Preparing for Death
Preparing for Death.
The summer before my freshman year of college, I was leading the youth group at my local masjid. Around this time, naturally, I found myself working on my faith — I had been given a position of responsibility and it seemed necessary to look inward and understand that if I was going to be responsible for the guidance of others, that I needed to really start being serious about my own guidance.
That summer, because of the position, I had spent almost everyday at the masjid. And my local masjid being very close to the cemetery, was frequently where most of the Janazat of the entire DFW Muslim community would happen.
That summer, I kid you not, I prayed a janaza almost every day. And because of that, it really shaped the way I understood my life and the religion — it made me a bit more serious.
Imam Ghazali said, “Know that there is no preparation more urgent than planning for death. Whoever remembers death frequently, will busy themselves preparing for it.”
It’s one thing to know that death is inevitable for anyone and that it could come at anytime, but it was honestly something else living that everyday. There was never a pattern that summer. I prayed over those that lived a long life, children, those with means, those who’s janaza packed the masjid and those who’s janaza only filled a single line. Everyone different, traveling different paths in life, but all ending up in the same three by six box in front of the musallah.
I found myself constantly thinking about whether the person we’d be praying over that day — were they ready to leave this world? Was their time cut too short? If they had more time, would they do things differently?
And having these questions only fueled my ambitions and provided a level of growth for myself that I haven’t had in a while.
Today was the first time I’ve attended a janaza in a long time. Since coming to college, and primarily going to a student masjid, the opportunity to attend a janaza would be less frequent, and me being somewhat young still, it was only natural for me have less of these thoughts.
Understanding that death for many communities can be a rare thing, Imam Ghazali, in the Ihya Uloom ad-Din talks about the dhikr al-Maut wa-Ma ba’dahu or the remembrance of death and the afterlife, writing to truly look at where one is heading and understanding it realties.
He writes, “Let man in every hour look to his limbs and his extremities. Let his thoughts dwell upon how the worms must needs devour them, and upon the fashion in which his bones shall rot away. He can do nothing for himself but to understand, and to act sincerely for the sake of God. And in like fashion, let him meditate upon that which we shall presently relate concerning the Punishment of the Grave, the Inquisition of Munkar and Nakir, and the Congregation and Quickening, together with the terrors of the Resurrection, and the sounding of the Call on the Day of the Greatest Exposition. For it is thoughts such as these which prompt anew the remembrance of death in the heart, and summon one to make ready for it.”
It’s heavy — really heavy, but its a reality — and more than anything, understanding this is honestly an opportunity. Remembering death constantly can bring you back and keep you constantly productive.
Lastly, Death isn’t a sad thing. It may come at a point when we least expect it, and it will most definitely invoke emotions of calamity and tragedy. But it is one of the few things we are guaranteed and remembering that constantly will only provide more value in your own life.
Allah ﷻ says in Surah Baqarah:
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوفْ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الاٌّمَوَالِ وَالاٌّنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّـبِرِينَ — الَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَصَـبَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُواْ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّـآ إِلَيْهِ رَجِعونَ — أُولَـئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَتٌ مِّن رَّبْهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ
We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives, and crops. But to those who are steadfast, those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return.’ These will be given blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided.
Keep living life, but always preparing for death.
