All of the books I have mentioned until now were brought to me by my family. Because they were not ‘officially’ allowed to visit me yet, getting the books would take a long time.
But at a later point, I had the added privilege of being able to place orders directly through a warden who made purchases according to the prisoners’ needs, such as clothes and books.The first book I ordered was al-Tathkirah fi ahwaal al-Mawta wa Umoor al Akhira, (The Reminder of the Affairs of the Dead and the Situations of the Afterlife,) commonly referred to as “The Reminder” by al-Qurtubi. This was one of the books I used in the preparation of The Hereafter which I recorded in 1999.
I ordered that book because we are always in need of reminding ourselves about the Afterlife. It covers the topics of: Death, the Grave, the Day of Judgment, Paradise and Hellfire. The book is excellent except for the inclusion of many weak hadith. There are other books that I could have ordered that cover the same topic, but I have a certain fondness for the scholars of Andalusia; there is something romantic about that land. Having seen Andalusia, I can imagine the places where al-Qurtubi, al-Shatibi, Ibn Hazm and others lived, taught, and authored their books. It is also amazing to see how many great scholars were produced in a relatively small Muslim state.A few days after sending for the book, I received it. And as soon as I received it, I started reading it. But then the light bulb in my cell burned out. This meant that I was in almost complete darkness at night, except for a glimpse of light that would come in from the corridor.
I was also in almost total darkness during the day, except for some light that comes in from a small window close to the roof. It was impossible for me to see the print day or night. I informed the wardens about it but nothing happened that evening. I didn’t mind staying in the dark because I had been in artificial light continuously for a few months at that point so it was a nice break to experience darkness again. We forget that everything is a blessing, even darkness.I wanted to read the book and I was very eager to do so. I asked the wardens again and they said that the process includes informing their supervisor who will then write a report that will be submitted to the head of the prison and he will send a request to the electrician, who will apply for the lamp from the prison storage.
It was going to be a while. What was I to do?There was one warden who was polite towards me that offered to open the window on the iron door. This small window is used by wardens to pass small items to prisoners without opening the door. They also use it to peek in and see what the prisoners are doing. By leaving it open, a ray of light would come from the lamp in the corridor directly onto the floor about half a meter from the door. It was an inconvenient location, being very close to the door, but because I was so eager to go through the book I placed it under this ray of light and read that way for about 2 or 3 days until the light bulb was replaced.For a period of about 4 to 5 days I was totally immersed in the Afterlife.
Looking through the lens of the Hereafter puts everything in this world in the right perspective. We need to think about death and what will happen after death constantly. Rasulullah Peace and blessing of Allah be upon Him said: “Frequently remember the destroyer of enjoyment (i.e., death).” We ask Allah to wake us up from the state of unawareness we are in.SOURCE: Anwar-alawlaki.com13/07/2008
http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?id=25407
by mirajmom
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