had someone share a story with her. Its long, but powerful. Bismillah (in the name of God). When I was in high school I was friends with a younger boy, Emad, who was thirteen. I loved to help the kids, play with them, teach them, protect them. All of us used to pray in the Masjid, but I was especially close with Emad. We would pray the morning prayer, night prayer, and Taraweeh together. Sometimes when we were praying and we bowed down (in rukoo) I would see tears from Emads eyes falling onto the carpet. He used to fast Mondays and Thursdays. I knew he didnt have a lot of money so I would give him iftar. I loved when he would eat with me. Once he collected the boxes on the road from produce areas, saved enough money, and said to me Im going to give you iftar this time. After we finished praying at the Masjid one night, I said Ill drop you off at your home. Emad said Tonight, I want to drop you off at your home. I said No, the path to your home is further and your parents dont want you to walk alone at night. Its late. Emad insisted, and so did I. As we started walking to his home we stopped along the way on some steps. He said Tell me something about Jahanum (Hell). Tell me something about Jennah (Heaven). Tell me something about the Akhira (Hereafter). I said Emad, you already know everything. He said Tell me. I want to know more. I asked him if we can talk about it tomorrow, and he said he wanted to hear it tonight. So we stayed there for a long time talking. When I finished, I said Come on Emad, thats enough. Your parents dont like when youre out late. Let me take you back so there arent any problems. I walked him back to his home, then he followed me to mine. This happened about three times back and forth. I asked him why he kept coming back and he said I want to spend the night at your home. I said Emad, another time. We dont have permission from your parents. If they said yes, it wouldnt have been a problem. Though I dont want to upset them. When I finally left him at his house I turned around and saw him waving at his door. We always saw each other at Salatul Fajr. Either he would come to my home, or I would go to his, but we would always meet together. That morning, it was a little later than usual and I heard knocking at my door. I said to myself, This must be from shaytan (satan). Did Emad oversleep too? I thought it was him knocking at the door. When I looked it was his younger brother. He said: Emad is dead. I thought to myself he was confused. I had just been with him. I thought there was a problem and he misunderstood. I asked Was there a car accident, did he get hit, what happened? He said Hes dead, and my father wants you to come. When I approached Emads home I heard Quran playing, and I knew it was serious. Thats when I started crying and fell to my knees. His father hugged me at the door and said Your friend has gone, your friend has gone. He told me to go inside and see his wife. She hugged me and sobbed Emad is gone, Emad is gone. They said it happened right as the athan for Fajr sounded. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, and Emad took his last breath. They did an autopsy to find out what happened. The clothes they cut through were the ones I gave him. He had a heart attack. Before Emad passed away, his parents werent religious. They never prayed, they never fasted. I said he fasted Mondays and Thursdays- his father used to hold a knife to him and say You will eat, or I will kill you. Emad would respond You can kill me, I will stay fasting. Now, alhumdulilah, they pray and they fast. Now they say Emad used to do this, Emad used to do that. Death doesnt differentiate between young and old. It doesnt choose between healthy and sick. No one knows when there time will come. We say we will do such a thing (to become more religious) in the future, or after a little while, but we dont know when we will meet our end. Everyone has an appointment with His Lord, so let them put forward something good for it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said A man amongst you may do good deeds till there is only a hands distance between him and Paradise and he starts doing (evil) deeds of the people of the Fire. And similarly, a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a hands distance between him and the Fire, and then he starts doing deeds of the people of Paradise. Life is hard. For those who havent made an attempt at being good, they should be strong and take the first step. For those who have been consistent in good, they should not weaken, but continue climbing.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 20:58:47 +0000
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