The Final Moments

I do not know how to start this story that drastically changed my life. Frankly, I hesitated to about divulging it at first. However, when I saw your replies on my post at asmsi.or.ph about my putting my faith into perspective, and embraced ISLAM, and out of my feeling of fear of GOD, I decided to again get hold of my pen and start scribbling what my heart wants to say.

Vehicular accident is among the highest rating cause of death in The Middle East. I myself, have winessed three particularly bad accidents and have been involved in the fourth one.
The first time involved two men whom I, being among the first to arrived in the crash site, helped pull them out of the car in the state of semi consciousness. The Policemen who arrived after a couple of minutes, knowing that the these two men are definitly dying, repeatedly asked them to to pronounce the "SHAHADA" or the witness of Allah as the one true God, and Mohammd as his prophet. Sadly, all they did was to blab about their work and worry about everything until they were exhausted and finally died.

The second, which happened quite sometime later involved a young man who was repairing his tire. While doing so, he was badly hit by a speeding car-when we saw him, his clothes were covered with blood, his limbs were almost torn apart, and we are certain that he is going to die. When the Police pick him up to bring him to the Hospital, we were surprised to hear him raised his voice and sung verses from the Holy Qur'an... The voice reciting verses from the Holy Qur'an!...We couldn't believe that a dying man could have a voice so beautifulthat it was almost Angelic. Just as the rescuers fixed hi inside the Ambulance, he lifted up his right index finger and pronounced the "SHAHADA" in a loud voice afterwhich he died.

The third leaves a clear picture in my mind up to this time. A friend of mine went out to buy food for our dinner. Four hours had passedand he did not return, that I started to get worried about him. So I rode my car and went around looking for him. On my way, I saw a car that was involved in an accident, it was turned over on it's side while flames were shooting over of it.

Getting nearer to the crash site, I was shocked to discover that it was my friends car, So I ran like hell trying to save him from the burning car. I found out that half of his body was charred and some of his flesh were melting and falling freely to the ground while he was still alive. I helped pull him out and laid him on the side of the road. within minutes, he opened his eyes and shouted: THE FIRE!!!...THE FIRE!!!... I talked to him trying to soothe his agony and promised him that I would bring him to the nearrest hospital as quickly as I could, but he refused and replied in a weak crying voice " It's no use now, I couldn't make it there"... Tears blurred my vision....My friend is dying in my lap and I can do nothing to help him, while some part of his body is being consumed by fire yet he is still alive... Suddenly he shouted: "WHAT SHALL I TELL HIM!....WHAT SHALL I TELL HIM!... so I asked him, "What will you tell whom?... Then he replied in a deep far away voice: "ALLAH"... Panic struck me when suddenly he let out a long sigh, afterwhich he died... The picture of that scene never left my mind...My dying friendburning up while shrieking "What shall I tell him?"...It keeps me awake all night while I was lying in my bed with the picture of my dying friend on my mind.

It never entered my mind that I would be the next victim...when one morning, while on my way to my work, I suddenly fall asleep while my car is running at a tremendous speed (about 160-180kph which is normal in KSA) I was awakened only when I hit something on the road. My car flew about 50 meters away from the crash site, and rolled over for five or six times. I thought of it as my final moment, and the last word that I utter was " My GOD, please take care of my soul"...I felt something hot struck my face, and I saw a flashing of bright light, afterwhich, I lost my consciousness. I dont know how long have I been in the car, but when I opened my eyes again, I was in the Hospital being treated for some few bruises which I got from the crash.
Everyone was surprised to see me alive with only few small bruises, while my car was a picture of a complete wreckage. I myself cannot believe that I am alive...but I believe, it is the will of GOD..

As I recall on my mind the three previous accidents that I have witnessed, and the one which I was involved, I realized that "THE FINAL MOMENTS" of the human being are probably the most important ones. If he was a good and pious believer, then he will be able to die calling the name of God, Otherwise he will be preoccupied with whatever earthly business that was preventing him from performing his duty towards God. When I came out of the Hospital, I go instead to prison, but I never regret it..It was there in prison that I heard the calling, when the IMAM, commencing the " Salatul Fajr" or prayer at dawn, sung an Arabic Phrase which means "COME HITHER TO THE RIGHT PATH AND PERFORM THE GOOD DEEDS"... I felt as if the caller was addressing me alone, calling for me to abandon my way of life, to close the curtain of the dark chapter of my life, and to start a new one following the path of guidance and light. That was then that i perform the "Ghusl" (cleansing ritual) to cleanse my body from the stains of my past, and I turned to Allah for repentance to cleanse my soul...And finally pronounced the "SHAHADA" for the first time in my life. Now, I always thanked and praise ALLAH, no one else deserves to be praised and thanked. From that point onward in my life, I am a changed person. I have always performed my religious duties and also planning to do "UMRAH" and "HAJJ" (pilgrimage to Makkah)...

WHO KNOWS WHEN I MIGHT DIE?