Peace in returning

I came across this saying,

"True freedom is when you have somewhere to return."

What do you think? It striked me that, when people talk about freedom it's about being free to go and do whatever you want to do without anyone or anything holding you back. How true is that?

When you think about it, after going places you want to go and doing the things you want to do, what next? It would be never ending unless you know that you have somewhere to return to after all that. A journey that goes on and on with no clear aim and you end up getting tired of it and wanting to stop. Let's look at an example. A bird for instance. People like associating freedom with birds right? When you see them fly above in that vast blue sky you'd think that they are so full of freedom. You forget though that when they fly away, due time their wings would get tired. If they don't find a place or a branch to land on and rest their wings they might regret having those wings in the first place. Ever thought of that?

Knowing you belong somewhere and have a place to go back to, seems to be very calming to the soul. At least to me it is. Perhaps that's how life is. From death comes out life. From nothing comes something. To return would mean, to die.

Do you think about death? Honestly do you? Do you remember the fact that one day you will die? This isn't supposed to be freaky or anything but people avoid to talk about it anyway. I guess it depends on how you view death. I'm not saying I have a clear picture about it but I do know that I don't want to be afraid of it.

I'm sure you've heard of stories where people try hard to be immortal. A refusal to die. Why would you want that? Ironically in some stories people who are immortal want to die. You see why? When they experience immortality then only they realise that they don't want it. As I mentioned just now it becomes a never ending journey. They want to die because they want to stop. To die and find peace in that. That peace comes because you are returning to your creator. Makes sense right?

In Islam, life is one of the things we need to take care of the most. It's a gift and we're not supposed to just let go of it.

"...dan janganlah kamu membunuh dirimu. Sungguh Allah Maha Penyayang kepadamu."

[An-Nisa' 4:29]

But even so, looking forward to it and preparing with all your might to face death isn't wrong. It just shows that we're not in love with the world. The world is not what's in our hearts. I'd say it's true that manusia perlu kepada perkara yang ghaib, perlu kepada akhirat. That's how we've been created. There's peace in thinking about death. You just have to know the right the way to think.

My brothers and sisters, don't fear death...what you must fear is Allah.