Page 65 - The Secret Behind Our Trials

THIS TESTING
CONTINUES

UNTIL DEATH

ach person is tested in this world until the day that he or
she dies. For this reason, all people must make every mo-
E ment of life conform to Allah's commands, remember
Him, seek His good pleasure, and perform the acts of worship.
This reality brings with it another important truth: If people
somehow depart from the true path and show ungratefulness to
Allah at the moment of death, they may fail the test and their whole
life may amount to nothing. Even if they have spent their life up
until that moment in a way that earned His good pleasure, that one
final moment of rebellion may render all of the earlier efforts null
and void.
All Muslims must take this danger seriously, because Satan, hu-
manity's greatest enemy, will spare no effort to exploit their weakest
points and unguarded moments, even up to the moment of death, to
get them to abandon the true path. Therefore, the moment of death
is a very important time. A person who says: "Well, I believe in
Allah. I have done this much to gain His favor. Certainly by now I
have earned salvation," is under a great delusion, for the Qur'an says
that a person must pray for salvation "in fear and ardent hope" until
the last moment of life (Surat as-Sajda, 16). Every Muslim is invited
to consider this command:

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