Seekers' thoughts

One thing I think we have come to underestimate today, for perhaps we have become a more dishonourable people, a more valueless people, is the mercy and blessing of honour and value, of position and rank in God’s court. We have forgotten the value of freedom and living by the values of truth and God rather than succumbing to the whims and desires of the seemingly powerful systems, cultures and society’s directions, and rulers. This is indeed a mercy that only those who have it and reflect on it understand. It is a blessing. For you live more refined; you live respected, honoured, admired, even by those who may be enemies and dislike you; you live more self-sufficient; you live with more clarity; you live with more guidance; you live firm; you live strong, unwavering. You live content. Life does not bring such people down, for Allah blesses them.

We also have lost the passion for death, which may sound strange, but it is a fascinating thing to think about the people of the past who were wishing for deaths that they would be proud of, deaths that were splendid. I am reminded of the statement of Khalid ibn Walid who was upset on his deathbed – not because he was dying, not because he could no longer enjoy the pleasures of life, but because he wasn’t dying on the battlefield in God’s path. Instead he was dying comfortably in bed.¹ Was he an exception even in his time? Maybe. Yet we know that the Sahaba had an over-arching culture of welcoming death and dying beautifully as a wish taught in the dua of the Prophet (peace be upon him), that may God grant us a good/beautiful end.² I am also reminded of the death of Bilal, who on his deathbed was overjoyed in response to his wife’s sadness. When questioned by her regarding this joy, he said how he is going to meet his beloved Prophet again³. What a lovely death! 

What can we say of al-Hussain’s death? To die as a king, refusing to bow to tyranny, refusing to give his hand in allegiance with one impure, beneath him and unworthy. In this is a mercy: because he lived by his values and principles of Islam, Allah gave him the ability to stick to it in the most difficult of situations. Allah allowed him to leave this world in the way he lived and wanted. Allah blessed al-Hussain with his mercy that his name would not be mentioned except as Imam, Sayyid (Master/Leader) and Grandson/Son of Muhammad. Peace be upon them. He had the mercy of living as a man above all others, and indeed his death only stamped that more clearly. His death elevated him to heights unattainable. He lived an Imam but died the Master (of the martyrs). 

Al-Hussain’s life and death, like his grandfather before him, give us the example of resistance, living by truth, dying by it, and refusing to give in. While we cannot be exactly like him, we should take his principles and emulate. We must ask: who and what are we living for? What are our guiding principles? Are we living by honour and mercy? Al-Hussain showed us that death is better than dishonour, that freedom is worth dying for, that Allah is not unaware; al-Hussain knew he was going to His Lord to be blessed and rewarded for it all. And that is what we, today, have forgotten… For al-Hussain, it was more difficult to compromise on his ideals passed down to him from his parents (Ali and Fatimah) and his grandfather, the Prophet (peace be upon them) than to die. Does such a mindset even make sense to us anymore?

This isn’t to say that those who feel forced to accept what is happening are failures, or evil. In this is another hidden mercy: God doesn’t burden anyone above what they can handle;⁴ and those who cannot rise against evil must speak against it, or at-least hate it in their heart.⁵ But the reward is not the same. What makes the glorious is that they seek more glory; Hussain is unreachable because he sought the highest, the truest pleasure of his Lord.

The Qur’an summarises this matter for us perfectly. Who is in the better state, the one with many masters or than one with only One Lord?⁶ We may live in this life where there are many claimants to knowing what is best for us, claimants to the throne, claimants to godship, claimants to controlling your life and directing you. The reality is there is only one King of Kings, only one Guider and only One Sustainer, and it is the One who Hussain died for. Let’s choose to live by the One Lord and He will guide us through the troubles… We will then feel the mercy of living a life more free, and hopefully the mercy of a good ending.

1. https://theauthenticbase.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/khaalid-bin-waleed-on-his-deathbed/ ↩︎
2. https://www.duasrevival.com/supplications/mercy/dua-for-good-end-to-all-matters#:~:text=Meaning%3A%20O%20Allah!,and%20punishment%20of%20the%20Hereafter. ↩︎
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQPSjRYs58Q&ab_channel=IslamicGuidance ↩︎
4. Qur’an, Surah Baqarah, verse 286 https://quran.com/al-baqarah/286 ↩︎
5. 40 Hadith an-Nawawi, hadith 34 https://sunnah.com/nawawi40:34 ↩︎
6. Qur’an, Surah Yusuf, verse 39 https://quran.com/12:39 ↩︎