…Death

The bitter sherbet, which contains coldness in its name and immobility in its body, which we can never get used to, which we forget the most throughout our lives, but from which it is impossible to escape, which will surely be tasted by every living being in one way or another… Isn’t it a strange feeling that we will die?

A pain that is felt beforehand and then the feeling of the unknown that begins for those left behind, the mystery… An immobile, insensitive, thoughtless and emotionless life that comes with it…

The moment when the living being, who breathes to live the next moment, begins to wait for the next life without breath…

We know it so well in our discourses that it is as if we recognise death from somewhere. It is as if it is one of the foremost of those we recognise and forget…

Our recognition of death comes from the place where the values we claim to believe in are gathered, namely our mind. Because the intellect is constantly in contact with the external world, it is well aware of the situation it encounters the most while forming its values. Depending on its state of use, it can even evaluate and recognise death better than life.

Although life is full of unknown actions, death is a reality that we constantly encounter in every aspect of life. The end of the lives of all living creatures in the natural world enables our minds to clarify the information about death down to the details.

The rotting of fruits, the wilting of plants, and the end of the life of living creatures are changes that constantly occur in life. Even if man constantly forgets his own death, he does not forget that the fruit he buys will rot. He does not see this as a reminder of his own death, but he knows well that there is a time when the fruit will end by rotting. He does not take the message of a wilted rose, however, he sees the change as natural. This situation never seems extraordinary to him. Such death, end of life, expiry, decay and extinction that occur in the world of living beings come naturally to the people of reason and are easy to accept.

Most of the people who are in heedlessness, although they do not have any information about their destination, when they receive news that they have found someone around them whose life has come to an end, they summarise this situation as follows:

-That is where we will all go!

  • (I wonder) where?

If he really knew where he was going, would he have taken it so lightly? Would he have been able to spend his day like this, would he have been able to deal with the property or position that he would leave here without preparing for tomorrow?

Witnessing every last discovery should be perceived as a stop approaching the end. In spite of the commands of the nafs, in which it prevails in its ongoing struggle with the mind, Allah (swt) has placed the existence of death, its inevitability, and the knowledge that it is the absolute reality to be prepared for, as the most effective weapon, in every field of life.

For this reason, the religion of Islam has ordered us, its servants, who live our lives with a free will[76], to live in the consciousness of death. Including this awareness of death in life will make life meaningful, and carrying the belief of being held accountable after death will minimise the tendency of the person to make mistakes. Allah (swt) knows best.

Allah (swt) says the following:

Say: Death, from which you have been running away, will surely come to you. Then you will be returned to Allah, Who knows the unseen and the visible world, and He will inform you of what you have been doing.

Reason is the most valuable of the things that Allah (swt) has bestowed on us, His servants, to whom He has given obligations. In order to live with the awareness of death, the mind must be guided in the light of correct information. The most essential function of our mind is to prepare itself for the situations that our body, which it keeps under control, encounters or is likely to encounter and to produce positive solutions.

In order to prepare itself for these events in the best way, it needs some recognitions. These recognitions, together with reaching a period of clarity, require it to proportionally adjust the values available for the use of power. After this period of proportion and clarity, it has to make some choices in order to determine the boundaries of its own world.

These recognitions, uses and choices are the methods that the person will apply to direct his/her mind in the best way. These methods are the most important decisions to add value to the use of life, to be conscious, strong and peaceful. These decisions are necessary for the person to maintain his/her thoughts within the limits and his/her actions with personality.

In order to lead a conscious, strong and peaceful life, the owner of the intellect needs the correct application of these directions, which we divide into recognitions, uses and choices.

[76] The will, which enables people to act within the framework of the accident and destiny given to them

[77] Surah Jumu’ah, Verse 8