Human Lifespan

An Honored Term

Human lifespan is a gift from God, and every human life is sacred from conception to death. God says: “It is He who created you out of dust, and then out of a drop of sperm, and then out of a germ cell; and then He brings you forth as children; and then (He ordains) that you reach maturity, and then, that you grow old – though some of you (He causes to) die earlier – and  (all this He ordains) so that you might reach a term set (by Him), and that you might (learn to) use your reason” (40:67).

Starting the maturity, each person is responsible for keeping his life in a good condition, physically and morally, as much as he can: exploiting all possibilities he is given, using the faculties endowed by God and guided by the ordinances revealed by God to His Messenger. God says: “Follow what has been sent down to you by your Lord, and follow no masters other than Him. How seldom do you keep this in mind!” (7:3).

Since the life term set by God for each person is unrevealed, one tends not to keep this in mind. And that is why the Qur’an often reminds the readers by saying “afala ta’qiloon?” (= do you not then keep this in mind?), or “afala tatafakkaroon?”  (= do you not, then, take thought?), or “afala tatadzakkaroon” (= do you not, then, think about it?). This human lifespan is an honored term, worthy of respect and has an utmost dignity among other beings on earth. That is because human being was given certain faculties of developing knowledge and certain free will to exercise his role as the master of other beings.

The Test

As man’s life is so honored, God made it for him a test, as to how far each person will follow God’s guidance. God says: “Truly We have made all that exists on earth be a means by which We put them (= human beings) to a test, (showing) which of them are best in conduct” (18:7).

It is a risky test, as by nature, man tends to love a lot of desired things and it is not easy to challenge, except with a strong faith. God says: “It has been made attractive for people to love the desired things; that is, women, children, hoarded heaps of gold and silver, branded horses, cattle and tillage. That is an enjoyment of the worldly life; but with God lies the beauty of the final resort” (3:14).

The problem does not lie in using all beautiful things created by God. The problem is in their misuse! God says: “O children of Adam! Beautify yourselves for every act of worship, and eat and drink, but do not be excessive: Verily, He does not love those who are excessive! Say: Who is there to forbid the beauty which God has brought forth for His servants, and the good things of (God’s) sustenance? Say: These, on the Day of Resurrection, shall be exclusively for those who believed during the life of this world. Thus We detail the signs for people who know”  (7:31-32).

And we can learn from the ordinances of God, that generally all good things are lawful, whereas only little things are exceptionally unlawful. The unlawful things are the harmful, vicious, or malicious things. God says: “O you who have attained to faith! Do not forbid the good things that God has made lawful for you, and do not transgress (the bounds of what is right); verily God does not love transgressors” (5:87).

Very often people underestimate the value of human lifespan, but it is considered by the Creator as very precious, and any misuse by the person concerned is very risky, it may cause him big harm during the life of this world, and certainly in the Hereafter. God says: “By time! Verily human being is in a state of loss, except those who attain to faith, and do good works, and enjoin upon one another the keeping to truth, and enjoin upon one another patience in adversity”  (Surah Al’asr).

Lifespan to be imputed

“Al-‘asr” means the measurable time. So each person will be interrogated about every moment in his lifespan: how did he use it, in which way did he spend it.

In the Qur’an God says: “O man! Verily you are laboring toward your Lord laboriously, and then you shall meet Him”  (84:6).

Mu’adz bin Jabal quotes the Prophet (God’s blessings upon Him) as saying: “A servant of God will remain standing on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about four things: about how he spent his life, how he used up his youth, how he acquired and managed his property and how he utilized his knowledge”.

What is important for a person is not how long his life will be, but how much he participated in enriching his society and how big his share in improving human culture was and how much he helped the needy, etc. And that confirms the purpose of God’s aim in creating humans, as He said in the Qur’an: “And I have not created the jinn and mankind except that they may worship Me” (51:56). And this “worship” includes all kinds of lawful human activities in all domains of developing life as God’s vicegerents on earth.

Mus’ab bin Omair, who was sent by the Prophet (God’s blessings upon him) to Madinah before Hijrah to teach and expand Islam there, died as a martyr in defending Islam in Uhud in his early thirties. Imam Shafi’iy, whose great works in Shari’ah Studies are used until today in almost all colleges and universities all over the world specialized in the subject, passed away more than one thousand years ago at the age of 53 years. Imam An-Nawawy, whose popular works in Islamic studies are found not only in schools but also even in most Muslim houses, died at the age of only 43 years.