Roughly 151,600 people die every day. Everyone knows they’re going to die one day, but we tend to assume that death is somewhere in the distant future. However, Allah only promises that we will die, not when we will die.
Every soul will taste death 3:185
I recently saw an Instagram clip of people unexpectedly dying. It wasn’t like they got into a car accident or suffered a fatal injury. They were doing things we all do: talking, laughing, joking, and so on. All of a sudden, they slumped forward, their muscles lost strength, and they stopped moving.
This really got me thinking about death.The Angel of Death doesn’t need an excuse like cancer or a gunshot to take your soul. It could literally happen at any time.
I found this thought very sobering. It got me thinking about how I was living my life and in what state I would leave this world. I found myself saying “La Ilaha Illa Allah” a lot more often just incase I died at that moment. Call me paranoid, but I think remembering death is what we’re encouraged to do by the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ told us in a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah “Remember more often the destroyer of pleasures – death.”
Remembering your mortality makes you more likely to do good deeds with sincerity. It’s actually the recommendation of the Prophet ﷺ to pray as if it’s your last Salah. Allah ﷻ said in the Qur’an:
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed – and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving
As Muslims, we know that this life is very short and that we’re running headfirst into a grave. The best thing we can do is prepare for it.
“Visit the graves, for they remind you of the Hereafter.” (Narrated by Muslim, 976)
I recommend this episode of Freshly Grounded as a good reminder of death and how to prepare for it.
Hikmah Central 