Stockpiling!

Currently, with the national lockdown due to the Coronavirus, many people understandably went into a state of panic. This panic and anxiety precipitated a phenomenon known as ‘stockpiling’, where people rushed to supermarkets and grocery stores to stock up on all essential items.

Long life milk… Toilet paper… Bread… Canned food… Pasta… Frozen vegetables and meat… Medications… All these items – and more – suddenly came into high demand as people became housebound and realized that for the next 21 days, they would be restricted in exiting their homes.

The reality, however, is that the grocery stores are still open, and the shelves are still being restocked. Yet, despite this reassurance and the continued supply of essentials, our fear of the lockdown is so intense that we still hasten to stockpile, adopting the most extreme precautions to guarantee our survival in a time of uncertainty.

When our fear of a mere 21-day lockdown is so intense, and has precipitated such drastic preparation, then imagine what our preparation for the ‘lockdown’ in the grave should be! Once we are placed in the darkness, six-feet under, and our loved ones have returned home, we will truly be under a ‘lockdown’. We will be completely bound to our grave, in isolation, absolutely unable to leave.

In the case of this ‘lockdown’, however, the fundamental difference is that the ‘grocery stores’ will no longer be open. No! Instead, it is the imaan and actions which one has painstakingly ‘stockpiled’ throughout his life that will avail him and provide him with comfort during this crucial lockdown.

Salaah… Fasting… Charity… Recitation of the Quraan Majeed… Durood… Kindness to the creation… Joining and maintaining family ties… Abstaining from sins… These – and more – are the ‘essentials’ we need to stockpile so that we can ‘survive’ the ‘lockdown’ of the grave and the subsequent stages of the Hereafter.

In essence, this period of the lockdown should be a period of reflection. Before the lockdown commenced, we all tried our best to make our homes as comfortable as possible, and stocked up on all the essentials so that we would be able to pass this period without any difficulty. In the same manner, the grave will be our home when we are under ‘lockdown’ after death. We should thus strive to make our graves as comfortable as possible by ‘stockpiling’ righteous actions and good deeds.

May Allah Ta‘ala protect us all from sicknesses and make our graves gardens of Jannah for us, aameen.