Rank in the Hereafter...

Bismillah..

This is something published at sunnipath giving an advice to muslims...and to all..

Rank in the Hereafter

Posted by Munzareen Padela, SunniPath Student on August 18th, 2007

Ustadha Noura mentioned that some students had gone to Yemen to study with the Habaib and on their way back they asked for some nasiha (advice) for their travel back- Habib Ali advised them: “When you go back and you talk to people, don’t think for a minute that you are better than any of them, than a single one of them. Don’t have in your heart a sense that you are better.. [than the people they were going to encounter back at home].” He said this because it is unknown to any one of us how we will die. For us right now, our biggest blessing is having been given this beautiful deen. The worst thing that could happen to us is our deen being taken away from us (may Allah protect us and guide us). It is possible that the people we encounter could become better than us and be forgiven and it is important for us to have humility in our hearts to comprehend this statement. Habib Ali also mentioned that it is possible that the people we meet may have an excuse for what they do, whether it be misinformation or ignorance, whereas we have no excuse. We have- Alhamdulillah- been graced with ‘aql (intellect) and been given the opportunity to learn. We are accountable for all the knowledge we have and do not use. Insha’Allah our knowledge is a testament and proof for us and not against us.

Shaykh Faraz also said: “And as for rank in the Hereafter- rank in the Hereafter is not by your state now, but by the way you die. And the way you die is not known, so how can you think yourself better than anyone in any way?”-

We don’t know what will happen with us in the next few minutes, let alone the next day or on our deathbeds so how can we possibly claim any type of superiority?Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi wrote in The Path to Perfection: “Consider yourself to be most inferior, so much so that if you observe with your own eyes another indulging in the worst of vices, then too you shall not despise that person, nor shall you consider yourself nobler than him. On the contrary, one should fear and bear in mind that it is very possible that the perpetrator of the vice may resort to sincere repentance (tawba) and become a person of high piety, while the one who despised the sinner may become ensnared (Allah forbid) in the meshes of the lower self and Satan and be diverted from worship and obedience. One has no certainty regarding one’s end. Therefore, one has no basis for regarding another with contempt.”

Insha’Allah, may Allah allow us to purify our hearts and attain this level of humility.