him and told him that I had been secretly observing him for a few nights. Then I asked, “Who is the herald that Allah Almighty sent to you?” The elderly man replied, “One day, I was looking in the mirror, when I saw a white hair in my beard. I immediately understood that this is the bearer of death sent to me by Allah Almighty.”^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers! Many of us have white hair, but unfortunately, we do not take any heed. If only we also paid attention to these harbingers of death, took admonition and started preparing for life after death.

3. Fever is also a harbinger of death

The final Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said, “Fever is a harbinger of death, and fever is a prison built by Allah Almighty on the earth. When Allah Almighty wills, He imprisons His servant, and then when He wills, He releases him.”^[2]

4. Various diseases are also harbingers of death

Sayyidunā Mujāhid رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said:

When a person is afflicted with an illness, the representative of the angel of death عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام is present with him to the extent that when he is afflicted with the pangs of death, the angel of death عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام himself comes to him and says: “You had harbingers and heralds come to you one by one, but you paid no heed. Now a harbinger has come to you who will erase your traces from this world.”^[3]

The final harbinger of death

It is narrated that a prophet asked the angel of death عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام,“Do you not have any herald whom you can send before your arrival in order to frighten people from death?”