah (aza wa jal) says, do not do this in the Quran. Then it is from taqwa that you stay away from it. You stay away from it. Regardl ess of whether that thing is clearly stated to be unlawful, regardless whether t hat thing is clearly stated, to stay away from, avoid, or whether Allah and His Messenger talk about the vice of something, thats what happens to one who does t his. This will lead up with the one who says this. And so on. We dont have time t o go into all the specific details and examples. But most importantly, is belief in information, compliance of the commandments, and avoiding the prohibitions. And the proof for this, is what Allah (aza wa jal) has said in the Quran, in the 6th chapter, Surah Al An-Nam. wa taamet kalimit rabbika sid kun wa adilah, laa m ubedh li dha wa kalimati ila khil ilaya. Allah (aza wa jal) says, wa taamit kalimi t rabbika the statements and the words of your Lord, he says, taamet, are perfect a nd complete. sid kun in truth wa adilah and in justice. The words of your Lord are c omplete and perfect in truth and in, justice. The words of your Lord, sid kun, in truth, what Allah told you about is perfect and complete. Wa adilah, in justice wh at Allah told you to do, and told you to stay away from is complete in justice a nd its fair. It includes those two pillars of taqwa.

Everything Allah has said to you, is true and just. What Allah told you about th e Angels, its true. When the Messenger of Allah says I told you, about what happe ns when you drink with your left hand, or you enter your house without saying Bis millah, it is true; and adil, just. What Allah has allowed, a man to marry more tha n one woman is just. The man may not be just, the brother may not be just, but, the ruling, the legislation is just. A woman, inherits less than a man, its just. A man must take care of his wife and provide for his wife, even if shes wealthy and hes poor. Thats just. Why do I have to give my wife money, even if she has mon ey? Because thats what Allah legislated, so its just. Whether you realize it or no t, whether your culture or your democracy or the constitution, its just. Everybod y understand this? If we dont have these two pillars, then theres no taqwa. Khair? Theres several virtues of Taqwah, from them is what Allah (aza wa jal) has said in the Quran, aakhilahu yauma abouduu hum mutaqim. He says, on that day, intimate frie ds will be enemies towards each other, except for the mutaqim. On the Day of Judg ment, your close friend, your close colleague, and companion, youre going to hate each other and curse one another. Unless you loved each other and you were both

upon Taqwa. Theres one of the virtues of Taqwa, is that you have a true friendsh ip; in this life and in the Hereafter. There is your brother in Islam; for 20, 30 years; alhumdullillah, we ate togethe r, we traveled together, we prayed together, we made Hajj together, and we learn ed and studied together. He taught me, I taught him. We were brothers, friends, and in the Hereafter, well also be friends. On the Day of Judgment; in Jannah(par adise), just think how beautiful that is. Many of you have friends for years, bu t when death comes, thats it. The friendship is over. No more. He may be going to paradise; you may be going to hell, audhu billah. This isnt the case with taqwa. With taqwa, people love each other and theyll be with each other. And this is a v ery important virtue of Taqwa. And most importantly, or before, all of this is w hat Allah says, en Allaha, ahu bul mutaqim. Allah loves the mutaqim. And if Allah l oves you, then thats it. You can wash your hands, of every problem, every worry of the entire dunya and H ereafter, if Allah loves you. If Allah loves you, you have succeeded, you have w on the race; its over. Allah loves you, rabbil alamin. You know how many human be ings has Allah created? From the beginning of time; from Adam, (alayhi salam) up until now. How many people came and for Allah to single you out, to love you, I swear that is a magnificent thing. And the only thing you have to do is perform Taqwa. Believe in what Allah said. The Prophet (sallallahi alayhi wa salaam) ha s informed us. On the Day of Judgment, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salam) has told us, what would happen to the person who performs this act, who does thi s; enough. Believe in it. Try your best to implement it. Oh well, Im not ready to try, implement it, if you want Allah to love you. Stay away from it, if you wan t Allah (subhana wa ta ala) to love you. This is one of the greatest virtues of At-Taqwa. You have to understand, brothers and sisters, that speaking about Taqw a, it could take, a series of lectures. And we still wouldnt fulfill, the haqq, t he do right of Taqwa. Where we can talk about it in more detail and explicit way , inshAllah. But weve mentioned it, its sufficient. InshAllah subhana wa ta ala no w we want to speak a little bit, briefly; is Salatul Janazah. InshAllah subhana wa ta ala. Khair [Good]. Alright, well do this with some questi ons and answers and some interaction, inshAllah. When a person dies, what are so me of the things that are recommended? When a Muslim, weve confirmed that this Mu slim brother has died, what should we do? Whats something thats recommended or obl igatory to do? Before we even get to the actual Janazah? Make dua for him. Khair. Anything else? (Abdul Rashid..?) or before, lets say before someone actually eve n dies? When someone is very, very sick. And it seems as if hes dying, hes on his d eathbed. And we go and we visit him in the hospital or at his home. What should w e do? Get him to say la ilaha ill Allah. Good, like we mentioned yesterday. Khair. What else? Make dua for him. Good. Anything else? Pray with him, anything else? Ask him to make dua for you? Khair [Good]. Anything else? (Jihaad..?) Khair. How about turning him towards the qiblah? Getting him to face the qiblah? Khair. How about someone asking or requesting, someone to tell you about his debts? Things that he has for and or against him. For and or against him. Khair inshAllah. K hair. Then what else do you do when you find out that he actually dies? Before p reparing the body. How about closing his eyes? To close the eyes of the deceased . That is because the Prophet (salahi salam) said, when the soul leaves the body , tabiahu, the view, the persons eyes follow the soul being taken out. Thats why, if youve ever seen someone die, in real life, sure many of you have, or even in t he movies, you see someone, their eyes like, look, thats real. That glassy look i s because the soul when its taken out, the eyes follow it out. Khair [Good]? So i ts recommended that the eyes should be closed. As the Prophet (sallallahu allayhi wa sallam) did to Abu Salamah (raid Allahu anhu). After we close the eyes, then we should do what? What about ones mouth? The mouth should be closed or even fas tened closed. So it wont be a unpleasing site for the people that want to wash hi s body. ? Khair inshAllah. Then, What else is? Some scholars, they say that, som ething should be placed on the belly of the deceased body; in order to for, it t

o be stopped from, swelling too much. Khair? Others say that it should be left n ormal, but a person should rush and hasten towards performing the Janazah and bu rying the body before it starts to, swell. Khair [Good}? Everybody clear on this ? The Prophet (salahi salam) said, asliu bil Janazah. He says, rush forth with the J anazah. And with the Janazah. fa en taqu saa li ha fa khairan tu qa dhi muni ha al ayhi. So if the righteous, if the person was righteous, then you only put him to more good, wa en taqul Sharon ghairul dha lika. And if its other than that fa Sharon t da unahu ana kabikhum aw kami kasi salam. And if it was unrighteous, if its wicke d, then its evil that youre getting rid of; youre taking off your shoulders. We see k refuge in Allah. Just think about that; think about that hadith. If the brothe r was righteous, you should run; run, run, race, race, forth, hasten to get him into the ground. Cause alhumdulilah, you put him to more good blessings, a better life. But if it wasnt like that, lets get rid of this, as you say; this is seriou s. Thats serious. Thats serious thing right there. (Qadl?) (audience) I have a quest ion. If in the United States, its different than other countries. When you have a Muslim, thats in a family and a non-Muslim, its difficult to get the body. The ri go mortis sets in the body. How would you handle that situation, because the bod y is stiff, once the rigo mortis sets in. So if the family in the case where I ran into, theyre non-Muslims, and youre Musli m, its difficult getting the body from the hospital because the family had to rel ease him. Rigo mortis set in, so what are we to do then.. tata qulAllaha masta ta tulm. Fear Allah to the best of your ability. Thats simple. If the body is stiff, cold, if they hold the body for a week, 3 days, autopsy, this and that. Do with the best that you can. If the kufaar say, were not giving up the body; hes a Chri stian, audhu billah. As it happens many, many times. This is my son. I baptized hi m myself. He isnt a Muslim. Im burying him in the church. You go to them and say, M s. Were sorry of your loss. We feel your grief along with you, but, this was Brot her Furnaan in the masjid for 30 years. Hes Muslim, look at him. The father says: No! Get out of here! What are we going to do then? We cant even pray on him, we ca nt wash his body; but we cant then we make the prayer on him. The Salatul khair [ Salatu Janazah for the body that not present]. The one whos not there, we pray on him in his absence. Fear Allah to the best of our ability. If you get the body a week later, sometimes if its, people are murdered, unfortunately. They do an au topsy on the body, they mutilate the body. What do we do then? Fear Allah to the best of your ability. Do what you can. But something has to be done, for the br other, its just is haqq. And this shows the importance brothers and sisters of wr iting a will. Writing a will and having it clearly mentioned that you are a Musl im. A Muslim. Tell your parents that and explain them that and have it in your w ill. Cause unfortunately, theres some parents or some family members who are spite ful. And one of the biggest reasons why people dont accept Islam, and they dont wa nt to submit to the true religion is jealousy and envy. Or envy, well say envy. A nd that is because; they know its the truth. But, because of this, the venom in t hem, they dont want to accept the truth. And theyre upset at you for having the tr uth brought to you and you accepting it. So theyll try to be spiteful and they kn ow youre a Muslim. And theyll wait, until you die, to take revenge against you. Its evil. But its a reality. Its a reality and weve seen this, how many times; in Phil adelphia? Family, the mother, you know, spiteful. Grandmother, father, anybody. Theyll come together, oh, were going to get him back now. He caused us all the emba rrassment by dressing like that and saying that Jesus is not the Son of God. Not coming to our Christmas parties and birthday parties and our celebrations and o ur gatherings. He embarrassed our family, he did this. So now were going to get h im back. Audhu billah. So the Muslim has to have these things documented. And he has to constantly pray to Allah, that he dies as a Muslim, and that hes buried as a Muslim. Khair? So those are some of the things you should recommend, at the t ime of death. Khairul inshAllah. We have the understanding that the Salatul Jana zah, is something which is, fardoon ala kifayah. It is an obligation upon the co mmunity as a whole, as we explained; as an obligation upon the community. Somebo dy has to do it. If a brother dies in this community, somebody has to wash his b ody. Someone has to pray over him and handle his debt; somebody. Not every singl

e Muslim, but at least one brother; or at least a group of brothers. So Janazah is a haqq of a Muslim. Is a right of a Muslim. (Naam fadl) Someone from the audience asks: Aas salamu alaikum, you said one of the things y ou do is facing the body towards the qiblah, is that feet or head first? What wo uld you say? Feet or head first? The audience respond to him by saying: head. The head, the face. Khairul inshAllah. The audience asks: is it acceptable to bring a dead body into a mosque? Is it acce ptable to bring a dead body into the masjid? The Janazah prayer is obligatory. A nd no, which we want to explain, if we have enough time The Janazah is to be in f ront of the Imam. And he needs to pray, at the, in front of that body. So, wheth er he prays inside of the masjid, outside of the masjid, he must pray on the bod y. He must offer the salah. So if they bring him to the masjid, abbas, no proble m. Theyll make the Janazah outside of the masjid, laa abbas, thats no problem. We know, that RasulAllah Messenger of Allah (salaallah wa alayhi wa salam), offere d the salah, the Janazah, on two companions who died; in his masjid. Khair? And then as Aisha (radi allahu anha) narrated. So its permissible to bring the dead bo dy into, the masjid. (Fadl..) Also: What about burying the Muslim brother, in a n on-Muslim cemetery? Burying the Muslim in a non-Muslim cemetery, the people of k nowledge mention, the Muslim should be buried in a Muslim cemetery. It should be distinct and away from the kufaar, in life and afterlife. He should be away fro m the disbelievers. However, this being obligatory, and mandatory, Allah knows b est. Let alone the conditions of places like America, in which the Muslims are i n general, they dont have too much. They dont have but so much. They dont have thei r own lot or cemetery, they may have their own section; but, seldom we find a Mus lim, cemetery. So fear Allah to the best of your ability. At least try to have a section where only Muslims are buried. At least to have a place in which is fur ther away from those crosshairs and all the, you know, gargoyles and mausoleums and all of that, you know. Shirk, kufr. At least. If not, fear Allah to the best of your ability; the brother must be buried. And as a general rule, we have an understanding brothers, is that anything that is difficult and hard, ease has to come. Is one of the major, 5 principles of fiqh. One of the major 5 maximums of fiqh is al mush akitu tajlibu taseer. Difficulty necessitates ease of facilitation . Difficulty, hardship, demands that there be something easy. Its, we cant do it, and its too difficult. So theres no sin, we have to do it like this, mashAllah. Th e Sunnah is for us to do it like that. But, in this case we dont have the physica l ability to do it. So therefore, we have to do, to the best of our ability. All that, my bothers. (faldon) Audience asks a question: what about, if, what if in the situation like, how wou ld you handle the body, does it have to, does it be already prepared, washed and everything, and and shrouded, as far as put in a box or not, prior to the buria l?) Khair. The body should be placed into the ground, in its shrouding, without being put in a box. But once again, in America, or in the UK or Australia, they, some states; I dont know how it is in South Carolina; but in Philadelphia, they dont need a, you dont have to put it in a box. You can put the body into the groun d as it is. Some places like New Jersey, or maybe New York, but Im sure about New Jersey; you have to put it in a box; has to be put in some type of coffin. Ok? Same here. Then, so.. (audience #1: its not the same though (inaudible- no, its no t the same-) we did the brother Kalif, may he rest in peace, we just, matter of fact, and he never went in a box. We cleaned him and everything, washed him, shr ouded him and everything. We transported him to the grave site. And then we carr ied him over to the site. A couple of the brothers got into the hole, we lowered him down in there, and then they had to cut out the little niche [a small whole ] and then place him in the niche facing, towards the qiblah without, just in th e shroud.

Somebody else from the audience replies to that by saying: well here in South Ca rolina, certain counties, depends on the county, say you have to have them in a box, or some kind of a..(inaudible) (#2 majority of them say..) (#1 not trying t o argue brother) (#2 South Carolina) (#3 what the issue is.. ) (#1 Muslim gravey ard) (#3 As salamu alaikum, the issue is, if you cant inaudible- put the body in a box inaudible-) Theres no problem in transporting it, the issue is, burying it. (#3 so Im saying, when you transporting it, thats what Im trying to say, you transp ort it sometimes in a box, as far as, you know, it dont be, you know like you get up to a wooden box. So when you get up to the grave site, you get him out of th e box. Inaudible -) Safeguarding? This is Sunnah. The Sunnah is, that, the Janaz ah, should be carried; in Islam. Not in a,what do they call that, not in a hears e; right, not in a truck. So thats one issue right there. The Janazah should be c arried on like a flat, wooden, type of table thing with handles. So, theres not e ven a need for that. But here in America, once again, sometimes you have to driv e, half an hour hour to the cemetery. Thats different. Go overseas, in a Muslim l ands, ok, so a lot of times they walk, even if its for some time, you know, and t hey walk fast. Briskly, with the Ajul Janazah; carrying it corner to corner, lik e this. This one moves out the way, he grabs it. Soon as he comes, Ill show you, in the Prophets masjid. They bury the baqiah, the burial ground is not too far awa y. Actually, you can go, in the Prophets masjid, and run out in the courtyard, wi th the Janazah; into the burial ground. Thats how it should be done. Khair. Movin g on. Ibnul Qadamah (rahim Allah ta ala) scholar of the 6th century. From Palest ine, he says, babul ghusli miat aghusil mait, the chapter of washing, the dead bod y. He says, faidul ukli dau fe ghuslihi surti atta awrahtu. That when the mait, whe n a person dies, the first thing is we have to do, is we have to make sure we co ver his awrah. His private area. thumma yura sara yauma bata yahu asman rafikha. An d then his body, should be gently, pressed, gently pressed. In order that any wa ste, will leave the body before we start washing it. Because itll be a problem, o nce we wash the body, and then later on thats a problem. He says, thumma yura fu al a yedihi yurkha thumma yura fu ala yedihi yurkha. Fa yuju biha. Then, you place t he towel in your hand and begin to make istinjah. Clean his private area. To cle an his private area. fu ma wayul diul hu. Then, he should make wudu on the body. P erform the wudu on the deceaseds body. Starting off, with the right hand, mouth, everything just like [for] the salah. Just like [for] the salah. Thum bi yagsir r ah sag rihu wi li yedhlihu bimadin wa sidirin. It means to wash his head and his beard, with sidir. With, a type of, lote tree leaves; and it can be soap. Any ty pe of shampoo, something, that is fragrant. But it should be, if you can, with t his, actual thing thats mentioned in the hadith. Sidir, sidir. The persons hair, h is head, and his beard should be washed; and this proves brothers and sisters, t his is clear dalil, that the Muslim man, should have a beard. cause hes not even t alking about the rulings of beards. Hes talking about a dead Muslim man. But it c learly shows that the Muslim man, that when he dies, it is already pre-supposed that he has a what? That he has a beard. That he has a lahya. Khair thats a clear proof right here. And this is important for you to understand, of, dealing with issues sometimes directly, sometime when its indirectly dealt with, its even more effective. He didnt even say if he had a beard. Right? He said wash his head and his beard. Meaning, 9 out of 10 Muslim men, have Edited by Karla Lozano Transcribed by Coby Green Prepared by Abul Baraa Muhammad