What are we ending up with

• Last Updated on May 12, 2022 @ 6:09 pm by Islaminlife Admin

Just like once we were born our life is certainly to be terminated one day. It has an end. It will definitely expire. None of us have any idea regarding the time of our death but we do know that it is inevitable.

The Lord of the universe, Creator of every single thing has informed His message vividly:

 كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائقةُ الْمَوْتِ ثُمَّ إلَيْنَا تُرْ جَعُونَ

Meaning: Everyone has to taste death, then to Us you are to be returned. Sura Ankabut: 57

Indeed, death is an event we almost daily witness through our naked eyes. Either we see someone’s life expiring or listen to a news that someone has breathed the last.

For ourselves, what we see is, every day comes into our life. We see or to the least cognize that the sun has risen and we pass a day through different activities; at the end of daybreak we see or to the least cognize that the sun has set. In this way we are moving forward through the passage of time – everyday wandering, charming, eating, working, exhausting, sleeping…… in a routine-like style these actions keep going on.

What is happening exactly? Have we no end to this? Will it so happen that our life will keep experiencing every day’s sunrise or sunset? Have we been assured that tomorrow we will see the sunshine and sleep at night as usual?  Have we ever thought for a moment about those people right now in the graves? Had not they existed into this world for days, months and years like us!? They have had a life in this world just like we do today, haven’t they? They used to live here and did experience sunrises, sunshine, sunsets and sleepy nights just as we do today, didn’t they? They had family and friends, they had education, work and vacations as we do today, didn’t they? What exactly happened to them?!

Did you know that the way we have been taught to convey “Salaam” to the “Ahlal Quboor” i.e. people of grave, is: “Assalamu’alaykum, Ya Ahlal Quboor! Yagfirullahi lanawalkum, antumussalafoo wa nahnu bil asar”

السَّالَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ يَا أَهْلَ الْقُبُورِ يَغْفِرُاللهُ لَنَا وَ لَكُمْ أَنْتُمْ سَلَفُنَا وَنَحْنُ بِا لأَثَرِ^*

Meaning: Peace be upon you O people of the graves. You have preceded us, and we will join you.

This is the reality, which we have been taught to remind ourselves. We remind ourselves our ultimate destiny when we say, “وَنَحْنُ بِا لأَثَرِ” (we will join you).

Unfortunately, our everyday life (almost) disallows us to think, work and judge rationally. We only focus the temporal things, mostly of which we are just using up and losing with absolutely no return. Whereas a Muslim’s firm belief is, for every moment and task of the worldly life there is recompense in the afterlife. Every moment of our worldly life is being recorded in terms of deeds. If good, the deed is eligible to return reward; if evil, the deed is eligible to return punishment; if useless, the deed is simply a wastage.

Therefore, it is wise for us, the living ones at present, while alive, to think deeply every day – at least for a few moments that we are to exit from this world soon. Our achievements and accomplishments are indeed those, which will be of worth after death in the Court of Allah Taala. Reflection should therefore be regularly focused on what we are preparing to end up with (?)

————————————————————————-

^*The Dua (supplication) we recite while we visit the grave(s), i.e. when we do the qabr ziyarat