such is the state of this world
January 3, 2008On Tuesday, my eldest sis and I went to attend an engagement party at Byblos Banquets. As we were both sick, we didn’t know at first whether or not we should attend. Our desire to follow the sunnah encouraged us to go, however late we were. We arrived there at 8 pm, just in time for the dinner they were serving. It was a joyful enough party – though I think my sister and I were mainly elated over the fact that they had only played anasheed for the majority of the time, having decided we would duck out early were they to have any music.
We saw a close friend, who upon getting ready to leave, had told us of another friend who’s cousin had passed away in Palestine. My sister and I decided we should visit right away as well, so we all picked up our things and left for her house, arriving there at 9:30 pm.
This cousin of hers that passed away was shot by soldiers when he was exiting a masjid after praying either Dhuhr or Asr. He was 22 years of age and had been a hafith at 12 years old; may Allah grant him the highest levels of Paradise, and sakinah in his grave.
SubhanAllah – imagine a mother losing her son while she is still alive to witness it! May Allah make it easier on their family. I keep thinking on how young he was – at the age where others are mapping out their lives and goals, his was ending. Indeed what Hasan al-Basri said rings true:
“O son of Adam, you are but a bundle of days. As each day passes, a portion of you vanishes away.”
Time assuaged us to say our salam’s and set off towards our homes. My eldest sis and I went to drop off my close friend and her mom. It was 10:30 when we arrived in her driveway where I made the suggestion that we visit her neighbor (another good friend of ours), since she had just given birth the past Friday. She rang her up and gave us the ok to drop by. SubhanAllah, seeing the miracle of a newborn after hearing about the calamity of death…the night indeed had come full circle – and it hadn’t even reached 11 pm!
How could I not reflect, when in less than three hours I had congratulated someone for their marriage, given condolences to a friend who had just lost a member of her family, and then rejoiced with another friend over her baby, a life Allah allowed into this world. Allahu Akbar walillahil Hamd – indeed, that is the state of this life!
And what joy can we bring in a life that doesn’t stay constant with goodness? What joy can we truly have when we have yet to stand before our Lord humiliated with our sins? What joy can we have when we know that the grave is our next home, and the dirt our next companion? What price will we have purchased to reside comfortably therein?
Is he whom We have promised an excellent promise (Paradise), which he will find true, like him whom We have made to enjoy the luxuries of the life of (this) world, then on the Day of Resurrection, he will be among those brought up (to be punished in the Hell-fire)? [Al-Qasas, ayah 61]
Umar radiyaAllahu ‘anhu said: “Every day we say: ‘So and so has died, and so and so has died,’ and a day will come when people will say: ‘Umar has died.’” And he cried after mentioning this.
salamunalaik!
First of all i would like to pray for that young brother whom his creator has called back to compensate his life with jannah as its mentioned in sura tauba—-innallahash tara minal mumineena biamawalhim waanfusim biannalahumul jannah–Allah has purchased the lives n wealth of momineen as a compensation with jannah…
May Allah forgive him,accept his good deeds n elevate his rank in the jannah and pour upon their family memebers especially his parents sakeenah n sabr…a’meen
Indeed when Allah created the world,he devreed destruction for it,and death for its inhabitants.whoever from them is crying then let them cry over themselfs for the destination of your companion is the destination of all people tomorrow….
In this world man is a target of arrows that come to him successively,some pass him by,some fall short, some fall to his right n others to the left and some strikes him…
(The above 2 statements are from our great salaf saliheen and tabayeen….they arent mine or someonelese)
wa’alaykum us salaam warahmatullah,
Ameen to your du’as – may Allah accept them from you!
Do you have the name of the two authors of those statements? BarakAllahu Feek for sharing them
Asalamuaalaikum ya ukhtee fid-deen.
Actually I took those statements which were written in my book,in turn taken from the actual source-Gems & Jewels of Islam by malik mujahid published by darus-salam,but i forgot to note down thier names.
I don’t even have that book with me now,I read it in Ramazan 2007 n returned to it’s owner.
As far as my memory remembers they may be Dinar bin abdullah or Abdullah bin mubarak or hasan basri rahimahullah—May Allah azza wajal have mercy upon them.
Wa’alaykum us Salaam Warahmatullah,
JazakAllahu Khairan – I hope to look them up soon. I had just asked about that book on another blog. In shaa Allah I will be able to own it soon and go through it then, if Allah gives me life. Ameen to your dua’s!
As-salaamu’alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu my dearest sister,
Ameen, Ameen, Ameen.
Jazak’Allah for sharing this post, it’s a great reminder of how short our life is, .. and even shorter for some than others.
May Allah Most High guide us to spend our time doing what pleases Him this most. Ameen.
Lovely blog, masha’Allah.
Wa’alaykum as-salaam
Love Farhana
Wa’alaykum us Salaam Warahmatulahee Wabarakatuhu Farhana! Wa eeyakum, and Ameen to your du’a : )
SubhanAllah, our life is indeed short – but we rarely plan for it. Do we ever think during our days – alright, need to pick up my sis at 3 pm, start making dinner at 4, run an errand at 5 – and perhaps I’ll meet the angel of Death then.
For most of us, the answer is an unequivocal no. Whereas the Prophet sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: “Always remember the Destroyer of pleasure.” (in at-Tirmidhi) – and I pray that we may be of those people who remember it.
subhanAllah! the stages of life all in less than…what? 5 hours? that’s crazy.
in less than 3 hours! Amazing to go through those stages in that amount of time. It really puts things in perspective.
This is truly an awesome experience. Mashallah.
Atabek – yes indeed it was! Alhamdullilah that I was able to experience it and benefit from it’s reminder.