The post he never knew would be his last...

I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across a post about the attack that happened in San Diego, United States.

An Islamic center in San Diego was attacked by young men, and among the victims was a security guard named Amin Abdullah. May Allah’s mercy be upon him.

What touched me the most and inspired me to write this reflection was his final message, his very last post on Facebook. This is exactly what he wrote:

What is success?
To many people, success is financial stability, a good reputation, beauty, etc.
As for ME! Wallahi, thumma wallahi. It is returning back to Allah, OUR creator, with the same pure soul he loaned me at birth.
Having the Mala'ikah of Allah ta'ala saying 
"Don't fear and don't grieve, but receive the glad tidings of Jannah, which you were promised by the most forgiving and merciful."
May Allahu ta'ala grant us Husnal Khatimah, AMEEEEN 🤲.

What beautiful words.
I’m sure that when he posted this, he never imagined it would become his final post.

And I believe Allah answered his supplication.

He died while protecting an Islamic center where children had come to learn Islam, alongside their teachers. There was also a mosque there. And this happened during one of the most beloved days to Allah, in one of the four sacred months, the first day of Dhul Hijjah.

This reminded me of a passage from the Qur’an that the Imam recited during the previous Jumu’ah prayer:

"Verily, Allah, with Him is the knowledge of the Hour; He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware. " (Qu'oran 31:34)

The more we realize that we do not know where, when, or how we will die, the more conscious we become of our actions, our words, and even the things we post online.

We begin to renew our intentions more often, simply hoping that death finds us in a state beloved to Allah and that we return to Him with a Qalb Salim (a sound heart) and a purified soul.

Just as Amin Abdullah said in his final post:

“May Allahu ta'ala grant us Husnal Khatimah, AAAAAAMEEEEN. 🤲"

Sohaib Saeed
Hammad Fahim

Bismillah 

Reading this ayat in surah luqman 

"No soul knows what it will earn for tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware."

In the Quran, Allah refers to our actions/deeds as "what our hand has earned." Reading through the above-mentioned verse woke something in me; it disrupted my sense of security of being a good Muslim.

For instance, Alhamdulillah, Allah has granted us the door of doing good deeds. What happens over time is that we now think that the ability to do good is now in our hands. We develop a false sense of security that even tomorrow and the day after, I will just be the good me.

Allah warns us that this is not true, and actually no one knows which type of deeds they will earn tomorrow, sin or good deeds. 

In the 40 hadith our prophet mentions the following:

"I swear by Allah—there is no god but He—one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm's length between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire till there is naught but an arm's length between him and it, when that which has been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters therein." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

This awakens fear, fear of going astray after guidance, and thus I developed a daily night routine where I seek forgiveness for the day, give gratitude for the door of good deeds that was opened for me, and pray that my tomorrow be more pleasing to Allah than the previous day and pray that Allah opens up for me the door of good deeds.

Allah knows best. May He guide us to the straight path 

I always heard that death has no age limit — when it's your time, your soul will be taken, leaving everything behind. I had never witnessed the death of someone young, and I never imagined that the first one I’d witness would be my own sister.
My dearest elder sister, Noor ul Huda, passed away at the young age of 32 — beautiful, kind, and soft-hearted — on 16th July, the same date as my mother’s passing. May Allah forgive them both and grant them the highest ranks in Jannat-ul-Firdaus. Aameen.

She underwent a successful surgery on 12th July. Before that, her hospital bed was changed twice. After the operation, she was shifted to the HDU(high dependency unit)— her third bed. As she recovered well, she was moved back to the ward. I was with her during the shift. She stood and sat by herself  on the wheelchair. She looked completely fine. She talked to me like everything was normal, it was such a relief seeing her so stable. I remember it clearly: around 12:00 am, we left the HDU, and by 12:15 am, she was lying on bed 1708 — her fourth bed, where she spent a full 24 hours, I called my brother and told him, 'They’ve shifted Noorie Baji, and she’s doing well, Alhamdulillah.'  Then I went home, leaving her behind at the hospital, thinking she'd be back home soon, In Shaa Allah. The next day, she remained perfectly fine. The doctor even said she would be discharged the next day.  At 10:25 pm, my younger sister called us, saying something was wrong — 'Noorie isn’t doing well. Just pray.' 
We were shocked. How could something suddenly happen?
That’s when the updates started coming in — one after another — The doctors were giving her CPR, but there was no response. — Then we heard she was being taken to the ICU. — Then we were told she was on a ventilator. — And then… the news of her passing came — around 12:15 am.

Everything happened within 2 hours. The date had changed from 15th to 16th July — the same date my mother passed away. My sister passed away exactly 2 years after our mother. SubhanAllah.
Why am I writing all this? when I came back to my senses, one ayah came to my heart. I had read it years ago — I don’t even remember when — but it struck me like never before. It was:
Surah Luqman, Ayah 34:
'Indeed, Allah [alone] has knowledge of the Hour,  sends down the rain, and knows what is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow,  and no soul knows in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and is fully aware of all things.'

Why did this ayah hit me so deeply?  
She had moved through three hospital beds without harm. She had stayed the whole day in the ward before her surgery  and nothing happened. During surgery nothing happened.  She was shifted to HDU and nothing happened. But exactly 24 hours after returning to the ward, she passed away.
She didn’t die from her illness. She didn’t die because of the surgery. It was simply her time. It was written that she would die on that bed 1708, in that ward, on that exact date. It was all written.

She looked so beautiful and at peace in her final clothes… that deep inside, I wished I was the one lying there instead of her.  Everything went so smoothly.  Time moved so fast — it felt like it all happened in minutes, not hours.  SubhanAllah.
May Allah (SWT) forgive her sins and shortcomings,  accept all her good deeds, and raise her ranks in Jannat-ul-Firdaus. Ameen Thumma Ameen.
Please remember my sister and my mother in your precious du’as.

#Allah

I reflected on this verse in my last reflection (pointing out the symbolic connection between the Hour and our own death), but here I want to share something else that struck me about a specific part of the verse, where Allah says:


‎وَمَا تَدْرِى نَفْسٌۢ بِأَىِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ


'... And no soul knows in what land it will die.' (31:34)


Here Allah could have said, 'And no soul knows when it will die,' which would have sounded more natural and intuitive to us. However, Allah said, 'And no soul knows in what land it will die.' So, what is the significance of mentioning the uncertainty of the place of our death rather than the uncertainty of the time of our death?


Well, generally, we might assign a higher probability of knowing where we will die rather than when we will die. If we are living in one country for a long time, or if it's our own native country and we are living there for a long time, we might think that our death will most likely happen over here, but we can't say when exactly.


But, Allah refutes that idea and tells us that even THAT cannot be known - that not only do we not know the time of our death, but we also don't even know the land or the place of our death, which sends a stronger shock and a surprise to the reader's mind.


Also, many people wish to die in their own country or in a place where their parents, siblings, or their spouse or their loved ones died, in order to preserve their roots and their cultural identity by dying in that same place.


But again, Allah reminds us that death happens not for the sake of strengthening our connection to a particular land on this earth and whatever that we associate with it; rather, what matters most is our connection to Him only.


#OnlyAllahKnows

Me too but I think they bury the foreigners in the blessed graveyard

There are some people today who propose intelligent sounding arguments about how the world (or the human race) might come to an end. And they assume to be very knowledgeable or even experts on a certain field, such as science, politics, history, and so on.


And these so-called experts sell books and make videos to present their own visions of the most probable doomsday scenarios, which can sound pretty convincing, because they discuss the most threatening trends and events that are taking place, and then they dramatize, exaggerate, or spin those issues to make it sound as if the doomsday will most likely occur the way that they are saying it.


For example, some people have started arguing that the world is getting closer and closer to a nuclear war between the powerful nations, which may possibly kill all of us if it escalates to a certain point. But the fact is, wars have been going on for hundreds of years, and more wars and violence are just one of the signs of the Hour. And many times things have also gotten better again after a period of rising tension between countries.


Others who claim to be experts are saying that pretty soon, AI will become smarter than the humans who created them and then it may even overtake and cause the extinction of the entire human race. But, of course, I think that is a very foolish argument, because we are not even close to having AI which are truly smarter and more creative than humans, let alone replace the entire human race.


The Quran, on the other hand, reveals that the knowledge of the Hour only belongs to Allah SWT. We know some of the signs of the Hour, but the question of exactly 'how' and 'when' - the true knowledge behind it - is only with Allah. Thus, the claims and theories that some intellectuals put forward regarding the ultimate future (just for money, attention, etc.) are to be dismissed.


More importantly, however, we have to be ready for the mini and individualized Hour which all of us will come to eventually, which is our own death. Just as the Hour is an inevitable event (at a bigger timescale), our death is also the same - they are bound to happen.


That's why, I found it interesting that, after Allah highlights the unpredictability and His sole knowledge of the Hour (in Surah 31:34), He ends the verse by highlighting the unpredictability and His sole knowledge of our own death, which thereby beautifully indicates a parallel between the two.


#QuranicParallels

Jazakallah khair for your input. Yes, I agree that there is definitely a potential of a nuclear war in the future, but it's hard to estimate the time and the probability of that. Nuclear weapons are used mainly as a form of deterrence, so that other countries are more cautious of violating the law or taking some severe actions. But you are right about the other points.

The knowledge of the Hour, rain, and what is in the wombs all highlight our lack of knowledge or control that surrounds different aspects of life. This is followed by the statement, 'No soul knows what it will earn for tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die.' These examples could be a reminder for us that life is full of unknowns: our sustenance, future, and even the place and time of our death. 

Instead of letting this uncertainty consume us with worry about our jobs, marriage, children, death or any other matter we should rather focus and rely on what is a 100% certain: Allah. Knowing that our affairs rest in the hands of the One who is Most Wise and Most Merciful allows us to let go of unnecessary anxiety. He is Al-'Aleem (the All-Knowing) and Al-Khabeer (the All-Aware). He knows every detail, every possibility, and every outcome, and He is in complete control. Recognising this is one of the most liberating and stress-relieving truths. 

Uncertainty, when viewed through the lens of faith, becomes a source of hope rather than stress. It reminds us that the outcome lies in Allah’s hands, and He always plans what is best for His servants. Our role is to trust Him, turn to Him, and do our best with what is within our control while leaving the rest to Him. 

So, rather than fearing the unknown, perhaps we should embrace it as a chance to deepen our reliance on Allah. Uncertainty isn’t a curse; it’s an opportunity to strengthen our connection with our Creator and submit to His perfect plan.


Life is not guaranteed. Death can approach us at anytime, but it's time is unknown to us and only Allah has knowledge of this. We generally view that the elderly will die soon, but of course the recent pandemic has been an example that death can come to the young and to the healthy. Many who were healthy returned back to their Lord before the ones who were sick. 

This ayah, should keep a person on 'track' if he were to know when he will die, he or she would prepare for it, but perhaps not sincerely. However, since Allah has not revealed this knowledge, we should think death can come to us today, or tomorrow but it will surely come.

Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so if tomorrow is not guaranteed then the purpose of the believer is to keep themselves in check and perform good deeds, good deeds should become a lifestyle and habit so that whenever their soul is taken it is in the state of goodness and not evil. 

In a hadith recorded in Al Bukhari as well as Muslim:

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he is the truthful and the believed, narrated to us:

Verily the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother's womb for forty days in the form of a drop, then he becomes a clot of blood for a like period, then a morsel of flesh for a like period, then there is sent to him the angel who blows the breath of life into him and who is commanded with four matters: to write down his sustenance, his life span, his actions, and whether he will be happy or unhappy (whether or not he will enter Paradise).

By Allah, other than Whom there is no deity, verily one of you performs the actions of the people of Paradise until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him, and so he acts with the actions of the people of the Hellfire and thus enters it; and verily one of you performs the actions of the people of the Hellfire, until there is but an arm's length between him and it, and that which has been written overtakes him and so he acts with the actions of the people of Paradise and thus he enters it.

A believer should have their goal in front of them, and live as though today is their last day, and if he or she has been blessed to see the next day then to use that beneficially to perform good deeds as provisions for the next world:

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (RadhiyAllahu ‘anhuma), who said: The Messenger of Allah (SallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) took me by the shoulder and said,

'Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.'

And Ibn Umar (RahiyAllahu ‘anhuma) used to say, 'In the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and in the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening. Take [advantage of] your health before times of sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.'

[Reported by Bukhari]

Imagine living this way, it is a way of the wise, the one who has their objective and goal in front of them, living as though they are a wayfarer ready to meet their Lord. If we use the illustration of an exam, who is likely to pass the one who prepared for the exam or the one who prepared little or nothing? 

It was narrated from ‘Aishah that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
'Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.' It was said to him: 'O Messenger of Allah, does hating to meet Allah mean hating to meet death? For all of us hate death.' He said: 'No. Rather that is only at the moment of death. But if he is given the glad tidings of the mercy and forgiveness of Allah, he loves to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet him; and if he is given the tidings of the punishment of Allah, he hates to meet Allah and Allah hates to meet him.'

Departure from the world is indefinite, but when? is unknown. Note in the same ayah, the Day of Judgement is also unknown. Only Allah knows when it will occur, but we can conclude that both of these events are going to occur unexpectedly. For this reason we must be in a 'prepared' state to exit and not in a state of sin. 


#generalreflection #death 

Jazak Allah khayran for elaborating further for me, so I could learn from. May Allah guide me and all of us to the best understanding :) Ameen. 

 
Ive always been really interested in string theory and attempting to understand multiple dimensions. We are 3 dimensional creatures so understanding that is easy : there’s length, width, and depth to everything around us. 

The 4th dimension can be tricky to understand : it’s basically something that is 3D moving thru time. So if you were to imageine yourself NOW, yourself 10minutes ago, 2 hours from now, 15 years from now etc…all those instances of you connected (thru time) is the 4th dimension. Almost like how a film-strip has clips : instant images of a film from beginning to end, with each frame representing a moment in time.
So in short : the 4th dimension is a timeline and the changes we notice during those time changes.

The 5th Dimension is ALL possible timelines that could have existed based on the actions you take at each frame. So for example, the life you live now ( the timeline you are moving thru)  depends on the actions you take. The timeline of you graduating college, getting a job, moving to a big city etc existed because you took that pathway. There is however, a timeline of you where you perhaps didn’t graduate college, and instead started a successful business and lived a very wealthy life. That timeline is there - and so do an infinite number of possible timelines. But you are in the one you are in, so it’s the only one you notice and accept as your reality. 

In Short : The 5 dimension is all the possible timelines created by all the possible choices you could have made. 


Understanding the 4th and 5th dimensions can be challenging because we are 3D creatures and are trying to comprehend a world that is beyond us…so we have to do a lot of imagining.

THATS why this ayah is so amazing ! in such simple terms Allah swt shows us that He is the ALL-KNOWER…across dimensions that are beyond our realm:
Knowledge of Hour : 5th dimension
The rain : 4th and 5th dimensions
What is in the wombs : 4th and 5th dimension 
Tomorrow’s earnings :5th dimension
Moment of Death :5th dimension

A similar display is seen in 41:47


Knowledge of Hour : 5th dimension
Fruits coming forth : 4th and 5th dimensions
Conceiving  : 4th and 5th dimensions
Giving birth  : 4th and 5th dimensions

#allKnower #stringTheory #multipleDimensions #physics

sA this is amazing. To be honest, I have always considered the 4th dimension.  As though my life is a film strip playing from beginning to end, but I never considered a 5th dimension.  I have always considered how we as indivuals are in control of our fate and any active changes we make is like a course correction on our journey but to consider multiple timelines existinting at once is pretty amazing. If anything this proves how we have the ability to change our destiny... of only we could all see our existence in this way, from a birds eye view.  We would be an enlightened race!