25/05/2026
SERIF ALI TEKALAN
Man was not sent to this world to remain here forever, but to live for a short while and undergo a test. When one reflects on how children born yesterday become young today, how the young grow old, and how countless people depart from this world one by one, it becomes clear how swiftly life passes. Death, however, is an unchanging reality for everyone. Therefore, what truly matters is to depart prepared for the eternal life that comes after death.
Just as a person makes the necessary preparations before setting out on a journey, taking provisions and essential supplies along, one must also prepare for the journey to the Hereafter. For neither wealth, status, nor fame will enter the grave. Only one’s faith, deeds, noble character, and acts of goodness will accompany the human being.
At the very beginning of this preparation comes knowing Allah and believing in Him sincerely. A person should know his Lord who created him from nothing and live in gratitude, fully aware of the countless blessings He has bestowed. Prayer, supplication, the Qur’an, contemplation, and sincerity are among the most important means through which a person draws nearer to Allah.
People must continually renew themselves, reassess their emotional and intellectual frameworks, and seek “tajdīd” (renewal) by viewing truths every day from a deeper and more advanced perspective suitable to their age.
In reality, just as society requires constant renewal, individuals also need continual rejuvenation. Every single morning, with the awareness of a new day, a person must once again feel the depth of his religion within his soul. Truth and reality should be perceived and experienced ever more deeply each day, remaining perpetually fresh in the conscience.
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