Khalid Abdul Nabi

My father was smoking. He smoked. He was not drinking, but he was smoking. He smoked cigarettes. He smoked cigarettes when he was a young man until he became an old man. He’d crossed into his 70’s when he died. 

So, five years before, he got some major sickness and heart problems. He was admitted to a hospital, and everybody was praying for him. Then I prayed to God and asked God not to take my dad. 

Now what I’m telling you, I didn’t tell anybody because sometimes there are things you keep between yourself and God; you don't want to share them with anybody. But I feel that I need to tell you now: if you’re smoking or if you’re drinking, I feel it’s a sin. 

In our religion, in Islam, we feel that what our prophet asked about death is right. When a person dies, and the last thing he was doing was wrong, where does he go? In the end, we know that there is heaven and there is hell. You feel afraid for the people you love because…where are they are going? You feel not only for yourself but for your father, for your mother, for your son, for your children. You’ll be afraid about where they are going after death.

So, when my father got that problem, I was praying to God not to take him, at least at that time. He was doing something wrong. My father was at the end of his days, and I didn’t want God to take him because he was doing something wrong. This was five years before he died. 

After that, I said, “Dad, please stop smoking. Forget smoking. No more cigarettes.” 

And before taking him back to his house, I called my sisters. I told them, “Clean dad’s room and remove any cigarettes. Any smell of cigarette I don’t want in that room.” So, they removed all cigarettes, the packets, whatever it was about smoking in the room, they removed to help him to not go back to smoking. 

When he reached home, he promised me that he would stop smoking. And with the help of God, he stopped. For five years he did not smoke.

I was so happy that God answered my prayers. Maybe it wasn’t only my prayers. Maybe my brothers and my sisters were praying the same. Maybe all of our prayers came together when God answered the prayers. 

Then recently, my father got sick suddenly. His heart failed and he died at home, in my hands actually. He was in my hands when he died. 

I thank God that in his end of days he was pure; he was not doing something wrong. He died and it was very peaceful. God answered his prayers. He died in his bed in front of his children and his wife. 

Muslims wash the person who died. When we were washing him, it was very easy and, and it looked like he was smiling. He was dead but, you know it looked like—I felt like—he was smiling. 

After three days, my brother asked, “Did you notice that when we were washing dad that he was smiling?”

I said, “I think he was smiling, but I didn’t tell anybody. He was happy in the end, and it was nice.”