Renouncing Faith at the Time of Death 

 

In the Name of God, the All-Beneficent, the Ever-Merciful.

May God’s blessings be upon Muḥammad and his purified progeny.

Among the well-known supplications is the plea:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from renouncing faith at the time of death.”

But what exactly is meant by renouncing faith (al-ʿadīla)?

 

Definition of Renouncing Faith

Al-Majlisī defined it as: “Turning away from the truth.”

Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn writes:

“Let us conclude this epistle with a blessed matter – namely, that renouncing faith at the time of death does indeed occur. Satan comes to the dying individual and leads him astray, seeking to sever him from faith, and as a result, he falls into the torment of Hellfire.”¹

Al-Tabrīzī Al-Anṣārī explained:

“Duʿāʾ al-ʿAdīla was prescribed as a way of warding off this calamity. The word ‘ʿadīla’ refers to a she-devil appointed by Iblīs to mislead the human being at the moment of death – turning him from true belief to falsehood. The term follows the morphological pattern faʿīlah in the sense of ‘object’ of the action, the mafʿūlah (i.e., one who is turned or deviated). Thereat, the intended meaning of the name of this supplication is ‘repelling the deviation at death.’ It may also be understood as the infinitive – i.e., the supplication of repelling the aforementioned deviation.”²

Shaykh ʿAbbās Al-Qummī stated:

“Renouncing faith at the time of death is when one turns away from truth to falsehood. It happens when Satan approaches the dying person, whispers into his heart, and causes him to doubt his religion – to lead him out of faith.”³

 

Causes of Renouncing Faith

Several factors can be considered as possible causes of al-ʿadīla. These include:

1. Treating prayer lightly:

It is reported from the Noble Prophet ﷺ, in reference to the Angel of Death:
“He observes them [i.e., people] at the times of prayer. If the person is among those who consistently perform it at its appointed time, he [i.e., the Angel of Death] teaches him the testimony that ‘there is no god but Allah, and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah,’ and drives away Iblīs from him.”⁴

2. Being deluded by Allah’s forbearance (ḥilm Allāh subḥānahu wa-taʿālā):
   A person who persists in sin, assuming that Allah’s patience implies approval or indifference, may be left without divine support at the moment of death.
3. Withholding zakāt:

It is reported from Imām al-Ṣādiq (ʿa):

“Whoever withholds even a qīrāṭ of zakāt – let him die, if he so wishes, as a …[disbeliever].”⁵

4. Delaying ḥajj despite having the means to perform it, until death overtakes one.⁶
   Neglecting this obligation, once the conditions for it are met, is among the signs of spiritual heedlessness that may invite a terrible end.
5. Committing sins and engaging in actions that sever one from obedience to Allah, the Exalted.

It is said that sin leads to forgetfulness – even in this world. So, what then of the dying person, overwhelmed by the intensity of that moment?

As the poet said:

I complained to Wakīʿ about my poor memory,

so he directed me to abandon sin.

He said: Know that knowledge is a light,

and the light of God is not granted to a sinner.⁷

6. Drinking alcohol and consuming forbidden wealth or food.
   Both are repeatedly described in the sources as agents that harden the heart and sever the soul’s bond with Allah (SWT), the Almighty.

 

The Ontological Effect of Food

Here we must address a topic that may be controversial in certain academic and religious circles:

Does food that is truly forbidden (ḥarām fī-l-wāqiʿ) – even when it appears permissible by religious standards (ḥalāl ẓāhiran) due to ignorance or uncertainty – affect the soul negatively?

Take, for example, the one who unknowingly consumes carrion (mīta)⁸ or illicit wealth; might such consumption have a negative effect on a person’s spirituality, such as with respect to the softness of their heart, humility, and perhaps a good end, so that one is able to utter the two testimonies (al-shahādatayn) at the time of death? And does consuming it lead to spiritual ‘dryness’ and hardness of the heart, which may in turn cause one to forget the two testimonies and [fall into] deviation (al-ʿadīlah) at the moment of dying?

In response to this question, we point to the plausibility of this possibility and the merit of exercising precaution in any case. It may even be claimed, quite evidently, that this ontological effect does occur, based on experience. However, this possibility has been met with some objections, as follows:

 

(Follow this space next week for the following part of this interesting article)

 

Footnotes:

[1] ʿAlī al-Namāzī al-Shāhrūdī, Mustadrak Safīnat al-Biḥār. Vol. 7, p. 122.

[2] Al-Tabrīzī al-Anṣārī, al-Lumʿah al-Bayḍāʾ. pp. 33–34.

[3] ʿAbbās al-Qummī, Manāzil al-Ākhira. p. 31.

[4] Ibid., p. 32, quoting Biḥār al-Anwār.

[5] Ibid., p. 36, quoting Safīnat al-Biḥār (Zakāt), v.1, p. 551.

[6] Ibid., p. 36.

[7] Translator’s note: This is a poem traditionally attributed to al- Shāfiʿī, describing how his teacher Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ advised him that sins affect memory and knowledge.

[8] Translator’s note: carrion: an animal that died naturally or improperly slaughtered, therefore not permissible to eat.