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The Two
Aspects of Death
“Although the
phenomenon of life counts as the most precious of gifts and its loss is
extremely grievous and terrifying, none can doubt that just as surely as
man embarks on his life involuntarily to spend some time in this
guesthouse we call the world, he must ultimately confront the painful
and frowning face of death when the scroll of his life is rolled up.
Our world is a
world of turmoil and instability. The wheel of birth and death keeps
constantly turning; do not believe that anything can come into being in
the sphere of this cycle without being subject to change.
Whatever comes
into existence must traverse a path leading to death; it makes no
difference whether it be man or one of the other countless forms of
life. Every phenomenon the limits of whose motion are set by matter is
ephemeral, for it is precisely its defining characteristic that draws it
on toward non-existence; the end of its affair is disappearance. The
funeral dirge of finiteness resounds throughout the world of being.
We must first
raise the complex question of the end of life, attempt to analyze it and
to answer some of the questions that may be raised in this respect.
Is life restricted
to this present terrestrial existence which stretches from the moment of
birth to the moment of death? Is it confined to the brief interval
during which those who have come to this world take, one after another,
the place of those who have left it? Should it be imagined that there is
no existence other than the three-dimensional existence of this world,
and that our individual characteristics and personalities bear the
imprint of non-being? Or is it true that beyond this existence an
eternal morrow awaits man, which will enable him to perceive anew
himself and the world? Will the physical system of this world be
transformed into another world and manifest a new and perfected form?
Finally, in all
these arrivals and departures, in these assumptions of form and
annihilations, is there some divine purpose at work? In other words, did
God's will determine that man, the choice part of His creation, should
live in this world as a traveler, a transient, and move ultimately to
another world which will be his eternal abode?
If we conceive of
death in the light of the first set of possibilities, then life, under
whatever circumstances it is spent, will be full of misery and pain, for
the anticipation of annihilation and non-being inevitably arouses dread
in man and paralyses him with the undeniable torment it induces.
The second vantage
point is that of a person who finds refuge in the concept of a world
beyond nature which enables him to place this world in perspective. He
is convinced that man and the universe advance together in a pattern
determined by God's unity and that their forward movement is unending.
For such a person death is simply the breaking of the narrow and
confining cage of the body and his being liberated from it, entering
thereby an ideal and enrapturing realm. For such a person death is
merely the substitution of one form to another, a change of outer garb.
When death arrives man abandons this garb and his form of clay and puts
on the garment of the transitional realm. Then, ascending from that
stage to the next and flying toward infinity, he casts off in turn the
garb of the transitional realm and puts on the raiment of eternity.
For those who hold
this exalted and precious belief, the end of life is a transformation
overflowing with good, a transformation that enables all things to
recover their identity and to be purified.
Dr. Carrel the
well-known scholar says:
"The answer given
by religion to the anxiety man feels when confronted with the mystery of
death is infinitely more satisfactory than that given by science;
religion gives man the answer his heart desires." (Rah-u-Rasm-i
Zindagi, p. 142)
The bitterness and
unpleasantness of leaving this world are seen as natural and inevitable
by those who imagine that their passage through the wall of death spells
an end to all dimensions of their existence and that there is no life
beyond that frontier. But for those who believe that this world is
nothing more than an elaborate game, similar to that in which children
or artists engage, and that quitting this world of matter is a form of
progress and ascent in the direction of infinity, the matter takes on a
quite different aspect. Not only does the countenance of death lose for
them its horror and awe; they even long impatiently for release from
their body of clay in order to be joined in union with Him.
Such an
understanding of the nature of death impels man to pursue pure and
exalted aims, to the point of heroically sacrificing his life for their
sake. Then, like a moth freed from its prison he circles over his former
place of confinement; like a warrior on the field of battle he accepts a
bloody death. He sacrifices his personal motives and desires in order to
attain a morrow filled with pride, glory, and lofty and positive ideals.
In the view of
such a person, man has a two-dimensional life as an attribute that is
uniquely his. One of the two dimensions is his material life, in which
he is subject to biological circumstances and social necessities, and
the other is his inner and spiritual life, a life in which he engages in
thought, inventiveness, creativity, and the cultivation of ideals, gives
external existence to his inner ferment and enthusiasm, and moulds to
his will the society in which he lives and even history.
Fear of
Death
Lack of awareness
and the failure to comprehend adequately the nature of death induce
fear, dread and insecurity in man, for they make death appear to be a
terrible nightmare.
Imam al-Hadi, upon
whom be peace, once went to visit one of his companions who had fallen
sick. The fear of death had robbed him of all tranquillity and calm, so
the Imam addressed him as follows:
"O servant of God,
you fear death because you do not understand it correctly. Tell me: if
your body were soiled with dirt so that you were pained and discomforted
and afflicted with running sores, and you knew that a washing in the
bathhouse would rid you of all that filth and pain, would you not wish
to avail yourself of the bath house to cleanse yourself of the dirt? Or
would you be reluctant to do so and prefer to remain in your polluted
state?"
The sick man
replied:
"O descendant of
the Messenger of God! I would definitely prefer to wash myself and
become clean."
To this the Imam
responded:
"Know, then, that
death is exactly like the bathhouse. It represents your last chance to
rid yourself of your sins and to purify yourself of evil. If death
embraces you now, there can be no doubt that you will be freed of all
sorrow and pain and attain everlasting happiness and joy."
Hearing these
words of the Imam, the sick man changed completely and a remarkable
tranquillity appeared on his face. Then in dignified fashion, he
surrendered himself to death, in the shroud he had drawn around himself,
full of hope in God's mercy. He closed his eyes which had now seen the
truth and hastened to his eternal abode. (Ma'ani-al-Akhbar, p.
290)
The Master of the
Godfearing, upon whom be peace, was one of those rare human beings who
had truly understood the meaning of life and had caused death itself to
fear him. Few men have advanced the claim that `Ali made:
"I swear by God
that the son of Abu Talib is more at ease with death than a suckling
infant with the breast of its mother."
The whole of his
life turns out on examination to be a proof for this claim. Why should
that extraordinarily pure man, who never exaggerated concerning his love
for God, not long day and night for the meeting with God Almighty, for
hastening to His supreme presence? With his pure nature and exalted mind
he had understood that death means liberation from the dark fetters of
matter and the opening of the gates of eternity; why then should he fear
death?
History does not
record a noble hero other than the son of Abu Talib whose hand wielded
the sword for almost fifty years and who encountered without spilling a
single drop of blood unjustly, countless incidents which normally arouse
feelings of hate and vengeance in man and rob him of his humanity.
This was his
concept of life:
"Even if I were to
be given the whole world and all it contains, I would not unjustly
remove the husk of a single grain from the mouth of an ant."
For this pious and
strong commander who throughout his life granted the weak and the
powerful their rights in equal measure, who showed care for the feeding
of his murderer while suffering the pain of his fatal wounds, warfare
and struggle represented a means for reform of man, not his destruction.
The vile murderer
calculated that he would be able to carry out the assassination of `Ali,
upon whom be peace, only when he was standing in worship before his
Lord, with the whole of his being effaced in the splendor of the
Creator; it was this that enabled him to implement his plan.
When he was struck
with the wound that severed the cord of his life, `Ali bade death
welcome like a dear one he had long been awaiting, and said:
"I am free, by the
Lord of the Ka'ba! I have no fear if death should carry me off or death
should befall me."
The relatives and
companions who gathered round the bed of `Ali had never seen the same
amazing tranquillity that they now saw in that ocean of courage,
generosity, justice and piety, as he endured the painful wound that had
been inflicted on him.
It may furthermore
be said that the one who denies life after death looks on man from only
one vantage point: he imagines him to be a creature wandering in the
realm of matter and supposes that all of his existence is exhausted by
the few passing moments his earthly body spends in this world. Such a
view of things implies that the entire destiny of man consists of
helpless exposure to a whole range of factors, known and unknown: he
enters this world with great pain, maintains himself in it for a few
days by enduring all kinds of oppression and injustice, and then finally
departs in the embrace of death and annihilation.
Such a life would
indeed be miserable, and to remain in the world under such circumstances
would be painful. Whoever reaches this distressing conclusion about the
destiny of man must view the nature of existence itself in the same way.
For in his opinion
it is not only whose life is spent in the whirlpool of pointlessness and
injustice; whatever comes into existence must also traverse the path of
meaninglessness and oppression until the moment of its annihilation. All
things are engaged in injustice: whether it be man in his struggle for
survival, an insect that inflicts a sting, or the drops of a rainstorm
that destructively beat down on a hut. To take matters still further,
this would mean that this transitory world lacks all legitimacy, that it
is simply an assemblage of absurdity and injustice.
This is the view
of the person who has severed his link with the eternal and everlasting
being that is the source of all existence, and who thereby commits an
error for which he must pay the price.
With such a
person, sickness, deprivation, the inability to fulfil wishes and attain
goals (or the loss of them after attaining them), fear of a dark and
unknown future, all these serve to break his spirit and torment him.
* * * * *
Victor Hugo says:
"If man thinks
that he is faced with annihilation, that absolute non-being awaits him
after this life, life itself will have absolutely no meaning for him.
That which makes the life of man pleasant and enjoyable, makes his labor
joyful, gives warmth to his heart, and broadens the horizons of his
vision, is none other than what revelation and religion give man, belief
in an eternal world, faith in the immortality of man, the conviction
that `You, O man, are not destined to non-being; you are greater than
this world, which is nothing more than a small and impermanent nesting
place for you, a cradle for your infancy, the era of your splendor and
greatness still lies ahead.' "
The feeling of
pointlessness, the lack of belief in the occurrence of resurrection and
reckoning after this earthly existence, has become a source of crushing
fear for man in this age of the progress of science and technology. With
the strong inclination to material life that results from the one-sided
development of man's capacities, he has now come to regard it as his
ultimate goal.
All the
innovations that are meant to protect man from so many dangers and
errors, to liberate him from fetters and restrictions, have in fact
robbed him of peace and tranquillity and cast him into the whirlpool of
anxiety. Our world has become a stage on which men rush madly forward in
a single direction, for the sake of prosperity and power which they have
made the source of their happiness and the aim of their strivings.
The result of this
constricted view of things, the belief that the world has no owner, that
man wanders through these ruins accountable to no one, is that the world
is filled with fear and rapine. The smell of blood rises up from every
corner of this abode of terror. This is the state of affairs that man
has now reached; he is no longer himself, but a being filled with greed,
cupidity, hatred and envy. It is unclear how matters will proceed. The
emergence of new schools of philosophy is in itself a sign of the
painful predicament in which man finds himself and of the intellectual
and spiritual vacuum.
A psychiatrist
writes:
"Two thirds of the
patients that have come to me from all over the world are educated and
successful people who are tormented by a great pain, the feeling that
life is pointless, meaningless, and incomprehensible. The reason is that
as a result of technology, the stagnation of beliefs, short sightedness
and prejudice, twentieth century man has become irreligious. In
bewilderment he searches for his soul, but he will have no peace until
he rediscovers religion. Lack of religion is the cause for the emptiness
and meaninglessness of life."(Quoted in Kayhan, no. 8196)
Evil deeds form
another reason for fearing death; it is obvious that they make death
appear extremely fearsome and terrifying to the wrongdoer.
As Mawlana Jalal
ad-Din Rumi says:
O you who
attempt to flee death in your fear,
It is yourself that you fear, use your intelligence!
It is your countenance that is ugly, not the visage of death;
Your soul is a tree on which death is the leaf.
Yes, it is the
fear of one's deeds that causes men to stand in terror of death. In this
connection, the Qur'an remarks concerning the Jews:
"Say: `O Jews,
if you imagine that you alone are the friends of God, to the exclusion
of all others, then desire death for yourselves, if you speak truly.'
But they will never desire death, on account of the deeds they have
freely performed. God is well aware of the deeds of the wrongdoers."
(62:6-8).
The Noble Qur'an
depicts for us the fruitlessness of the lives of those who turn their
back on the truth and struggle helplessly in the whirlpool of
meaninglessness:
"Those whom
they invoke other than the Creator can create nothing; rather they are
themselves created. They are dead and lifeless, lacking all feeling and
awareness, and they do not know when they will be resurrected."
(16:20-21).
"O Messenger,
you cannot make these people whose hearts are dead hear through the word
of truth, nor can you convey your summons to these deniers who avert
their faces." (30:52).
By contrast, the
Qur'an calls living and immortal those who are killed while seeking to
elevate God's word:
"Do not call
dead those who are killed in God's path; they are living in the presence
of their God receiving sustenance from Him, although you do not perceive
it." (2:154).”
The Two Aspects of Death
http://www.al-islam.org/Resurrect/r1.htm
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