Make sure to have ‘lived’ life before you die
We are all on a time limit, and when we die (young or old), there’s no coming back. PHOTO: REUTERS
A 33-year-old friend of mine died two years ago, leaving behind two children and a husband who was madly in love with her.
A car accident left her in coma for 30 hours before she passed away.
Once people heard the news, they said it was an “unfortunate and untimely death”. As much as I hated knowing that I would never see her again, I knew this was God’s will, and that we all have to go where she went in her death.
Death is an inescapable reality that every person has to face and certainly not an option we can avoid. It is the final destination, and some just reach it before others.
The timing is never wrong. The definition of untimely death is any death that takes place at an unusually early age or before the person’s potential has been fully realised.
But what does “untimely death” mean for us? Who decides whether it’s the right time for us to die or not?
Saying that a death was ‘untimely’ is tantamount to saying that what God decided for us was wrong. As soon as we open our eyes in the world, we are told what to accomplish and how to achieve success. Despite all the planning, nobody really ‘plans’ to die.
During our routine life, when death hits us, it is labelled as ‘untimely’.
This life is so temporary, but we often forget that. We have shifted our focus, forgetting that our final destination is death. The clocks are ticking away like a time-bomb, and any moment can be our time to leave the worldly hustle-bustle.
Sadly, most of us are adamant that we will only die when we are old and useless. No, one must certainly not live in misery or fear of death; I’m only saying that we have lost focus. Yes, we can drop dead at any second, but this makes every single moment of life a blessing. If we can make the most of our time in this world, help our surroundings from family to society and thank God in a regular basis, we will be able to lead a fulfilling life.
We are all on a time limit, and when we die (young or old), there’s no coming back. The only question to ask ourselves is,
“Are we ready to depart when it’s our time?”
Read more by Mahrukh here or follow her on Twitter @Mahrukh_Abbasi
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
When you live in Karachi, your mind is conquered by such ideas whenever you step outside your house.Recommend
So basically you were in old age death paranoia and when you saw your young friend died, you started to believe that death can come any second.
Between when your time is up, it does not matter whether you are ready or not.Recommend
Author “Saying that a death was ‘untimely’ is tantamount to saying that what God decided for us was wrong.
Are you saying God also decides that so and so should die in a terrorist or suicide bombing attack?Why punish terrorists for doing what God “WANTS” to happen?Recommend
U won my heart girl ! awesome, lovely and very very fine piece ! U r blessed in the sense that u may have what we call “baseerat”, that is, eyes of a living (not dead) heart. A very mature and intelligent way to look at events in life and how they are destined.
Just one question though, how did u manage to publish this piece through tribune blogs?? they dont usually allow such stuff !! didn’t it threaten/endanger their agenda ? what if someone actually develops or starts to develop a relation with Allah through this piece. That could be a huge disadvantage for ET !Recommend
Lovely! Absolutely lovely…. :) Thank youRecommend
Great message.
This is the only shot you get, after all you only live once.Recommend
Lolz.. We already know that we can die at any moment. Well if it would me my last day, i would just hug my parents, ask them to forgive me, ask forgiveness from Allah as well. Donate all my savings to my bro ( According to him, mei apne paiso pe sanp ban k bethi hoi hon :D :p :(
Call my friends and ask them to pray fr me.. Thats it, I am all set to go ;)Recommend
one life, live it !Recommend
Yeah. we appreciates u r terse words and language. As u hv already adhered with the motto i.e “Brevity is the soul of wit” besides u too act upon on “Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.” (Shakespearian) …….. As in nutshell .. it is ascribed to … willynilly….. host.Recommend
lets not forget there is no shortage of people that try to make us hate life, make us feel guilty about enjoying life and want us to live in constant fear that death can happen anytime.Recommend
Brilliantly written!!Recommend
such a nice short piece of writing u really made thoughtful article but point to realize is that what is your afterthought reading this blog either carry on reading other one or offer pray of that time of ask for pity on you to ALLLAH and prepare yourself for your final destination through understanding what makes you successful in eyes of ALLAH indeed this world is merely deception of eye but actualize the groundreality is definitely is tough jobRecommend
Man proposes but God disposes.
In this short simple piece you have brought home the truth beautifully.Recommend
aala..!!Recommend
Excellent!! the best part is to really understand that “The timing is never wrong”. Actualy the fact is “Nothing is ever wrong” since nothing wrong can be aproved by the Almighty perfectionist. We with our very limited understanding and our perception just label things right or wrong.
“nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” shakespeareRecommend
Good work, and nothing say, Allah iman se aur kalma pertay hoy ayeRecommend
sorry but this blog .. has no point whatsoever ..ET your publication level is decreasingRecommend
Great!!!
This was my first hit on express tribune and I really enjoyed it …Recommend
I actually liked your overall blog very much. I did note that some of the things you have mentioned as though they are factual are really only part of your belief system. Wanted to bring that to your attention. Two examples:
“We are all on a time limit, and when we die (young or old), there’s no coming back” – Hindus believe in rebirth not heaven and hell. So ofcourse this belief does not tie with what we believe.
“Saying that a death was ‘untimely’ is tantamount to saying that what God decided for us was wrong.” There are many atheists and agnostics in this world with whom this statement may not resonate.Recommend
@ Insaan
O jahil Insaan! “When” a person dies is decided by God, according to Islamic beliefs, not “how” or “where” or “by whom” a person dies. The author did say “unTIMELY”. Just breathe for a second you know, before going to the comments and bashing up religion. You just make us other liberals look stupid.Recommend
Does god decides to kill thousands of children every year due to un availability of clean water and malnutrition?Recommend
How would you advise these children dying of hunger to live life to the fullest ( before dying)Recommend
When would humans ( particularly ) believers would start taking the blame for deaths of many. E.g deaths due to wars, deaths due to bomb blasts, deaths due to suicide bombers, death of shahzeb khan, death of girl in India, honour killings etc etc…what god has to do with these deaths??Recommend
I have also lost friend similar age in UK quite recently. This incident opened our eyes as to ask ourselves “are we ready yet”? Have we fulfilled our “Faraiz” yet? If we have caused pain to any one in the world have they forgive me? Have I asked Allah SWT for forgiveness…Recommend
@Someone Sane: O jahil Insaan! “When” a person dies is decided by God, according to Islamic beliefs, not “how” or “where” or “by whom” a person dies.
So a person killed by terrorists dies because “God” wanted him/her to die. Why punish a terrorist, God wanted that person to die any way.
According to your thinking 100 or so Shias died yesterday because God wanted them to die. Who decides how people are doing to die?Recommend
eyeroll
I am tired of this “Focus on your final destination” talk. Maybe because I was introduced to it at a very early age as a child and have since spent countless hours pondering and fretting over this. If you constantly focus on thoughts of dying, are you really living? Death will come when it comes, so just relax and do your best at ‘Living life’.
Personally I will not be very happy taking on new challenges and thinking many positive thoughts if I focused on how I could die tomorrow. Well, what if I did and my plans of making a difference in the world did not make any difference because they were cut short so I might as well not have done anything?Recommend
old talk…useless blog!! we are aware of the fact that we can die at any moment…so whats the point in writing such a long essay about it…go and enjoy your life instead of wasting time on writing useless blogs!!Recommend