RasulAllah (alayhi salatu wassalam) has told us to reflect often on death. In a time of so much illness, frailty, and death, it’s never been more important or timely to recognize our own mortality. As I take advantage of this Ramadan InshaAllah, I focus my thinking on what I am doing to prepare for it.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ – 3:185
“Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.”
Know with absolute certainty that I – and every other soul – will taste death. And with death comes the Final Account, during which we will be shown every deed we have done for better or for worse and we will face the consequence.
In recognizing the sobering reality of death and the final account, I want to highlight that the only safety and salvation we have is with the mercy of Allah. It is by Allah’s mercy that we achieve success in the dunya and the akhirah, so His mercy is what we need to strive for.
Now halfway into Ramadan, I take this moment to thank Allah for the beautiful blessing of Ramadan, a month known for Allah’s Mercy. The Mercy Allah rains down on us far more than usual this month. Our good deeds are multiplied exponentially at this time. Allah makes our ibadah easy and gives us the opportunity to engage in dhikr, tahajjud, Quran recitation, duaa, etc in greater amounts for His Sake and for increased benefit. Our biggest temptations such as food are removed. There are too many ways His Mercy appears this blessed month for us to enumerate (but it’s a good practice to try to enumerate them, for the sake of increasing our love for Allah and our gratitude!).
Today, my heart beats, and my lungs force air in and out of my body. Today, I am alive and today is also a day in Ramadan, the month of insurmountable mercy, so much that we can’t even imagine. Today, I ask myself what I am doing to prepare for meeting my Creator, and what I am doing to seize as much of Allah’s mercy that floods us during this month. Today, I take note of my final destination and I renew my intention as I take another step, by the Will and Mercy of Allah, towards the servant of Allah I should be.
May Allah allow us to take the reminder of death as a reminder to turn to Him in complete submission. May He grant us a beautiful end on His path and in submission to Him alone. I ask Allah to accept from us this blessed month and allow us to benefit to the fullest extent from His Mercy, Forgiveness, and Blessing especially placed for us in Ramadan. Ameen.