Friday Sermon: When the Grave Beckons: The Mathematics of Death

By Babatunde Jose

“Foolish is the one who shows pride and arrogance on earth due to his wealth, not realizing that none of it will be of use in his grave.”

As we usher in the new year 2023, all of us are adding another year to our life here on earth. However, let it be known that we are all moving closer to our grave. For every minute, hour, day, week, month, and year that we add, there is a corresponding movement towards the grave. Everyman born of a woman must taste death. Quran 3:185 “Every soul shall have a taste of death:”

Ever since the dawn of ‘man’ he has always been enthralled and fascinated by the inevitability of death and its associated facts. With the advance in civilization and the growth of religion, burial and other acts, concern has centered on the Hereafter, retribution, and the possibilities of punishment for earthly transgressions.

The thinking man has also reflected on his actions and the possible legacies he would leave behind, its enduring nature or the obliteration of all he had worked for in life. There is a constant need to visit these concepts to reassure ourselves that we are walking on the right path and not going in the other direction.

A columnist Abdul Rafiu opined that, “Death and the Beyond are subjects many people avoid contemplating or discussing, terrified by sheer thought of the inevitability of it, that it approaches for everyone inexorably, and one day one after the other we will take our exit from this earthly plane. What is expected of each human being, where does his path lead him after the sojourn on earth?”

There is no doubt many of us are not intellectually equipped to fathom the questions of death and the beyond. They are usually couched in esoteric language bordering on the occultic. Unfortunately, the major imported religions are not helpful in discerning the complex concepts and terms used in discussing these issues.

Fortunately, concepts such as inevitability of death and legacy are not too much to understand. However, few understand the importance of legacy in the life of man. Many supposedly rich and great men have had their legacies tarnished and obliterated shortly after their demise. Some even had their life efforts destroyed in their lifetimes by their progenies.

As for the grave, we are told the life of the deceased in the grave is different from his life in this world. It is a special kind of life in al-barzakh (the interval between his death and the Day of Resurrection) which is not like his life in this world. To this end we often pray for our dead to be spared the punishment of the grave.

According to an expose on the experience of a particular soul who not only witnessed his own burial rites but also his internment in the grave. He said: “I awoke to find myself in the dirtiest, ‘most wretched’ hovel you can imagine. It stood in a horrible, bleak spot without a garden or any living thing round. Seeing it for the first time, some might have thought that poverty was the trouble. So it was—poverty of the soul—for I had never done anything for anyone on earth, except it be for my own ultimate benefit, not theirs. The very clothes I was wearing were threadbare and soiled. In this dingy hole I found myself, smoldering with rage that I should, in some inconceivable fashion, have been reduced to a state of squalor. I didn’t seem able to leave the premises; I felt glued to the house. I gazed out of the windows and could see nothing but barren ground. A grim, dismal outlook…I stormed and raved.” – A view from the grave. From the book: Life in the World Unseen, first published in 1956. The words of an ex-Catholic Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson, who discovered that life after death is completely different to that which he spent his life teaching.

Two important concerns of a good Muslim are his legacy and the grave. There is always the fear that his progeny would obliterate whatever good he has spent his life to build. It is a real and founded fear. We are witnesses to the aftermath of many great men whose legacies have not only remained in tatters, but their offspring are not worth speaking about. May Allah give us children who will preserve our legacies. Amen.

The next fear is that of what will happen in the grave. In his piece, Journey Through the Beyond, Abdul Rafiu wrote: “As there are no words to describe the torments in the Dark Region so are there no words to describe the bliss, splendor and wonders of the Region of Light which is even the Forecourt to Paradise. It is not all gloom and torments for everyone who departs the earth. The lofty Heights and Land of the truly noble, described as the Land of the Blessed, here the spirit breaks through what may remain as the thinned out, light ethereal covering, shining, his hallow blazing like a flame!  Mankind are permitted this inexhaustible knowledge today so that they can make their choice—Salvation or Damnation!”

“O Prophet! Truly We have sent thee as a Witness, a Bearer of Glad Tidings, and a Warner, And as one who invites to Allah’s (Grace) by His leave, and as a Lamp spreading Light. (Quran 33:45-46) 

In this verse of the Quran, Allah summarizes the legacy of Prophet Muhammad as the harbinger of good tidings, the warner, the summoner unto Allah, and as the lamp spreading light in a world that was plunged in darkness; a man who delivered a message to humanity that enlightened every aspect of human life, carrying with it solutions to every problem that humanity would ever face – political, economic, social, judicial, moral and spiritual – for all times, places and people, to take mankind from the darkness and oppression of man-made ways of life and systems to the light and justice of the System from the Lord of the Worlds.

The Prophet left a legacy of a political system that was the embodiment of guardianship and care of the people and whose distinctive qualities were justice and accountability in governance as acknowledged by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. A system fashioned upon the words of Allah in Surah an-Nisa: “O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: For Allah can best protect both. Follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest ye swerve, and if ye distort (justice) or decline to do justice, verily Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do.” (Quran 4:135)

Apart from leaving a legacy of a sound political system based on justice, fairness and equity, the Prophet also left a legacy of good leadership. The Caliber of Leaders the Prophet left behind can be gleaned from the life of the Khalifs: Leaders who utterly understood their heavy duty to be the guardians and servants of their people, caring for their every need.  The prophet said: “Each of you is a guardian and each of you is questioned over his subjects, the Imam is responsible over the people and he is questioned over his responsibility.”

Leaders such as Khalifah Umar bin Al Khattab who during the famine in Medina refused to eat anything but coarse food, saying; “If I don’t taste suffering, how can I know the suffering of others?”

He left behind a legacy of leaders like Khalifah Umar bin Abdul Aziz. This was a man who refused to use even a drop of public oil to fuel his lamp for his personal affairs or even use water heated with the state charcoal for his ablution due to his immense sense of accountability over state funds. Subhanallah!

Can we say these about our leaders? Do they even understand what it means to leave a legacy of service? Legacy is fundamental to what it is to be human. Being reminded of death is a good thing because death informs life. It gives you a perspective on what is important.

As we usher in the new year, there is a need to realize that for each new hour, new day, new week, new month and new year, there is a corresponding movement towards the grave. This is the mathematics of death. The grave beckons with the ticking of time. It cannot be halted or reversed.

“I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” Stephen Grellet 1773–1855

Barka Juma’at and best wishes for a happy new year.