Upon hearing about the death of a fellow Muslim, it
suddenly struck me how very fleeting life is, and that I was only a twinkling
of an eye away from where he is now.
Death is the reality from which none of us can
escape. It draws nearer every day, every
hour, and every minute. Therefore, I had
to ask myself, if I were to die today, would I have done all that I could to
ensure Allah's Favour, and to evade His Wrath. Unfortunately, for me, the
answer was a resounding
No!
At the end of the day, I ask myself, what good have
I sent ahead for the benefit of my soul.
And again, the answers were usually very little. Time, it seems, is moving by so quickly it seems
just like yesterday that we started the "New Year," yet we are
already almost a third of the way through it.
A month seems like a week, a week seems like an hour and an hour feels
like just minutes. This is why I have
resolved to try my utmost, with the aid of Allah to take advantage of every
opportunity to do good deeds, and not to put off until later, what I can do
now. Death is coming, are you ready?
Allah says,
"Every soul shall
have a taste of death, and only on the Day of judgement shall you be paid your
full recompense. Only those who are saved far from the Fire, and admitted to the Garden will
have succeeded. For the life of this
world is but goods and chattels of deception."
[Ali 'Imran:185].
It is so easy
for us to get caught up in the comings and goings of our everyday lives that we
tend to forget that we do not have forever in this worldly life, and get
distracted away from our true aim and purpose.
We tend to forget that we are here to worship Allah and to avail
ourselves of the various opportunities He gives us to store up for ourselves
treasures in Heaven.
For He, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, also says,
"O you who believe! Revere Allah, and
let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow; and revere
Allah. Allah is well Aware of what you
do. And be not
like those who forgot (disobeyed) Allah, and He caused them to forget
themselves. Those are the
disobedient. Not equal are the dwellers
of the Fire and the dwellers of Jannah.
It is the dwellers of Jannah who will be successful."
[Al-Hasyr:18-20]
He also tells us that we do not know the hour of our
own deaths, or in what land we will die. But He through His unending Mercy
toward us, has given us ways to prepare for the inevitable now, because once we’ve
passed from this life to the next, there is no coming back to do the things we
should have done.
For Allah says,
"Until death comes
to one of them, he says, 'My Lord, send me back. Perhaps I may do good in that which I have left behind.' No, it is but a word
that he speaks, and behind them is a Barzakh until the day when they are raised
up."
[Al-Mu'minun:99-100]
Allah has given us ways to protect ourselves from
the punishment of the grave. One of these ways is by fighting in the Cause of
Allah.
It is reported that a man asked the Prophet,
sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, "O Messenger of Allah, why are all the believers tested in the
graves except a martyr?" He, sallallaahu alayhi wasallam,
said, "The flashing of swords over his head was a sufficient
test for him."
(An-Nasa’i)
This may be difficult for most of us to do in these
days and the current age, but Allah has provided us with many other ways to
earn ease in the next life. These include reciting Surah al Mulk, because the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi
wasallam, said,
"Surah Tabarak is the protector from the torment
of the grave." (Al-Hakim).
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, also said,
"When a human being dies, all
of his deeds are terminated except for three types: an ongoing sadaqah, knowledge
of Islam from which others benefit, and a righteous child who makes Doa for
him."
(Muslim)
Another way to earn a continuing reward is by
reviving a lost Sunnah of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wasallam.
He,
sallallaahu alayhi wasallam, said,
"He who initiates
in Islam a good way gets his reward for it, as well as rewards similar to those
who follow him into it, without reducing any of their rewards."
(Muslim)
For those of us who know of fellow Muslims who have already begun
their journey, or who are about to enter, into the next life, there are things
we can do to make the transition easier, Insya Allah. These include performing
the Janazah prayer for the deceased, fulfilling the deceased's vows, payment of
the deceased's debts and the supplications of the Muslims.
This life is
fleeting! Death is coming! Let us get ready!---------------------------------------------
*edited and excerpted from Quran_Wa_Sunnah Yahoogroup.
