The Facts of Life...

The facts of life are these:

You will live.

You will die.

And whatever you choose to fill the space between those two periods with, is your choice. So choose wisely.

Tonight I attended a funeral. Someone dear to me had just lost someone dear to their heart.

To say that the family has been ‘burdened’ lately would be a kind euphemism. They’ve been tested in ways that are hard to imagine.

Yet when I saw her tonight, being strong for everyone, I thought of the saying:

"Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbhokodo." (You touch a woman, you touch a rock.)

The South African proverb used during the struggle against apartheid in recognition of women's power and strength. She was indeed that rock. May Allah ease the way for her and continue to fortify her from within. Aameen.

I felt the heat in the living room as streams of mourners shared hugs and tears with the bereaved family and thought of the aayah:

 Qul Naaru Jahannamu Ashaddu harraa – 9:81

The Fire of Hell is fiercer in heat

I thought of the questions he would have to face. Of  the ‘life’ that awaits him.

I thought of faith. Of culture. Of how ‘culture’ has been turned into a dirty word in this age of big Muslim thinkers with equally big ideas.

Yet, the culture of offering condolences to the bereaved is less culture and more Islam. It is called ta’ziyah. Yes, there are indeed ills that go along with having huge crowds gathered in one place. But if each one of us smelt that camphor, tried on in our minds as our final perfume, then death would take on a whole new meaning.

If we all tried to feel the weight of death,  of having ourselves reduced to mere 'body'; the weight of sand on a narrow grave and saw it as our own, how much more would we not pray for those who have passed on?

Allahummagh fir lahum, war’ham hum, wa sakkin hum fil jannah.

I thought of faith. Of how it is my  way of making sense of this world. Of how it is my compass. The tool I use to navigate this journey. The tool that helps me fill the space between those two periods.

Of how it is the rock that I cling to when the tempest that is life threatens to throw me off course. Of how now, more than ever, for my friend and her family, it is all they really have. That and one another. The blessing of human companionship. Insaaniyat. And the comfort that brings.

Remember them in your thoughts. In your prayers.
Remember too, this sinner. This one, so unworthy.