Dying

Dying is not something that most of us look forward to. Death is something that is generally feared, something that we generally try to avoid, and something that is generally left unspoken about until someone actually dies. I wonder why this is? Death is unavoidable, final and permanent. Perhaps that's why we don't talk about it; there probably isn't another event in the human life-cycle that shares those characteristics.

Religion attempts to prepare us for death. It tells us that death is not the end but a beginning.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism: there is life after death, in a different form, in a different reality.

Some other religions such as Buddhism tell us that death is a process of rebirth. We never really "die".

Regardless of the religion you subscribe to (for the atheists, perhaps this book can help), the message is that death is not something that should be feared. I take comfort in that fact, understanding the end of life on this earth is not an end of being.

My condolences to the Shaari family for their loss. Al-Fatihah.