Azka Javeria, Hiba’s team writer figures out some crucial answers based on Dr. Omer Suleiman’s Ramadan series entitled ‘Why Me?’
The Role of Charity
Zainab Bint Khuzaymah (rta) was one of the only two wives of the Prophet (sa) to pass away in his lifetime, Zainab (rta) doesn’t have a long biography. But her love for giving charity is reported and appreciated by the other wives of the Prophet (sa) and many companions even though she died within a few months of her marriage to the Prophet (sa).
Zainab (rta) had been a widow because her first husband was martyred in the Battle of Uhud. Due to her exemplary patience at the time of her husband’s death and her habit of giving charity, Allah extended her life so that she married the Prophet (sa) and gained a life of eternity as the Prophet’s (sa) wife in Jannah.
Every action of ours, no matter how big or small, adds to our legacy. Every good deed of ours, every act of charity that we make towards people- whether it’s half a smile or a large sum of money- becomes the reason for our prosperity. Just as we have been charitable to others, Allah (swt) is charitable to us.
We can reconcile this concept very well with the Hadith: ‘The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful.’ (Abu Dawud)
The more good deeds we perform, the more Allah (swt) grants us opportunities to do further good. This helps increase our ultimate reward in the life here after that is the real investment we are making now and is being preserved with Allah (swt).
The Prophet (sa) said: “Nothing extends a person’s life like good deeds.” (At Tirmidhi)
Isn’t Death Pre-Decreed?
But then, you may ask, what about the verse of the Quran: “..when their time has come, then they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it], not a single moment than that which was decreed for their death.” (Yunus 10:49)
The scholars explain that there are actually two types of lifespan:
i) The lifespan only known to Allah (swt) and that is unlimited
ii) The lifespan only known to the angels and that is limited
When Allah (swt) commands the angels to write down your lifespan before your birth, date of your death is written down. However, when Allah (swt) wills and His bounty descends, the angels erase this date and extend it. And we do not know till when this keeps happening until one day Allah (swt) commands the angel of death to finally collect our soul.
Such is Allah’s (swt) mercy, that we are unable to recognize it, just like we are unable to recognize the reality of life, unable to count our rewards and sins, and unable to grasp what lies in the world hereafter.
How our legacies intertwined
This is further explained by the example of two brothers, one of whom earned and spent on the other while the other one studied and stayed with the Prophet (sa). The first brother felt he was missing out and opened up to the Holy Prophet (sa) to which the Prophet (sa) said: “It might be that Allah only provides for you because you provide for him.” And Subhan Allah, what a beautiful aspect that almost all of us forget to think about when earning and spending on others!
The power of Dua
Dua has the ability to increase our lifespan, the power to change what has been decreed.
For this, we have the example of Anas bin Malik (rta) whose mother brought him to the Prophet (sa) and asked him to make Dua for her son. As a result of the Prophet’s Dua Anas (rta)’s lifespan had great Barakah and he was blessed with wealth, children and he lived for a hundred years. He narrated over 2000 Ahadith, that guide us about the most significant but minutest issues through Sunnah.
The effect of sin
If good deeds can have such a positive effect on our lives, what effect do sins have on our lifespans and tranquility?
The scholars say that sins destroy any blessing you have in your worldly lifespan or in your wealth or children.
If we take a moment to go back and recollect a sin we often do, we will be able to recall how empty dissatisfaction we feel after it and the pleasure is fleeting.
Judging lifespans
All this might make one skeptical. What about the people that die young? Were they not good enough? Did they not deserve to live longer?
Once again, our knowledge about Allah’s (swt) decree is very limited. We cannot see the many times Allah (swt) would have driven a calamity away from that person. Allah (swt) might have asked the angels to erase and write down a new date for that person’s death. We are only able to witness the day he finally dies, not the many days that he did not.
For those who die young, though they aren’t given the opportunity to do any more good, but the opportunity to sin has also been taken away from them. We must remember that Allah (swt) is the Most Wise.
When somebody dies or is born, Allah (swt) knows it is best for them to enter this phase of life now in terms of their eternal life in the hereafter.
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