Earlier today, my entire community mourned the death of a boy who passed away. He was only 14 years old. Please stop here and pray for him and his family (just as you'd wish for others to do for you).
Although I sometimes struggle with writing about tragedy, I can't help but want to share the same thoughts that come to my mind every time I hear about a young person dying:
Thought #1: Thoughts of death do a wonderful job at curbing hypocrisy. Who would want to pass away having fooled people into think he/she is a saint when God knows his/her heart? Thinking about death forces you to match your inward self with your outward self because what is it worth to please people and not God?
Thought #2: Whenever a young person passes, it's so easy to think that he/she didn't have enough time. That he/she "went too soon." But a reminder to us all is this: God prescribes enough time for all of us on this earth. It is just the right amount of years, amount of days and hours to testify to where we will be in the hereafter. That is a wisdom only afforded to Allah. There are those who have been given 102 years and those who have been given 102 days to live. To Allah we belong and to Him we will return, on His timing, not ours.
Thought #3: Is it possible to be comfortable with the thought of our own death? Our societal attitude towards death is very dark and horrific but how do we combat that? Change our mindset to this:
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said:
"Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah will love to meet him, and whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah will hate to meet him.” One of his wives said: “But we all dislike the idea of death.” He said, “It is not what you are thinking. When death approaches the believer and he is given the news of Allah’s pleasure and honor, nothing will be more dear to him than what lies ahead of him, so he will love to meet Allah and Allah will love to meet him. But when death approaches the disbeliever and he is given the news of Allah’s wrath and punishment, nothing will be more disliked by him than that what lies ahead of him, so he will hate to meet Allah and Allah will hate to meet him.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
H. Al
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