Death is a train

Let's say death is a train. We all know that we must board this train. Before boarding that train, everyone is preparing various kinds of good deeds. Some people have their pockets full of faith and deeds surrounded by trust. Some people have less deeds in their pockets, but they are completely pure. And some people have their pockets completely empty—they have neither deeds nor faith. Tell me the truth—in which of the three groups above do you want to see yourself? We all definitely want to be in the first group who will return from this world loaded with deeds. If we want to be passengers in the first group on that train of death, we have to make the most of the time of our lives. We have to know the religion of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and organize our lives accordingly. There is a tendency among people to say, "When I grow old, I will start doing deeds and worship." This is nothing but a trick of Satan. Who will guarantee that you will see the time in the future when you are thinking of performing deeds and worship? How beautifully Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: ‘Son of Adam! You are only the sum of a few days. When a day passes, a part of you is lost at the same time.’ The sum of time is called life. Here, the passing of each day means losing a part of that sum forever. This saying of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) is very helpful in understanding how precious the passing times of life are. He said— ‘Wasting time is more terrible than death. Because—death separates a person from the world and its inhabitants, and wasting time separates a person from his Lord.’ If we are indifferent to the many times of life, then we will lag behind in achieving the path to the Hereafter. Carelessness, indifference and apathy towards religion may one day make us stand before a darkness where there is nothing but the destruction of the soul. Allah (swt) has also described in the Quran how terrible the consequences of not prioritizing life before death will be. Describing the endless regret of those who are intoxicated with the world but forget the life of the Hereafter, Allah (swt) says— يَقُولْلُ يٰلَيْتَنِي قَدَّمْتُ لِحَيَاتِيْ ‎٢٤ ‘He will say (with regret), ‘Oh! I wish I had sent something before this life.’ (Surah Al-Fajr, 24)।

A unique example of how wonderfully Allah rewards a servant when he puts his trust in Allah in times of trouble and is patient and hopes for a good reward only from Allah is found in the life of Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Umm Salamah was not yet married to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). She was the wife of another companion. Before becoming the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Umm Salamah heard a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The hadith is this: ‘When a Muslim is in trouble, if he says, “Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un” and recites this supplication as commanded by Allah: “O Allah, grant me the reward of patience in trouble and grant me a better substitute than what is leaving me,” then Allah will bless him with a better substitute.’ (1) Umm Salamah said: ‘Then when my husband Abu Salamah passed away, I thought to myself, ‘Which Muslim can be better than Abu Salamah? He was the first person to migrate to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).’ Even then, I recited this supplication. Then Allah Almighty gave me a husband like the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in place of Abu Salama!’ Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) relied on Allah (swt) and remained patient during the hardships that befell her. She did the deeds taught by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the hope of receiving a good reward. As a good reward, she received the best person in the world! She was fortunate enough to be the wife of the best Messenger! SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi!