Maryam Amir – Anxiety and fear of death heres comfort!

			My mom told me that when she was
younger, she had a friend whose
		

			little sister was passing away,
and in the hospital, her parents
		

			were with her, and she asked them,
Who are those beautiful people
		

			that just walked in and her
parents couldn't see anyone, and
		

			then she said, they're holding the
most beautiful white dress I've
		

			ever seen. And then she passed
away. Maybe she was seeing the
		

			angels in the form of people to
comfort her, bringing a garment
		

			for her soul. Knowing that
		

			death is real is terrifying for
many of us, but also knowing that
		

			there's more than we can see
brings us comfort. I think one of
		

			the reasons we are terrified a lot
of times, I get this question a
		

			lot, and I also went through my
own journey where I was so
		

			terrified of dying to the point
that it would paralyze me from
		

			living with hope in God. And I
think that really comes from a
		

			message that we often hear in our
communities, where, in order to
		

			encourage people to do good, there
is this obsession on punishment,
		

			and life is short and you're gonna
die and you never know if you're
		

			gonna be able to repent all true.
But it's not balanced with God's
		

			mercy and God's love, and like
motivating people to do good for
		

			his sake, out of joy, out of out
of love, for that relationship.
		

			And so for many people whose
psychology doesn't work with
		

			constant threats and fear and
control, it just leaves many
		

			people feeling completely
paralyzed emotionally. Add that to
		

			any sort of trauma you might be
going through, anxiety,
		

			depression, whatever you're going
through on top of that. And how
		

			can you live when you're so
obsessed with the what, which is
		

			dying instead of the WHO
		

			that you're living for?
		

			When you get to know who you're
living for, when you get to know
		

			as salam, the source of peace, the
wadu, the source of love, el
		

			Kerim, the generous,
		

			the way that you live your life
shifts. And I recommend reading
		

			reflecting on the names of Allah,
a book by Jina and Youssef, and
		

			take one name of God a week and
pray to him by that name. Make dua
		

			to him by that name all week, so
that you can really start to just
		

			emotionally connect with God and
start to trust him. Sometimes,
		

			because of trust issues that we
have, for whatever reason, we
		

			don't know how to trust God. And
sometimes those trust issues are
		

			with God because we wonder, why
has this happened in my life? Or
		

			why isn't he answering this when
you get to know who he is and
		

			trust who he is in your life, then
you can face knowing that whatever
		

			amount of time and we pray, that
God gives us long, healthy lives
		

			of worship for his sake and
benefiting others,
		

			that it's for a reason, and also
seek therapy and.