Billions of human beings have walked on the surface of this earth. They all belonged to different nations and cultures. A few of them made history, for which they were remembered, whereas others were never to be mentioned again. Although each one was personally different from every other, their habits, thinking and tastes were different and they all had two things in common. First, they were all delivered from their mothers womb and secondly, they all tasted death.

What is death?

Death is when the soul is separated from the body; it receives reward and punishment and the separation of the soul from the body means loss of power of the soul over the body. The soul uses the body in its works; it catches by the hand, hears by the ears, sees by the eyes and acquires the knowledge of all things.

Every soul shall taste death

Allah has said in the Qur’aan: “Every soul will taste death.” From this verse we know that death is such a thing that you can’t escape from even if you are in a house, which is built with metal walls, and has a massive padlock. Death will not only come when hair and the beard turn white, but it can come at any time, even when you are a baby, or an old person or a teenager or of middle age. Even if you are a king, a Prime Minister or a leader of one of the tribes.

Death also came to the Prophet  and to the companions of the Prophet , so if death can come to such great personalities, who are we to be so unmindful of it?

Merits of the Remembrance of Death

Know, O dear brothers, that the man, who is engrossed in the world and cheated by its charming coquetries, is unmindful of the remembrance of death. He does not remember death and when he is reminded of it, he does not like it. Allah has said regarding such a man: “The deaths from which you flee away will meet you. Thereafter you will be led to the Knower of the world seen and unseen. You will then be informed of what you did.”

Three categories of mankind

Mankind is divided into three categories:
(1) One who is addicted to the world, (2) One who is repentant, (3) One who has surrendered to Allah.

1. The man who is addicted to the world does not remember death. He hates death and lives far away from the remembrance of Allah.
2. The man who is repentant remembers death and fears it. He does not often like death because he fears to die before he makes sincere repentance or he purifies his soul from corrupt deeds and he does not think bad of meeting with death and Allah because he is not fully prepared for it, but he is always busy in preparation to meet it.
3. The God-Addicted man always remembers death, as he likes to meet with his beloved. The loner cannot forget to meet with his beloved. This person loves to meet with death to save himself from the world of sin. For such a person the Prophet  has said: “Death is a gift for the believer.” The reason is that the world is a prison for a believer as he lives here in difficulties. Death gives him relief from these difficulties. Once the Prophet  came out towards the mosque. On the way he found some of the Sahâbâh  engaged in jokes and telling stories. He  said to them: “Remember death! Beware by the One in whose hand lies my life, if you had known what I know, you would have laughed little and wept more.”

Thinking of death

Know O’ brothers that death is terrible because people are unmindful of death. The person who does remember death does not think of it with his whole heart. The mode of thinking of death is to free your mind from all thoughts and only put his mind on death. Be like the one who embarks on dangerous sea voyage. When the thought of death fills his mind and becomes one shadow, his worldly happiness decreases and his heart breaks. The best method of thinking of death is to remember the death of friends, family and neighbours, their bodies buried under the ground and their conditions in the graves. How their beautiful faces have become food for worms and insects! How their wives have become widows and their children orphans! How stricken by extreme poverty, they are passing their days miserably one by one! Think how death overtook them suddenly without any notice and warning! How unprepared they were for death and the hereafter!

So O’ brothers! Remember death as often as you can in the 24 hours of your daily life and make this your habit. It could be your turn next then your friends, family and neighbours will place you under the ground.
Start now before if it is too late!

May Allah save us all, Ameen.