Random Outbursts

Reminder: Part 1

The Angel of Death sat at her head and called out," Wicked soul, come out to the displeasure of Allah." She cowered at the sound. Her soul was trying to hide inside her body. It was as if her soul was fighting to stay within Dunya. And why would it not? Wasn't her heart attached to this temporary world? Didn't she make it her paradise? The longing for the pleasures of the dunya was making her soul reluctant  to leave. The Prophet Muhammed (SAW) has said: This world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever.[Sahih Muslim] The angels started beating her to make her soul come out. Then she felt pain so incomparable to anything in the world as her soul was ripped out of her body. Her soul was dumped into a sack woven from hair which gave off a putrid stench (as foul and offensive as the most foul smelling corpse found on earth). And the angels ascended up to the lowest heaven with her soul and started knocking. "Who is it?", came a question. Izza's soul listened as the angel replied, "It is the wicked soul of ******, daughter of Ismail." They had mentioned her by the worst names by which she was called on earth. Dreadingly, she listened as it was said that the gates of heaven will not be opened for her wicked soul to pass through. "The gates of heaven will not be opened for them and they will not enter paradise until a camel can pass through the eye of a needle."[Al A'raf:40] 

And then her soul was dropped all the way down to her grave and restored to her body. She listened from her grave to the footsteps of people leaving her. Alone in her grave, Izza was really scared. Izza watched from her grave as two very scary black and blue angels approached her grave. *They are called Munkar and Nakeer and their task is to interrogate the dead*  She felt herself quiver under their glare. She wanted to run away but where would she go when she's six feet under the earth? She was roughly grabbed and made to sit up in her grave and the questioning started. "Who is your Lord?" She tried to recall but she couldn't remember anything. All she could remember of her life on earth was her movie addiction and outings with friends. How can you expect someone who never gave a conscious thought to her Rabb to remember Him from their grave? Of course, she couldn't answer them. "My L-l-lord is-",She stuttered. They didn't wait, "What is your religion?" Again she struggled to remember. "Who was the man sent to you?" "I don't know", she said, defeated. How would she remember Rasulullah SAW when she never cared to follow his sunnah? Then, Izza heard a voice call out asking the angels to furnish her grave with the furnishings of Hellfire. She had failed terribly! There was nothing she could do to go back and start over again. She cried uncontrollably. "Please give me another chance", she begged, but to no avail. "This is what you would've had, if you had obeyed", she was told as she was shown a glimpse of Jannah (Paradise). She cursed herself for selling Jannah for the miserable dunya. After catching a glimpse of Jannah, dunya seemed to hold no appeal to her. All of a sudden, the floor of her grave was set alight with some of the fierce fire of Hell and she cried out in agonizing pain. Her qabr (grave) started narrowing and she was getting squeezed in it. She felt her ribs getting intertwined as her qabr narrowed to just a line on the earth. Then, slowly, it returned back to its former state. She was panting, screaming and crying all at the same time. Just when she thought it was over, the constriction started all over again. She was slowly beginning to recognize that this torture in her grave would not end anytime soon when a foul stench hit her senses. She looked towards the source of the vomit-inducing odour and found an UGLY UGLY man in her grave. "Who are you? Your face brings evil. May you be cursed!" She shouted at the man. "I'm your sins and I'll stay here with you till Judgement Day", the man replied and Izza wished and wished with all her heart that she had lowered her gaze, controlled her tongue, helped the poor, and shown kindness to the misfortunate. She cursed the moment she had driven away a hungry man and the moments she had disobeyed her parents, the times she had spent neglecting her Salah, the times she had hurriedly recited the Qur'an without trying to understand its message, the times she had spent ogling at actors, the times she had publicized her sins on facebook and all the time she had spent doing anything other than the remembrance of Allah.  Now, not only was she being punished for her sins, she had her sins right before her eyes in their ugly form, keeping her company in her already-dreadful grave. Izza's punishments were not over. She was struck with an iron hammer so powerful it could turn the biggest mountain on earth to dust. She gave out a bone chilling cry as she turned to dust. She regained her former state and was struck again and again, each time emitting loud screams of pain. Everything on earth except mankind and jinn could hear her scream. Torture upon torture upon torture. Izza's time in qabr would be so till the second blowing of the trumpet. Every morning and evening, Izza was shown her actual home in Jahannam(Hellfire) through a portal. And each day she begged, "My Lord, do not bring the last hour. Do not bring the last hour." Because, by now she had seen enough to learn that her eternal abode in Hell will be even more bitter and painful than this qabr and the punishments in it.

Hasan Al Basri (Rahimahullah) attended a funeral prayer. When they had buried the dead person he said to a man from the gathering," Do you think that this dead person would wish to come back to this earth to increase his deeds from Dhikr, good actions and seeking forgiveness from his sins?" The man replied,"Yes." So Hasan Al Basri (Rahimahullah) said, "Then why aren't we like this dead person?"

Author's Note: 

So, what do you guys think? You would've noticed that Izza is not necessarily evil or wicked, right? She is just like many of us, having fun and enjoying life with her friends. Most often, we forget that this life of ours is simply a test and our real life comes only after our death. We are not sure how long we will live but still we're neglectful in our duty towards our Rabb (Myself included). What happened to Izza can happen to any of us if we do not pay heed. So please, "Do not delay any act of worship thinking that you have time. Time is one thing none of us have been guaranteed."- Dr. Bilal Philips. Allah says in the Qur'an: "Did We not give you lives long enough, so that whosoever would recieve admonition,-could receive it? And the warner came to you." [Fatir:37] So even if you die today, you can't say I was too young to practise Islam. May Allah take our souls only when He is pleased with us. Ameen. 

I'm guessing that you figured out why I quoted Surah Al 'Asr in the beginning. If you didn't, please watch the video on the side. Even if you did, watch the video. I'm sure you'll benefit from it, In sha Allah.

I'm planning on continuing this, In sha Allah, there'll be 4 to 5 parts. Please make dua that I can write more often and that I can take heed from my own reminders. If you found this beneficial, please vote, comment and share. May Allah bless all of you. Jazakallah for reading.

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.

Najiya