I remember walking into my eighth grade English class one day to hear the news of a boy who’d died in his sleep. At the time, thirteen year-old me didn’t give it much thought; it was sad, but I didn’t know him. But what struck me was how upset my teacher was. How angry she was. She couldn’t understand how such a perfectly healthy and good boy could lose his life just like that when there was still so much of his future left to live.
Flashforward to five years later, just before my high school graduation. Someone from my school took his life. A few weeks later, another girl I knew died in a car accident. They were both very vibrant people, full of energy. To me they always seemed happy, always smiling, laughing, joking around. It didn’t seem fair or right that they left this world. Though I didn’t know them well, when I learned of their deaths through social media, it hit me hard because it was so unexpected. The surprise of their passing is what upset me the most, because it reminded me that death doesn't care where you are in your life. It will come for you if Allah wills it to. It’s not going to wait for you to graduate or to get a job, or to get married. We always have to keep that in mind.
These deaths are a reminder for us. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told Abdullah ibn Umar (RA), “Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler.” The sub-narrator of this hadith added, Ibn Umar used to say, "If you survive till the evening, do not expect to be alive in the morning, and if you survive till the morning, do not expect to be alive in the evening, and take from your health for your sickness, and (take) from your life for your death." If we become upset for life taken in the dunya, it’s because we are forgetting we were never meant to be here to stay. We’re travelers, as the hadith stated. We’re forgetting the forever we will live in the afterlife. So, live every present moment as if you will die the next.
This brings me to my next point--your family and friends. Your loved ones. When someone passes, often people talk about how much of a great person they were. How caring they were. How much they looked out for their friends. If they were there for you while they were still here, shouldn’t you have done the same as a Muslim? No matter how good they were here, they won’t be entering Jannah if they didn’t believe in Allah. If you truly care for your family or friends or these good people, why will you let them burn for an eternity in hell simply because you couldn’t tell them the truth?
What’s the truth? Islam is the truth. Allah is the truth. His prophet, Muhammad (SAW) is the truth.
I know it’s hard. It fascinates me that there are Muslims out there who go out of their way to approach people and tell them to convert. They’re brutally honest, making it clear that Islam is the way to go. I admire them for their courage as a lot of people do this for a living. Personally, I used to be afraid to even be a little “religious” with my Muslim friends. Sometimes we may think, who am I to tell them? Or it could be, what if it pushes them away? Where will that leave me? Alone? Friendless? But at the end of the day, we have to remember. We will all die. No one can escape death, and we will all meet our Lord one day, so we have to be ready.
“Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good, by way of trial. To Us must you return.” (21:35)
