Door, Not Grave

That day, there had been so many people that it was difficult to count them all. It was as if the entire Muslim population of the locality had gathered there. A few minutes after I got there, the Imam, the prayer-leader, of the locality stood up to lead the funeral prayer. I also stood in line with the others and made the intention of praying. The Imam read the prayer so fast that I could not read even a dua or supplication fully. I heard the phrase ‘Allahu Akbar!’ (God is Great!) being uttered rapidly, and shortly after, the Imam finished the prayer. People put on their shoes and got up to go, in such a way as if they had completed a formality in the name of attending a funeral prayer. The grave was close by. I went towards it. When I got there, I found that it was still being dug. A few people stood around in small groups. Some were relating stories of communal oppression. Someone complained about the severity of the weather. Someone else offered his knowledge about the prices of things in the market. In other words, people were talking about this and that. I stood by the grave, silently. My mind was churning with verses from the Quran and Hadith reports that talk about the Day of Judgment, Heaven, Hell and so on. It seemed as if this grave was an open door that I was standing in front of, and that, through it, I was witnessing the sights of the other world through my own eyes. My heart turned restless, and I uttered these words: The real problem of Life is not the one in which people are entangled. Rather, the real problem is the one that will appear after Death. If only people knew what this person in the grave is facing! He has left this makeshift world and is heading towards the real world. This grave that is being dug before us