At about 11.00 am today my wife received news that her uncle which we called Wak Shid ( Pak Rashid ) had passed away at about 8.00 am. He was in his 70s .At first she thought that it could have been a joke or a mistaken identity . I asked her to make inquiries to ascertain the truth of the information . To our surprise the information was confirmed to be true . Immediately , my wife and I got into our car and proceeded towards USJ Subang Jaya . While on the way we received information that the late Wak Shid's body had been brought to the Al Falaq Mosque at USJ 9, Subang Jaya and so we proceeded to that place . We reached the Mosque at about 1.15 pm. As the body was being bathed for the last time before burial , I performed the sunnah prayer ( Tahyatul Masjid ) and then recited the surah Yassin for the late Wak Shid . When the bathing rituals were completed I went to the room where the body was kept to pay my last respect before it was wrapped in a piece of white cloth for burial which was scheduled after Zohor prayers . Before leaving the room I recited the verse of Al Fatihah again .
The late Wak Shid was my late father in law's younger brother . He was a former engineer turned businessman and lived in Petaling Jaya most of the time before shifting to Subang Jaya . His death touched my heart because lately he was close to us . He had been to our house several times although we have yet to visit him in his house . He liked to joke and his presence would make conversation lively . I remember the last time I met him was in October 2007 ( a few days after Hari Raya ) at Asrina's ( our niece ) house in Putra Jaya where she invited us for 'makan ' . Wak Shid and his wife and brother in-law Hassan and family were also there . He was very jovial and we chatted on many subjects . His presence and his jokes made our conversation lively . I noticed that this old man was quite religious . When the time for prayer came , he would excuse himself to perform his obligation to Allah . His knowledge on Islam was stunningly impressive for he could quote the verses from the Quran relevant to our subject of converstaion . What made me impossible to forget him was when he played ' Imam ' during my Asar prayers on that day . At first he was reluctant to be the Imam but I insisted that he should be since he was senior in age to me . I still vividly remember when he performed the 'sujud' ritual which lasted so long that I almost wonder what he was doing in that situation . Obviously he was reciting a long ' doa ' . Any way being a ' makmum ' I obligingly followed . From Asrina's house we parted to proceed to my sister in-law's ( Cik Cah ) house in Shah Alam . Unfortunately Wak Shid and his wife could not joined us there . That was the last time we saw of him alive . I had planned to visit him in his house but due to some unavoidable reasons it had to be postponed several times . One of the reasons we failed to visit him was because my wife failed to note down his home address . I have been reminding my wife several times to note down addresses and phone numbers of relatives so that we could visit them when necessary . Only today that my wife made an effort to find the late Wak Shid's home address , even that after having received news of his death . It was a bit too late which we deeply regreted .
We have lost a good uncle . He obviously deserved a better place in Heaven . The short stint knowing him has tremendously made a great impact on our perception of this good old man . Another chapter of a life had closed . We who still remain in this world should always remember that life is short . Life in this world is just a passing through on our journey to eternal life in the World After . The world has existed for thousands or perhaps millions of years ( since Prophet Adam ) and we do not know how many more years it would last . People have been borned and people have died . The dead are remembered for their good and bad deeds . Those who have entered the books of History would be remembered a little bit longer while the rest would soon be forgotten . Ordinary people like us perhaps if we are lucky would be remembered by our children and the most may be by our grand children too but those unlucky one would soon be forgotten even by their own children . As Muslims we are told that when we die we would leave only 3 things which we will continue to benefit after death :-
1) charity that we have given which continue to benefit mankind
2) beneficial knowledge which we have imparted
3) supplication or ' doa ' by our righteous or God fearing ( solleh ) children
All the rest like property etc. would render useless except perhaps only for the benefit of our living children . It would be most dreadful if none of my children would want to recite the ' doa ' for me when I am dead .
To Wak Shid ,I pray that he would rest in peace and be placed among the faithfuls in Heaven . Amin .
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