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Life Death and Beyond

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Life Death and Beyond Life Life Few people think about death and what lies beyond it. We plan our lives in this world without realizing Death that our existence here is only temporary. Our aims, desires and sentiments are influenced by the LIFE thought that the life of the present world is final. In this book, the author urges the reader to reflect on and the inevitable experience of death. The book takes the reader on a journey that explores the higher purpose of life, one that connects the dots between Beyond the present world and the life Hereafter. The author’s DEATH powerful and moving style prompts a person to introspect and contemplate whether he is only AND BEYOND existing on the material plane, and if yes, what must he do to rise above the superficial. Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is an Islamic scholar, spiritual leader and peace activist. He is the Wahiduddin Khan Wahiduddin founder of New Delhi-based Centre for Peace and Spirituality and has been internationally recognized for his contributions to world peace. Maulana The Maulana has authored over 200 books dealing with Islam’s spiritual wisdom, the Prophet’s nonviolent approach, religion’s relation with modernity and other contemporary issues. ISBN 978-93-89766-23-3 Goodword Maulana Wahiduddin Khan cpsglobal.org goodwordbooks.com LIFE DEATH AND BEYOND Maulana Wahiduddin Khan First published 2020 Translation of the Urdu book Safar e Hayat This book is copyright free and royalty free. It can be translated, reprinted, stored or used on any digital platform without prior permission from the author or the publisher. It can be used for commercial or non-profit purposes. However, kindly do inform us about your publication and send us a sample copy of the printed material or link of the digital work. email: [email protected] Goodword Books 1, Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-110013 Tel. +9111-45651770 Mob. +91-8588822672 email: [email protected] www.goodwordbooks.com Center for Peace and Spirituality 1, Nizamuddin West Market, New Delhi-110 013 Mob. +91-9999944119 email: [email protected] www.cpsglobal.org Center for Peace and Spirituality USA 2665 Byberry Road, Bensalem, PA 19020 Cell: (617) 960-7156 email: [email protected] Printed in India Contents Introduction 6 Ray of Hope 7 Prepare for the Coming Day 8 The Story of Human Life 10 Death and God’s Creation Plan 13 The End of Glory 15 A Human Being is Eternal 16 Counting Our Blessings 17 Old Age, a Reminder 18 Learning a Lesson from Death 19 Before Old Age Arrives 20 Pre-Death Period is a Temporary Journey 21 A Leap into the Unknown 22 On Death’s Doorstep 23 Time’s Up! 24 Old Age is Giving You a Message 25 Period for Preparation 26 The Taste of Death 27 Sixteen Minutes from Home 28 My Personal ‘9/11’ 29 Burial of the Dead 30 Introduction to Paradise 31 The Thought of Death: A Masterstroke 32 Save Yourself from Eternal Failure 33 Living Awareness of Death 34 Consciousness of Death Can Change Our Life 35 Destroyer of Attachments 36 Death Just Can’t Be Defeated 37 One’s Own Funeral Prayer 39 Seriousness about Life 40 Death is Not an Accident 42 Negation of Greatness 43 3 Life Death and Beyond Travelling to Participate in a Victory Rally 44 News of Promotion 46 Death, a Divine Plan 47 Positive Conception of Death 48 ‘Right Here, Right Now’ 50 Every Birthday is a Reminder 51 Death: A Cause for Mercy 52 Do Not Wait for Next the Morning 54 Why Untimely Death? 55 The Airport of the Hereafter 56 To Which Country Have You Gone 57 In a Totally Different World 58 Death, A Personal Earthquake 59 A Living Concept of Death 60 A Meaningful Life 61 The Wealth of Good Deeds 62 Dying in Hope 63 Final Appearance 65 Seek the Right Philosophy of Life 66 The End of this Life 67 Planning for Life 68 Beginning of a New Stage of Life 69 Why Does Life Become a Tragedy for Many? 70 The Day of Judgment Knocks! 72 Being ‘Next to God’ 73 Remembering Death is Good for Health 74 Secret of Mental Peace 76 Nothing is Our Personal Possession 78 Why This Heedlessness of Death? 79 Life Beyond Life 91 Wall of Laughter 92 Break in History 96 The Real Destination 98 End of a Period 100 Selection for Paradise 102 Hereafter-Oriented Thinking 106 The Nursery of the Hereafter 107 The Nursery of Paradise 108 Two Worlds 110 Misuse and Proper Use of Freedom 111 Detached Thinking 113 Returning Is Impossible 114 Life on the Other Side 115 4 Contents Everything Falls into Place 116 The Invisible Wall of Death 118 Real World, Imaginary World 119 Losing Out in the Hereafter 120 Racing to Nowhere! 122 The Tomorrow That is to Come 123 The Countdown has Reached Last but One 124 World of Action, World of Reward 125 Why This Honoured Status? 126 Towards the True Companion 128 Permanent Joy Only in the Hereafter 129 Wait for Fulfilment of Desires 130 Strength of Belief in the Hereafter 131 Failure of the Successful Person 132 When Pleasures Are Demolished 133 Finally, the Grave 134 A Compulsory Reminder 136 Guidance from Death 137 Your Actions Will be Returned to You 138 Prepare for the Moment That is Coming 139 Real Existence is God’s Alone 142 The Happiness We’re Searching For 143 Limitless Hopes, Unfulfilled Dreams 145 In Search of a Satisfactory Explanation of Human Life 146 The Road to Success 148 Paradise on Your Wish List 149 How to Attain God’s Neighbourhood 150 Farsightedness in Seeking Paradise 151 This World is an Examination Hall 152 What Do You Really Own? 154 Love for the Immediate 155 Will You be Alive Tomorrow? 156 Revolution in One’s Thinking 157 From Everything Towards Nothing 158 Keeping Away from Preoccupations Temporarily 159 Death Can Come in Any Situation 160 Be Seeker of the Hereafter 161 Successful Life, Unsuccessful End 162 How to Overcome Anguish? 164 Coming and Going 165 Detachment from One’s Greatness 166 True Success: Finding God 167 5 Introduction This book is about human life—in particular, about the purpose of human life. Why have we taken birth here, on Earth? What is death? What happens to us after death? These issues are a central focus of the Quran. In fact, one could say that a basic purpose of the Quran is to inform human beings about the purpose of their life so that they plan it accordingly. We are born from our mother’s womb, enter this world, spend some years here, die and then move on to the next stage of life. The Quran describes this in a very clear manner. The first and foremost task for each one of us is to discover the purpose of human life and to understand what happens after we die. We need to reflect on the reality of death. Being heedless of death, we set many goals such as pursuing material luxury, acquiring fame and honour, unceasingly working to defeat our rivals or opponents, trying to make others suffer losses at our hands. All the while we are ignorant of the truth that at death, we will not take any of these accomplishments with us to the afterlife. We need to know for what eternal purpose we have come into this world. How should we plan for our life by rising above superficial considerations and achieve that which is abiding and permanent, so that it benefits us in the life Hereafter? The Quran provides us the guidance we need in this regard. 6 Ray of Hope A certain highly educated Indian Muslim man completed his formal education and shifted to London, where he is now based. In terms of his thinking, you could call him ‘ultra- secular’. He doesn’t believe in Islam or any other religion and lives a completely ‘free’ sort of life. This man has now become old and his health isn’t at all good. Witnessing people die, he thinks that he, too, will die in the same way. He now eagerly wants to know what happens to people after death. Once they grow old, many people who have lived a ‘free’ life like this man begin to fear what the future might have in store for them after they die. They never cared about this question when they were young, but now that they are old, the realization that they might die at any moment and the fear of what awaits them after that begins to haunt them. Once, a wealthy old man requested a religious preacher to meet him. His apprehension about his impending death had begun to trouble him. “You see,” he said to the preacher, “I am an old man. Life has lost all meaning. I am ready to take a fateful leap into the unknown. Young man, can you give me a ray of hope?” To such a questioner, it can only be said that the reliable means to know what happens after death is the Quran. No human being knows what is going to happen after death. But God, our Creator, definitely does, and He has explained this fully in the Quran. 7 Life Death and Beyond Prepare for the Coming Day Suppose one day a human being suddenly crawled out from a cave in some remote mountain. On seeing this, people would be astonished! They’d wonder how this happened. They’d think it was some sort of miracle. Now, consider this fact: a human being—a little child— crawls out of his mother’s womb and comes into the world.
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