WE IGNORE THE GREATEST CERTAINTY

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Concept of Hereafter | Al-Risala April 1988

Dick Shawn, an American stage and film comedian, was enter­taining an audience of 600 in a theatre in La Jolla, California, when he suddenly fell face down-wards on the stage. The audience, who had been laughing uproariously at his witty monologues, thought that this was part of the act. But then, when he had lain there immobile for quite some time, his son Adam, fearing the worst, sent for a doctor. After making a thorough examination, the doctor advised that he should be taken to a hospital. He was promptly taken away in an am­bulance, but was declared dead on arrival. The doctors at the hospital said that he had probably died of a heart attack.

Death strikes the miserable, the happy, the poor, the rich, the helpless and the powerful. It is no respecter of persons. When a man leaves this life, it matters little whether he makes his exit from a tiny hovel or a spacious mansion, a humble office or the seat of govern­ment. It matters not at all whether he was in sorrow or in bliss. At that final moment when he makes his departure from this world, he is in exactly the same state as all the other departing souls – bereft of all worldly considerations, because he is on his way to face his Maker. If those who think only of today, could think a little more of tomorrow and what is to be our ultimate fate, the poor and miserable would soon forget their resentment, and the rich and powerful would find their complacency shattered.

“That which God wishes, and you wish, will come to pass,” said a certain individual to Prophet. The latter showed his intense displeasure at this remark. “Have you set me as a compeer with God?” he asked. “Say, rather, that which God alone wishes will come to pass.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 1839)