We have all heard the saying “There are 2 things certain in this world Death & Taxes”. We all know that none of us can escape death. It is the destiny of every person. It is strange that something so inevitable we hardly talk or prepare for it. Somehow we think of death as a bad thing and fear it. The fear is not so much of the pain at the time of death, but it is the ending of the relationship with the things of this world.

But maybe that is not such a bad thing and we don’t have to fear it so much. We would have less to fear if we realize that death is not the end, but rather a beginning of new life in a new world. Death is a homecoming to where we came from. So instead of fearing death, we should prepare for it by becoming aware of our connection with God who created us out of love, sent us in this world to grow & calling us back to to be with him.

An excerpt of a prayer by the great grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (‘s), Imam Zainul Abideen:

“O God…

Appoint for us from among the righteous works a work

through which we will feel the homecoming to Thee as slow

and crave a quick joining with Thee,

so that death may be

our intimate abode with which we are intimate,

our familiar place toward which we yearn,

and our next of kin whose coming we love!”

