Is it a fact that Satan tries to lead us astray while we are alive, putting all sort of temptation in our way. Is it true that he will also try to misguide us in the grave, at the time of our first questioning by angels about what we had done in this life?
It is certain that the Prophet, peace be upon him, has described the grave as either a garden of heaven, or a pit of fire. A person who has gone through life trying to do every good thing that Allah has ordered us to do, and seeking to win Allah's pleasure by voluntarily doing much of what we are recommended to do, will find his grave a garden of heaven, because Allah's reward to him starts there. The grave will be a pit of fire for anyone who has gone through life disobeying Allah in every respect, totally rejecting to acknowledge the Oneness of Allah and the message of the Prophet, peace be upon him. To determine which type a person will have, he is questioned by angels. If his answers are satisfactory, he will enjoy his stay in the grave. If not, he is made to taste the fire there. How all this is done is something beyond our perception. We do not attempt to give it any particular shape or form, because it does not affect in any way our acceptability of faith or our discharge of our duties in this life. What we also know from the Prophet's guidance is that this life is a test which comes to end at death. When we die, we cannot influence the outcome of our test. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has pointed out three ways through which the reward of any dead person may be increased. These are: "A continuing act of charity, a useful contribution to knowledge and a good child who prays for his deceased father [parent]."
When we are questioned by the angels after we die, we are not continuing with our test. That test has been completed when the curtain of death has fallen on us. We are no longer on life's stage. We cannot influence the outcome. Hence, Satan has no sway on us. What happens, however, is that a person who has managed in this life to resist the temptation of Satan and maintain his way of obedience to Allah will be able to give the right answers to the angels. The questions he is asked have been put to him repeatedly, in one form or another in his life and he has always given the right answers to them. There is no reason why he cannot give the same answers to the angels when he is questioned by them.
On the other hand, a person who does not give the right answers to that questionnaire is one who has not been used to giving such answers in this life. When the angel asks him: "Who is your Lord? What is your religion?", he is unable to give the answers he used to give in this life. He gives the parrot like answers which fit in with the practical attitudes he used to adopt when he was alive. If it was his practice to follow his desires making of them a lord to be worshipped, he would answer that his desire was his Lord. Giving such an answer is not because of mis-guidance by Satan in the grave, but the result of being misguided in this life. It is here and now that we go through this test. It is here and now that the result is determined. What we face after we die is simply the record of what we have done here and all that is based on that record.
When a member of the family dies, what sort of mourning is allowed?
Different societies have different customs and traditions associated with death in the family. In non-Islamic societies, there are visible signs of mourning which are supposed to convey grief. People, especially women, should wear black for a certain period, according to the degree of their relation with the deceased. Men may wear a black tie, etc. In certain communities, death is marked by loud crying and tearing of clothes, etc. All this is forbidden in Islam. This does not preclude that people may grieve for their deceased and they may express their grief with shedding tears. This sort of crying must not be accompanied by wailing. That is un-Islamic.
The maximum period of mourning for a woman is three days, if the deceased is a very close relation to her, but not her husband. In other words, mourning for a deceased father, son or brother may be only over a period of three days, after that, she must show her acceptance of Allah's verdict.
We have a report of two cases of the Prophet's wives, Umm Habibah and Zainab. The first lost her father, Abu Sufian, and the other lost her brother. After three days, in each case, each of them requested perfume to wear. Both of them said that they had no desire whatsoever to wear perfume, but they had heard the Prophet saying: "It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the day of judgment to be in mourning for any deceased person for over three nights, except for her husband when the period of mourning is four months and ten days." As you realize, this is the length of the waiting period of a widow. During her waiting period, she must not wear make-up.
• Death: Predetermined by Allah - the proper sense
Can we say that those who died in communal riots met their death as predetermined by Allah? If not, why?
Of course these deaths have been predetermined by Allah. Indeed, every death is so predetermined. How else can you describe a man's death in car accident, or by drowning, or in a fire? I feel that the word "predetermined" does not seem to carry its proper sense to you. When we say that a death is predetermined, it does not mean that Allah has caused the events leading to it. Allah does not cause the car accident which kills a driver. Indeed, one of the two drivers causes the accident by making a serious mistake. The death of anyone who is killed, as a result, is predetermined by Allah in the sense that He has willed that those people die at the particular moment. Every person's life-span is determined by Allah, when he is still a fetus in his mother's belly.
Allah also knows how every person is to meet his or her death. He does not, however, intervene to cause an accident, fire or a disturbance. It is people who do that and their actions lead to their natural results. Allah has set natural phenomena in operation. He has made fire burn almost all types of objects. He has enabled water to drown a person who swallows it and does not swim. When a person is burned, Allah does not cause his burning, except in the sense that He has given the fire the quality of burning. He does not pick a person up and throw him in the fire to cause his death. When that person happens to be in the midst of fire, he is burnt. Allah has determined his life-span and has known the cause of his death.
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