conveying the message that just as they have departed from this world, you too will depart one day."^[1]

What greater advice can there be?

Dear Islamic brothers! It is evident that those whose funeral biers are being carried, the increasing dwellers of the graveyards, the departure of our dear ones and relatives, one after another, are all bearers of death. In this lies a great lesson for us, but unfortunately, we do not take heed.

Once, Imam Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه participated in a funeral.

After burying the deceased, he asked a person: "What do you think? Will this person (whom we have just buried) not desire to come back to this world, perform more good deeds, and repent for his sins?"

The person replied: "Yes, surely he would wish for that."

Imam Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه then said: "Then, what is our condition? Why don't we become like this dead body?” (i.e. We still have time; we are still in this world. Why don't we increase in good deeds and repent from our sins?) Saying these words, Imam Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه left.

He would say: "If the heart is alive, then what greater advice can there be than these funerals!"^[2]

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

The world is the abode of deception

O devotees of the Prophet! It is the truth that death is inevitable. We all must depart from this world sooner or later. Allah Almighty states in Surah Āl-ꜤImrān, verse 185: