Angels In Their Presence | Season 2
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Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (ra) lived an extraordinary life pursuing Allah’s pleasure, and his death was even more extraordinary. Included amongst the rightly guided khulafa’, he so sincerely feared Allah and hoped for His mercy that even after he passed, a message clearly not written by human hands was miraculously left in his grave. His awe-inspiring story serves as a reminder to us all to live in such a way that even we are received by the most radiant of angels in our final moments.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Umar ibn Abdul Aziz radiAllahu ta'ala anhum is one of the most fascinating people in Islamic history because he is unanimously by consensus, the first mujaddid, the first reviver of this ummah after the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he is included in Khulafa' Rashideen amongst the righteous guided Khulafa' even though he's not a sahabi. He just ascends in rank in every way. And it's such a fascinating story because like when we're talking about Sa'ad ibn Wa'ad radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, we're talking about a man who really didn't live long, right? He died at either 39 or 40. He was the governor of Medina from 25 to 32, and then becomes the Khalifa in the last two years of his life. So his Khulafa is only about two years. He's someone subhanAllah who was able to achieve much and was a scholar, was someone who would be described as having more reverence for Allah in his heart than anyone that you would ever meet. Someone whose knowledge was unparalleled, someone whose asceticism, his zuhid was unparalleled. And so his death is going to be extraordinary. And I wanted to include it because it is very much so connected to what we should be aspiring to as we're hearing all of these stories of the sahaba. Now, before I get into his, you know, there's a narration that when Salman radiAllahu ta'ala anhum was dying, Salman al-Farisi was dying, that he had musk in his room, good smells in his room, and he laid down and he said, tonight there are creatures that are going to be coming to me and they smell fragrances, but they don't eat food. Meaning he was ready for the malaikah, ready for the angels to come and to take his soul. And that's one of the signs of husn al-khitam, one of the signs of a good ending is that you kind of feel it at the end and you prepare yourself.
Now, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz had a great fear of Allah subhanAllah ta'ala, just like his grandfather Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, despite everything amazing that he did, and despite all of the praise that he received for what he did until the very last moment, he's worried about going to hellfire. He's worried about Jahannam, though no one would speak to them in that vein, in that spirit. So he calls a friend of his, who is a great scholar by the name of Al-Raja' ibn Haywa. Al-Raja' ibn Haywa radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, who actually is a Ghazawi, he's a scholar from Gaza, in Palestine, amazing scholar of Islam and a contemporary of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. And Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz gives him instructions. He says, listen, when I die, I want you to be the one to receive my body in the grave. And when I'm there, I want you to uncover my face. If you find that in the grave, I'm already facing the Qibla, then thank Allah subhanAllah ta'ala and leave me there for Allah has granted me Al-Jannah. And if you find otherwise, then insist on the people to ask Allah to forgive me and have mercy on me. So it's something between him and Allah subhanAllah ta'ala. It's not something a practice that, you know, we go into the graves and if they're facing the Qibla, we say Alhamdulillah, though we would say Alhamdulillah regardless, but that we would assume otherwise in a different situation. So he gives that instruction to him. And then he calls for his wife and his children. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz had a very righteous wife, Fatima ibn Abd al-Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, SubhanAllah, wonderful, righteous woman that he would praise often. And he embraces her and he bids her farewell with an ayah from the Quran, innama yuwafaa as-sabiroona ajrahum bi ghayri hisab Allah subhanAllah ta'ala compensates the patient without any limits.
So gives her the glad tidings of what she would receive should she maintain patience in the case of his death. Then suddenly he looks up and his gaze was fixed on something. And he asks his family to leave. He says, ukhruju anni, he asked them to leave. So they leave, but they stay at the door and they peek in and they can hear what Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz is saying. And they said that a light entered into the room and Umar says the following, he says, marhaban bihadhihi al-wujuh, welcome to these beautiful faces, al-lati laysath bih wujuhi insan wa la jaan these faces that don't belong to human beings or jinn. So he's looking at their faces and he is praising them. And then he recites, tilkad daru al-akhira naj'aluha lillazeena la yuriduna alooan fil ardi wa la fasaada wal-aakhibatu al-muttaqeen This is the home of the hereafter. We grant it to those who don't seek elevation or corruption in this earth and victory belongs to believers. And he kept on reciting that verse until they stopped hearing him recited. Then his wife and his children walked in and they found him facing towards the qibla, his face shining with a big smile on it. And he was reclining his head on his palm. So as if he's staring at Jannah, he's staring at something as his soul was coming out of his body. SubhanAllah, I mean, how would you want to leave? You think about the ayat, inna allatheena qaloo rabbuna allahu thumma istaqamoo tatanazzalo alayhimu almalaika allatakhafoo walatahzanoo waabashiroo biljannati allatikuntum tuAAadoon When Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says that those who believed and worked righteousness and they were firm, the angels come to them at the time of death and say, allatakhafoo walatahzanoo Don't grieve, don't be afraid, abashiroo biljanna
And here's the paradise that you were promised. So with Omar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, you're seeing that happen, his family is seeing that happen. And you go back to that conversation between him and Al-Raja'a Ibn Haywa. Al-Raja'a says, so I went to the grave of Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz and his janazah was attended by tens of thousands of people. It was a very painful janazah because the people understood that all of the reform that Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz brought to the Ummah, it was at risk. So Al-Raja'a says, I was waiting in the grave and I received the body of Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz. And he said, I uncovered his face and it was turned towards the Qibla already. And he said, I'd never seen anything that bright in my life, not even the full moon. SubhanAllah, it was completely, you know, lit up with this big smile on his face. And he praised Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and thanked Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for what he had seen. And then the last karama, the last miracle that happens with Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz Rahimahullah ta'ala This was a man that feared hellfire, despite resembling the people of paradise his entire life. Yusuf Ibn Mahak Rahimahullah ta'ala He says that when we buried Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz, when we dug up his grave, we found a note in his grave. And that note was clearly not written by human hands. And it said, Bismillah Rahman Rahim Amanun min Allah li Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz min an-nar Bismillah Rahman Rahim This is a guarantee for Omar Ibn Abdul Aziz that he has been protected from the fire. So it's not like, you know, we can expect that note. And maybe we don't have the ending to the same level of beauty, a witnessed ending. But what is instructive here is that if you live your life pursuing Allah's pleasure, then your transition to paradise looks a lot like that transition.
Maybe not with the same level of detail, but certainly with the same level of tranquility. And the one who seeks protection from the fire will be protected. And the one who seeks Allah's pleasure will be granted it. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la grant us his pleasure. May Allah protect us from the fire. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gather us with his righteous servants, the humans of them and the angels of them. And may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la grant us the companionship of our beloved prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Jannatul Firdaus Allahumma Ameen JazakumAllahu Khayran Wa Salamualikoum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu
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