Islam potrays death as not the end of the road. While others perceive death as an ending, Islam taught us that death is just a beginning. As believing in the afterlife is one of the six article of faith in Islam, Muslims have been taught to make our best effort in order to achieve the ultimate success in the hereafter world.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور
Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.
Ali-Imran, 185
Despite knowing that the world is just a temporary place for us, many Muslims still don’t make an effort to make the most of their life so that there will be no regrets after they are dead.
According to Top Five Regrets of the Dying : A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing by Bronnie Ware people who were in their deathbed had these top five regrets:
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. (“Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.”)
2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. (“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others.”)
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier. (“Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits.”)
Why is it that, as a Muslim, knowing that we are living in a temporary world didn’t pushed us enough to make the most of this worldly life so that we can have a ticket for a better life in the hereafter?
We are al-insan.
Human beings are referred to as al-insan, which derived from the word nasiya that leads to the meaning of ‘to forget’. That is, it is our nature to be forgetful.
But this shouldn’t mean that we should remain forgetful all the time of our worldly life. Islam has a strong suggestion for us to remind each other of our duty as mankind.
. وَالْعَصْرِ. إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
By (the Token of) Time (through the ages), Verily Man is in loss, Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.
Al-Asr 1-3
In this verse, those who remind each other of good deeds and the teaching of Islam are recognised as those who are not in loss.
So, let’s not be among those who regret their life after the world is closing in on them.
Ibn Abbas reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اغْتَنِمْ خَمْسًا قَبْلَ خَمْسٍ شَبَابَكَ قَبْلَ هَرَمِكَ وَصِحَّتَكَ قَبْلَ سَقَمِكَ وَغِنَاكَ قَبْلَ فَقْرِكَ وَفَرَاغَكَ قَبْلَ شُغُلِكَ وَحَيَاتَكَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِكَ
Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your riches before your poverty, your free time before your work, and your life before your death.
Source: Shu’ab al-Imān 9575, Grade: Sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani
Source: https://www.humanisthme.org/, abuaminaelias
