13. PEOPLE’S FORGETFULNESS OF DEATH IS PART OF ALLAH’S WISDOM
One day I attended the funeral (janaah) of a youth who was full of life. I noticed that the attendees exaggerated in condemning (dbam) life and those who dwell on earth. They also condemned those who were negligent (ghafilun) in preparing for their death (mawt).
I responded, ‘What you said is true; however listen to what I have to say…’
If a wise person knows how near his ending will be, his intellect will obligate him to act promptly and to be worrisome.
Some people went as far as to stray in the wilderness, and to spend their days in hunger and their nights staying awake. They would stay near graveyards so they could die more quickly.
Truly, what they had worried about deserves more than this.
However, sound intellect realises that the body is the soul’s ride, and that one must take it easy with the ride in order to reach the destination. Staying up all night and having excessive worry will harm the body.
The human body is delicate; if a person refrains from eating fatty foods his brain will dry up, staying up all night makes one lose his desires, and if he continues to be sad his heart will become ill. So one must be gentle with his body by eating beneficial foods, and he must protect his heart by repelling harmful sorrows. Otherwise his body will deplete quickly.
Then Sharf ah came to confirm what the sound intellect determined. He said: “Your body has rights over you; your wife has rights over you. So fast sometimes, eat sometimes, and sleep sometimes and stay up sometimes.”
And he said: “It is enough of a sin for someone not to take care of those for whom he is responsible.”
He also encouraged getting married. And when a person loses his emotional side, then his wife turns into a widow. His children turn into orphans. There is no justification for someone to occupy himself with gaining knowledge (ilm) while he is stressed out to this point.
If you want proof for what I have said, then look at how Allah’s Messenger was. He used to mix his fear (of Allah) with joking, and used to race with A’ishah (radiy Allahu ‘anha) and married numerous times. He used to take care of his body by drinking water that has been collected overnight, and used to eat sweets and meat.
And had there not been a degree of oblivion (ghafla) towards death, then scholars would not have written books, and knowledge would not have been preserved, and neither would have hadith. This is because he who is always thinking about death will never document, gather or author books of knowledge.
So do not be surprised at people when they seem to forget about death, for this is a blessing from Allah that aids in going about life and worldly affairs.
The form of oblivion that is worthy of blame is the one that leads to carelessness (ihmal) and not holding oneself accountable (muhasabah li’l-nafs), leading to wasting dme without preparation for the afterlife. Sometimes oblivion leads to sins.
On the other hand, if oblivion is in the right amount, then it would be just as important as adding salt to food. It is a must, and if it is too much, then food becomes inedible.
So understand what I have said, and never say: ‘So and so it is very alert, he never sleeps at night, and so and so is oblivious, he sleeps most of the night.’
Oblivion that brings benefit should not be condemned.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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