DEATH—PREPARATION FOR DEATH (II)

A Believer’s soul leaving his body is like the emancipation of a slave from prison. Once dead, a Believer does not want to return to this world. Only martyrs want to come back to the world so that they may be martyred once more. The world’s goodness is all gone. What is left behind is only its cares. Death, therefore, is now a gift for every Muslim. A person’s faith can be protected only by his grave. The first of the gifts that will be presented to Believers is the joy felt at death. The sole relief for a Believer is to attain Allâhu ta’âlâ. For every Believer death is better than life. Death is useful even to disbelievers.

You have been chasing something quite volatile. You do not even turn to look at what will remain eternally. In fact, you have been running away from it! If a person’s death has no value, his life has no value, either. Death is loved because it takes one to Allâhu ta’âlâ. If I love a person, I love his staying here as well as his death. Won’t a lover want to meet his beloved? When Hadrat Azrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ (Angel of Death) asked the Prophet Ibrâhîm ‘alaihis-salâm’ for permission to take away his soul, Hadrat Ibrâhîm said, “Will a lover take away his beloved one’s soul?” But when Allâhu ta’âlâ sent a message through Hadrat Azrâîl ‘alaihissalâm,’ saying, “Will a lover shirk from meeting his beloved one?”, Hadrat Ibrâhîm invoked, “O my Allah! Take away my soul at once!”