signs, symptoms and cures of the spiritual diseases of the heart
Antipathy toward death refers to strong aversion to death to the point that its mere mention causes consternation. Such a person, Imam Mawlu̅d says, is in denial of the reality. God says, "Every soul shall taste death" (QUR'AN, 3:185). None of this suggests that one should leap into the throes of death. It merely disparages the ethic of chasing after the fleeting things of this world while rebuffing the imminence of death and what comes thereafter. Nowadays, death is usually considered a morbid topic that is uncouth to discuss. And when it is discussed, it is often turned into some deadline before which people are supposed to squeeze in all their life's pleasures. The Muslim's view should be completely different. To speak about death is to speak about life and the urgency to live a faithful and wholesome life before death overtakes us.
In Islam, the mourning period is short and should not be prolonged. The irony of extending the mourning period is that doing so is rooted in excessive love of dunya̅ (the world). The more one covets this world, the greater the sense of loss when a loved one dies.
For the believer, there is comfort in death, for the believer is taken from an abode of difficulty and trial to one of peace and unfathomable freedom.
Everyone experiences the loss of a loved one. When the Prophet ﷺ lost his son Ibra̅hı̅m, he wept but also praised God, the source of life and death. People who have strong faith in God and in the afterlife tend to handle death well and also handle calamities and tribulations well.
The fear of death is natural. One reflexively protects himself from it. The Prophet ﷺ encouraged believers to desire a long life for two reasons: to make up for past iniquities or to increase good deeds.
The one who remembers death is ennobled by certain characteristics, which include contentment and a lack of covetousness. The wealthy soul is one that is content. This contentment is not the kind that originates from stupidity or not knowing any better. It is contentment that is informed by knowledge and by reflection on death and its meaning.
Second, the remembrance of death gives one energy to achieve good deeds.
Third, remembrance of death engenders seeking repentance when one slips or errs. Penitence rectifies wrong action, and that is the gift of remembering death. When one lives with this realization, he or she becomes prompt in seeking God's forgiveness. Those who are heedless of death often have no compunction in doing wrong, since death is not a factor in their lives. They often carelessly view the Day of Judgment as some distant event hardly worth worrying about or some ancient notion formed in a primordial epoch of human development.
"In death there are a thousand reposes for the Muslim. As long as you are in this world, there is not a cell in your body that does not experience pain and disease. Once you are out of this world, all of that ends" (Shaykh Ibn al-Ḥabı̅b).
"Contentment is a treasure that is never exhausted" (The Prophet ﷺ).
"O God, provide for my family with what suffices them, and grant them contentment with it" (The Prophet ﷺ).