Safar al-Hawali
Remembering Death Leading To Inactivity
Q: I am a youth who was guided by Allah after my misguidance, and I suffer from a problem, and it is that I think a lot about death, and when I do so, I remain in bed, and I feel very lazy, and I feel intense fear. I am unable to actually do anything. What I fear is inactivity!
A: This is the opposite of what you should be doing, as this should provide you with strength and capacity to perform actions. This is strange, my brother - may Allah guide me and you! Does it make sense that the one who remembers death becomes lazy? Maybe the brother has other issues. However, I say that the Companions, when they remembered death, would rush to act and exert themselves for Allah. If you remember death, and remember that Allah will ask you about the prayer, then get up for it, and do not be lazy in doing so, and remember that before death reaches me, it is a must that I make the most of this time in obedience to Allah. So, I will exert myself in the obedience to Allah, and in learning, and in calling others to this Religion, or in commanding the good and forbidding the evil, and so on.
Indeed, the remembering of death should be a charging force for the believer, and it is from the greatest means of elevating the aspirations of the believer and causing his capacity and potential to rise day after day, as he remembers that he will eventually die, and therefore exerts himself in order that he meets Allah with the greatest reserve account of righteous actions.
Original Arabic: http://www.alhawali.com/index.cfm?method=home.SubContent&contentID=2480
Wasting Time Is Worse Than Death
Q: What did Ibn al-Qayyim mean when he said: “Wasting time is worse than death”?
A: He said this because wasting time cuts you off from Allah and the Hereafter, while death only cuts you off from this world and its inhabitants. If the human being dies while he is a God-fearing believer, he is only cut off from this dunya and its inhabitants, and resides with those of the highest levels, leaving these people behind, and this is in no way considered a loss. Rather, it is the supreme success, and every person will die and depart. However, such a person will depart this level of people for those of the higher levels, and from this world to the world of eternity, pleasure, and praising of Allah.
The problem is in wasting one’s time in things other than the obedience to Allah, because this cuts you off from Allah and the Hereafter. Because of this, you find those who waste their time in pointless talk and entertainment neglecting these acts of obedience. You find that their hearts are hard and sealed. You find that one of them acting like a donkey by day, and a corpse by night - in fact, you might even find the opposite, as now, some act like donkeys by night, since this is when they are most active. So, he is like a donkey when he is active, and is like a corpse when he is sleeping. We seek refuge with Allah from this, and this is because he is cut off from Allah…the connection between him and Allah is cut off, and because of this, he is dead:
And the living dead is he whose senses and emotions are living, but his heart and faith are dead.
We ask Allah for relief from this.
Original Arabic: http://www.alhawali.com/index.cfm?method=home.SubContent&contentID=2485
“My Schoolwork Is Distracting Me from Islam!”
Q: I am a student in medical school, and my delving into studying this makes me feel as if my heart is being hardened. So, what do you advise me to do, and how can I combine between studying medicine and studying the Shari’ah?
A: I differ with the brother in his saying that studying medicine leads to the hardness of the heart.
If he is referring to the time when he is studying for exams, then this can happen in any field of knowledge. This can even happen when studying Tafsir, Fiqh, Hadith, etc. However, if one is in a field such as medicine, and he witnesses the wonders of the Creation of Allah, and the secrets that Allah has placed in the human body – because of which many people have come into faith, and were drowning in disbelief when they saw and pondered over it – how much more would it be for the believer who is obliged to think and ponder? I believe that if the brother were to describe for us the anatomy of the eyeball, or the functions of the liver, the kidney, or the pancreas, we would increase in faith in Allah just as if we were to have heard some verses from the Qur’an, or some ahadith of the Messenger.
The point is that one’s faith can actually be increased by any of this, and if we are strong in such sciences and methodologies, and purify our intentions and goals when approaching them, we could go as far as to refer to such sciences as the supplementary sciences of Tawhid, just as in academic terminology, we refer to some sciences as specialty sciences, and to others as supplemental sciences. So, the true sciences of Tawhid that we teach are the basis. However, the supplemental sciences of Tawhid include medicine, anatomy, chemistry, physics, etc., since they all facilitate the contemplation over the Kingdom of Allah, and over the heavens and the Earth, and in the human soul. Allah Said: {“We shall show them Our signs in the heavens and in their own selves, so that it becomes clear to them that it is the Truth.”} [Fussilat; 53] So, it is necessary for us to make an effort to look and to ponder over the heavens, the Earth, the mountains, the animals, the plants, the water - even the colors – and the origins of the human, how the clot is formed, how the fetus is formed, how the human gains knowledge after this, among all the numerous other concepts that strengthen one’s faith.
However, if the brother is looking to what will happen after graduation, the problem in regards to medicine is in what happens after graduation, as you can work for eight hours in an environment filled with evils. You might even be unable to call to Allah as you should, as you would be constantly busy with surgeries, appointments, etc. So, we say: everyone will do what they were created for, and this Ummah was not created to all be doctors, or scholars of Fiqh, or scholars of Hadith, or preachers. Rather, Allah made a variety in this. So, this person was made to be a preacher, and it is not proper for him to distract himself and turn to something else. And this person was given knowledge of Fiqh and the Qur’an by Allah, including beautiful recitation and exceptional knowledge of the Religion, and such a person should not turn away from this and become a mechanical engineer, for example. However, for the person who was not granted other than this, we do not say to him to ignore his reality and leave what you were created for and was made easy for you, and to go to that which you are not good at. Rather, everyone should work in that which he is best at. This way, the Ummah will be complete, as we will all be doing which we are best suited for and Allah Created us for, and at the same time, we would all be calling to Allah. So, this preacher is making Da’wah from one place, and that doctor from another, and that person from another. It might even be that people who would never have been guided at the hands of the numerous students of knowledge who speak, preach, and teach in the mosques would be guided and accept Islam at the hands of the doctor.
Original Arabic: http://www.alhawali.com/index.cfm?method=home.SubContent&ContentID=771#1725