Are those who die on holy nights good people? Is there a wisdom behind dying in the holy three months?
Dear Brother / Sister,
The lifestyle of a person is like a mirror that shows his faith, deeds and personality. After talking a bit, travelling or doing business with a person that we do not know, we come to a certain conclusion about him; we say he is a good o bad man. However, if we know both the good and bad aspects of a person, the criterion about making a decision about him is certain. If his good aspects outweigh his bad aspects, he is good; if his bad aspects outweigh his good aspects, he is bad. In other words, the goodness and badness of a person is measured by his worshipping Allah. If a person leads his life as he believes and tries to fulfill his duty of worshipping, he is a good person in the eye of Allah and he is a good slave. However, if he does some things that are contrary to Islam despite his belief, he is a sinner.
What kind of an end will these people encounter when they die? The statements of the Prophet (pbuh) regarding the issue are clear:
“You die as you live; you are resurrected as you die.”
This fact is expressed as follows: in another hadith:
“Allah resurrects a person in the same state as he dies.”1
When a person who has a strong belief in Allah and the other principles of belief dies, he is treated as a Muslim since he is regarded as a believer and Muslim. As for the issue of the state of this person in the hereafter, there is a hadith of the Prophet (pbuh) regarding the issue:
“A person who dies knowing that there is no god but Allah enters Paradise.”2
When a person dies, the witnessing and opinions of the Muslims about him are important. There are narrations that if the Muslims say he is a good believer, Allah Almighty will act according to their witnessing. Similarly, a person against whom the Muslims witness will be treated accordingly.
As for your question, a person has to have a strong belief first in order to have good deeds. The following is stated in a hadith about Allah Almighty treating a believer who dies on a holy day or night differently:
“If a Muslim dies on the day or night of Friday, Allah Almighty will save him from the mischief (questioning and torturing).”3
Allah Almighty will treat those who die on the day or night of Friday, on the Night of Power (Qadr) and other holy days and nights differently thanks to those days and nights. The reward given to deeds and worshipping on holy days and nights are more than usual days; similarly, the believers who die on those days and nights will receive different forgiveness from Allah Almighty.
For instance, it is stated in hadiths that Allah Almighty will forgive as many believers as the number of the sheep of the tribe of Banu Kalb on the Night of Power (Qadr); if a believer receives the forgiveness of Allah Almighty before his death, he will benefit from this boon and will be saved. However, those who are unbelievers and who have the feeling of enmity in them will be excluded.
Footnotes:
1 Faydul-Qadir, VI/226.
2 Muslim, Iman: 43.
3 Tirmidhi, Janaiz: 73; Musnad, II/176.
(see Mehmed PAKSU, Aileye Özel Fetvalar)
Questions on Islam
- What should one do in order to die as a believer at the time of death? Satan tries to remove the belief of a Muslim when he is about to die by disguising. What can we think in that case?
- According to the following verse, will the believers whose sins are more than their rewards (thawabs) stay in Hell eternally? "But those whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls; in Hell will they abide." (al-Mu'minun, 23/103)
- Will we be called to account in the hereafter due to the sins that are few?
- What is the judgement and virtue of fasting on the day of Arafah? How should we make use of the day of Arafa?
- Is it necessary to perform fasting on the day of arafah in the fasting of the first ten days of “Dhul-Hijjah”?
- Is it true that the Prophet was transferred into His mother’s womb on the night of Raghaib?
- How to get ready for death?
- What is martyrdom? Will you give information about the levels of martyrdom? Who are martyrs? Is a person who is burnt and who is drowned a martyr?
- What will be the difference between our body in the hereafter and our body on earth?
- Will you explain what the time mentioned in the following hadith means and what nights it includes?: "The is an hour/a time period at night when everything worldly and unworldly is given to the person who asks for them.
