A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Why Death? |
|---|
| amkamb |
| 11/13/03 at 12:45:52 |
| Why Death? by Aminah Kamble We are born into this world, and are granted a brief life, after which we die and go back to dust. You cannot think about life without thinking about death. Where there is life, there is death. Nothing is permanent. Not even the sun and the moon. Nothing is eternal in the life of this world. Death is a reality that each and every soul will face. Why has God ordained death for every creature? Why does everybody have to die? Why didn't God give every man permanent life? Is it not in His power to grant eternal life to each and every soul if He should so wish? Of course He can! God has power over all things! So, why does every soul have to taste death? Could it be possible that God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it for no reason? Or could it be possible that God created it all as a sport? No, there has to be a very good reason why things are the way they are. God is Perfect, and all His acts and decrees are demonstrative of His great Wisdom and Knowledge, of which there can be absolutely no question or doubt. So, why did God create Death? The answer to our question is found in the Qur'an. No other religion besides Islam has a reasonable answer to this question. Read Surat-al-Mulk (67:1-2): "Blessed be He in whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath power--Who created Death and Life, that he may try which of you is best in deed." Death was created to test who among mankind is best in conduct. God cannot test who among us is better in character if He had created us all alike. Some of us He created rich, some poor, some talented, some dull, some beautiful, some ugly. Every individual that God has created is unique and different. To some He has given more, to some He has given less. But regardless of what blessings, gifts and abilities we have been born with, all men are capable of good conduct and live righteously. But what do you find in today's world? Does everybody do good even though it is in their power to do so? No! If God had granted eternal life to each and every one of us, there would have been no reason for any evil man to change his ways...No reason for anyone to repent and ask God for forgiveness. No reason to pray to God. No reason to obey God. There would be no such thing as old age, disease or sickness. They will become meaningless since noone will die. A man can be a menace to society and harrass everyone, and keep doing it forever and forever. There would be no reason why anyone would want to do good either. We could all commit sins upon sins and not worry about something called Death. Everything will be permissible. If you steal, so what? If you lie, so what? If you commit fornication, so what? If you are a homosexual, so what? If you disobey God, so what?! The creation of Death was therefore essential. It is a reminder to us how helpless we really are and how dependent we are on God for everything. No man knows how long he will live. And since we don't know the hour or day when we are going to die, we cannot afford to spend our lives in futile pursuits. We cannot afford to disobey God, do evil and not worry about it! Why? Because Death is not the end! Hellfire is for real. A hundred years from now, none of us will be alive, that is for sure. Let us strive to do good and earn Allah's pleasure right now, today, at this very moment. Let us seek ways to strengthen our iman. May Allah have mercy on us. Ameen. |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |