Sugar or Salt?

[FatimaAsSideqah]

As Salaam Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu

O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah.

[Al-Imran 3:102]

Sugar or Salt?

A true stroy:

When I was in my mid teens living overseas, I remember my grandmother getting ready to cook some pooridge for later on in the day. As she prepared the ingredients (which included rice, milk, and sugar), she realized that she was out of sugar. She called out to my brother and gave him some money to buy some sugar from the local market. She instructed him to buy some firewood and matches.... and she repeated "Don't forget to buy the SUGAR!!".

My brother then proceeded to the market..... and did not return within the hour. Another 2 hours passed and no sign of him. Finally, about 3 hours later my grandmother began to worry and started asking about his whereabouts. Finally, shortly before Iftar he arrived with the firewood, matches and bag of sugar. My grandma was angry but nonetheless she was relieved that he had finally arrived. When i asked him what took him so long.... he said that he met up with some friends, played a game of soccer and got a sack of peanuts to snack on. Strangely, he proceeded to ask me "did she say sugar or salt?"....as i attempted to answer, my grandma came running after my brother with a large piece of wood in her hand saying "I SAID TO GET SUGAR NOT SALT!!"

Moral of the story:

I mentioned this story for one reason alone -

Yesterday, after praying fajr a brother anounced a Janazah for a 16 year-old boy who was involved in a car accident. I had prayed behind a few janazahs before but I have never followed through with the actual funeral procession.......then remembered the following hadith:

Narrated Abu Huraira (RA) that Allah's Apostle (PBUH) said, "whoever attends the funeral procession till he offers the funeral prayer for it, will get a reward equal to one Qirat, and whoever accompanies it till burial, will get a a reward equal to two Qirats." It was asked, "What are two Qirats?" he replied, "Like two huge mountains." [Bukhari #410].

So I proceeded with the procession to the burial site and when we arrived I noticed a lot of people present (majority of whom were non-muslim), including an ROTC group in uniform. Thinking that I would passively observe the actual burial process, I made my way to the rear of the vehicle carrying the deceased. The next thing I knew, I was carrying the coffin towards the gravesite. Next we laid it down ... and the ROTC unit performed a farewell ceremony (apparently he was a member of their ROTC unit).

As they marched, I could see one of them shaking while the others teared.....in single file line formatin they passed forward a US flag, folded it up and handed it to the grieving parents. I then recognized a brother (we'll call him "I.K")I knew from the masjid with a couple other brothers with him. "I.K" instructed the parents that they could view their teen's face one last time before the burial... as they did, a mother's grief could hold no more and she broke down (Allah's mercy and relieve be upon her).

The moment of truth arrived and little did I know... but I was going to play a more active role than expected. "I.K" came to me and said that he needed my help to lower the body into the grave (Yikes... i thought... i've never even seen an actual dead person let alone handle one). I searched for someone more experienced (to no avail)....due to the number of muslim bretheren that were present.

"Well..here we go" i said to myself and there we were carrying the body to the open grave. As I prepared to lift ... the wind blew and revealed his face..... bruised and slightly yellowed (A sight soon not forgotten). As we lifted his lifeless body....his cold stiffened limbs rubbed against my arms, discarding any possible doubts about the finality of death. In the end the ground was sealed and it was all over within 45 minutes. A whole lifetime......concluded in 45 min.

Finally, I.K rose to speak and he graciously sent praises upon Allah and the Messenger (PBUH). Recognizing the majority non-muslim attendees he used the moment to spread the message through the passing of the deceased. As he mentioned the manner the angels would take the soul and the 3 questions to be asked in the grave (1) who is your Lord (2) what is your way of life? and (3) who is this man (i.e. The Prophet PBUH)? ...... you could see in many of the faces (including my own) that death brings about the truth....which none can argue.

I am sorry for the long rambling essay....but I was truly moved by the experience..... I was very saddened at the time but very quickly it reminded and encouraged me that I am alive and By Allah's leave, I have time to do good with my life.

In relation to the story above ------ As we enjoy life (which is perfectly o.k.), we should not forget the very reason that we're here for (see 3 quesitons above).

http://www.quranjam.com/jam/Comments...3&verseNum=102

Sister Fatima

[Ali.]

That was quite a moving thread, I hope you coped well dealing with the dead body.
Thanks for the reminder also.

[H4RUN]

SubhanaAllah!..JazakaAllah khair for the touching reminder. If only more of us would seriously take aboard these reminders, and put them to good use...If only.

fiamanaAllah