Mohammad Ismail of Bombay has an interesting account to give us of an incident which took place while he was travelling through the U.S.A. and Canada with a group (Jama’at) of Tablighi devotees. (The Tabligh movement entails travelling for the purpose of conveying the divine message to people far and wide.) In March, 1989, when this group was visiting a city in Canada, they went to call on a Muslim doctor. Far from being pleased to see these ‘bearded’ men, he burst out angrily, “How have you come here without informing me beforehand?” As it happened, the group also included a doctor. After introducing himself, he said, “We have come to you without prior notice to tell you that a ‘man’ will come to you one day without prior notice.”

This is by far the most important piece of news that anyone can receive. It is, in fact, a warning, and it is essential that all men should receive it before it is too late, for when the “man” comes, it will be with great suddenness; Even those who, to all intents and purposes, are already aware of this, and appear to believe in it as an eventuality, require to be alerted to it, as they too have yet to grasp this reality in its fullest sense.

Just consider what a terrible event an earthquake is. And it comes without notice. This is what makes it so terrible. The same goes for death. It comes suddenly, without notice – the ultimate personal earthquake. Whether man wants to or not, he has to face death. He has to bow his head before its verdict.

The most subtle aspect of death is that it is not the end. It is the beginning of a new life – a life at the outset of which man has to be judged in the Divine Court of Justice to decide whether he will be sent to eternal paradise or to eternal hellfire. It is this aspect of death which makes it a matter of immeasurable seriousness.