"Suppose you learn today that you have only one more day to live; you'll die tomorrow. How will you spend your last day?"
This
interview question was posed long before the age of mass media. The
interviewer approached prominent scholars and people known for their
virtuous lives with the idea that he would compile their answers in a
book. Such a book would provide the readers with inspiration for the
most important virtues.
But
the most inspiring response came from the person who did not provide a
wish list of virtuous deeds. He was the great muhaddith Abdur Rahman ibn
abi Na'um and he replied: "There is nothing that I could change in my
daily schedule learning that it is my last day. I already spend everyday
in my life as if it is going to be my last."
Death
is the most certain aspect of life. According to the latest statistics,
6178 people die in the world every hour. These are people of all ages,
dying of all causes. Some of these deaths will make headlines. The great
majority will die quietly. Yet everyone will enter his grave the same
way. Alone. At the time appointed by God. Science and technology can
neither prevent nor predict death. It is solely in the hands of the
Creator.
"O
mankind! If you are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, then lo! We
have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot,
then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make
it clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for
an appointed time, and afterward We bring you forth as infants, then
give you growth that you attain full strength. And among you there is he
who dies young, and among you there is he who is brought back to the
most abject time of life, so that after knowledge he knows naught!"[ Qur'aan - Al-Haj 22:5]
We
see it happening all the time. Yet it is amazing how we feel that it
won't happen to us. At least not anytime soon. We bury our own friends
and relatives but think that we'll live forever. Our attitudes about
death defy all logic. In a way we recognize it and even plan for it. We
take out life insurance policies. We may do estate planning. Businesses
and governments have contingency plans to carry out their operations in
case of sudden loss of their leaders. But this is recognition of death
as an end point of this life. Where we fail is in recognizing it as the
beginning of another life that will never end and where we'll reap what
we sow here.
A
central teaching of Islam is that it is our recognition of and
preparation for that eternity that must separate those who are smart
from those who are not. As the Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam
said: "Truly smart is the person who controlled his desires and prepared
for life after death."
There
is a moving story about Bahlool, who, in his innocence seems to be on
the opposite end of the scale of worldly-smartness. Khalifa Haroon ur
Rashid had given him access to his court probably because his naiveté
was a source of entertainment to him. Once the Khalifa gave him a
walking stick saying, "It is meant for the most foolish person in the
world. If you find a person more deserving of it than yourself, pass it
on." Several years later Haroon ur Rashid fell seriously ill and no
medical treatment seemed to work. Bahlool visited him and inquired about
his condition. The conversation went something like this:
Haroon: "No treatment is working. I see my final journey ahead of me."
Bahlool: "Where are you going?"
Haroon: "I am going to the Other World."
Bahlool: "How long will you stay there? When will you come back?"
Haroon: "No one ever comes back from that world."
Bahlool:
"Then you must have made especial preparations for this journey. Did
you send an advance group to take care of you once you arrive?
Haroon: "Bahlool, you have to go there alone. And no, I did not make any preparations."
Bahlool:
"Ameer-ul-Momineen! You used to send troops to make extensive
preparations for you for even short trips of only a few days. Now you
are going to a place where you'll live forever but you have made no
preparations! I think I have found the person more deserving of the
stick that you had given me some years ago."
This
story speaks to all of us. We may not be kings but we do plan our trips
of even a few days very carefully. How about preparing for the journey
into eternity? How about making the concern for the Hereafter the
cornerstone of our lives here?
Actually,
that concern can change our lives here as well. This world is an abode
of deception. Here we are not punished the moment we commit a sin. This
fools us into thinking that we can get away with it. Remembering death
is the antidote for that deception. A person who remembers that he will
have to stand before his Creator and be accountable for his actions
simply cannot defy God!
In
the story of Pharaoh, we learn that when he saw death approaching he
declared belief in the God of Moses. Before that he had been fooled by
his apparent power. His repentance came too late but it did show how his
arrogance and intransigence evaporated when faced with the certainty of
death.
It
is amazing how a lot of our own "confusions", frivolous arguments,
excuses (for why we cannot do this or avoid that), or plane laziness can
melt away when we visualize ourselves in our grave! Death settles lot
of arguments. Its remembrance can do that too. Before it is too late. He
was indeed a very wise person who spent everyday of his life as if it
was going to be his last day. But that certainly should be the goal for
all of us!