BIRTHDAY OR DEATHDAY

Alhamdulillah, tomorrow is 27^th of April, and am going to be 18!! “You would be wondering why am saying this, of course it is definitely because am turning 18 and am going to throw the hottest party in school and it’s going to be the best party ever.” I said to my friends.

They all shouted with glee: ‘YAAAY!!!!’

On the eve of my birthday, I was so happy I could not sleep; I was really waiting for the clock to hit 12, when it was 12am, I decided to check my facebook and twitter account to read mail and messages sent in by friends and loved ones.

After replying and surfing the internet for almost an hour, I decided to sleep; after all I can’t risk dozing at my party.

Then suddenly I woke up, I couldn’t breathe, my parents were mumbling some words, my siblings were screaming and I had the feeling of being wheeled away, what’s happening? I thought to myself,why is everyone crying? I was running a terrible temperature. ‘I am sick; I said to myself.i woke up in a hospital. Really weird,I thought!

A nurse entered and I asked how I got there and what that day’s date was and she replied with a smile today is 28^th of April and then I screamed ‘My Birthday’!! the nurse kissed my cheek,smiled at me and she left the room,leaving me alone to ponder on my thoughts. So i got of the bed, having been stranded on the bed for the whole time, I left the room and I started walking along the corridor when an emergency cart wheeled by, the nurse kept screaming accident victim, pulse not stable and she kept rambling on and on those medical jargons. As the cart was wheeled by at first I did not notice it, then I saw it, at first I could not focus on the image, after looking on for almost 10 seconds, I noticed the victim was a girl, she was very beautiful, with beautiful hair and skin. But it wasn’t the beauty that attracted me… it was the fact that she was young like me, probably 16, 17 or 18. The doctor’s voice echoed through the hall, “she is dead, transfer her to the mortuary and inform her family.” As she was being wheeled away, a paper card fell from her and though the doctors word had just shaken me, however I motion to take the paper card, then I moved slowly back to my room. After shuttling the door, I sat down on the bed, then I read the content of the paper, it was short “happy birthday Tayo, best wishes, see you at the party”

Then I was crying so hard, I could not believe it, maybe I would have died too. Instead of doing something tangible on my birthday that would earn me rewards from Almighty Allaah, I tried to engage in an avenue for Zina (fornication). The nurse came in and I was given pills then I slept off.

A few days later, after I was discharged, I remember what happened to the dead girl at the hospital and I said to myself that sometimes things don’t always go the way we plan and besides there are so many things we don’t just understand. No matter how hard we try, the thought continued, death is inevitable, nobody can escape it. Birthdays should not be about celebration but actually about contemplation just like every other day.

Everything just boils down to one thing “DEATH!!!” Nobody wants to die, even people who want to go to Paradise (Al-Jannah) don’t want to die to go there. Yet death is a destinationwe all share , no one has never escaped death no matter how strong they think they were. And that shows the greatness and uniqueness of Almighty Allaah.

So now, every day I look in the mirror before I go out and I ask myself: “if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what am about to do today?” Remembering I might die soon is the most important tool I have ever encountered to help me make those big choices in life. So imagine Paradise, imagine Hell. Your time is limited don’t waste it by being trapped in the dogma that you are too young to die. Remember your grave and your hereafter. May Almighty Allaah make us dwellers of Paradise. Ameen!

You are not too young to die, remember life is not place for play. We ask Allaah to preserve us on the right path. (Aameen).