How To Have a Better Death? An Islamic Perspective

How to have a better death? This is the question touched upon by The Economist in one of their recent editions. I curiously tried to sift through the essay to get a better appreciation of their views on this very important issue for all of us, whether Muslims or non-Muslims, as all of us are, one day, going to face death willingly or unwillingly.   Surprisingly, they discussed this question in its physical attributes only and the inherent pain associated with it in the form of disease before death.   Of course, death is inevitable. But, it is not just the physical aspects of it we need to think about. We also need to tackle the issue of death from its spiritual and Islamic perspective.

All of us need to think seriously whether we are ready to die. It may come today or after few years. It does not matter. What matters most is the preparation we need to make for the day when the souls will be taken away from our bodies.

Have we fulfilled all the duties we were supposed to during our lifetimes? Have we done every thing we were required to by our Lord? Are we ready to face Him without any regrets? These and others are the burning questions we need to answer before we face the inevitable.

Please do not think that you will die in your old age only.  You could die any time, during your prime youth or in your old age.  Once the angel Izraeel comes to take your soul by the will of Allah, you will have to go no matter what. You can not have any excuses to delay it in one way or the other.   All of us witness countless number of people dyeing all around us.  All these individuals were full of ambitions, wanted to do many things in their lifetimes and had great plans for their future. But death destroyed all their plans abruptly.

Once you convince yourself about the inevitability of death, the next logical question is how you make yourself ready to face the inevitable.  How you prepared yourself and your loved ones around you for the onward march to death?  What is the luggage you are going to take with you on this long journey? What are you going to leave for your loved ones? How would you like to be remembered? What  are the tasks you MUST perform before you die? How are you going to face the life after death? What are the assets you can take with you along the way?

In fact, you will be spending lot more time in your grave than you do at your home.  You will be alone over there. There will be no one to help you but your good deeds, and, of course,  Allah`s blessings if you do good during this life time.

Your birth and death timings are pre-determined. You have a partial control only on the time given to you in between the two. Now the choice is yours how you want to spend your days and nights which are very uncertain in nature, and, what do you do during this uncertain time?  Your actions and deeds during this short span of time will determine whether you are going to face a good death or a bad one. The choice is yours.

Please let me know in the following lines what you think about this phenomenon which you and I are going to face one day.