The Journey of the Hereafter part 3

Asalamu Alikum

Parents as Examples

The child learns first in his mother’s arms, and the child will follow in example if the mother establishes a habit of prompt worship. The majority of children neither listens nor obeys because they do not see an example. Here the fault lies within the parents who need to evaluate themselves and try to rectify their lives so they set a better example. If results do not materialize despite our strongest efforts, then we should turn to Allah in prayer instead of sitting aside and admitting defeat. The supplication of a mother is the cool breeze of Paradise, and even a disobedient mother’s supplication is accepted faster than those of the auliyaa. Allah can change the inner conditions of the hearts in the blink of an eye, but the fault is within us because we do not have complete trust in Allah.
A traveler reflects upon his destination until he reaches that point, and likewise we should ponder the Hereafter and make preparations just like the traveler. We have to be raised in front of Allah one day, so we have to take care of our heart and our actions like we take care of our houses. The pleasure of Allah and obedience to Him is our sole purpose, whereas a home, food, and finances are necessities that we need in order to achieve that purpose. The Hereafter is going to be a place of grave worry for us if we sacrifice this purpose merely to accumulate these worldly belongings which we cannot take with us anyway.

The Shaded

There will be extreme heat and no shelter on the Day of Judgment except that of the Throne of Allah. Everybody will be raised in the face of his or her deeds, and Allah will shade seven kinds of people under His Throne.
1. A just ruler.
2. A youth who grew up worshipping Allah.
3. A man whom a woman tries to seduce but he says that he is scared of Allah.
4. A man whose heart is attached to the mosque.
5. Two men (or women) who love each other solely for the love of Allah.
6. A man (or woman) who gives in charity and hides it, such that the left hand does not know what the right hand has done.
7. A man (or woman) who remembered Allah in private so that the eyes shed tears.
Our Allah is so merciful that He will shade us and forgive our sins just for shedding a few tears, this can only happen if we keep the Hereafter in perspective. Only then we will stop chasing the illusions of this world and keep thinking of ways in which to please Allah.
The Day of Judgment has been called the Day of Decision in the Holy Quran; the Day of winning and losing. Allah will preside over the decision and man will either win or lose that day. Hence we should prepare for our Hereafter now so that we are not standing empty-handed before Allah on that Day.

The Poor Man on the Day of Judgment

The Messenger of Allah asked his Companions (Sahabah), “Do you know who is a poor man?” The Sahabah asked him who and the Prophet continued, “The poor man is he who comes to Allah with a mountain of good deeds, but has been careless at the same time. He lies at some point, hurts someone, or calls someone names. These people will come and demand their rights on the Day of Judgment, so Allah will start distributing his good deeds among them. His good deeds will finish but their rights will not. Allah will then take these people’s sins and start collecting them on this man’s head. These sins will pile up like a mountain. Such a one is called a poor person, one who has accumulated a mountain of good deeds but has been careless with his tongue and his hands at the same time.