FROM THE SPIRITUAL TREE

There is a tree beside my house. I call it the 'Spiritual Tree'. I derive spiritual inspiration from it. A tree is an ever-growing being that was initially a seed possessing the potential of becoming a full-grown tree. A seed takes food from the universe around it and then grows into a tree. The same is true with spirituality, the desire for which is intrinsic to, and an integral part of, the very nature of, every human being. To realize this spirituality, Man must derive spiritual food from the universe around him. A tree converts carbon-dioxide into oxygen; a spiritual person is one who can take positive lessons from negative situations. From this perspective, a tree is an embodiment of a spiritual personality. —Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

ONE’S OWN FUNERAL PRAYER

Remembering Death

The funeral prayer was being performed for a recently deceased Muslim from Delhi. He was to be buried in the local graveyard after the prayer rituals. When the prayer was about to start, a member of the congregation asked the Imam, ‘Is this a Farz (obligatory) prayer or a Sunnah prayer (practice of the Prophet)?’ He was shocked when the Imam replied, ‘Consider it as your own funeral prayer! ’

The funeral prayer is not just another ritual. It is a reminder of a serious reality—that we are all going to die, just like the person before us who has already died. The truth is that the true funeral prayer is said by the one who sees his own death in the death of the deceased before us. He knows that what has happened to the dead man will also happen to him. When he stands in congregation for the funeral prayer, he trembles at the feeling that what has happened to the other person is going to happen to him tomorrow and his own funeral prayer would be performed in a similar manner.

The event of death is inevitably going to overcome everyone. Furthermore, death does not come after an announcement. It overtakes man all of a sudden. When the time of death comes, no one has the power to turn it away. Death is an inexorable and unchangeable reality, for one man as well as for another. Man ought to think of his death at every moment. One who is so oblivious of this stark reality—that even after seeing another’s death is not reminded of his own—can be likened to an insensate stone. Apparently, he is a human being but he is as devoid of human qualities as a statue made of stone. Remembering death is a characteristic of a sensitive person, while being oblivious to the death of others is the mark of a heartless person.