Death and the Islamic perspectives

Praise be to Allah " Who created life and death to test which of us is best in conduct." And Who " made the world a respectable for both the living and the dead" among us.

Blessing and peace be upon Muhammad , the last and the final of the prophets.

Allah, the Most Blessed and Exalted, has honored mankind from among all His creatures, and among mankind, He has favored the Muslim believer, distinguishing him from the rest by bestowal of special privileges, and conferring honor on him both during his life and after his death. For just as the Muslim is welcomed into this world at birth by purification of his body and by joyful exclamation of " There is no god but Allah " and "Allah is most great ", and the face of the earth is spread before him as dwelling, so also is the bidden farewell at death by the washing and shrouding of his body and by prayer over him, and the depths of the earth are made a grave for him, and a cover to preserve his dignity.

It is imperative that the reflection of death should be ever present in the minds of men. However prolonged this worldly life may be, it is mortal and must end and however great may be the possessions of this world, one day they are bound to be left behind.

The eternal life is immortal ; its blessings are everlasting. In view of all this it needs no explanation to a man of ordinary sense that one should opt for something which is everlasting. On the other hand to hanker after something which is transitory is the height of folly. But our reason is beclouded by stupor. We are enamoured of embellishments of the waiting room of this station where the period of our stay ends with the arrival of the train. It would certainly be to his advantage if during this short period of waiting a person should busy himself with the preparation and arrangements of goods for his journey and making provisions for those things which will prove useful on arrival at the eternal home. If on the other hand he wastes his short but precious time of leisure in going around the place and while his own goods are lying scattered he should set about dusting and furnishing the waiting room ; and what's even more foolish if he should get busy in purchasing mirrors and maps for hanging in this room, he will not only lose his ordinary provisions but also his most valuable gifts.

Almighty says:

" O those who keep faith ! Let not your goods and your offspring make you heedless towards the remembrance of Allah. And if a person does this, he will be among such people as are the losers. And whatever Allah has provided you with, spend out of it before someone's death approaches and he should say ; " O my Creator ! Why didn't you grant me few days respite so that I could give away in charity and be counted among those who are righteous. Allah certainly grants no respite to any man when the time of his death approaches and Allah is well-Aware of all your deeds." The occupation of gathering wealth and valuable goods and the care of family and offspring are those things which become the cause of indifference in carrying out the commands of Almighty Allah. Take heed lest you should depart with full awareness that you are leaving behind your family and offspring and all your goods and valuable possession. To-day you have time enough. So do what you must.

The Holy Prophet ( peace be upon him ) says : " The sanest amongst us is the one who can control his baser self and remains attached to things that may prove helpful to one's post existence. One cannot be prepared for anything unless one spends every moment of one's life in contemplating what the process of preparation requires. And anyone who is leading the life of deception. He is a victim to the worldly temptation and he is forgetful of the day he will die".

Allah reveals to us in the Holy Qur'an:

" Tell those who are running away from death that one day they will be trapped unaware and produced before Almighty. They will be called upon to answer for their action by Him Who is All-Knowing".

The Prophet ( peace and blessings of Allah be upon him ) instructed a companion that he should remember death amply. It will end your pleasures in other things. It is laid down in another tradition that death should be remembered abundantly. One who reminds himself of death frequently, his heart becomes alive and death becomes easy for him. A companion complained to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that he had no love for death. What should he do ? The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said : "Have you any wealth ." He replied, ‘ Yes, I have". The prophet said, " Give it away in the name of Allah ." A man loves his wealth but when he spends it in the name of Allah, he also wants to go to Him. When he tries to preserve it , he wants to remain with it.

It was the habit of Umar b.Abdul Aziz that he used to convene meetings of the learned men daily who discussed about Death, Doomsday and the Day of Judgement. He wept so bitterly on hearing about these as if the funeral was lying before him. Ibrahim Tayami said, " Two things have made me leave every pleasure of the world : One is death and the other is my anxiety to appear before Allah Almighty on the Day Of Judgement". Ka'b said: " Whosoever has recognized death, the hardships of this world will come to an end for him". A woman complained to Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her ) about her hard-heartedness. Aisha ( may Allah be pleased with her ) advised her to remember death frequently which would make her kind hearted. The woman did so and thanked Aisha ( may Allah be pleased with her ) very much for her valuable advice.

Death , according to the Qur'an, is not the end of man's life; it only opens the door to another, a higher form of life: " We have ordained death among you and We are not to be overcome, that We may change your state and make you grow into what you know not ." Qur'an 56 : 60 - 61 .

A faith in life after death is the last of the basic principles. The word generally used in the Qur'an to indicate this life is al-Akhira.

The Qur'an accords to faith in the Future Life an importance which is next only to faith in Allah. Very often all the doctrines of faith are summed up as amounting to belief in Allah and the Future Life: " And there are some people who say, We believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they are not believers ." Qur'an 2 : 8 ; " Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord." Qur'an 2 ; 62

The Opening chapter of the Qur'an, entitled the Fatihah, is not only looked upon as the quintessence of the Book but it is actually the chapter which plays the greatest part in creating a true Muslim mentality ; for the Muslim must recite it in the five prayers, over thirty times daily. In this chapter Allah is spoken of as the " Master of the Day of Requital", and thus the idea that every deed must be requited is brought before the mind of the Muslim continually. The constant repetition of the idea of a requital of deeds, undoubtedly impresses on the mind the reality of a future life, when every deed shall find its full reward. The reason for attaching so much importance to a life after death is clear. The greater the faith in the good or bad consequences of a deed, the greater is the incentive which urges a man to or withholds him from that deed. Therefore this belief is both the greatest impetus towards good and noble, and the greatest restraint upon evil or irresponsible deeds. But more than this, such a belief purifies the motives with which a deed is done. It makes a man work with the most selfless of motives, for he seeks no reward for what he does; his work is for higher and nobler ends relating to life beyond the grave.

Th Qur'an not only speaks of a life after death which opens out for man a new world of advancement, before which the progress of this life sinks into insignificance; it also shows that the basis of the life is laid in this our life on earth. The Hereafter is not a mystery beyond the grave; it begins in this life. For the good, the heavenly life, and for the wicked, a life in hell, begins even here, though the limitations of this life do not allow most people to realize this. "Thou wast indeed heedless of this, but now We have removed from thee thy veil, so thy sight is sharp this day." Qur'an 50 : 22 . This shows that the spritual life which is hidden from human eye by reason of material limitations, will become manifest in the Resurrection; because human perception will then be clearer, the veil of material limitations having been removed. The Qur'an speaks of two paradises for the righteous and two chastisements for the wicked, as also of a heavenly and hellish life each beginning here : " And for him who fears to stand before his Lord are two Gardens." Qur'an 55 : 46 . " O soul that are at rest ! Return to thy Lord well pleased, well pleasing. So enter among My servants and enter My Garden ." Qur'an 89 : 27 - 30 . " Nay, would that you knew with certain knowledge, you would certainly see Hell."Qur"an 102 : 5 - 6 . " It is the fire kindled by Allah which rises over the hearts."Qur'an 104 : 6 - 7 . " And whoever is blind in this life, shall also be blind in the Herafter ."Qur'an 17 : 72 . "Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know." Qur'an 68 : 33