Bismillahi, Al-Rahmān, Al-Rahīm.

In imam Ghazali’s “The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife”, chapter 4 talks about the passing of the Prophet ‎ﷺ. He starts off with:

“Know that in the Emisaary of God ‎ﷺ there is a goodly example in life and in death, in word and deed.” What I think that means is that at times of death and loss, we should look to the Prophet ‎ﷺ just as we look to the Prophet ‎ﷺ on our five pillars for example.

Imam Ghazali narrates that Aisha (ra) said: “The Emissary of God ‎ﷺ died between the forenoon and midday, on a Monday.” The Hadith goes on by talking about the afflictions of a Monday but the biggest blessing is that the Prophet ‎ﷺ was born on a Monday. So how do interpret his passing on a Monday? Allah knows better. Our brother Innes passed on a Monday. Fulfilling the Sunnah even in death. And that, to me, shows the trueness of his faith.

Imam Ghazali goes on mentioning how the people’s reaction was when the Prophet ‎ﷺ passed and it’s quite an overwhelming read. For example, it says:

‘then Umar رضي الله عنه  went out to the people and declared, “The Emissary of God ‎ﷺ has not died! God shall most certainly bring him back. May the hands and feet be struck from those hypocrites who desire the Emissary of God’s death ‎ﷺ. For God has only taken him for a meeting, as He did Moses, and he shall yet come to you.”  It also mentions that Umar رضي الله عنه said “By God, I shall attack with this sword of mine anyone who says that the Emissary of God ‎ﷺ has died!”

But the most beautiful story is the story of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه. Imam Ghazali states that Abu Bakr رضي الله عنهwent in to the presence of the Prophet ‎ﷺ, look at him, then leaned over and kissed him ‎ﷺ. Then he said “may my father and mother be your ransom, O emissary of God! Never was it God’s will to make you taste death twice. Indeed, by God, The Prophet ‎ﷺ has passed away.” He then went out to the people and reminded them of Surah al-Imran verse number 144. Where Allah says “Muhammad is but an emissary; emissaries have passed away before him. Will it be that when he dies or is slain, you will turn back on your heels?”. In the next couple of pages it talks about how deeply saddened Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه was with some descriptions as “weeping” and also “choking like a camel on its cud.” Another description that caught my attention and It’s a continuation of the above “…his movements and his speech were firm…” 

The book goes on to mention that Abu Bakr reminded the people of verses in the Qur’an, for example Abu Bakr’s response to Umar was reminding him of verse 30 in Surah Al-Zumar, “ You will die, and they will die” to which Umar replied, “Inna Lillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Raji’un” – “Truly we are God’s, and truly unto Him is our return.” Giving not only the people a sense of sabr, but giving Umar رضي الله عنه peace as well. Note: there is more to this hadith but I opted not to mention it.

The reason I mention this section of the book is because Ustadh Innes’s passing is affecting a lot of people, not to mention the family. So how do we deal with this? On Friday Shaykh Amer talked about Sadness and the justification of it so know, it’s ok to be sad. I would really encourage people to watch what Shaykh says, it’s a very good lesson to us. But how do we deal with death? What do we do now? How do we react? What do we say? Who do we say it to? How do we even try to influence sabr, patience in a time of pain. I’ve been through it, Ive lost my father and when dad passed away all everyone ever said to me was pray for him and that’s all the advice I can ever give in terms of keeping Ustadh Innes alive in our hearts, thoughts and character. I’m no Scholar, we’re surrounded by some amazing Scholars, Shaykh Ruzwan, Shaykh Amer, Shaykh Hassan, Shaykh Amin, Shaykh Idris, Ustadh Shoket, even our wee Hasan Sharif is a means of ease for us.

My one point is this, Innes knew the purpose of this life was death. That’s why he was content to go. That’s why he reminded us of where our hearts should be focused on. On Allah and His Messenger ‎ﷺ. So to understand death in our faith, we look to the passing of our Prophet ‎ﷺ. We learn about Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه character and his composure that resonated the patience within everyone else’s hearts around him. And we stay patient. And we keep praying. Inshallah.

Allah bless Ustadh Innes with sweet scent of the heavens in the barzakh and bless the family and everyone with sabr. Ameen.

Wa Akhiru Da’wana ‘anil Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil ‘alamīn.