What it Feels Like to Die | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 8

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What happens when you die? 

There is no greater pressure in life than the moment of death. The angels will come. Your soul will be pulled from your body, with ease or with force. And you will face the greatest test of your existence. But if you held firm to faith in this life, you will answer with certainty:

My Lord is Allah. My religion is Islam. My Prophet is Muhammad ﷺ.

So hold on tight. The test will come when you least expect it. Will you be ready?

NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.

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Captioning provided by Muhsen.

References:

1. Qays ibn Abbad said: “I was in the Masjid when a man whose face showed signs of humbleness came and prayed two rak’ahs that were modest in length. The people said, ‘This is a man from among the people of Paradise.’ When he left, I followed him until he entered his house, and I entered it after him and spoke with him. When he felt at ease, I said to him, ‘When you entered the masjid, the people said such and such things.’
   He said, ‘All praise is due to Allah! No one should say what he has no knowledge of. I will tell you why they said that. I saw a vision during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I narrated it to him. I saw that I was in a green garden, and he described the garden’s plants and spaciousness, and there was an iron pole in the middle of the garden affixed to the earth and its tip reached the sky. On its tip, there was a handle, and I was told to ascend the pole. I said, “I cannot.” Then a helper came and raised my robe from behind and said to me, “Ascend.” I ascended until I grasped the handle and he said to me, “Hold on to the handle.” I awoke from that dream with the handle in my hand. I went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and told him about the vision and he said,

As for the garden, it represents Islam; as for the pole, it represents the pillar of Islam; and the handle represents the most trustworthy handhold. You shall remain Muslim until you die.’” [Al-Hakim, Al-Mustadrak]

2. The Prophet ﷺ said there would come a time where patience is like holding on to burning coal. [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2260]
3. He said hold on to my sunnah like a man biting down on it with his molar teeth. [Sunan Abi Dawud #4607; Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2676]
4. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the man who is called to fornication by a woman of beauty and status and in that moment holds himself and says, “Verily I fear Allah.” And for not buckling under the heat of that moment, Allah gives him the coolness of the shade of the throne. [Sahih al-Bukhari #6806; Sahih Muslim #1031]
5. The Prophet ﷺ said: The greatest jihad in the path of Allah is to speak a word of truth in the face of a tyrant. [Sunan Abi Dawud #4344; Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2174] 
6. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Oh Turner of Hearts, make my heart firm on Your path.” [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #3522] 
7. So the Prophet ﷺ then said when you bury your brother or sister: Ask Allah to grant Him firmness [Sunan Abi Dawud #3221] 
8. You don’t know when you will die and where you will die. [Qur’an, 31:34] 
9. Imam Al-Qurtubi writes: We walk the paths that fate has drawn,

And those destined to walk, shall carry on.

Our sustenance is scattered wide,

But what is ours, will not be denied.

If death is written in a land,

In no other place will one have their last stand. [Al-Qurtubi, At-Tadhkirah]

10. The Prophet ﷺ said: When the time comes, Allah will place a need for us in that exact spot. And when we arrive there the angel of death will be waiting to deliver our souls. [Jami’ at-Tirmidhi #2147]
11. He says he was with a person who said, “O Prophet of Allah, I have a need in India, can you ask to have the wind commanded to carry me at this time” Sulayman looked at the Angel of Death and saw that he was smiling. He said, “Why are you smiling? ” The angel said, “It’s astonishing, I was commanded to take the soul of this man at the end of this hour in India, but I saw him with you. So he saw that the winds carried him in that hour to India, and his soul was taken from there.” [Al-Qurtubi, At-Tadhkirah]
12. The Prophet ﷺ said that if you’re a believing soul, you’ll see the angels descending with light at the end of your sight just at the horizon, and the angel of death approaches you with a cloth smelling like the musk of Paradise saying, “Salaam, don’t be afraid, O pure soul, come out to the mercy and pleasure of Allah.” You smile, and your soul jumps out of your body through the eyes into that kafan longing to meet a Lord pleased with it, ready to ascend through the heavens. It comes out as smooth as the last drop of water from a jug. Painless, and without trauma. On the other hand a wicked soul sees angels coming to it with rage smiting it and so the soul hides in the body, the angel pulls it out with a hook as if it is ripping through cotton. “Come out to the anger of a Lord you ignored, and to the consequences you hoped wouldn’t be real.” [Musnad Ahmad]
13. The Prophet ﷺ mentioned the squeeze of the grave, and it is different from the punishment of the grave. Not even the righteous Sa’ad ibn Mu’ath was spared from it. [Musnad Ahmad] 

إِنَّ لِلْقبرِ ضَغْطَةً، ولَوْ كان أحدٌ ناجِيًا مِنْها، نَجَا مِنْها سعدُ بْنُ معاذٍ

14. Though his death shook the throne of Allah [Sahih al-Bukhari #3803; Sahih Muslim #2466]
15.  Nor a pure baby who never had the chance to sin to be punished. [At-Tabarani, Al-Mu’jam al-Awsat]
16. But there is the difficult and inevitable and the added difficulty of sin. Sa’ad had relatively “easy labor” with just one squeeze. [Sunan an-Nasa’i #2055]
17.  Others have their ribs crushed in the process. [Sunan Abi Dawud #4753]
18. And even the way those angels look when they come to you is based on your deeds. Munkar and Nakeer come in good form to a person of goodness and ugly form to the ugly. You literally even make the image of your angels. And the pressure is on as they say in a booming voice man Rabbuk, maa deenuk, man nabiyyuk.  [Sunan Abi Dawud #4753]