Wind Carries You to Death

DAILYREFLECTION

The Prophet ﷺ used to make one duʿā more than any other:

“O Turner of hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion.”

He ﷺ said it constantly because the heart is fragile.
Even the strongest believer can slip.
Even the most steadfast soul can waver.

He also warned: the time we’ll need firmness most isn’t during a worldly trial,
It’s when the angels descend and the unseen becomes real.

Our worldly trials are not wasted.
Every hardship, temptation, or heartbreak that tests your faith is preparing you for the final test. The moment your soul is questioned in the grave.

If we can remain steadfast in our faith while life pulls us in every direction, then by Allah’s mercy, we’ll remain firm when the angels ask, “Who is your Lord?”

Each of us has a land where our soul will be taken, and we don’t know where it is.
When the time comes, Allah will create a reason for us to be in that exact place.
And when we arrive, the Angel of Death will already be waiting.

Imam al-Qurṭubi (RA) narrates a story about Prophet Sulaimān (AS):

One day, a man said to him,
“Ya Nabiyyallah, I have a need to fulfill in India.
Can you command the wind to carry me there in a moment?”

As he spoke, Sulaimān looked up and saw the Angel of Death standing nearby.
Unusually, he noticed him smiling.

So he asked, “Why are you smiling?”

The Angel of Death replied,
“It’s astonishing. I was commanded to take this man’s soul at the end of this hour…in India.
Yet I found him here, sitting beside you.”

So Sulaimān ordered the wind,
and it carried the man swiftly across the earth to India.
And in that very hour, his soul was taken. Exactly where Allah had decreed.

When your moment arrives, it won’t ask your permission.
It will find you in travel or stillness, in comfort or chaos.

You can’t outrun what was written before you were born.
But you can prepare for it.

That’s the work of a lifetime, to train your heart to stay steady when the world shakes.
So when your hour comes,
you won’t run.
You’ll recognize it.
And you’ll whisper,
“I’ve been expecting you.”

REFLECT ON THIS:

When you think about your own life, what winds has Allah sent your way not to destroy you, but to carry you exactly where your soul was meant to grow?

^{Share your reflections in the poll at the end of the email.}

WATERMELONWATCH

• At least two people were killed, including a child, in air raids by Israeli forces targeting eastern areas of Gaza City and southern Gaza, local residents continue to assist one another through shared shelters and neighbourhood support networks.

• Aid agencies warn that only about half the needed food supplies are entering Gaza, and tents are deteriorating as winter approaches. Meanwhile, community volunteers are organising improvised warming centres for displaced families.

• Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in October, the highest monthly total since records began. Palestinian grassroots groups continue documenting settler violence and providing legal aid to affected families.

• The World Bank backed a US-drafted UN resolution to establish a transitional governance body and invest some $70 billion in Gaza’s reconstruction, signalling momentum toward rebuilding local youth groups are beginning to plan community-led rebuilding efforts in coordination with international partners.

• US forces are now coordinating with Israel and regional partners to manage humanitarian aid delivery into Gaza through a Civil-Military Coordination Center. Civil society organisations in Gaza are stepping in to distribute aid and run mobile clinics until larger scale systems are restored.

QURANCORNER

Each day, you’ll be introduced to one of the 300 most common Qur’anic words. The Qur’an has about 77,430 words in total, all built on just 2,000 root words. By learning these frequently recurring ones, you’ll recognize 70–80% of the Qur’an’s vocabulary and begin connecting more deeply as you read.

عذاب(Adhāb) — Punishment

From the root ع–ذ–ب (ʿ-dh-b), which can mean to prevent, to withhold, or to cause pain, ‘adhāb in the Qur’an refers to the consequence or suffering that comes as a result of disobedience to Allah. Interestingly, the same root can also relate to sweetness in other contexts, showing a contrast between the pain of punishment and the sweetness of mercy when one turns back to Allah.