veiled4allah: death

My officemate at my old job called. Her mom died today and she's flying out to New Jersey for the funeral. I'll be covering for her at the office during her absence (one to three days depending on how long she'll be gone). Her mom was 94 and had been in intensive care in the hospital for several months so in a way it was good that her suffering finally ended, but of course even when you know it's coming, its hard to prepare for something like that. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. Surely we belong to Allah, and surely we will return to Him.

According to Shaykh Muhammad al-Munajjid of Islam Q&A, if a non-Muslim dies and was not reached by the message of Islam or had received only distorted information about it, then on the Last Day Allah SWT will test them to see if they have faith in Him. If they do have faith in Him, then He will admit them to Jannah. However, if they reject faith in Him and disobey Him, then they will go to Hell. Only those who had learned the truth of Islam and consciously rejected it will go directly to Hell.

I don't know much about my co-worker's mother, except that her daughter (i.e., my officemate) is a very nice woman who has been a very good friend to me, so her mom must have done something right. I hope that the mother did not die while consciously rejecting Islam, and that Allah SWT will reward her for the faith and good deeds that she had.

This also makes me think about if my own mom died. I don't know how I would handle it. I would just be so totally devastated. I love my mom so much. She has always been there for me and supported me and my choices. I hope that Allah SWT will continue to open my mom's heart to Islam. My dad too. My dad isn't a very demonstrative type, but he is like a rock, he is always there for those he loves. Allah SWT has blessed me so much with my family.

It's just really hard to know exactly what to think and feel when you have non-Muslim family. Just gotta keep praying that Allah SWT will open their hearts and that it is only that they don't know enough about Islam yet, not that they are rejecting it.

P.S. Anybody who wants to tell me I should stop caring about my family and stop loving them because they're not Muslims can buzz off.