Death, a great bounty of God || Imam Reza (A.S.) Network

By: Ayatullah Shaheed Syed Abdul Husayn Dastaghaib Shirazi
Take for example the subject of death. It is one of the divine bounties having several wisdoms. Generally man does not like it. Man dislikes death. But, for instance, suppose that death is kept away from all of us for a hundred years from now. You will see in what condition men would be. What would the aged men and women, being badly disabled, do? Their children and grand children will not find any time beyond attending to the old peopleâ€™s needs, their maintenance, their food, their clothing, their cleanliness and their residences. How then will the younger ones earn their livelihood and when will they take rest? Consequently, they too will become like the aged ones and fall in bed. Life would be upset totally. At that time, all the young and the old will pray to God: O Lord! Kindly do what You consider appropriate. Though we dislike death, we are pleased with what You arrange, in the death destined by You.
Having bad opinion about Godâ€™s decree and decision, finding faults with the wise administration of the universe is unlawful. Whatever God has done or ordered is proper and good. Rest assured that whatever you have understood is a sample for what you could not comprehend. You may dwell deeply in it or not, rest assured that God is the All-knowing Creator. He is Wise. "Does the One Who created, not know?" He knows all the aspects of good and bad. You have not the slightest right to raise any objection.

Remove the spectacles of ill-view
Here is an example to make this matter more comprehensible. Suppose one has a new pair of shoes. Very nice shoes but too tight fitting. He wears these shoes and walks around on a nice asphalted road, viewing green trees and beautiful flowers all around. Air is nice and there is not much heat. After a while, the pressure on his feet gives him pain. His feet get hurt. Then he begins to scream; what a bad road is this. It has made me ill. It has blistered my feet. It has wounded me. I am unable to walk any more.
Now he should be told: Take off these troubling shoes so that you may be able to enjoy the beauty of a free walk on this comfortable road. The road is not bad. It is very nice and convenient for so many people. The fault is within you.
O the one who looks at the deeds of God but with a lot of ignorance and foolishness! Until and unless you pull off from your feet the narrow tight shoes, you will never be able to enjoy the comfort of walking on a good road nor will you ever be able to understand and appreciate the wisdom behind what God Omniscient has done in this universe. One of His wise decrees is death. It makes life possible for mankind. Here is another example showing the wisdom behind death.

Death, a preliminary to reception by God
If the powerful King invites some people to come to a city full of beautiful gardens and palaces of highest quality where a number of preparations are made for the entertainment of the invitees. But for time being, he has also fixed a place or compound where the invitees may wait till they are called in as many wonderful and delightful things are under preparation inside.
Now is it not very ridiculous if the waiting people, sitting in the outer compound begin to contend with one another on trifling matters. You ate in a nicer vessel. You sat on a nicer chair etc. The fact is that it is matter of a day or two. It is not worthwhile to fight over such things during that period.
Death is the end of lifespan in this temporary world. It prepares man to receive the Grand Entertainment readied by Almighty God for man in the other lasting world. Till that time, you are in this cage or confinement for a while. Here you are unable to appreciate and imagine the great bounties readied by God for you in the everlasting life after death in Paradise. This world of matter cannot provide those great bounties of heavens.
This matter is very much worthy of attention. A number of guests, as mentioned in the example, in this compound are not prepared to enter the grand hall of Divine entertainment having wonderful gardens, rivers and palaces. They say: We are better off here. We do not like to move from here. Why? Because, they are not aware of the place, which is better and higher than what they can imagine.
But those who have became "believers in the unseen", the eye of their understanding is open. They have put trust in what God and His Messenger have said. They have put faith in the Divine Word that no one is in a position to comprehend fully the conditions in the world after death.
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"So, no soul knows what is hidden for them of that which will refresh the eyes; a reward for what they did."
It is also not possible till they are in this world. Now, is the death, which we do not like, bad? Does it not have wisdom behind it? It is the door for entering the delights and joys.
You have unduly imagined that this (world) is the place for rest and comfort. It is temporary. You are kept here purposely so that, by performing good deeds, you become entitled to the most comfortable permanent house, which is being prepared for you in Paradise. When that palace is ready, you will be told: Welcome. Even if you say: I do not want to come, they will carry you and finally you will have to go. This is not a place to live forever.
Even if man is like the greatest goblet, the stone of death will break it into pieces like a little begging cup.

Death is a decoration for man
It is Husain who says: Just as a necklace is a decoration for a young girl, so is death a necessary ornament for every human being. When the body of a deceased person is being washed, according to narrations, he is asked: Would you like to return to the world with this body? The dead one replies: Well! I have just been delivered and liberated.
Today it is enough in the matter of bad opinion about God and its prohibition. Tomorrow, God willing, we shall talk about the prohibition of having a bad opinion about the creation. Know that it is the duty of a Faithful believer to obey the Commands of God. One must have a good opinion about God and what God decrees and administers, about the universe created by God. Woe unto the one who thinks adversely about Godâ€™s creation, about whatever God has created or decreed. He forms an adverse opinion about Godâ€™s deeds.
Woe unto such a blind fellow. Woe unto you if you see injustice, oppression or unfairness in what God does â€“ May He forgive us if we ever thought so. This is a very dangerous thinking. It is incumbent on you to know that whatever God has done, it is full of wisdom. A young man dies. How do we know? It is possible that if he had lived longer, calamities could have fallen on him whereby he might have left this world in a state of disbelief and thus he would have been totally destroyed. So it was better for this youth to pass away from here at this age. Are you more merciful and kind than God! The One Who created him knows more and He is certainly more full of love for him than you are and He knows best what is in everybodyâ€™s interest.

Ali is happy and pleased with death
Man must know that death is not a monstrosity wherein he may see injustice and oppression. If you want to become a man of religious recognition (having knowledge of God and His deeds), if you are a Shia of Ali, then you should know what Amirul Momineen has said, "By God! My liking for death is more than a babyâ€™s liking for its motherâ€™s breast." You see, when a child becomes restless, when it is uneasy, motherâ€™s breast is put at its mouth and it gets instant relief. So Ali says, "Whenever I became restless and uneasy I remember my death and thereby I get relief and comfort. I get peace. I remember my original place of residence."

Help the legatee of Muhammad or give death
Tonight is the 19th night of the holy month of Ramadhan. Shaykh Waram, teacher of Sayyid Ibn Tawus, writes in his book Tanwirul Khawatir and quotes this tradition. It is from a companion of Prophet, Ismail bin Abdullah who says: After the assassination of Uthman and resulting chaos and confusion among Muslims, I took to a corner to protect myself from this turmoil. I took to the bank of river Euphrates and refrained from having any contact with people. I was there during the 19th night of the holy month of Ramadhan. It was dark but I could see a man praying to God near the water. I could hear two or three words of his prayer, which moved my heart. He was praying: O My Lord! You are the Creator of the skies and the earth. You have sent Your Messenger Muhammad. I beseech You for the sake of Muhammad. Please help the legatee of Muhammad or take his life.
Then he returned from the riverfront. I followed him and requested him on oath to show me the truth. He said: If you want to see the truth, look behind. Look at the legatee of Muhammad. Submit your religious affair before him. (Perhaps this gentleman was Khizr). I came back to Kufa and when I reached the city gates it was still dark and no one was visible. After a while, I saw a man coming out of the city. He offered four units prayer. Then I heard him praying: O My Lord! After the departure of Your Messenger, I acted according to the tradition of Your Messenger among these people, but these people are annoyed with me. They no more like Ali. What to do?
They dislike what Ali does. Truth is not with them. They are fed up with me and I am fed up with them. (These people are passion worshippers, world-lovers. What have they to do with Ali who is spirit from head to foot? He is total truth. They do not like Aliâ€™s actions. His cousin, the Messenger of God, likes his deeds). Then he prayed: O My Lord! My cousin, the Messenger of Allah, has promised me and said: O Ali! Whenever you become restless and uneasy, pray for death and God will grant it. My Lord! Now, I have become quite restless and uneasy. I need nothing but the viciousness of Ibn Muljim. I want to reach my aim. I want to be killed in Your Path.
This was in earnest. There is a narration that whenever Ali returned from a battlefield he looked sorrowful. On enquiring about the reason, he replied, "I had gone with a hope to be martyred in Godâ€™s Way, but I have returned alive. I am afraid I will not have my wish fulfilled. Since being killed on the path of Allah is a very great fortune, Ali always desired it earnestly until the Prophet gave him glad tidings that finally his beard would be colored by the blood of his head and that he would certainly be killed in Allahâ€™s path.
In brief, Ismail narrates: I saw that my master (Ali) concluded his prayer and went back to the town. I also followed him, to ascertain who was this gentleman and for what was all this weeping and desire for death. I followed him and saw that he entered the house of Amirul Momineen. I now understood that he was Ali bin Abi Talib. Then I went to the mosque to stay there till next morning, to meet him personally. Then came the call for prayer. Ali engaged himself in prayer. Within a short time, they cried, "They killed Ali."

Having a bad opinion about God is disbelief and polytheism
Having an adverse opinion about God and His creation amounts to disbelief. The Holy Qurâ€™an has mentioned at several places that unbelievers and polytheists have a bad opinion about God.
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