August 07 , 2009
Preparing for Adversity, Disability and Death: a Muslim Perspective
The sudden death of a young physician in our community a few weeks ago left all who knew the family stunned. For the moment, the day, the week we are vulnerable and grieved and intermittently envision our deaths. But life has a strange inexorable way of chugging along, and pretty soon we are enveloped in its busy-ness and conveniently forget.
There is a weird streak in human nature; the other guy is going to die, we’re not, some famous personality is going to have a heart attack, I am not. And when it comes to physicians this false sense of security takes on an air of invincibility.
The Qur’an says that life is given to us as a gift, an amanah; it is mandatory that we cherish it and take care of ourselves to the very best of our abilities. The dua and dawa concept is well understood by Muslims, we appreciate that dua is able to achieve the impossible but we are strongly encouraged to adopt all scientific, reasonable, logical courses to cure ourselves of our ills. Discarding all medical maneuvers and prostrating before and imploring God are unlikely to work.
LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS
Great advice in the Qur’an, Surah Furqan (25:67): “Those who when they spend are not extravagant and not stingy but hold a just balance between these two extremes”. This underscores Islam’s emphasis on the middle path and moderation. It is vital that we rely on what we earn rather than living on credit or loans in the effort to maintain a false image of ourselves to our own selves and especially to boast in front of family and friends.
SAVE, SAVE, SAVE…..
With the Wall Street fiascos, the housing market crisis and the credit crunch, we are waking up to the follies of our past on an individual and collective/national basis. The recession may well be a blessing in disguise for savings has been up nationally after a long time. The principle of paying yourself first works well in the arena of trying to save. Even if it is a small amount, a monthly savings plan works wonders, for money that would have been frittered away accumulates, and is seen as a significant sum at the end of the year.
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
Take care of your health, besides eating sensibly and exercising regularly, visit your primary care doctor on a regular basis and get the necessary preventive tests for your age group on a regular basis. Don’t minimize symptoms; it is better to be told by the medical system that you really have indigestion than to orphan your children for fear of being called a hypochondriac.
DISABILITY AND LIFE INSURANCE
Don’t be cavalier and think that misfortune will always miss you. God says very succinctly in Surah Balad (90:4) “Verily we have created man in toil and struggle”. Like speed-bumps on the road, life has its stops and starts, its bumps and bruises. It is vital to obtain disability insurance for yourself and/or the breadwinner of the family so as to ensure that if you developed a prolonged illness or could not work due to injury, your disability insurance would pay the bills till you were back on your feet.
It is not unheard of that very well off families become suddenly very poor when the breadwinner is suddenly taken ill and is unable to work for an extended period. It is hard enough to adjust to a stroke, for instance, it is harder yet to do it in sudden poverty.
Life insurance as a tool to help your family cope financially is vital. Term life insurance is very important as a financially protective tool. Whole life insurance is more of an investment strategy. Do ensure that your life insurance death benefit will cover your debts and not just funeral expenses. Ideally of course one would want to leave a good amount for the survivors.
DEATH THE INEVITABLE
Inshaallah all of us should be as lucky as to avoid disability; but all of us shall experience death: “Every soul shall have a taste of death, and to Us must you return” (Qur’an, Al-Imran 3:185, Anbiya 21:35, Ankabut 29:57). Preparing for that inevitable date and time and to think of it on a regular basis to set one’s compass and course right is very important. The Day of Judgment is an oft repeated premise in Islam and is a factor in both Iman ut-Thalatha ( belief in God, the Prophets and the Day of Judgment) as well as Iman Mufassil (belief in God, the Prophets, the angels, the Books, the Day of Judgment and Fate and Predestination). The Qur’an repeatedly exhorts us to understand that this world is but an exam site and its glitz and glamour is only fleeting. (Surah Nisa 4:77)
MORAL INVENTORY/MUHASIBA
Omar ibn Al-Khattab’s famous saying goes: “Do your own hisab before your hisab is done for you”. A nightly event should be a quick moral inventory of the day and an evaluation of what we did and how good, bad or ugly it really was. It is vital that we ask for forgiveness from the living before it is too late for us and before there are impediments on our smooth sailing to the gates of heaven! If there is a daily moral inventory there will not be any need to run around, at, or near death, trying to locate people that we feel we may have wronged, for, by then, memories are marred and distances have been created.
LIVING WILL/ADVANCED DIRECTIVE
Ensure that you have a Living Will/Durable Health Care Power of Attorney for in the case of illness in which you are unable to discuss your health care with your physicians, those you trust should be able to decide in a manner that fits your philosophy. If you do not have a Living Will you can download and print this one, fill it out and get it notarized and you’re all set.
http://www.ohpco.org/AdvDir%20Forms%202004.pdf
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
It is a fallacy, and actually very colonial-minded, to think that the Islamic will is not applicable in the United States. It is customary for people to leave all their wealth to their wife and children and to exclude those children that annoyed them or the ones that they broke relations with. Leona Helmsley the New York tax-evader-millionaire left most of her money to her dog!
There are detailed permutations with regard to inheritance in the Qur’an and it is clearly stated repeatedly that our inheritance must be according to Islamic law and if it is not “but those who disobey God and His Apostle and transgress His limits will be admitted to a fire, to abide therein, and they shall have a humiliating punishment” (Surah Nisa 4:14)
If you have a child that is disabled or unmarried and you fear that they might not receive enough, then give them all you want in your lifetime. If you favor a charity, knowing that only one-third of your wealth can be given to charity after your death, give all you want in your lifetime. If you feel that your daughters or sisters or mother will not be well treated by the males of your family, give them all you want in your lifetime. Do not spend time in the useless and sinful activity of criticizing Islamic laws of inheritance; be proactive and take action while you are alive, for in death, God’s law should be acting for you.
The Islamic Society of North America, ISNA, in association with a group of leading scholars of Islamic Fiqh or jurisprudence have developed an impressive document called the Last Will and Testament, which is valid and legal in North America. It can be downloaded and printed from http://www.zawaj.com/articles/islamic_will.pdf. It consists of various permutations of the survivors of the deceased, for example a wife, two daughters, a son and a mother, among many other combinations. All you have to do is go to the site, download, print, fill, notarize, make copies and let your near and dear ones know where they are. Islam has taken the headache off of you about how much to leave whom and ISNA has made it practically possible!
DEATH DOCUMENTS
Don’t mean to sound morose, but our entry into life was noisy, our exit should be smooth! Instead of people scurrying around to find your important documents, create a file with copies of all important documents, primarily your Last Will and Testament, your Living Will/Advanced Directive, documents relating to your house, your practice/business, your assets, your liabilities with important phone numbers of your lawyer, doctor, accountant, banker, financial consultant etc. and even copies of safe deposit keys or combinations thereof.
We must try to live life to the fullest and make a graceful exit, leaving our survivors to mourn our memory and not cry over a tangled, financial mess that we leave them. When we divide our wealth Islamically we don’t end up dividing the family; Allah takes the onus for He in His infinite wisdom decides who gets how much. May we all love Him, mind, spirit and soul and submit entirely to His beautiful will!
(Mahjabeen Islam is a columnist, family physician and addictionist. Her email is mahjabeen.islam@gmail.com)
