Is Model Zara Abid Jahannumi?

Pakistani model Zara Abid was an unfortunate victim of the ill-fated PIA flight that crashed in Karachi a few days ago. Upon hearing the news of her demise, I saw some posts where people were arguing about her fate after death. One side was extremely harsh saying that because she was a model, she is going to be punished in Hell while the other side was extremely soft quoting that we shouldn’t be giving judgments for someone who is dead especially for someone who has died in the holy month of Ramadan and a blessed day Friday.

I would like to shed some light on this whole issue by giving some in detail explanations on how both the sides are wrong up to some extent.

First of all, there is nothing wrong in judging others; it’s a basic human instinct. We all make choices based on our judgments and most of our judgments rely on what we see. In fact, we all want to be judged; our selection of clothes is based on how well people will judge our status; the amount of photo editing on top of beauty filters before uploading a photo on internet is because we want people to judge us; the issue rises only when the judgments are against us. So this argument is totally wrong that people shouldn’t be judgmental; every human being judges and there is nothing wrong in it unless our judgments are intended to degrade people.

Now, no doubt that Zara Abid might have a very different side of her personality which we don’t know; probably – along with being a model – she was also good with religion in other aspects and was closer to Allah than many of us. But, we will judge only on the basis of what side is shown to us and for us, she was a model and modeling, wearing obscene clothes is against the teachings of Islam. And there are hadith that say women who wear such obscene clothes won’t enter in paradise.

But, we should understand that Prophet Muhammad PBUH was not only a Messenger of Allah but also a teacher. Not all of His words could have the exact same interpretation. Just like a normal teacher not always say what he means; teachers scold us, threaten us, frighten us just for the sake of our betterment and sometimes they say harsh words which are meant to be warnings so that we don’t indulge in evil. So, there is no doubt that wearing obscene clothes are indeed a sin but it also doesn’t mean that the clothes are the only ticket for Paradise. Allah will judge us as a whole; our good deeds and bad deeds will be weighed and even then, it will be Allah’s discretion to forgive us or punish us.

I am all in support for preaching; everyone preaches in what he believes; whether religion, politics, games etc. But especially the religious preaching is meant to bring people to light, not to defame or abuse.  Every Muslim is obliged to preach and bring people closer to Allah but once a person dies, we are no one to judge the fate of that person; now it is completely a matter of her and Allah. We have no authority or even slightest of knowledge that to whom Allah will forgive and who will face His wrath. We are supposed to make dua for the deceased. And if we know that someone was on the wrong path - even then instead of bashing – we should pray more on behalf of that person; give charity, read Quran, Nafl with intentions of sending rewards to that person.

And remember, the person who dies have loved ones left behind and our harsh comments will only swell their wounds which Allah don’t like.

But, we are also not supposed to be very soft. Indeed, Zara Abid died doing something that Allah and His Prophet PBUH highly dislike and disapprove of. And just for the sake of preaching and warning people who are alive, there is no harm in giving examples of her that life is unpredictable; we never know when the Angel of death knocks on our door; are we prepared? Do we want to die doing something against the teachings of Islam? And especially when our work is published all over media and social media and it will keep circulating?

We often hear the argument that Islam is more than clothes. This argument is so vague. And it’s not just about clothes; the thing is that we don’t take sins seriously anymore. Any sin that we are indulged in – intentionally or unintentionally – we take it lightly and if warned, we are told that you don’t know, may be the person is very pious on the other side. Well, there is a big MAY BE.

And remember, if one good deed can wipe away all your sins then there is an equal chance that one sin can wipe away all your good deeds. And especially sinning and being ignorant about it is the worst form of sin.

Are we more pious than Prophet Adam A.S? He was expelled from the Paradise and then He repented for a long time and finally Allah accepted His repentance but still Allah didn’t grant him Paradise right away; in fact, He was made to face the hardships of this world and had to earn the right to enter Paradise again. All of it for what? Just for picking a fruit from a tree that Allah forbad. There was nothing wrong with the fruit or the tree but this demonstration was meant for us to give us life lessons and one of the lessons is that even if you are pure, even if you never sinned in your life, still one small act of disobedience can take you from dawn to dusk.

And one more clarification; I have researched and came to know that there is no authentic Hadith that a person who dies in Ramadan or on Friday is a martyr and will be forgiven right away. There is a hadith that if someone dies by a wall falling on him, the person will be a martyr and because of this hadith, scholars assume that any death from accidents make you martyr but there is absolutely no guarantee. The reason for this clarification is that some people are living in a fantasy that no matter how evil a person was but if he died in Ramadan or on a Friday or in Makkah; all sins will be forgiven which is absolutely wrong. Once we die, we won’t have any chance to rectify our deeds so instead of hoping to die on a blessed day, we should focus on our deeds.

So be it Zara Abid or any other person who seems to be a non-practicing Muslim dies, we should be making more dua instead of giving Jahannum certificates. Yes- for the sake of preaching - we should also warn people but in a dignified manner on a right time. And always remember that a model could weigh more in good deeds and a Hijabi could be empty on good deeds. It is ok to judge people on what is visible to us but we should always give a benefit of doubt because we are looking at just one side of that person and have no clue about the other side.

May Allah forgive all who have died and give hidaya to all those alive.