DEATH has always been one of the greatest mysteries: the person who a little while ago was walking, talking, eating and drinking has suddenly turned into something we cannot bear to look at. We run around trying to make arrangements to put the corpse away, out of our sight.

Sometimes it becomes difficult for us to reconcile ourselves to this shocking incident. Exactly what happened to the person who was so close to us, we wonder. How can his life disappear into thin air? Will we ever meet again? We cannot see the dead, but can the dead see us?

Many such questions and thoughts cross our minds, but none of them give us any solace. So we turn to the Quran to try to unravel this mystery. Several times it is said in the Quran, “Everyone will have to experience the taste of death” (3:185, 21:35). We know that whoever has been born into this world will have to leave it one day.

While we are alive and breathing, we do not really want to think about this unpleasant eventuality of eternal sleep. The Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said, “People are asleep in this world. At the time of death, they will wake up.” This life is the veil, which hides from us the truth about the reality of life. When we die, the veil will be removed and the truth will be revealed. The Prophet has also likened death to a gift for the believer.

The time of death is another mystery: is it ordained for us or do we have any say in it? In spite of all the precautionary measures we take in order to avoid the trap of death, and all the efforts made to cure ailments in order to prolong a patient’s life, when death comes, we find ourselves helpless to escape it.

In Surah Al-Nisa, those hypocrites who tried to avoid going to jihad were told, “No matter where you are, death will overcome you, even if you seek security in strong forts” (4:78). Also, in Surah Aal-i-Imran, it is said, “It is not possible for a person to die, except by the leave of God. The time is ordained” (3:145).

Some Sufi stories bring out this lesson very simply and beautifully. There is the story of the man who was walking about in a market in Egypt, when he saw the angel of death staring hard at him.

He was truly frightened and went straight to Prophet Sulaiman and told him that he needed to go at once to India. Since Prophet Sulaiman had the winds and the jinns at his command, he complied.

When that man reached a crowded marketplace in India, he again found the angel of death staring at him. The frightened man said to the angel, “What is the matter with you? You were staring at me in the market in Egypt, now you are after me again!”The angel of death replied, “I was staring at you in Egypt because I had orders to take your life in a few minutes from thisbazaar in India. I was wondering how you would reach here in such a short time!”

In Surah Aal-i-Imran it is said about the Prophet, “Muhammad is none but the Messenger of God. Many messengers have passed before him. If he dies, or is killed, will you turn back on your heels?” (3: 144). When the Prophet left for his heavenly abode, everyone was overcome with grief. Hazrat Umar said he would kill the person who said that the Prophet had died. At this, Hazrat Abu Bakr recited this verse, which calmed everyone down.

However, the concept of death is different where martyrs are concerned: “Do not consider those who have died in the way of God as dead. In fact, they are alive and with their Lord is their provision” (3:169).

Sleep has also been likened to death, for in that state and for all practical purposes, a person is as good as dead: “He is the One who takes up your souls at night …then raises you from it (sleep), so as to complete the time fixed for you to live” (6: 60). In verses 6:61 and 39:42 is a similar strain.Taking of a life is forbidden, even if it is one’s own life. In Surah Al-Maidah it is said, “…one who kills a person, except as retribution for murder or spreading corruption in the land, it is as if all humanity has been killed. And when a life is saved, it is as if all humanity has been saved.”

The Prophet is reported to have said that one should not wish for death, for a good person might increase his good deeds with a long life and an evil person might get a chance to repent.

It may be asked, when every person has to die in the end, what good will all the good deeds do for us after death? The answer is that death is ordained for the body, which is mortal, but the soul is immortal.

The purification and higher stations of the soul, achieved through spiritual, religious practices, will hold us in good stead on the Day of Resurrection when we are raised again. Since the soul is immortal, the higher station and abode of the soul will last into eternal life.

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