At The Airport

[A Piece of Advice from Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (MZ)]

At the Johannesburg International Airport, some brothers requested that I give them some nasihah (advice) before leaving.

I mentioned the following : ‘The Airport itself presents sufficient Ibrat (lesson) for a person’s Islaah (reformation).

Boards are seen, computer screens inform, and announcements are repeatedly heard of Arrivals and Departures . We should take lesson from this.

We have ‘arrived’. Our scheduled arrival to the destination of this world has come to pass. We have journeyed from Aalame-Arwah to this transitory world. Our next journey is to ‘Aalame-Barzakh’, then to the Hereafter.

In this material world, the time of departure is given for the flights that are leaving for various cities and countries. A person can make preparations for travel, accordingly. As is common experience though, flights are sometimes delayed and sometimes cancelled.

Our departure, to the Aakhirah (Hereafter), is scheduled, but absolutely unknown to us. Moreover, the departure of the flight of death will not be delayed or cancelled.

In a couplet that deeply impresses upon the reality of this life, my Sheikh, Hazrat Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Saheb, states:

Strange is the visa of life; It can be cancelled at anytime. The duration of its validity is unknown, And its extension too, impossible.

Therefore, like the ‘Eveready’ battery (which is not necessarily ever ready), we need to be ever ready for the journey to the Hereafter. Our boarding passes are already in our hands. It is just a matter of time before departure.

The Azaan, in our right ear, and the Iqaamat, in our left ear, were already given at the time of our birth. All that is left, is the Janaza Salaah at the time of our death. The time between the Iqaamat and Salaah is negligible – so too, is the time span of our lives.

As someone has mentioned : Our life is just like the ‘dash’ between the date of birth and date of passing away, which is inscribed on many a tombstone. Though this ‘dash’ of life is so short, it is such a significant stage in our journey, that it either ‘makes’ or ‘breaks’ our Hereafter. This little dash either delivers a person to Jannat (Heaven in Urdu) or Jahannum. So before someone mentions the date of our departure, we should convert the ‘dash’ of life, to time spent securing provisions for the coming journey.

Then I mentioned that now two new boards are to be found at the airport:

Underground Parking and prayer room upstairs

Our ‘parking’ too is reserved. …What then should we do? Before ‘departure’ and before being ‘parked’ under the ground, we should visit the ‘prayer room’ – meaning, that we should bring the submission and servitude found in prayer or Salaah, into our lives. Submit to the One who gave us this life because very soon will we be returning to Him.

“…And the destination (of all) is to Allah.”
[Surah Ahzaab 35 : 18]

This world is very much like a timeshare. The occupants make full use of all facilities during their week/s or month/s – the lounge, fridge, stove, furniture, air conditioner and the luxuries of the timeshare. However, they know that they will have to move out as soon as their time expires.

Similarly, we should make use of the bounties of Allah Ta’ala in this world, but we should not give our hearts to this world. …How can we give our hearts to a world which is so unfaithful ? …The home in which there is excitement and celebration of a wedding is suddenly plunged into grief, sorrow and mourning.

We should keep before us, the following Hadith of Rasulullah (SAW) : “Verily, the world has been created for you and you have been created for the Aakhirah.”

Preparation for the Aakhirah (Hereafter) does not mean that we will be deprived of the good things of this world. Eat, drink, marry, conduct business and do all other activities according to the teachings of Shariah and Sunnah of Rasulullah (SAW). This is all that is required.

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