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Portrait of a Traveler
By Muhammad Al-Shareef
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Al
Fudayl ibn Iyaadh (RA) once sat with a senior and asked him, “How
old are you?” The man replied, “60 years old.” “Did you
know,” said Al Fudayl, “that for 60 years you have been
traveling towards your Lord, and that you have almost arrived.”
The man was reduced to silence. He whispered, “Inna lillahi wa
Inna Ilayhi Raaji’oon (To Allah we belong and to Him we
return).” Al Fudayl asked, “Do you know the meaning of that
statement.
You are saying that you are Allah’s slave and that to Him you are
returning. Whoever knows that he is the slave of Allah, and that to
Him he shall return, should know that he shall be stopped on the
Day of Judgment. And whoever knows that he will be stopped, let him
also know that he will be responsible for what he did in life. And
whoever knows that he will be responsible for what he did, let him
know that he will be questioned. And whoever knows that he will be
questioned, let him prepare an answer now!” “What then shall I
do,” asked the man.
“It
is simple,” said Al Fudayl. “Do good in what is left of your
life, forgiven shall be your past. If not, you shall be taken to
account for the past and what is to come.”
In the not-so-far-away days of old, whenever a journey was to be
undertaken proper provisions had to be prepared. The deserts were
long, hot, and harsh. Unmerciful. There were no truck stops to fill
up with Doritos, or rest stops to buy a coke from a vending
machine. In fact, there was not even a human in sight for miles
upon miles of barren sand dunes. Thus, you had to have the
provision with you before you made the journey. Enough food, enough
water, enough everything to carry you to your destination.
From here, in the verses dealing of Hajj, when everyone shall have
to make some sort of journey to reach the Ka’bah, Allah tuned the
attention of His slaves to another journey, a journey every soul is
traveling, whether they know it or care to just remain heedless.
Allah turned their attention to the journey to the Hereafter, to
Paradise or Hell, “And take a provision (with you) for the
journey; verily the best provision is Taqwa (piety and
righteousness)” – Al Baqarah 2:197
Ibn Umar narrates: one day I was with the Messenger of Allah
(SAAWS). He then turned to me, held my shoulders with both of his
blessed hands, and said: “Be in this life like a stranger or a
traveler.”
And whenever Ibn Umar narrated this to his disciples he would add:
“If you reach the evening, do not await (to be alive) by dawn,
and if you reach dawn, do not await (to be alive) by evening. Take
advantage of your Health before you fall sick. And take advantage
of your life, before you die.” – Bukhari
Your story and mine in this life should be the story of a stranger
in town or a traveler. Recently, the writer lived the life of a
stranger about to begin a journey. It had been six years that he
had lived in Madinah Munawwarah and now had come the time to move
on. In the last days, he would buy a bar of soap and think, ‘will
I be around long enough to use the whole bar or should I get a
smaller one.’ Gadgets and inventions bounced off the
supermarket’s shelves. It all looked interesting, but there was
no time to enjoy it, it had to be left on the shelf. The journey
was about to begin. A few extra trips were made to the Prophet’s
Masjid. Concentration was up a few notches in prayer. The journey
was about to begin.
When our father and mother, Adam and Hawwa’ (AS) were expelled
from Paradise, their hearts continued to sob in remembrance of
their first home. You know how it is when some youth go to camp.
Night after night they cry homesick. Well that’s how our parents
were. And as their children, believers in Allah, His Messenger, and
the hereafter, that is the kind of homesickness we should have day
after day, until we come home, in sha’ Allah. That is what a
stranger feels; this is how we should go through life.
In a Hasan hadith narrated by Ahmed and Tirmithi, the Prophet
(SAAWS) said, “What have I got to do with the material world? The
example of the material world and I is that of a traveler.
Traveling in the afternoon heat, he stopped to rest under the shade
of a tree for some moments. Then, he rose and left it.”
The journey: life. The destination: Paradise or Hellfire. Ali (RA)
used to say, “The material world has gotten up to leave you and
the Hereafter has gotten up on its way towards you. Both of them
have children, so be from amongst the children of the Hereafter and
not from the children of the material world. For verily, today is
deeds and no accountancy, and tomorrow is accountancy and no
deeds.”
A Wiseman once said, “Strange is he who has the material world
walking away from him and the hereafter walking towards him. How
could he busy himself with what is leaving him and turn his back to
that which is coming towards him.”
This is the journey that we are all traveling. Now it is up to us
to take advantage of the time. Muhammad ibn Wasi’ (RA) was asked
once how he was feeling. He replied, “What’s your opinion of
someone who travels a mile towards the hereafter every single
day?” Dear brother, dear sister. Every soul is on this journey.
Some have understood this and are spending their days in
preparation for the questions to come, for the repayment. Others
are living life ‘to the fullest’ as they say, heedless and
negligent of the hereafter. Allah (SWT) describes the day that they
will finally wake up and smell the fire in sura 50, verse 22,
“Indeed you were heedless of this, now We have removed your
covering, and sharp is your sight this Day!” They are living in a
satanic intoxication. All that concerns them is a new car, a bigger
house, and a handsome mate. Some wake up in this life with time to
repent. Others will here the above verse when regret will be
worthless.
In Surah Al Qiyamah, verse 26, Allah (SWT) describes the extraction
of the soul, those last minutes, “Nay, when (the soul) reaches to
the collarbone (i.e. up to the throat in its exit).” He probably
went to sleep that night not intending to pray Fajr. He promised
his kids they would go to Disney Land in the summer. He promised
his wife a new dress. He promised himself a new car if he beat his
golf score. Tonight, however, he had an unexpected visitor. O the
visitor had an appointment with him; he was just careless and
forgot.
The soul does not leave the entire body in one swoop. It leaves
body part by body part until it reaches the collarbone, until it
reaches the throat. His legs were dead, his arms were dead. The
soul gargled in his throat. He screamed. His wife and children ran
to his side. What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Not now, he is about
to begin another journey. Allah says in Surah Al Qiyamah, verse 27,
“And it will be said: ‘Who can cure him and save him from
death?’”
Even in the last breaths, the wife runs to the phone to call an
ambulance. The children look left and right for someone to save
their dad. Nay, no one can save him from death when death arrives.
Everyone shall die. “And (the dying person) will conclude that it
is the time of departure (death)” Al Qiyamah, verse 28
Reality has hit him now. He knows this is the end. The time for
departure has arrived; the journey is about to begin. What is he
departing from though? From a Quran he used to recite after Asr?
From 4 rakas he used to pray during those long winter nights? Was
he even departing from the 5 daily prayers?
“And leg will be joined with another leg (i.e. shrouded)” Al
Qiyamah, verse 29
Strangers washed his body, strange hands shrouded his body,
strangers prayed on his body. Down, down into that hole that was
waiting for him from the day he entered this world. Now, the
journey begins...
“The drive will be, on that Day, to your Lord (Allah)!” Al
Qiyamah, verse 30
Dear brother, dear Sister. Do not leave your repentance till
Ramadan. Do not wait until you go for Hajj. Do not even wait till
tomorrow. Do it now and prepare for this journey. Come back to
Allah before it is too late. Come now! Ali (RA) once stood at the
head of a grave and said to his companion, “If he had a chance to
return to this life, what do you think he would do?” His
companion replied, “He would do nothing but good deeds.” Ali
(RA) then said, “If it is not going to be him, then let it be
you.”
If you are young and handsome now, fear Allah (SWT) and cover as He
commanded you. If you are healthy now, worship Allah (SWT) as much
as you can before you are old. If you are wealthy now, use your
wealth for the sake of Allah (SWT) before the day comes when you
may lose it. If you have some free time now, spend it memorizing
Quran and reading Hadith before a time comes when you will not find
the time. If you are alive now, take advantage of your life in
preparation for the next leg of your journey, in preparation for
your meeting with Allah (SWT).
Ibn Abbas (RA) heard the Prophet (SAAWS) advising someone, saying,
“Take advantage of five before five: You’re youth before your
old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your
poverty, your free time before you become occupied, and your life
before your death.”
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