Making Peace with Death

Talking about death is an issue that is considered taboo by some people. Indeed, we are always overwhelmed by anxiety about the shadows of death. But who can run from him when the time has come. Death is a mystery that has never been solved until now. Maybe we wonder where does the spirit goes after death? And what happened to the spirit? I as a Muslim have heard of the punishment of the grave, the pleasures of the grave, heaven, and hell.

Therefore, Muslims believe that death will lead to the punishment of the grave or the pleasures of the grave. So, in my opinion, humans are not afraid of death but are afraid of what will happen to them after death. In various ways, people avoid death as in the story of Pharaoh who claimed to be God but he was afraid of death so he ordered his troops to build a pyramid to avoid death. Pharaoh thought that the angel of death was unable to penetrate the wall he had made but in the end, the pharaoh was unable to escape from the grip of death. No human can live forever, everyone will experience death.

Maybe if long life can be obtained by humans but immortality is impossible for him. In Hinduism itself there is an Upanishad teaching which is to remove the body to the realm of immortality, so for Hindus, if they want to achieve immortality they have to go through an Upanishad ceremony but in the end, they fail and cannot escape death.

Death does not look at anyone whether he is young, old, male, female, black, white, official, laborer, and so on, all of which will experience death. Maybe we often hear news of death through mosque loudspeakers, cellphones, tv, newspapers, the internet, and so on. Maybe this is a reminder that one day we will also die, what is clear is that we must prepare provisions in the form of good deeds so that later we become intercessors or helpers in the afterlife.

In the Qur'an, it is also mentioned that people who die ask Allah to give them a chance to live for a while, they promise to do as much good as possible and practice all their possessions, but their request cannot be granted.

Therefore, let us who still have the opportunity to live to use our lives by multiplying righteous deeds, so that we do not regret as described in the Qur'an. We are always anxious and afraid whether we will die in a state of su'ul khatimah or khusnul khatimah it all depends on the habits we do if we like to do good, God willing, we will also die in good condition and vice versa.

Ready or not we must be ready to face death maybe it's time we have to make peace with death. In Islam, death is seen as a positive thing, not something to be feared, avoided, abused, and so on.

To the extent that Islam says that dying is home, peaceful, beautiful, and soothing. Let's think about what events make us happy other than going home? Coming home from school, coming home from work, going home for recreation, going home, and so on are all the moments that most people have been waiting for. And how troublesome it is if someone doesn't know the way home, how miserable it is for people to have a home but can't go home. People who travel will eventually return home because there is something they miss, whether it's their children, their wives, or their parents.

People should also feel happy when they meet their Lord. Islam says that this world is a place to stop, this world is a place to grow crops but later each of us will return to Allah. Approximately for a Muslim how many times does he mention the name of Allah? For parents whose children have wandered far, how many times have they called their children? The simple question is, which one is more preferable between the telephone and the face-to-face meeting? The answer, of course, prefers to meet face-to-face except for those whose reasoning is insane. Sane people, of course, prefer to meet in person rather than just a phone call.

So dying is a way to God while we pray to God every day so dying is a positive thing. So there are some Sufis who say that when we die, it's "harvest day." What we plant is only after we die, then we enjoy the results. So the harvest day should be something to be happy about, not something to be avoided. Death is like graduation, it's the moment you've been waiting for. We as Muslims who both have faith and know the map of going home and dying should be viewed as a positive thing.

Imagine if humans didn't die, what would they want, in fact, those who are old enough to be more than a hundred years old, want to die immediately because they feel tormented by their bodies that are not strong and strong, making them not have any desire. Therefore, I invite the readers to always prepare themselves and do good deeds when we come home at any time. Death is not something to be feared and avoided because nothing can escape its grip, so the only way is to make peace with death.

The lead image by: https://unsplash.com/photos/Cxpqnzd3Psg