The ending of his life. How is ours?

Bismillah.


Tonight, I logged into Facebook as usual only to find out news that startled me. A junior from my boarding school passed away this evening that is reported to be drowned. I have not got any more details from that. I could say that I barely know him apart from the fact that we were in the same house team (Tariq Ibnu Ziyad). The thing that really got into me is than he died so young at the age of 23. Comparing myself who is a year older that him, I feel incredibly grateful that I have lived one year extra than him. Alhamdulillah, for the chance and time to let me work on my credit to add to the ‘right’ shoulder while struggling to lessen the ‘left’ weight. Nonetheless, I think of his family. They probably had no idea that their son or their brother who looked so fine and healthy this morning actually is going to leave them forever later in the evening. May Allah ease their loss. 

I tried putting myself in his place. I realized that I felt intimidated as I was wondering about so many things: 

1. Have I told my parents that I love them with every beat of my heart that I owe them eternally? 
2. Have I told my siblings that they made me feel perfect though I am not?
3. Have I owed anyone and still have not repaid the debt? 
4. Have I asked for forgiveness from those I hurt?
5. Have I hurt anyone unintentionally and they still feel hurt?
6. Have I done everything I could to lie peacefully in Barzakh and after that going through Qiyamah?

And before I could ask myself more, I decided to search for the tranquility answer. 

“To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.” (Surah Al Baqarah 2:156)

Al-Fudhayl ibn Iyyadh (May Allah have mercy on him) said to a man, “How many (years) have come upon you?”

He replied, “Sixty years.”

He said, “Therefore, for sixty years you have been going to your Lord and you are about to reach (Him).”

So the man said, “To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return!”

So Al-Fudhayl asked, “Do you know the meaning of that (statement)? You are saying, I belong to Allah as a servant and I am going to return to Him. So whoever knows that he belongs to Allah as a servant and that he will return to him, then he should know that he will be stopped. And whoever knows that he will be stopped, then he should know that he will be questioned. And whoever knows that he will be questioned, then let him prepare an answer for the question.”

[Jami al-Ulum wal-Hikam of Ibn Rajab]

Like word of wisdom that we frequently hear, "we should work like we are gonna live forever, as well as we should live today like we are going to die tomorrow." 

To God we belong, to Him is our return. 
May Allah lead us all the way in our very life. Long or short. Ameen.