Al-Hamdulillah, all praises be to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, The Lord of all the worlds. Salawat and salam be to His servant and messenger, Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam, his family and companions.

It is wajib (compulsory) for every Mu'min (believer) to love his God, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. It is also wajib to hope for love from Him.

It is also wajib for him to believe that the day of the meeting with Him will surely happen. Namely when Allah repays the deeds of His slaves after they have been resurrected from their graves. Due to that, he always prepares everything for that meeting.

فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا

"So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone." (QS. Al-Kahfi: 110)

Meaning: Whoever hopes for the rewards from Allah and good returns when meeting with Allah Ta'ala in the hereafter, then he should be doing righteous deeds, namely: deeds that are compatible with the Shari'ah of Allah.

The further condition is, in doing the righteous deeds, he only hopes for the wajh (face) of Allah Ta'ala, where there is no associate for Him. Both of these, according to Ibnu Katsir, are the prerequisites for the deeds to be accepted.

The deeds must be sincerely done for Allah and right in accordance with the shari'ah of Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam. (see Tafsir Ibnu Katsir in interpreting the above verse).

Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said:

مَنْ أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ وَمَنْ كَرِهَ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ كَرِهَ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ

"Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him. And whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him." (HR. Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Sheikh Ibnu Al-'Utsaimin rahimahullah said, "A Mu'min who believes in what Allah promises in paradise for His believing slaves, in the form of great rewards, as well as vast gifts, then he would love it, and the dunya (world) feels light to him and the dunya does not matter to him because he will migrate to paradise which is better than the dunya.

At that moment, he also longs to meet Allah, especially when death approaches, he is then given the good news of Allah's pleasure and mercy, he thus longs to meet Allah." (Sharah Riyaad Al-Salihin)

So one of the do'as of the Prophet Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam was:

وَأَسْأَلُكَ لَذَّةَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى وَجْهِكَ وَالشَّوْقَ إِلَى لِقَائِكَ

"And I beg Thee the pleasure of seeing Your Face, and the longing for a meeting with You." (HR An-Nasaai, and made saheeh by Sheikh Al-Albani)

But otherwise, the people who are negligent of the hereafter and not hoping for Allah's rewards on the day of the meeting with Him, he is made busy by the dunya and is content with it, so Allah also does not like to meet him, He is not willing to give forgiveness and mercy to him. Allah Ta'ala describes the people of this kind in His verse:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لا يَرْجُونَ لِقَاءَنَا وَرَضُوا بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاطْمَأَنُّوا بِهَا وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِنَا غَافِلُونَ أُولَئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمُ النَّارُ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ

"Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein and those who are heedless of Our signs. For those their refuge will be the Fire because of what they used to earn." (QS. Yunus: 7-8)

Al-Imam Ibnu Katsir rahimahullah said: "This verse of Allah Ta'ala tells about the state of the damned people, namely those who are kufr (denial) of the meeting with Allah on Judgment day. Not hoping for anything in the meeting. They are content with the life of this world and their souls feel peace with it."

They are the people who do not hope for the meeting with Allah, they even turn away from it and they may even go as far as denying it.

They are content with the world in lieu of the hereafter. Inclined towards the dunya and make it as the purpose of life and the culmination of their ideals. They are doing anything to acquire it and they are tooth and nail in gaining its pleasure and joy by any means.

They pour out all the obsessions, intentions, thoughts and energies for it. As if they were created to be eternal in it. As if the world is not a place of transit made as a place for preparing provisions by the travellers to the land of eternity. (summarized from Tafsir Taisir al-Karim al-Rahman, Sheikh Abdurrahman bin Nasir al-Sa'diy)

The fate of each of these groups can already be felt when they are facing death. The people of faith who believe and hope for the meeting with Allah will face death with happiness because they receive the good news of Allah's grace, mercy, pleasure, glory and paradise after death.

On the other hand, the kuffar, with regards to the day of the meeting, will receive the bad news of Allah's wrath and punishment that are so terrible, so much so that they hate death very much since they know what they would procure after death.

Narrated by Aishah Radhiyallahu 'Anha, Rasulullah Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam said:

مَنْ أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ وَمَنْ كَرِهَ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ كَرِهَ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ

"Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him. And whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him."

And then Aishah explained: "I asked: O Prophet of Allah, does that also mean hating death, whereas everyone of us hates death? Then he answered, "It does not mean like that. But a Mu'min when (facing death) he is given the good news of Allah's mercy, pleasure and His paradise so that he loves meeting with Allah and thus Allah loves to meet him. And indeed a kuffar, when (facing death) he is given the bad news of Allah's punishment and His wrath, so that he hates meeting with Allah and thus Allah also hates to meet him." (HR. Al-Bukhari dan Muslim)

The Prophet Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam, when facing death said: "Ya Allah I choose the highest companions."

According to the utterance of Aishah, at that time the Prophet Sallallahu 'Alaihi Wasallam was being given the choice of between staying alive in the world or die and meet Allah. Then he chose death as he prioritized the afterlife over the world.

Thus Al-Hafid Ibnul Hajar commented on this: "Therefore we must emulate him in this matter." Namely making the hereafter as the purpose of life and prioritized the afterlife over the dunya.

Wallahu Ta'ala A'lam.

[Badrul Tamam/voa-islam.com]