Are you ready for a Legacy Death?

Yes, we all live once and we want to live that to our fullest.  We love to enjoy and want to explore the best, life can give us. It really sounds excellent and if we get to live the life we dream of, then yes it’s going to be incredible. A dream come true life is a dream of everyone’s life.

When a child is born, the parents plan the entire lifetime of the child. The clothes to wear, birthday celebrations, school life, education and career path to every single detail of the child was planned by parents, relatives and the society. Little they knew when the child grows up, the needs grow too. Children take their own path and they have their own plans for their life. So basically everyone plans their legacy life. But often we forget that we are not assured of life. We are not guaranteed we will live till next year, month, day, hour, second…. Nope... We really don’t know. The only thing which is assured in our life was death. Any moment, death can conquer us. Any moment can be our last moment. Any moment we can only become a memory for our loved ones.

So have we done any preparations for our final destination? Have we taken steps for our happy ending?

And the stupor of death will come in truth; that is what you were trying to escape. (Surah Qaf 50:19)

We have no choice nor an escape from our end. We cannot choose an eternity for the rest of our life no matter how much we love to do it. All we can do is to consciously make the choice as of how we want our end to take place. Are we just going away from this world as if we have never walked across this earth or are we going to leave behind something where this earth and its belongings will be paying tribute for each and every moment we lived in this world?  These are conscious choices we have to make every single day.

So how can we make those choices? Some amazing people have set examples on how we can make conscious choices for our legacy death.

Brother Ali Banat

We all know this great man. A present-day hero, role model, an amazing personality where everyone loves him despite the race, ethnicity, religion or whatsoever.  His story in short, by the age of 33 he was a successful business owner, had all the luxuries any man can dream of. His cars, his watches, his playful lifestyle. Whoa, he had it all. But at the peak of his time, he has diagnosed with stage 4 Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma. Simply put it was cancer which has no cure which has spread all over the body and he had so little time to live in this world. At this juncture of his life, Brother Ali Banat took the most courageous decision. He welcomed death. He considered this incurable cancer as a gift sent down to him from Allah, Almighty and he changed his life to be prepared for his final destination. Ali created a project called MATW (Muslims Around The World) to assist those less fortunate in the poverty-stricken areas of Togo, Africa. He gave up all the luxury this life has given him to earn the pleasures of the death awaiting him.

Hazarath Uthman (Peace Be Upon Him)

This great man was the third Caliph of Islam after Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him) and was assured Jannah from the Holy Prophet more than once. One of the inspiring stories about his life was when Holy City Madinah was suffering draught of water and there was sufficient water in a well belonging to one Jew which he was charging a premium from Muslims in exchange of water. On this occasion, Prophet Muhammed (Peace Be Upon Him) assured paradise for those who purchase that well. It was Uthman (Peace Be Upon Him) who bought that well and made it Waqf (endowment charity) for the nation and up to now, many million people are making a living out of that well. The deeds of that act are still following to his grave. Imagine the number of deeds he might have accumulated even after 1400 years of his blessed departure? Till now every time the water is pumped out of that well his name was mentioned. His legacy still lives even after 14 centuries.

Muhammed Ali

“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” said this greatest boxer in the world and lived by those words. He devoted his life to the service of Islam. When the nation he lived alleged war against the nations of Muslims, he opposed it openly. When the world thought Islam was violence, He, Muhammed Ali showed that Islam was peace. He was outspoken about his beliefs and made this world a better place than it was by his speeches, influence, charity works, and by his example.

Entire world mourned for their departure. Entire world shed tears for their loss. Despite the beliefs they had, the world saluted them. So many Muslims raised their hands in Dua for them. The hearts of people are filled with love for those amazing personalities.

When Allah loves a person, He calls Jibreel and says: ‘I love so and so, so love him.’ So Jibreel loves him, then he calls out to the people of heaven; ‘Allah loves so and so, so love him’. So people of heaven love him and find acceptance in the earth. [Muslim: 6705].

So what have WE done for our death? Are we doing something so good that the deeds of those doings will follow our grave? Do we think what we do now will give us respect when we finally say ‘goodbye’ to this mother earth? How many days, months, and years are we going to be remembered once we have finally gone from this world?

Do you think Steve Jobs will be forgotten for next century? Do you think our grandchildren will not read about Nelson Mandela? Aren’t we still aweing the masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci? Do you think our future generation will not know who J.K Rowling was? Yes, all of these people made a mark in this world and they will be remembered.

So what’s the book we have written? What’s the magic we have cast? What’s the light we have shed to this world? What’s the kindness we have shown to the needy? It’s not necessary that we have to change the entire world. Even if we made one person’s life, a living heaven, then we have fulfilled the purpose of our life.

Sindhutai Sapkal- the mother of orphans a living example of kindness. At the age of 12, she entered marriage and she was abandoned by her family and village by the age of 20 for standing up for her rights. She had 3 sons and 1 daughter and her husband took away all her sons and she was left alone with her newborn daughter. She started to sing songs in the streets for the living and it was then she saw how orphans are struggling for life. Therefrom then made it her life’s mission to raise orphans as her own children.  She has nurtured over 1050 orphaned children. As of today, she has a grand family of 207 sons-in-law, 36 daughters-in-law. How many lives she has enlightened and made it better than it was before.

What you and I have done? Remember life in this world is limited. Those who say the burden this world bring us is unbearable and wish for death, ask yourself, have you prepared for your death? Whose life have you changed positively? When you finally leave this world, are you assured of Jannah? Have we lived up to that standard? Those who say, we have done so many sins and hell is written to us, let me ask you a very simple question. When you get ready for a party and suddenly something spills on your neatly pressed clothes. What would you do at this instance? Go out with the same outfit or just hold that spilled patch and clean that and go to your party after cleaning?  Of course, you would do the latter. So why don’t we take life, the same? Everyone has a darker side of life. A demon which no one would want to discover. So don’t despair. Just wash off your spoiled part of your life and go on with your life. Be present. Foresee the future with hope. If we woke up today, meaning we are given the power to act upon to make our final destination a better place.

"…poured upon their heads will be scalding water by which is melted that within their bellies and (their) skins." (Quran 22:19-20)

Are we so foolish to exchange a permeant suffering for a temporary suffering in this world? The life given to us is so precious and make sure we do not do injustice with it.

Whenever you feel there is no hope for life, remember yes! We don’t have a hope to live FOREVER. When you feel to die, remember yes! We will die sooner than we ever wished for, but make sure when we leave this world we leave a positive mark. Make sure we die a legacy death. Be part of something big. Be part of something worth dying for. Be part of something which will add meaning for ourselves and the rest of the world.