Death an Indispensable Reality

Death, an indispensable reality 
 

HOW often do we remember death? Yes death, a harsh and fearful reality that escapes no living person. None can avoid it. The people around a dying person don’t have the ability to prevent it. Death happens every moment and it does not discriminate between the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak. Everyone is equal in front of death, because no one has any means to escape it or use intercession to avoid it or even delay it.

Allah (The One & Only God) says in the Holy Qur’an:
“Say: Indeed, the death from which you flee will surely meet you, then you will be sent back to Allah, the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. And He will then tell you what you used to do.” (Qur’an, 62:8)



“Every one is going to taste death. And We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good, and to Us will you be returned.” (Qur’an, 21:35)



Our hearts tremble with fear on the thought of this indispensable reality. A person’s actions are sealed with death and what comes after that is more fearful, because will there be a place where one can flee to in order to escape the afflictions suffered in the grave? What will our reply be when we are questioned in the grave? None of us know where we will end up. Will it be Paradise whose width is like the heavens and the earth or will it be the Fire whose fuel is of men and stones?
Ibrahim Bin Adham (d. 160H) was asked about the verse: “Call upon Me and I will respond to you.” (Qur’an, 40:60) that: “We call upon Allah (The One God), but He does not respond to us.” So Ibrahim replied:
“You know Allah; yet you do not obey Him. You recite the Holy Qur’an; yet you do not act according to it. You know Shaytan (Devil); yet you continue agreeing with him. You claim to love Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him); yet you abandon his Sunnah (Prophet’s methodology). You claim to love Paradise, yet you do not work for it. You claim to fear the Fire; yet you do not stop sinning. 

You say ‘indeed death is true’; yet you have not prepared for it. You busy yourselves with the faults of others; yet you do not look at your own faults. You eat the sustenance that Allah (The One God) provides for you; yet you are not grateful to Him. And you bury your dead; yet you have not heeded its lesson.” (Ibn Rajab’s Al-Khushu’-fis-Salah, pg. 62)

This reality must be firmly established in our heart –the reality that life in this world is limited and has an appointed end, and that this end will surely come. Sheikh Ali Hasan Al-Halabi mentions some good reflections in his book Al-Mawt:
“The righteous will die; and the wicked will die. The warriors who fight jihad will die; and those who sit at home will die. Those who busy themselves with correct beliefs will die; and those who treat people as their slaves will die. The brave who reject injustice will die; and the cowards who seek to cling to this vile life will die. The people of lofty goals and ambitions will die; and the wretched who live for cheap enjoyment will die.

“...So keep death in mind, and the passing on to the next life, and the number of sins that one has committed and the small amount of good that one has done. Think of the good that you would earnestly like to do at that time – then bring that forward and do it today. And think of all those things which you would desire to clear yourself of – then clear yourself from them now.” – Al-Istiqamah 

Heart trembling story of the grave

Sayyiduna Umar bin Abdul Aziz once went to the graveyard with the funeral where he sat pondering. Someone asked him, `Why are you sitting in astonishment next to this grave?` He replied, `This grave called out to me and said, `Why don`t you ask me what I do to the people who come into me.` I said to the grave, `Do tell me.` The grave said, `When a person comes inside me, I rip off his shroud and then rip the person’s body to pieces and eat his meat. Are you not going to ask me what I do with the joints?` I said, `Do tell me.` The grave said, `I separate the hands from the wrists, the knees from the calves and the calves from the feet`.` After saying this, Sayyiduna Umar began to cry.

When he stopped crying, he said, `My dear brothers! We are to live in this world for a short period. Those who are sinners in this world and still hold high status will be disgraced in the Hereafter. Those who are envied in this world because of their wealth will be hated in the Hereafter due to their actions. The one who is young will grow old and the one who is alive will die. This world will deceive you because you are aware that it will soon depart. Where are those individuals who recited the Qur`an? Where are those who went to the house of Allah )The One & Only God) to perform Hajj? Where are those who fasted in Ramadan? What did the earth do with their bodies? What did the insects of the grave do to their flesh? What happened to their bones and joints? I swear in the name of Allah (The One God) ! In the world, they slept on soft beds but now they have left behind their families, their wives have remarried, their children are suffering in the streets and their families have shared the inheritance amongst themselves. Amongst these are those fortunate ones who are successful in their graves and some are being punished.

How sad! Oh foolish! Today at the time of your fathers, your sons or brother’s death, you close their eyes, you bathe them, you wrap them in a shroud, you carry their body on your shoulder, you go along with the funeral procession and you bury them in the grave. (Remember! This will soon be happening to you.) How I wish I knew which cheek would rot first (in the grave).` After saying this, Sayyiduna Umar started crying until he fell unconscious. He departed from this world a week later. (Raud-ul-Faaiq, P138, Dar-ul-Kutubul Ilmiyyah Beirut)

Hujja-tul-Islam Imaam Muhammad Ghazali writes in Ihya-ul-Uloom, `At the time of his death, Sayyiduna Umar was reciting,


Translation Kanzul-Imaan: This abode of the Hereafter - We make it for those who do not wish greatness in the land nor turmoil; and the Hereafter is only for the pious. (Sura Qasas: 83) (Ihya-ul-Uloom, V4, P510, Dar-ul-Kutubul Ilmiyyah Beirut)

May Allah (The One & Only God) bless you and your family with his grace(Ameen) Insha Allah (God Willing)..!