As-Salaamu ’Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh My dear brother in Islam,

At age 33, unless you have a terminal illness or someone close to you just died unexpectedly at a young age, I see no reason for you to be ”obsessed” with death. So, yes, maybe Shaitan is having a hay day with your emotions by making your fear death.

Our first defense against Shaitan is to realize that the grist for his mill is lies! Thus, I suggest that you turn this obsession around by finding out the truth about death. Get knowledge about death. Awareness of the ins and outs of death will give you a fully informed, healthy, and balanced understanding of death. This is what will defeat Shaitan’s lying whispers which cripple you with fear.

Personally, listening to scholars on the web and on Youtube who tell us all about the beautiful experiences after the death of the believers make me feel safe about dying. These stories give me a lot of hope about what is going to happen to me after I die.

Another thing you can do is turn things around in your mind. In other words, when we recite ”Master of The Day of Judgement”, when we recite the Fatiha in our prayers, it can make us feel only fear. But one day I realized I am going to be so happy on the Day of Judgment because all the wrongs of the world will be righted. All the pain I see that causes me so much pain because I can’t fix it or cure it will be cured and fixed. All those people who were ”getting away with murder”, so to speak, will realize that they never really got away with murder and they will be brought to justice. It will be a great day of happiness. After I realized this, I have a more balanced understanding of the Judgment Day. I feel more happiness than fear.

Also, I had a similar reversal in my understanding of another part of the Fatiha: ”Ar-Rahmanir-Raheem”. I used to always feel relief when I said that I could be forgiven by Allah (swt), In Sha’Allah. Then, I realized, maybe I will feel fear about my sins before I feel that way. I still get a great feeling of hope from saying those attributes of Allah (swt), but now it is mixed with fear that I may feel scared until Allah (swt) decides my fate.

So, you see, you can look at things from different perspectives and come up with a whole different take on them. That is what Shaitan does not want us to do. He wants us to just believe him and use that as our criteria for right and wrong—in a vacuum of sense and reason and deep thinking.

I just heard on a Youtube video today how the soul of the believer leaves his/her dead body like water flowing out of a pitcher. But the soul of an unbeliever is painfully ripped out of the body because it does not want to leave the body—the world—because it believes in the world, not in the unseen world. So, I feel confident that if you get true knowledge about death according to Islam, by Allah’s Will, that true knowledge will defeat shaitan’s lies.

Allah (swt) tests us with Shaitan lying into our hearts. Shaitan has been given permission from Allah (swt) to lie into our hearts. Why did Allah (swt) give Shaitan this permission? To make us think. If our thoughts are not challenged with disagreement and other ideas and suggestions, we would never need to think and find out the truth and figure out things.

One of the greatest goods is discovery, especially, self-discovery. When Allah (swt) questions us on the Day of Judgment, He (swt) asks us questions! SubhanAllah! Do you see the wisdom in that? He (swt) sets it up so we discover the truth about ourselves. That is True Wisdom.

We don’t enjoy being lectured at. We enjoy discovery and self-discovery and personal growth in particular. So, go for it. Find out about death. It should make your false fears of it and your obsession with it go away, in Sha’ Allah. Death is not only scary, it is also the doorway to permanent life – life without death—and that is what we all want!

May Allah (swt) make it easy for you!