Every Soul Shall Taste Death

﷽

Welcome to Episode Seventeen of the Middle Ground Podcast. I am joined again by my brother Dawud Aleman. We discuss my recent heart attack, facing mortality, and what change, if any, has it had on me. As usual, we discuss all topics in light of the Qur’ān and statements from the Prophet, ‎ﷺ.

قال شُرَيْح ابن الحارث القاضي

إني لأصاب بالمصيبة فأحمد الله عليها أربعة مرات

أحمد إذ لم يكن أعظم منها

وأحمد إذ رزقني الصبر عليها

وأحمد إذ رزقني للاسترجاع لما أرجو من الثابت

وأحمد إذ لم يجعلها في ديني

Shurayḥ ibn al-Ḥārith stated,

“Whenever I am afflicted with some great difficulty, I praise Allāh four times:

I praise Him that it was not greater than it was;

I praise him that He gave me the wherewithal to withstand it;

I praise Him that He gave me the means to say, ‘to Allāh we belong and to Him are we returning’;

And I praise Him that He didn’t make it a test for my faith.”

Other references in this episode:

• Musnad Aḥmad no. 8945: “The believer is friendly, for there is no goodness in one who is neither friendly, nor befriended.”

• Sūrah al-Anfāl v. 50: “If only you could see when the angels take the souls of the disbelievers, beating their faces and backs.”