Now You Can Fly | The Other Side: Barzakh and Beyond Ep. 12
Have you ever dreamed of flying—of soaring freely, untethered by the weight of this world? In the Barzakh, you finally can. Your soul will leave behind the constraints of the body, taking form according to the life you lived.
The martyrs will rise as radiant green birds, gliding beneath the Throne of Allah, sustained by the fruits of Paradise. The believers will perch among the trees of Jannah, flying to the places their hearts were once connected to. But the wicked will fall, snatched away like crows, dragged into the depths of Sijjeen.
When the time comes, will you fly toward the heavens, or will you be cast into the darkness below?
NOTE: All depictions of Barzakh are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
Download discussion guides for "The Other Side": https://yqn.io/2e7585
References
- Sufyan at-Thawri said, “‘Amr ibn Qays is the one who disciplined me. He taught me the recitation of the Qur’an and the laws of inheritance. I would look for him at his shop. If I did not find him there, I would find him in his home standing in prayer or reciting the Qur’an, as if he were hastening before something slipped away from him. If I did not find him in his home, I would find him in one of the masjids of Kufa, sitting in a corner while crying in a way that gave the impression he had stolen something (and hence he was hiding). If I did not find him there, I would find him at the cemetery, sitting and lamenting over himself.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.Do you believe you can fly? What would it be like to fly with your own set of wings? Not to ride an airplane or another invention that mimics flight, but to actually soar and propel yourself on your own. It's just you and the sky and a breeze to take you wherever you want to go. In the barzakh, you finally can. As your soul leaves the physics of your heavy body and takes the shape of a bird, be prepared to explore your new world. Almost every famous scholar in Islamic history has a scholar that's barely known that they attribute all of their goodness to. Sufyan al-Thawri used to say that Amr ibn Qais was the person that I attribute my tarbiyah most to. He taught me the Qur'an and so much more. He said I used to go looking for him in his shop, and if I couldn't find him in his shop, then I would go look for him in his house. And anytime I found him in his home, he was either praying or reciting the Qur'an in such a beautiful way. And then if I couldn't find him in his home, he said I'd go find him in the corner of some masjid in the city of Kufa, crying and remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if I couldn't find him in the masjid, then I'd find him in the cemetery crying and holding himself accountable. He said when this man passed away, everyone in Kufa shut their doors so that they could walk in his janazah. So the whole city was mourning Amr ibn Qais. And he appointed the great scholar Abu Hayyan to lead his janazah, actually stipulating it in his will. So he said that
suddenly while we're carrying him to the graveyard, we hear a loud voice from the sky, Qad jaa al-muhsin Amr ibn Qais. Qad jaa al-muhsin Amr ibn Qais. The good doer has arrived, Amr ibn Qais. The good doer has arrived, Amr ibn Qais. And then he says all of a sudden, large numbers of doves filled the sky, whose beauty was nothing like anything we had ever seen before. And so people were amazed looking at this large number of beautiful birds flying over his janazah. And Abu Hayyan said, do not be surprised, for these are the angels who have come to welcome Amr home. But those are angels. What about us? You know there's something about birds in our deen. In this dunya, the Prophet (ﷺ) used them as parables constantly for how we should live our lives. He would look up at the sky and call the sahabah's attention to them. Abu Dharr (رضي الله عنه) said that the Prophet (ﷺ) left us behind and no bird flaps with its wings, but that he had given us some sort of knowledge about it. And Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, يدخل الجنة أقوام أفئدتهم مثل أفئدة الطير. That people whose hearts are like the hearts of birds will enter into Jannah. And Imam An-Nawawi (رحمه الله) said this is referring to their trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because they're متوكلون. And also that birds are noted for soft hearts. And so the believers also have soft hearts. And when it comes to their tawakkul, Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, if you were to rely upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with true tawakkul, he would provide for you just as he provides for the birds. They go out in the morning with empty stomachs and then they return full. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even uses them as an example of his rahma, of his mercy. ما يمسكهن إلا الرحمن. Nothing holds them in the air
except for الرحمن. And just as birds migrate from various lands in different seasons for sustenance, the believer also migrates around the world for spiritual sustenance, especially the student of knowledge. Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) described the believer as a bird. He said that the body is the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the wings are hope and fear. And the Prophet (ﷺ) said that on the Day of Judgment, there would be some believers that would pass over the Sirat like birds. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst them. But what about the barzakh? Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) said that if you were to look at the condition of the bodies and the souls, you would see that the physical appearance is matched by your spiritual condition. So every soul has a physical form based upon the spiritual image it constructed in this world. So we know that the shuhada have the bodies of beautiful green birds and they are the most beautiful of birds and they are nestled in chandeliers directly in the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They have the best form and they have the best location and they have the best sustenance. Imam Ibn Kathir (رحمه الله) says, as for the souls of the shuhada, they are in the bodies of green birds and they are to the rest of the believers like the riders gone far ahead. So the martyr always has a greater degree of freedom and independence because of what they sacrificed for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The children as we mentioned have beautiful bodies of little birds with similar access to the shuhada. But what about the rest of us? The Prophet (ﷺ) said that the soul of the Muslim is in a special bird called nasmat tayyir perching in the trees of paradise until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala returns him to his body on the day of judgment. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) says that the difference between the souls of the shuhada and the souls of all the other believers is right there in the hadith. While the souls of
the shuhada are in birds directly under the throne of Allah and they can go to Jannah and roam it as they see fit, the souls of the believers are in some of the branches of the trees of al-Jannah. And so their place is inferior to the place of the shuhada. And the scholars also mentioned that just as the birds of this dunya build their homes under buildings and under branches, the birds of the believers are nestled under the branches of al-Jannah, whereas the birds of the shuhada are nestled directly under the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But as Imam Ibn Rajab (رحمه الله) says, just like everything else amongst them are ranks. Not all birds are the same. And think of the beauty in their variations in this dunya. Certainly there is going to be far more beauty and variation in the barzakh and then even more when we get to Jannah. The idea however is that you now can fly to wherever your heart used to be connected to. You physically go where your du'as and your deeds used to ascend to. And every time you leave your house for the sake of Allah here, I want you to think about these two ahadith. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that whoever goes out to visit someone for the sake of Allah, Allah calls out, طِبْتَ وَطَابَ مَمْشَاكَ وَتَبَوَأْتَ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ مَنْزِلًا You have been good and your evening will be good and you can now take your place in the garden. As for the shaheed, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, Allah has promised to provide for one who leaves his home only to strive for his cause and to affirm the truth of his word that he will either admit him into Jannah or he will bring him home from where he had come out with his reward in Jannah and his spoils in dunya both intact. So now connect this to the barzakh. You leave your home in the day to be sustained by your garden of Jannah and you come home to your grave every single night after having eaten from the fruits that were planted in this dunya.
Ultimately as Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) says, there are levels to 'Illiyyin which are the highest heavens and the more righteous the more places you can go and that's why the prophets who are in the highest can go from the highest heavens to their grave in an instant. But as for the rest of us it's all based on our individual levels. The disbeliever on the other hand is snatched by birds when his soul is rejected from the heavens. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that once they reach the lowest heaven with his soul they seek entrance but they are denied and then the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited, surely those who receive our revelations with denial and arrogance the gates of heaven will not be opened for them nor will they enter into paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle. This is how we compensate the wicked. Allah will write his book in the lowest level of Sijjin so the gates of heaven will be shut in front of him and then his soul will be thrown from the heavens until it lands back in his body violently. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) recited, whoever commits shirk is like one who has fallen from the heavens. The bird sees him or the wind carries him to a remote area where he's completely lost and subhanAllah how similar is this condition physically in the barzakh to how that person who doesn't have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is spiritually in this realm. So the disbelievers have no wings but they find themselves carried instead to lost dark places. For the believers ask yourself how high does your soul fly now and you will know the wings you will have in the next realm. How much love do you have
for Allah in this chamber of a body of yours now and your body will be constructed accordingly there and what are the fruits of your trees in Jannah except for the deeds you have harvested in this that are now in season as you've entered the next realm. Ar-Raziqun ila yawmi yub'athun
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