Death – An Uninvited Guest

By, Safeera Abdul Lateef:

DEATH, the most frightening event in everybody’s life, yet very few remember it often. Every living being on this earth is afraid of death, be it animals or human beings, the very thought of dying frightens them. Even the most pious person, even though he might have prepared enough to please his Lord, will have the fear of death deep inside his heart. So there is no conflict on whether every person fears death. But the serious matter is whether, in spite of fearing death so much, do we often remember about that most fearful event? Only the pious servants of Allah, who are not crazy about this worldly life, keep remembering & preparing for death.

Death is a reality, while life is an illusion. People living in this world get so attached to it that they forget about the reality & get involved so much into this temporary world. Most of us, or maybe everyone, living in this world would have fallen in this illusionary world at least once in our lifetime. But the successful ones are those who realize before death reaches them, that this world is a temporary abode & then turn back to their Lord & repent.

Now the question is How do we prepare for death?

We, as Muslims, know that we are created to worship our Lord, Allah.

Allah says in the Quran:

"I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me." [Surah Ad- Dhariyat, 51:56]

So, this is our purpose in this worldly life. But many of us in spite being Muslims forget this. How can we forget the very purpose of our life?

Whatever we do in this life should be aimed at achieving our purpose in life. And our purpose in life is to worship our Lord. Worship includes every act which is done to please Allah. We should never forget the purpose of our life in whatever situation we are. We may have many blessings like money, children, etc. we should always remember that these blessings are from Allah, & He can take it from us anytime. With more blessings, we should be more thankful to Allah & more close to Him.

Allah says in the Quran:

“Your wealth and your children are only a trial, whereas Allah! With Him is a great reward (Paradise)” [Surah Tagaaboon, 64:15]

But usually our wealth and Children takes us away from Allah and his worship. Remember, when Allah can take away Children and wealth, in the same manner, he takes away the life given by him whenever He wishes. We all should return to Him after a fixed period.

Allah says in the Quran :

"To Allah (Almighty God) we belong, and to Him is our return." [Surah Al Baqarah, 2:156]

Our time of death has been decided by Allah even before we are born. Our duty is just to prepare for it by pleasing Allah and aim for Jannat-ul-Firdous. This should be our main motto in life. Then we will succeed & gain the pleasure of Allah & His wonderful rewards in Jannah. In Sha’Allah!