Repentance Before Death
It is important that a person never gives up hope of receiving forgiveness or mercy from Allah and this is especially true for the person who is dying. Allah says in the Qur'an said:
"And who despairs of the mercy of his Lord, but those who are misguided."
(Qur'an 15:56)
In addition to this, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
"Let no Muslim die except expecting and hoping the best from Allah"
(Hadith)
In other words, a Muslim should die expecting and hoping to receive Allah's forgiveness and mercy, since Allah is The Most Forgiving and The Most Merciful and has said that He may forgive any person for anything, except for associating partners with Him.
When a person is on the verge of dying they have nothing left but hope and their beliefs, for as always, nothing can save them but their Lord, Allah. Providing a person is not in the final throws of death, it is never too late for a person to seek forgiveness from Allah and turn to Him in the hope of receiving His mercy.
However, there comes a moment when it is too late to repent and this moment is described in the following hadith:
"Allah accepts the repentance of the servant so long as his spirit has not arrived at his throat (in its leaving the body upon death)"
(Hadith)
What is meant by the spirit arriving at his throat, is that moment when the person begins to die and a gargling sound is emitted from the throat. Once this moment comes, death is certain and the person receives a glimpse of what lies ahead - mercy or despair. At this point repentance will no longer be accepted as is mentioned in the following verses:
"Their faith was of no use to them once they saw Our doom"
(Qur'an 40:85)
and
"Forgiveness is not for those who continue to do evil deeds up until death comes to one of them [and] he says "Truly, I repent now!"
(Qur'an 4:18)
Allah's forgiveness is not for those people who do evil deeds right up until their death and then at that very moment when they see their fate, they ask for forgiveness. It should not be a person's mindset that they will repent later when they are about to die and use this as an excuse to deny their Creator and commit evil on earth. After all, none of us know if we will have enough time before our death to rationally plan our departure from this world!
For this reason, a person should hasten towards his/her Lord whilst alive and well, before death approaches and strive to do good deeds and avoid that which Allah has forbidden. In this way we are investing in our existence beyond this life for eternal joy and happiness.
Note: the issue of repentance is dealt with in detail as a separate topic called Repentance.
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