The Inevitable Truth: Death

By Ahsan Syed

In an age of technological advancements, profound psychological and physiological discoveries, and diverse religious and ideological beliefs, there is one thing accepted by all. It is a fact, an inescapable reality. It is death. No matter what corner of the world one comes from, he or she knows the only thing as unavoidable as living is dying. One may delay preparing for it, or even be apathetic toward it, but one cannot deny it.

An Urdu poet once said, “The earth devoured even the most magnificent of skies.” Here, skies symbolically represent people whose reach was to the sky and beyond, or whose personality and influence was as encompassing as the sky, or whose wealth and power was vast like the sky. Today these “skies” are six feet beneath the earth even though the sky is greater. Many have left nothing besides their names carved on their crumbling gravestones, or printed on decaying parchments covered with dust.

Muslim belief regarding death is more far-seeing than that of other religions. We believe in a day of resurrection, when the once living will be brought to life anew and given an account of their deeds.

A question, though, arises: “Granted that we all will die and be resurrected, what do we do right now?” The Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “The intelligent one is he who subdues his lower self and works for what comes after death, and the fool is he who puts his lower self in pursuit of its desires and has vain hopes about Allah”(Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah). Mufti Abdurrahman ibn Yusuf writes in Provisions for the Seekers, under this hadith, “The person who subdues his lower self is that person who renders himself in complete obedience to the commands of Allah” (ibn Yusuf 34). Obedience to Allah is the key. No matter how much the lower self forces an individual to follow his desires, if a person wants to attain the pleasure of Allah, he must obey Him. In obeying Him will he find prosperity and success.

Unfortunately, we are so preoccupied with our work and ourselves that most often we forget Allah. But there is no good excuse for heedlessness and neglect. We should make it a habit to go regularly to the masjid and stay in the company of scholars and righteous Muslims. By doing so, our inner courage and determination to avoid sin will grow, and when death comes knocking on our doors, we will be prepared to accompany the Angel of Death. Then on the Day of Judgment, when Allah may say to us, “Enter among my (honored) slaves. And enter into My Garden” (Qur’an 89: 29–30), admitting us into His mercy and the spacious abode of Paradise.