Learn to Read Quran with Online Quran Tutor

Finding the time to do anything that does not give instant temporary gratification or instant monetary benefits is not a very attractive prospect in these rat race times of capitalism. Yet, despite our acquired preferences, one can vouch that reading the Quran while fully and truly comprehending the meaning of its words and Ayahs can give one true and everlasting pleasure; much more than your favorite drink, food, game, music, company, celebrity, or TV program.

Yet, man is shortsighted and people want instant temporary gratification even though they admit that this instant gratification is as short-lived as the time in which one demands and sometimes gets it.

And after that? After these short blips and long cravings? . . . An empty life searching for fulfillment. Sad and lonely. A void unfulfilled from teenage until death. Nothing lost and nothing gained. In fact, everything lost and nothing gained rings more true.

Indeed, such a life deserves better than mere instant temporary gratification . . . it deserves instant everlasting gratification. You will notice that all the difference lies between the word ‘temporary’ and the word ‘everlasting’. Only one thing in this world, The Quran, the Speech of Allâh, the most knowledgeable book in the whole world, can give instant everlasting gratification.

Indeed, how does it do that one may ask? The answer is that it does so by informing a person about what is the purpose of his, or her, life. You see, people want instant temporary gratification because they are frustrated. They are frustrated because they are lost. They don’t know what is the purpose of their life. Is the daily grind their destiny? They are lost in life because they do know what is the purpose of life. Once a person comes to know what is the purpose of his, or her, life, they then cease to be lost. Once they know what is the purpose of their life, they become aware of where they are going, what do they have to do in life, and what is their ultimate goal of their life.

Once a person comes to know his, or her, goal in life, then the book which has given them this knowledge ceases to be a just a book. It becomes the instruction manual which provides guidance every step of the way. Then one really begins to value this instruction manual upon which one’s life depends. Then one refers to this instruction manual often because it illuminates the way in the darkness all around. Indeed, it begins to provide instant everlasting gratification!

Dear fellow human being. Muslim or non-Muslim. Learn to read Quran today and dispel the darkness around you. You can now learn to read Quran from an online Quran tutor in the comfort of your home. All you need is a computer system, an internet connection, a headphone with a microphone, and some free software, and you can be on your way to learning to read Quran in no time. Do it now while you wait for your version of instant temporary gratification and end up with instant everlasting gratification.

Bukhari :: Book 3 :: Volume 49 :: Hadith 855

Narrated Sahl bin Sad:
There was a dispute amongst the people of the tribe of Bani 'Amr bin 'Auf. The Prophet went to them along with some of his companions in order to make peace between them. The time for the prayer became due but the Prophet did not turn up; Bilal pronounced the Adhan (i.e. call) for the prayer but the Prophet did not turn up, so Bilal went to Abu Bakr and said, "The time for the prayer is due and the Prophet i detained, would you lead the people in the prayer?" Abu Bakr replied, "Yes, you wish." So, Bilal pronounced the Iqama of the prayer and Abu Bakr went ahead (to lead the prayer), but the Prophet came walking among the rows till he joined the first row. The people started clapping and they clapped too much, and Abu Bakr used not to look hither and thither in the prayer, but he turned round and saw the Prophet standing behind him. The Prophet beckoned him with his hand to keep on praying where he was. Abu Bakr raised his hand and praised Allah and then retreated till he came in the (first) row, and the Prophet went ahead and lead the people in the prayer. When the Prophet finished the prayer, he turned towards the people and said, "O people! When something happens to you during the prayer, you start clapping. Really clapping is (permissible) for women only. If something happens to one of you in his prayer, he should say: 'Subhan Allah', (Glorified be Allah), for whoever hears him (saying so) will direct his attention towards him. O Abu Bakr! What prevented you from leading the people in the prayer when I beckoned to you (to continue)?" Abu Bakr replied, "It did not befit the son of Abu Quhafa to lead the prayer in front of the Prophet.

Sincerity and Significance of Intentions and all Actions, Apparent and Hidden

Allah, the Exalted, says:

"And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners to Him), and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat, and that is the right religion.'' (98:5)

"It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him.'' (22:37)

"Say (O Muhammad (PBUH) Whether you hide what is in your breasts or reveal it, Allah knows it". (3:29)

1. Narrated 'Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him), reported: Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The deeds are considered by the intentions, and a person will get the reward according to his intention. So whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, his emigration will be for Allah and His Messenger; and whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration would be for what he emigrated for".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: According to some Ahadith, the reason for this Hadith is that a person sent a proposal of marriage to a woman named Umm Qais, which she turned down saying that he should have to emigrate to Al-Madinah for it. Accordingly, he did it for this specific purpose, and the two were married there. On account of this event, the man came to be known among the Companions as Muhajir Umm Qais.

On the basis of this Hadith, 'Ulama' are of the unanimous opinion that the real basis of one's actions is Niyyah (intention) and everyone will be requited according to his Niyyah. It is true that Niyyah is founded in one's heart, that is to say, one has first to make up one's mind for what he intends to do and he should not express it verbally. In fact, the latter is a Bid`ah (innovation in religion) because no proof of it is found in Shariah.

The point which becomes evident from this Hadith is that Ikhlas (sincerity) is a must for every action. In other words, in every righteous deed, one should seek only the Pleasure of Allah; otherwise, it will not be accepted by Allah.

Preservation of the Quran: 1. Memorization

The Glorious Quran, the Muslims’ religious Scripture, was revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah(God) praise him, through the angel Gabriel. The revelation occurred piecemeal, over a period of twenty-three years, sometimes in brief verses and sometimes in longer chapters.[1]

[Image]
The Quran (lit. a “reading” or “recitation”) is distinct from the recorded sayings and deeds (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad, which are instead preserved in a separate set of literature collectively called the “Ahadeeth” (lit. “news”; “report”; or “narration”).

Upon receiving revelation, the Prophet engaged himself in the duty of conveying the message to his Companions through reciting the exact words he heard in their exact order. This is evident in his inclusion of even the words of God which were directed specifically to him, for example: “Qul” (“Say [to the people, O Muhammad]”). The Quran’s rhythmic style and eloquent expression make it easy to memorize. Indeed, God describes this as one of its essential qualities for preservation and remembrance (Q. 44:58; 54:17, 22, 32, 40), particularly in an Arab society which prided itself on orations of lengthy pieces of poetry. Michael Zwettler notes that:


“in ancient times, when writing was scarcely used, memory and oral transmission was exercised and strengthened to a degree now almost unknown.” [2]

Large portions of the revelation were thus easily memorized by a large number of people in the community of the Prophet.

The Prophet encouraged his Companions to learn each verse that was revealed and transmit it to others. [3] The Quran was also required to be recited regularly as an act of worship, especially during the daily meditative prayers (salah). Through these means, many repeatedly heard passages from the revelation recited to them, memorized them and used them in prayer. The entire Quran was memorized verbatim (word for word) by some of the Prophet’s Companions. Among them were Zaid ibn Thabit, Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Muadh ibn Jabal, and Abu Zaid.[4]

Not only were the words of the Quran memorized, but also their pronunciation, later which formed into a science in itself called Tajweed. This science meticulously elucidates how each letter is to be pronounced, as well as the word as a whole, both in context of other letters and words. Today, we can find people of all different languages able to recite the Quran as if they are Arabs themselves, living during the time of the Prophet.

Furthermore, the sequence or order of the Quran was arranged by the Prophet himself and was also well-known to the Companions. [5] Each Ramadan, the Prophet would repeat after the angel Gabriel (reciting) the entire Quran in its exact order as far as it had been revealed, while in the presence of a number of his Companions.[6] In the year of his death, he recited it twice.[7] Thereby, the order of verses in each chapter and the order of the chapters became reinforced in the memories of each of the Companions present.
As the Companions spread out to various provinces with different populations, they took their recitations with them in order to instruct others.[8] In this way, the same Quran became widely retained in the memories of many people across vast and diverse areas of land.

Indeed, memorization of the Quran emerged into a continuous tradition across the centuries, with centers/schools for memorization being established across the Muslim world.[9] In these schools, students learn and memorize the Quran along with its Tajweed, at the feet of a master who in turn acquired the knowledge from his teacher, an ‘un-broken chain’ going all the way back to the Prophet of Allah(God). The process usually takes 3-6 years. After mastery is achieved and the recitation checked for lack of errors, a person is granted a formal license (ijaza) certifying she has mastered the rules of recitation and can now recite the Quran the way it was recited by Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah(God). [Image]The image is a typical license (ijaza) issued at the end of perfecting Quran recitation certifying a reciter’s unbroken chain of instructors going back to the Prophet of Islam. The above image is the ijaza certificate of Qari Mishari bin Rashid al-Afasy, well known reciter from Kuwait, issued by Sheikh Ahmad al-Ziyyat. Image courtesy of (http://www.alafasy.com.)
A.T. Welch, a non-Muslim orientalist, writes:

“For Muslims the Quran is much more than scripture or sacred literature in the usual Western sense. Its primary significance for the vast majority through the centuries has been in its oral form, the form in which it first appeared, as the “recitation” chanted by Muhammad to his followers over a period of about twenty years… The revelations were memorized by some of Muhammad’s followers during his lifetime, and the oral tradition that was thus established has had a continuous history ever since, in some ways independent of, and superior to, the written Quran… Through the centuries the oral tradition of the entire Quran has been maintained by the professional reciters (qurraa). Until recently, the significance of the recited Quran has seldom been fully appreciated in the West.” [10]

The Quran is perhaps the only book, religious or secular, that has been memorized completely by millions of people.[11] Leading orientalist Kenneth Cragg reflects that:

“…this phenomenon of Quranic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past. The fact of hifdh (Quranic memorization) has made the Quran a present possession through all the lapse of Muslim time and given it a human currency in every generation, never allowing its relegation to a bare authority for reference alone.”[12]


Footnotes:
[1] Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam, London: MWH Publishers, 1979, p.17.
[2] Michael Zwettler, The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry, Ohio State Press, 1978, p.14.
[3] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith No.546.
[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith No.525.
[5] Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum al-Quran, The Islamic Foundation, UK, 1983, p.41-42; Arthur Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Quran, Leiden: Brill, 1937, p.31.
[6] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith No.519.
[7] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith Nos.518 & 520.
[8] Ibn Hisham, Seerah al-Nabi, Cairo, n.d., Vol.1, p.199.
[9] Labib as-Said, The Recited Koran, translated by Morroe Berger, A. Rauf, and Bernard Weiss, Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1975, p.59.

[10] The Encyclopedia of Islam, ‘The Quran in Muslim Life and Thought.’
[11] William Graham, Beyond the Written Word, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p.80.
[12] Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the Quran, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973, p.26.

Preservation of the Quran: 2. The Written Quran

The Entire Quran was however also recorded in writing at the time of revelation from the Prophet’s dictation, may Allah(God) praise him, by some of his literate companions, the most prominent of them being Zaid ibn Thabit.[1] Others among his noble scribes were Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Ibn Mas’ud, Mu’awiyah ibn Abi-Sufyan, Khalid ibn Waleed and Zubayr ibn Awwam.[2] The verses were recorded on leather, parchment, scapulae (shoulder bones of animals) and the stalks of date palms.[3]

The codification of the Quran (i.e. into a ‘book form’) was done soon after the Battle of Yamamah (11AH/633CE), after the Prophet’s death, during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr. Many companions became martyrs at that battle, and it was feared that unless a written copy of the entire revelation was produced, large parts of the Quran might be lost with the death of those who had memorized it. Therefore, at the suggestion of Umar to collect the Quran in the form of writing, Zaid ibn Thabit was requested by Abu Bakr to head a committee which would gather together the scattered recordings of the Quran and prepare a mushaf - loose sheets which bore the entire revelation on them.[4] To safeguard the compilation from errors, the committee accepted only material which had been written down in the presence of the Prophet himself, and which could be verified by at least two reliable witnesses who had actually heard the Prophet recite the passage in question.[5] Once completed and unanimously approved of by the Prophet’s Companions, these sheets were kept with the Caliph Abu Bakr (d. 13AH/634CE), then passed on to the Caliph Umar (13-23AH/634-644CE), and then Umar’s daughter and the Prophet’s widow, Hafsah.[6]

The third Caliph Uthman (23AH-35AH/644-656CE) requested Hafsah to send him the manuscript of the Quran which was in her safekeeping, and ordered the production of several bounded copies of it (masaahif, sing. mushaf). This task was entrusted to the Companions Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair, Sa’eed ibn As-’As, and Abdur-Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham.[7] Upon completion (in 25AH/646CE), Uthman returned the original manuscript to Hafsah and sent the copies to the major Islamic provinces.

A number of non-Muslim scholars who have studied the issue of the compilation and preservation of the Quran also have stated its authenticity. John Burton, at the end of his substantial work on the Quran’s compilation, states that the Quran as we have it today is:

“…the text which has come down to us in the form in which it was organized and approved by the Prophet…. What we have today in our hands is the mushaf of Muhammad(PBUH). [8]

Kenneth Cragg describes the transmission of the Quran from the time of revelation to today as occurring in “an unbroken living sequence of devotion.”[9] Schwally concurs that:

“As far as the various pieces of revelation are concerned, we may be confident that their text has been generally transmitted exactly as it was found in the Prophet’s legacy.” [10]

The historical credibility of the Quran is further established by the fact that one of the copies sent out by the Caliph Uthman is still in existence today. It lies in the Museum of the City of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Central Asia.[11] According to Memory of the World Program, UNESCO, an arm of the United Nations, ‘it is the definitive version, known as the Mushaf of Uthman.’[12]


"This manuscript, held by the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, is the earliest existent written version of the Quran. It is the definitive version, known as the Mushaf of Othman. Image courtesy of Memory of the World Register, UNESCO".

A facsimile of the mushaf in Tashkent is available at the Columbia University Library in the US.[13] This copy is proof that the text of the Quran we have in circulation today is identical with that of the time of the Prophet and his companions. A copy of the mushaf sent to Syria (duplicated before a fire in 1310AH/1892CE destroyed the Jaami’ Masjid where it was housed) also exists in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul[14], and an early manuscript on gazelle parchment exists in Dar al-Kutub as-Sultaniyyah in Egypt. More ancient manuscripts from all periods of Islamic history found in the Library of Congress in Washington, the Chester Beatty Museum in Dublin (Ireland) and the London Museum have been compared with those in Tashkent, Turkey and Egypt, with results confirming that there have not been any changes in the text from its original time of writing.[15]

The Institute for Koran forschung, for example, in the University of Munich (Germany), collected over 42,000 complete or incomplete ancient copies of the Quran. After around fifty years of research, they reported that there was no variance between the various copies, except the occasional mistakes of the copyist which could easily be ascertained. This Institute was unfortunately destroyed by bombs during WWII.[16]

Thus, due to the efforts of the early companions, with Allah’s(God) assistance, the Quran as we have it today is recited in the same manner as it was revealed. This makes it the only religious scripture that is still completely retained and understood in its original language. Indeed, as Sir William Muir states, “There is probably no other book in the world which has remained twelve centuries (now fourteen) with so pure a text.”[17]

The evidence above confirms Allah’s(God) promise in the Quran:

“Verily, We have revealed the Reminder, and verily We shall preserve it.” (Quran 15:9)

The Quran has been preserved in both oral and written form in a way no other book has, and with each form providing a check and balance for the authenticity of the other.


Footnotes:

[1] Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Al-Itqan fee ‘Uloom al-Quran, Beirut: Maktab al-Thiqaafiyya, 1973, Vol.1, p.41 & 99.

[2] Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, Al-Isabah fee Taymeez as-Sahabah, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1978; Bayard Dodge, The Fihrist of al-Nadeem: A Tenth Century Survey of Muslim Culture, NY: Columbia University Press, 1970, p.53-63. Muhammad M. Azami, in Kuttab al-Nabi, Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islami, 1974, in fact mentions 48 persons who used to write for the Prophet (p).

[3] Al-Harith al-Muhasabi, Kitab Fahm al-Sunan, cited in Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi ‘Uloom al-Quran, Vol.1, p.58.

[4] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.6, Hadith Nos.201 & 509; Vol.9, Hadith No.301.

[5] Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, Vol.9, p.10-11.

[6] Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Vol.6, Hadith No.201.

[7] Saheeh Al-Bukhari Vol.4, Hadith No.709; Vol.6, Hadith No.507

[8] John Burton, The Collection of the Quran, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977, p.239-40.

[9] Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the Quran, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973, p.26.

[10] Schwally, Geschichte des Qorans, Leipzig: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung,1909-38, Vol.2, p.120.

[11] Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.117; Isma’il Makhdum, Tarikh al-Mushaf al-Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent: Al-Idara al-Diniya, 1971, p.22ff.

[12] (http://www.unesco.org.)
I. Mendelsohn, “The Columbia University Copy Of The Samarqand Kufic Quran”, The Moslem World, 1940, p. 357-358.
A. Jeffery & I. Mendelsohn, “The Orthography Of The Samarqand Quran Codex”, Journal Of The American Oriental Society, 1942, Volume 62, pp. 175-195.

[13] The Muslim World, 1940, Vol.30, p.357-358

[14] Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.113

[15] Bilal Philips, Usool at-Tafseer, Sharjah: Dar al-Fatah, 1997, p.157

[16] Mohammed Hamidullah, Muhammad Rasullullah, Lahore: Idara-e-Islamiat, n.d., p.179.

[17] Sir William Muir, Life of Mohamet, London, 1894, Vol.1, Introduction 

And who is more astray than one who calls on (invokes) besides Allâh, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations) to them?(46:5)

Who Is the Prophet Muhammad(saw) ?

Muhammad(PBUH) was born in Makkah in the year 570. Since his father died before his birth and his mother died shortly thereafter, he was raised by his uncle who was from the respected tribe of Quraysh. He was raised illiterate, unable to read or write, and remained so till his death. His people, before his mission as a prophet, were ignorant of science and most of them were illiterate. As he grew up, he became known to be truthful, honest, trustworthy, generous, and sincere. He was so trustworthy that they called him the Trustworthy.1 Muhammad(PBUH) was very religious, and he had long detested the decadence and idolatry of his society.

The Prophet Muhammad’s(PBUH) Mosque in Madinah.

At the age of forty, Muhammad(PBUH) received his first revelation from Allah(God) through the Angel Gabriel. The revelations continued for twenty-three years, and they are collectively known as the Quran.

As soon as he began to recite the Quran and to preach the truth which Allah(God) had revealed to him, he and his small group of followers suffered persecution from unbelievers. The persecution grew so fierce that in the year 622 Allah(God) gave them the command to emigrate. This emigration from Makkah to the city of Madinah, some 260 miles to the north, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

After several years, Muhammad(PBUH) and his followers were able to return to Makkah, where they forgave their enemies. Before Muhammad(PBUH) died, at the age of sixty-three, the greater part of the Arabian Peninsula had become Muslim, and within a century of his death, Islam had spread to Spain in the West and as far East as China. Among the reasons for the rapid and peaceful spread of Islam was the truth and clarity of its doctrine. Islam calls for faith in only one Allah(God), Who is the only one worthy of worship.

The Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) was a perfect example of an honest, just, merciful, compassionate, truthful, and brave human being. Though he was a man, he was far removed from all evil characteristics and strove solely for the sake of Allah(God) and His reward in the Hereafter. Moreover, in all his actions and dealings, he was ever mindful and fearful of Allah(God).

Are U prepared for Death ?

Life slips away second by second. Are you aware that every day brings you closer to death or that death is as close to you as it is to other people? As we are told in the verse
Whatsoever is on it (the earth) will perish. And the Face of your Lord full of Majesty and Honour will remain forever” [al-Rahmaan 55:26-27]
“Every soul shall taste death in the end; to Us shall you be brought back.” (Surat al-’Ankabut: 57)
everyone who has ever appeared on this earth was destined to die. Without exception they all died, every one. Today, we hardly come across the traces of many of these people who passed away. Those currently living and those who will ever live will also face death on a predestined day. Despite this fact, people tend to see death as an
unlikely incident.
Think of a baby who has just opened its eyes to the world and a man who is about to breathe his last. Both had no influence on their individual birth or death whatsoever. Only Allah(God) possesses the power to inspire the breath of life or to take it away.
All human beings will live until a certain day and then die; Allah(God) in the Qur’an gives an account of the attitude commonly shown towards death in the following verse:
Say: “The death from which you flee will truly overtake you: then you will be sent back to the Knower of things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that you did!” (Surat al- Jumu’ah: 8)
The majority of people avoid thinking about death. In the rapid flow of daily events, a person usually occupies himself with totally different subjects: what college to enroll in, which company to work for, what color of clothing to wear next morning, what to cook for supper; these are the kinds of major issues that we usually consider. Life is perceived as a routine process of such minor matters. Attempts to talk about death are always interrupted by those who do
not feel comfortable hearing about it. Assuming death will come only when one grows older, one does not want to concern himself with such an unpleasant subject. Yet it should be kept in mind that living for even one further hour is never guaranteed. Everyday, man witnesses the deaths of people around him but thinks little about the day when others will witness his own death. He never supposes that such an end is awaiting him!
Nevertheless, when death comes to man, all the “realities” of life suddenly vanish. No reminder of the “good old days” endures in this world. Think of everything that you are able to do right now: you can blink your eyes, move your body, speak, laugh; all these are functions of your body. Now think about the state and shape your body will assume after your death.
While all this is taking place in the world, the corpse under the soil will go through a rapid process of decay. Skin and soft tissues will completely disintegrate. The brain will decay and start looking like clay. This process will go on until the whole body is reduced to a skeleton.
However, our beloved prophet, Muhammad(PBUH), was reported to have said that the dead body of prophets, pious people and martyrs would not decay in the grave and that there is enjoyment in the grave just as there is punishment in it.
There is no chance of going back to the old life again. Gathering around the supper table with family members, socializing or to having an honorable job will never again be possible.
In short, the “heap of flesh and bones” to which we assign an identity faces a quite nasty end. On the other hand, you – or rather, your soul – will leave this body as soon as you breathe your last. The remainder of you – your body – will become part of the soil.
Yes, but what is the reason for all these things happening? If God willed, the body would never have decayed in such a way. That it does so actually carries a very important inner message in itself.
The tremendous end awaiting man should make him acknowledge that he is not a body himself, but a soul “encased” within a body. In other words, man has to acknowledge that he has an existence beyond his body. Furthermore, man should understand the death of his body, which he tries to possess as if he is to remain eternally in this temporal world. However this body, which he deems so important, will decay and become worm-eaten one day and finally be reduced to a skeleton. That day might be very soon.
Despite all these facts, man’s mental process is inclined to disregard what he does not like or want. He is even inclined to deny the existence of things he avoids confronting. This tendency seems to be most apparent when death is the issue. Only a funeral or the sudden death of an immediate family member brings this reality to mind. Almost everybody sees death far from himself. The assumption is that those who die while sleeping or in an accident are different people and what they face will never befall us! Everybody thinks it is too early to die and that there are always years ahead to live.
Yet most probably, people who die on the way to school or hurrying to attend a business meeting shared the same thought. They probably never thought that the next day’s newspapers would publish news of their deaths. It is entirely possible that, as you read these lines, you still do not expect to die soon after you have finished them or
even entertain the possibility that it might happen. Probably you feel that it is too early to die because there are many things to accomplish. However, this is just an avoidance of death and these are only vain endeavors to escape it:
Say: “Running away will not profit you if you are running away from death or slaughter; and even if (you do escape), no more than a brief (respite) will you be allowed to enjoy!”(Surat al-Ahzab: 16)
Man who is created alone should be aware that he would also die alone. Yet during his life, he lives almost addicted to possessions. His sole purpose in life becomes to possess more. Yet, no one can take his goods with him to the grave. The body is buried wrapped in a shroud made from the cheapest of fabrics. The body comes into this world alone and departs from it in the same way…
According to the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to pray in his salaah (prayer),
“O Allaah, I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave, I seek refuge in You from the tribulation of the Dajjaal, I seek refuge in You from the trials of life and death, O Allaah, I seek refuge in You from sin and loss).”
(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 798; Muslim, 589)