A Ticket Bought, a Holiday Booked

To go on: hidāyah, guidance, lies in the hands of Allah (swt); that is what these verses teach. What follows is that Allah, by these verses, draws a clear distinction concerning the Hereafter. And there lies the crux of it: belief in the Hereafter. Anyone who has a serious belief in the Hereafter — and what is meant is this: we believe in the Hereafter as an article of faith; there is wa-l-yawm al-ākhir; there is al-baʿth baʿd al-mawt; but for most of us it is not a reality. Once the Hereafter becomes a reality to a man, he truly realises: that is where I am going, and I had better prepare for it.

It is like having a holiday booked for December. A man with a holiday booked in December will not trouble himself about it now. He will not begin packing his case. He has only the ticket. We have bought the ticket: lā ilāha illā Allāh. We bought the ticket; that is the ticket. We know we have it: by saying lā ilāha illā Allāh we bought it. Now, as the days draw nearer — as a man grows older and December comes close — he ought to grow more concerned. Yet some care nothing even in November; even in December; even a fortnight before, they say: never mind; perhaps I shall pack the day before; at the last minute; I have a list; I shall pack at the last minute. Some are very practised at it; they have it all in order; and they will do well enough, being used to it and having arranged everything. They can pack at the last minute because they have already arranged it; their affairs are already in order. It is the same kind of thing. Observe that when a man has such a holiday, or has someone coming to visit him, he says: they will come, they will come — and then, as it draws near, he begins to grow anxious. This is not to say that one should be anxious here; but one should be concerned. Be concerned. The Hereafter is certainly something to be concerned about. If that sense of mortality comes — I am going to die, and then stand before Allah — a man's whole life changes. That is when a life truly changes; and the sooner it may happen to us the better, in shāʾ Allāh.

Allah (swt) has given many promises here:

Allah may take you away and bring another, if He wills. Allah is Ghanī; Allah is wholly independent; He has need of none. Dhū al-raḥmah: yet He is full of mercy.