trial. And you will be returned to Us. (Surat al-Anbiya': 35)
Death, which is certain to happen to all of us, is a very important
fact in one's life. We can never know exactly what we will experience
in an hour or even in the next moment. This being the case, it is
obvious how wrong it would be to plan our lives based on events that
may never happen. Death, on the other hand, is the only thing that is
certain to happen. Only the recognition of this basic truth makes us
understand that we must found our lives according to it. Death is also
a part of the trial of man. Allah informs us in the Qur'an that He
created death and life totry man:
He Who created death and life to test which of you is best in action.
He is the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving. (Surat al-Mulk: 2)
Death is the end of merely the life of this world-thus the end of the
trial-and the beginning of the next life. For this reason, believers
have no fear ofdeath. The thought of death does not distress them,
because, every moment of their lives is spent in the pursuit of good
deeds as preparation for the Hereafter.
For unbelievers, however, fear causes them great distress, because
they consider it a complete annihilation. Thus, they avoid the thought
of death and they don't even let that thought pass their mindsand they
escape from death. But it is futile. No soul can escape death when the
predetermined time for it has come. This, in a verse, is stressed as
follows:
Wherever you are, deathwill catch up with you, even if you are in
impregnable fortresses...(Surat an-Nisa': 78)
To avoid the thought of death is to avoid the truth. As death will
eventually catch up with man sooner or later, it is wise to conduct
oneself with a mind busy with the thought of death. This is the
rational disposition by which believers abide. Until death comes upon
them,they engage in good deeds, as Allah commands us in the Qur'an:
And worship your Lord until what is Certain comes to you. (Surat al-Hijr: 99)
Thinking about death strengthens one's spirit and will. It prevents
one's lower soul from leading him astray, by being lured through the
false temptations of this world. It instils him with the resolve and
determination to avoid all forms of behaviour unpleasing to Allah. It
is for this reason that a believer must often think about death,
neverforgetting that all people, including himself, will someday die.
From the Qur'an, we learn what really happens to someone who dies, and
what he or she actually experiences and feels. When we see someone
dying, we only observe his "biological death." The truth is, however,
the dying person, though in a totally different dimension, confronts
the angels of death. If he is a unbeliever, his death causes him great
pain. The angels of death, after extracting his soul, beat and torment
him. A unbeliever's trauma is described as follows:
...If you could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death when
the angels are stretchingout their hands, saying,"Disgorge your own
selves! Today you will berepaid with the punishment of humiliation for
saying something other than the truth about Allah, and being arrogant
about His Signs." (Surat al-An'am: 93)
How will it be when the angels take them in death, beating their faces
and their backs? That is because they followed what angers Allah and
hated what is pleasing to Him. So He made their actions cometo
nothing. (Surah Muhammad: 27-28)
Death promises great joyand bliss for the believers. Contrary to
unbelievers, whose soulsare torn from them violently, the souls of
believers are drawn from them gently. (Surat an-Nazi'at: 2) This
experience is similar to the case of the soul in sleep, which leaves
the body and moves into a different dimension (Surat az-Zumar: 42). In
the verses, the followingis stated regarding believers:
Gardens of Eden which they enter, with rivers flowing under them,
where they have whatever they desire. That is how Allah repays those
who have fear for Him: those the angels take in a virtuous state. They
say, "Peace be uponyou! Enter Paradise for what you did." (Surat
an-Nahl: 31-32)
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