THE WORD OF GOD

sudden, death will bring you standing face to face with God, at which time you will be held accountable for all your deeds. That will be the moment you realize that what you were doing was one thing and that what you should have been doing was quite another. The Prophet Muhammad once said that on the Day of Judgement, a man’s foot would not move unless he had answered four questions: Where he earned his money from, and where he spent it; how he spent his youth and how he used his knowledge. The Creator has divided human life into two parts: the pre-death and post-death periods. The pre-death period is very short (like the tip of an iceberg) in comparison to the post-death period, which is eternal. The pre-death period is the preparatory phase in which you prepare yourself to become eligible to enter Paradise in the post-death period. This worldly life is a ‘test’ for everyone, whether poor or rich, powerful or powerless, strong or weak. Man is required to pass in all these tests and trials by leading a need-based life rather than a life based on desire and greed, so that in the life Hereafter, God will allow him to enter Paradise, to live there forever in close proximity to his Creator. On the death of a loved one, one should not go into a state of mourning. The Quran gives us great hope in moments of grief and loss: It says that God will reunite all the righteous members of the family in Paradise. Moreover, if a member of the family has reached a higher level of Paradise, all the righteous members of that family will be ‘upgraded’, so that they may all enjoy eternal bliss and nearness to God. This idea gives great solace and it acts as an incentive and encouragement to do good work, and lead a pious and righteous life. The Prophet Muhammad said that when a man dies, everything connected with him is cut off except three things: Continuous charity, knowledge from which benefit is derived and virtuous children who pray for him. o