THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between CE 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary by
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
—A True Understanding of Death from the Quran—
We shall certainly test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property, lives and crops. Give good news to those who endure with fortitude. Those who say, when afflicted with a calamity, ‘We belong to God and to Him we shall return,’ are the ones who will have blessings and mercy from their Lord: it is they who are on the right path! (2:155-156)
Every human being is bound to taste death; and you shall receive your rewards in full on the Day of Resurrection. (3: 185)
No soul shall die except with God’s permission and at an appointed time. (3:145)
No soul knows in what land it will die. Surely, God is all knowing, all aware. (31:34)
How can you disbelieve in God when you were dead (lifeless) and He gave you life? He will let you die once more, then bring you back to life again, whereupon you will be returned to Him. (2: 28)
He gives life and brings about death, and to Him you shall all return. (10: 56)
On the death of a loved one, one goes in a state of prayerfulness, deep thinking and contemplation. The experience reminds him that there is very little time at his disposal and that at any moment death can come calling.
However, we are so involved in worldly things that we never stop to think about the day which is fast approaching us. The Prophet Muhammad said, ‘People are asleep, they will wake up only when they die.’ All of a sudden, death will bring you standing face to face with God, at which time you will be held accountable for all your deeds.
That will be the moment you realize that what you were doing was one thing and that what you should have been doing was quite another. The Prophet Muhammad once said that on the Day of Judgement, a man’s foot would not move unless he had answered four questions: Where he earned his money from, and where he spent it; how he spent his youth and how he used his knowledge.
The Creator has divided human life into two parts: the pre-death and post-death periods. The pre-death period is very short (like the tip of an iceberg) in comparison to the post-death period, which is eternal. The pre-death period is the preparatory phase in which you prepare yourself to become eligible to enter Paradise in the post-death period. This worldly life is a ‘test’ for everyone, whether poor or rich, powerful or powerless, strong or weak. Man is required to pass in all these tests and trials by leading a need-based life rather than a life based on desire and greed, so that in the life Hereafter, God will allow him to enter Paradise, to live there forever in close proximity to his Creator.
On the death of a loved one, one should not go into a state of mourning. The Quran gives us great hope in moments of grief and loss: It says that God will reunite all the righteous members of the family in Paradise. Moreover, if a member of the family has reached a higher level of Paradise, all the righteous members of that family will be ‘upgraded’, so that they may all enjoy eternal bliss and nearness to God. This idea gives great solace and it acts as an incentive and encouragement to do good work, and lead a pious and righteous life.
The Prophet Muhammad said that when a man dies, everything connected with him is cut off except three things: Continuous charity, knowledge from which benefit is derived and virtuous children who pray for him.