Who will you be with after death?

 ﷽

 The Prophet ﷺ tells us in a Hadith* that three things will follow a person to his grave: his wealth, his family, and his deeds. Two will return; his family and wealth, and the other will remain - his deeds. 

Thus, once the funeral finishes, the person will hear the footsteps of his loved ones as they desert the graveyard, his wealth no longer belonging to him. Finally, he is left alone by himself with nothing but his good deeds to guard him. His mother will not be there to comfort him, his wife will not be there to support him, his friends will not be there to protect him. Alone will he be, lying in his grave, awaiting for the Day of Reckoning.

Suddenly, the call will be given. All of creation will be wiped from the face of the universe, the heavens will collapse, and the Angel of Death himself will have his life taken away. Allah ﷻ will call out to the rulers of the world,

Where are the Kings?

Where are the Emperors?

Where are the Sultans?

None will reply.

On that day, the true reality of Allah's oneness will be revealed; all authority, all power, all hope, belongs to Him. Then, the second call will be given and the dead will rise. In a state of shock, drunk-like confusion, and severe panic, they will run in all directions. In search of respite and comfort, they will scamper everywhere, running away from everyone. 

The Reckoning will thus begin.

So think to yourself: on that day of dread and fear, once you have arisen from your lonely slumber, 

Who would you want by your side? 

The Prophetic Answer

Once a bedouin asked the Prophet ﷺ, 'When is the Hour?**'

The Prophet ﷺ answered, 'What have you done to prepare for it?' To this, the Bedouin replied, 'Nothing but the love of Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ'. 

Thus, the Prophet ﷺ declared: 

'A person is with whom he loves.' 

There are two meanings meant here by the Hadith. 

The first is the Worldly-sense.  In this physical world of ours, we are trapped within material bodies surrounded by material objects. 

Us humans are special though, for beyond our limited physical form lies a greater secret; our soul. The spirit is the host of life, the base of all of our feelings and experiences, a blessing from the Divine Treasures.

By virtue of our physical bodies, we have our traditional modes of the senses - like seeing, hearing, tasting- etc. By virtue of our spiritual selves, we have access to much higher modes of perception, such as the intellect, imagination etc. 

So, I want you to look at an object in your room. You can see it right? That is what is called its material presence, for it has been established through your material perception. Now I want you to look away from it and then picture it in your head. You can still see it right? That is what is called its mental presence, for it has been established by the spirit.

Related: Why is Intention important in Islam? 

Sure, you can deny this distinction by claiming that such experience is caused by the physical brain anyways. I would agree with you; there is definitely a very intricate connection between the mind and the body, such that both would have an effect on each other. 

Though, to entirely reduce spiritual matters to the material results in the complexity known as the 'Hard Problem of Consciousness', which is essentially the problem of how conscious experience and entities can arise from irrational, unconscious atoms.

Hence, we can thus understand now what the Hadith is telling us. When we love a person, or a thing, we grow an extremely strong attachment towards them, such that the affection overwhelms us, and they remain at the centre of our minds. Thus, they may not be with us in a physical sense, but their mental presence cannot be denied. 

The other meaning of the Hadith is the 'Hereafter-Sense'. 

You see, when we love someone, we generally alternate between two states of mind. One is 'intimacy', which is where you enjoy nearness with your beloved, and is the state of the fulfilment of love (though not necessarily in a sexual way). 

The second state of mind is 'longing', which is the absence of intimacy, and is where you crave the presence of your beloved. Of course, there is a lot of more nuance to this, but this should suffice as the basic framework. 

What you shall notice, dear reader, is that in both of these states of mind, the beloved remains at the centre of attention. Whether your'e in a state of longing or not, they take up the primary focus of your spirit. 

Thus, all of this connection does not go without its effects on you, the lover. This principle is what Aristotle meant when he argued that you become like those whom you reflect about. It's not too hard to understand.

In all of that attention you give to your beloved, you begin in a state of longing. This craving of their presence spills over to other aspects of your life. Hence, you inadvertently begin copying certain behaviours, styles, and absorbing their ideology much more easily without even knowing it. All of this is done in an attempt to bring the beloved closer to reality as your mind longs to bridge the gap between the mental presence and physical presence. 

For an easy example, just look to football fans and their favourite clubs; their passion is a type of love, even if it's not sexual or romantic in nature. Even in psychology, it is known that when you find someone attractive, you sometimes begin unconsciously imitating their posture and small movements.

All of this stems from the hearts desire to be with them. This tendency to imitate them is just a consequence of what it means to be with them - that is to say, be one with them. 

Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi, writes in his Bayaan al-Quran, that on the Day of Judgement, the people will be raised and then arranged into groups according to their natures and ranks, and thereafter, by the mercy of Allah ﷻ, will be taken group by group to Paradise if they are deserving of it.

Related: What is Islam really?

Hence, we see from the Hadith that the group we will be raised up with, is whoever we used to love in this world by virtue of our infatuation with them. This is why the Bedouin was extremely happy with the answer of the Prophet ﷺ. 

The Hadith continues as follows:

"We had never been so glad as we were on hearing that saying of the Prophet ﷺ. (i.e You will be with whom you loved.) Therefore, I love the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr and Umar and I hope I will be with them because of my love for them though my deeds are not similar to them." 

So ask yourself the same question again: 

Who would you want to be raised up with? 

Imam Fakhr al-Din ar-Razi*** narrates a story from Dhu al-Nun al-Misri: 

"I was at home when I experienced a pang in my heart, and lost, as it were, my self-control. So I went out and ended up at the bank of the Nile and saw a powerful scorpion making its way. I followed it to the water's edge. 

There, I saw a frog standing. The scorpion hopped upon its back and it began to swim across. I took a boat and followed them, until the frog reached the opposite bank of the Nile. The scorpion alighted and departed, so I followed it.

 I then saw a young man asleep under a tree, and a [venomous] snake approaching it. Just as the snake got close to the man, the scorpion leapt onto it and stung it. The snake also bit the scorpion, and both of them died, while the man remained safe from both."

You see, Allah's ﷻ love for His creation is unmatched. It flows through us all, giving us life, power, and motivation to strive. The Neoplatonists compare this Divine Goodness as a circle of chains all connected to one another, ultimately reaching back to the First, the Ultimate Source of perfection.

Hence, it is the true meaning of Tawhid, that we dedicate our love solely to Him. As Thomas Aquinas had argued, it is only through this that we will be able to unlock the secrets to the human experience, and rise to a higher level of happiness and fulfilment that no amount of worldly pleasures can give.

Related: Why should you make Du'a? 

That peace is felt on the inside. Humans are always in need of love, always in need of more, always desiring more. Though, their Lord is infinitely merciful, unmatched in His generosity. Whilst the love of others is temporary, fleeting, and ultimately insufficient, the love of Allah is eternal and everlasting. 

Others will love you simply for their own benefit, whether or not they realise it. This does not mean that everyone is selfish and uncaring for others, but just a brute fact regarding man's nature that all is done for his own happiness and pleasure. 

A person would only give charity either because he would feel guilty for not giving it, or out of hope for some benefit or reward even if it be in afterlife, or for feelings of an elevated sense of moral superiority. 

But Allah ﷻ shows His kindness just for you. There is no reason for Him to bestow His bounties unto you, yet He still does. Perhaps, there may even be justified reasons for Him to withdraw His gifts, yet He doesn't. Allah ﷻ keeps on providing, forever reaching out to you in His eternal warmth and grace. That is Allah's love.

Truly, only He will suffice for man's needs. 

His love is the only one worth striving for. His love is the only that will last.

So turn your gaze towards His Beauty, wrapping yourself in His beneficence as peace and tranquility wash over you, overwhelmed by the majesty of His all-encompassing Light. Open your arms and run into the warmth. 

Only then will you find true happiness. 

See: What is the point of making Du'a? 

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*This is Hadith recorded in both Sahih Bukhari and Muslim. Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali had dedicated a book to it as well. 

**By 'Hour', it is meant the Day of Judgement. The Arabic word 'Sa'a', is used because it implies something that could happen very fast and suddenly. This Hadith is mentioned in Sahih Bukhari 3688, and Sahih Muslim 2639.

***In his Tafsir, Mafatih al-Ghayb.