The way to a good end

QUESTION :

Are there any signs that indicate that a person’s life ended well?.

ANSWER :

Praise be to Allah.  

Firstly: a good end… 

A good end means when a person was guided before his death to keep away from that which angers the Lord and to repent from sin, and to focus on doing acts of worship and good deeds, and then he died in this good state. One of the indications of this is the saheeh hadeeth narrated from Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When Allah wills good for His slave, He uses him.” They said, “How does He use him?” He said, “He guides him to do good deeds before he dies.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad, 11625; al-Tirmidhi, 2142; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 1334. 

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “When Allah wills good for His slave, He sweetens him.” He was asked, “What is this sweetening?” He said, “Allah guides him to do righteous deeds before he dies, then He takes (his soul) whilst he is in that state.” Narrated by Ahmad, 17330; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 1114. 

There are signs of a good end, some of which are seen by the dying person as he is dying, and some which may be visible to other people. 

Secondly: 

With regard to the signs of a good end that appear to the dying person, these are things that give him the glad tidings, as he is dying, that Allah is pleased with him. As Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, those who say: ‘Our Lord is Allah (Alone),’ and then they stand firm, on them the angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): ‘Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!’”

[Fussilat 41:30] 

These glad tidings come to the believers when they are dying. See Tafseer Ibn Sa’di, 1256. 

This is also indicated by the hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6507; Muslim, 2683 from the Mother of the Believers ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.” I said, “O Prophet of Allah, do you mean hating death, for all of us hate death?” He said, “It is not like that; but when the believer is given the glad tidings of the mercy and pleasure of Allah, and His Paradise, he loves to meet Allah, And when the kaafir is given the tidings of the wrath and punishment of Allah, he hates to meet Allah and Allah hates to meet him.” 

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: What this hadeeth means is that the love and hate that are referred to here are those that happen when one enters the stage in which repentance is not accepted, where the dying person is told of his situation and he is shown his destiny. 

There are many signs of a good end, which the scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) have derived from the texts which speak of that. These signs include the following: 

1 – Uttering the shaahadah (testimony of faith) when dying, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “A person whose last words are Laa ilaaha ill-Allah [there is no go but Allah] will enter Paradise.” Narrated by Abu Dawood, 3116; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood, 2673. 

2 – Dying with sweat on the forehead, because al-Buraydah ibn al-Husayb (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, “The believer dies with sweat on his forehead.” Narrated by Ahmad, 22513; al-Tirmidhi, 980; al-Nasaa’i, 1828. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

3 – Dying on the night or day of Friday, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “there is no Muslim who dies on the day of Friday or the night of Friday, but Allah will protect him from the trial (fitnah) of the grave.” Narrated by Ahmad, 6546; al-Tirmidhi, 1074. al-Albaani said: When all its isnaads are taken into consideration, this hadeeth is hasan or saheeh. 

4 – Dying as a fighter for the sake of Allah, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Think not of those as dead who are killed in the way of Allah. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision.

They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.

They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:169] 

And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever is killed for the sake of Allah is a martyr, and whoever dies for the sake of Allah is a martyr.” Narrated by Muslim, 1915. 

5 – Dying of the plague, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The plague is martyrdom for every Muslim.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2830; Muslim, 1916. 

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), said: I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about the plague, and he told me that it is a punishment that Allah sends upon whomsoever He will, and that Allah has made it a mercy for the believers, for there is no one who stays in his land at the time of a plague, bearing that with patience and seeking Allah’s reward, knowing that nothing will befall him but that which Allah has decreed for him, but he will be given a reward like that of a martyr.” 

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3474. 

6 – Dying of a stomach disease. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “… and whoever dies of a stomach disease is a martyr.” Narrated by Muslim, 1915. 

7 – Dying because of being crushed by a falling wall or by drowning, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The martyrs are five: the one who dies of plague, the one who dies of a stomach disease, the one who drowns, the one who is crushed by a falling wall, and the one who is martyred for the sake of Allah.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2829; Muslim, 1915. 

8 – If a woman dies as a result of childbirth, or when she is pregnant. The evidence for that includes the hadeeth narrated by Abu Dawood (3111), according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “A woman who dies with child is a martyr.” al-Khattaabi said: What this means is if she dies with a child in her womb. ‘Awn al-Ma’bood.

 And Imam Ahmad narrated (17341) that ‘Ubaadah ibn al-Saamit said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told us about the martyrs and mentioned among them, “A woman who is killed by the child in her womb attains martyrdom, and her child will drag her by his umbilical cord to Paradise.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Kitaab al-Janaa’iz, p. 39.  

9 – Death caused by burning, pleurisy and tuberculosis. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Being killed for the sake of Allah is martyrdom; the plague is martyrdom; drowning is martyrdom; dying of a stomach disease is martyrdom; and the woman who dies in childbirth, her child will drag her by his umbilical cord to Paradise.” (Abu’l-Awaam, the custodian of Bayt al-Maqdis added: and burning and tuberculosis). Al-Albaani said: Hasan saheeh. Saheeh al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1396. 

10 – Dying to defend one’s religion, one’s wealth or one’s life, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever is killed defending his wealth is a martyr; whoever is killed defending his religion is a martyr; whoever is killed in self-defence is a martyr.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1421. 

Al-Bukhaari (2480) and Muslim (141) narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: “Whoever is killed defending his wealth is a martyr.” 

11 – Dying guarding the borders of Islam for the sake of Allah. Muslim (1913) narrated that Salmaan al-Faarisi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Guarding the borders of Islam for one day and one night is better than fasting and praying at night for a whole month, and if he dies (whist performing this duty), he will go on receiving the reward for this great deed and his provision (continually), and he will be spared the questioning in the grave. ” 

12 – One of the signs of a good end is dying whilst doing a righteous deed, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:  

“Whoever says Laa ilaaha ill-Allah, seeking the Countenance of Allah thereby, and that is the last of his deeds, will enter Paradise. Whoever gives charity and that is the last of his deeds will enter Paradise.” Narrated by Imam Ahmad, 22813; classed as saheeh by al-Albani in Kitaab al-Janaa’iz, p. 43. See Kitaab al-Janaa’iz by al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him), p. 34. 

These are the good signs which point to a good end, but despite that we cannot be certain that a specific person is one of the people of Paradise unless the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) testified that he will go to Paradise, such as the four khaleefahs. 

We ask Allah to grant us a good end. -islamqa.info