This question came up in a philosophy class that I am taking; and I really began to think about it. I’ve spent the last week wondering how I would spend my last 24 hours in this world. I feel like the first several things that come to your mind are the ones that really show your true colors. And when you wonder “why”, many of times the answer is, “I have no idea why, just because i guess.” At this point is when we really need to close our eyes and search, think with our hearts and not our brains. I know that sounds irrational and stupid to many, but I believe that our hearts (not literally the organ) are one of the simplest things in the world. They always tell you the truth; no matter what science says, true feelings do come from the heart.
When I was initially asked this question, the first thing that came to my mind was “party!”, but it was not a serious answer. When a question loaded with so much meaning is presented, most people tend to deflect away from it with a funny little comment because they are too afraid to look within themselves to find an answer. The point of this question is not to layout a 24 point plan with every hour planned out; the point is to put your life into perspective and really see what is important to us.
Once I sat down to truly find an answer to this question, the only thing that came to my mind was to go and pray my heart out. I tried to think of “what else”, but there was nothing else. At first I thought that “it’s my belief as a Muslim that’s making me say this.” but then I realized that being a Muslim has become so much a part of me that my heart no longer distinguishes between the beliefs of a Muslim and my own beliefs. The funny thing to me was that my everyday actions do not in anyway show that Islam is ingrained in my heart. At first I thought “maybe the fact that I would spend my last hours in prayer show that religion is the most important thing in my life.” But it was when I thought about that “maybe” from which I realized that spending my last 24 hours in prayer, after spending my entire life doing whatever I pleased, could be out of sheer desperation and fear. Would that really help me? After speaking to a friend, I thought maybe it’s the intention that counts. At this point I presented my self with several more “what if(s)…” What if that intention was from my brain, just for that moment? What if I was still alive at 24 hours and 1 minute? 25 hours? Another week? Would I revert back to my previous lifestyle? Would noting change? As I sit here writing, I’m trying to come up with an answer for these questions. Obviously I won’t ever actually know, but I feel like coming up with an answer would help in improving my life right now and hopefully desperate prayer will not have to be the way I end of my life. I would much rather come to the end of my life knowing that I did what I could to ensure my spot in Paradise; because is that not why we do what we do?
In the last few hours that I spent writing this, I have come up with anything new; but it was not a waste of effort. After all the questions I had about whether my prayer would be real and true, I came to the conclusion that not praying would definitely leave me wondering would would happen if I had spent an extra couple minutes praying, therefore praying would be the only thing that would somewhat satisfy my anxiety. Not knowing whether it would help or not would not be worth an afterlife in which I would know that I could have done better.
