DEATH, DYING, AND RELIGION

An In-depth Analysis of Tuesdays with Morrie

Saad Sabir

Ms. Mallon

Period 1

04/21/06

What happens to our souls and our physical bodies when we die? The question can

only be answered through one's religion and or customs, as most cultures and religions

are based on different beliefs. When one is diagnosed with an incurable disease and death

is in the immediate future how do they prepare to die? As Morrie knew that his death was

near; he reacted by acting on his plan. Morrie's plan was to teach the life's most

important lesson. Morrie believes that we should live life to the fullest and makes it his

priority to teach that lesson until he is no more. Rituals and customs are performed when

someone dies in different ways according to ones religion. Different religions have

different views on life and after-life beliefs. "Muslims believe that all human life is a gift

from Allah, and is, therefore, sacred" (Egan, 52). If a Jewish person knows that his or her

death is near, he or she is encouraged to recite the Shema prayer and ask for forgiveness

of his or her sins, and Jews also consider death "as natural as life - part of God's plan for

people" (Wood, 46). For Sikhs death is not the end as they believe in eternal life in the

form of reincarnation. They think that "ones soul can be reborn numerous times as human

or animal" (Mayled, 46). People from different religions have different rituals and

beliefs relating to the after-death life, but they share a similar concept of dying; that

everything is directed by god.

In the religion of Islam according to Qur'an, the holy book, it is believed that "it is He,

Allah ... It is Allah who causes death and gives life (Egan, 52)". Muslims believe that it is

their duty to live everyday as if it was their last, because no human being knows or

should know when their life will be acquired by Allah. Morrie also believes that one

should live life like there is no tomorrow, and in fact considers it the most important

lesson he ever taught. The difference however lies in the meaning of "live life like there

is no tomorrow." Islam implies that you should do good deeds everyday and be a good

Muslim as you do not know weather you will be alive the next day or not, whereas

Morrie believes that you should have fun, enjoy your life, and live to the fullest as you

don't know if there will be a tomorrow for you or not. Muslims believe that if they find

out that their death is in near future, it's more important to ask for Allah's forgiveness for

any wrongdoings and think about their after death life, than be surrounded by family and

friends for affection (Egan, 53). Morrie has different views on the preparation of death as

he calls his family members and friends for a living funeral. In the culture of Islam, it is

not traditional to have a living funeral, but instead family members pray together and ask

Allah for forgiveness and a peaceful death. In the religion of Islam, another tradition to

prepare for after life is to make the holy pilgrimage to Mecca known as the Hajj. The

importance of Hajj is so much that it is considered as one of the five pillars of the religion

of Islam. It is insisted in Islam that every Muslim, who can afford to perform Hajj in

good health, should try to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. Hajj is

performed in Mecca, the holy city of Islam, in Saudi Arabia once every year during the

religious month of Dhul-Hijjah in the Muslim calendar. To abridge, any Muslim who

knows that his or her death is near should try to make the holy pilgrimage of Hajj for

forgiveness from Allah and a feeling of a complete life (Egan, 54).

An evident story relating to death and different approaches on death by different

religions is the Terri Schiavo case. After the Terri Schiavo case, one is allowed to choose

weather he or she wants to live or not under severe health problems. Living will is an

agreement provided to you by every insurance company and hospital, which asks you

whether if you would like to live if you're under really bad health situation. It is almost

giving away a life to a doctor's hand who will decide if you are in severe pain or not and

if you will be able to make it or not. As the husband of Terri Schiavo, Michael Schiavo

gave permission to remove the feeding tube from her as she was suffering from a severe

brain-damaged. Because of the living will the doctors were allowed to remove the

feeding tube, resulting in her much better death after 13 days. Terri Schiavo's and

Morrie's death are comparable as both were suffering from severe brain damage and was

evident that she did not want to live anymore. Morrie was suffering from ALS; a disease

which makes you paralyzed and wilts your whole body slowly. Morrie never thought

about giving up on his life and wanted to live every moment left in his soul as freely as

he could. His decision was similar to what Muslims have to do if they are in such

situation. "Muslims believe that the human life is given by Allah, and it can only be taken

away by Allah" (Egan, 53). No Muslim is allowed to cause a person's death even if he is

suffering and is also not allowed to choose for himself if he should die or not. Morrie's

disease, ALS, takes your body movement away from you slowly often starting by

paralyzing your legs and moving its way up. Morrie always needed someone to assist him

as he could not carry his own weight and later could not even eat food on his own. He

went through a lot of pain, but still was strong from inside and lived his life fully till the

end, which is corresponding to Islamic beliefs. Muslims are also "not allowed to choose

the time of his her passing- [as] Allah [is the only one] who sanctions the hour of death"

(Egan, 53).

The religious views on death & dying can be divided into two views: eastern and

western. "Western religions tend to look at life as a one chance shot at proving yourself,

with the end result being an eternity in either heaven or hell. "(Religious views on death

and dying: https//dying.about.com/cs/religiousviews/a/Religious_Views.htm). The belief

can be compared to Christian beliefs as they believe that life spent here depicts

weather you will go to heaven or hell. It solely depends on what you have done in life ,

and ones belief's that can help him or her at the time of death. Christianity looks at death

in two results: one is heaven and other is hell. Some Christians believe that hell is the

absence of god, but some other Christians believe that it's a place of endless suffering. Due

to different versions of the bible, Christians may be the religion but may have a few different

beliefs. Also some Christians believe that the people who go to hell will not have a

definite punishment, and that it depends on the sins you have committed during life. and

also that it does not guarantee admission to the Heaven by doing only good deeds.

Death is looked upon differently by every individual as it is what the person believes

in. Death in the Hindu religion is looked upon in different ways. One who knows he is

dying might believe that he will come again after death with the process of reincarnation.

Some believe that death is like going to sleep and birth is like waking up from that sleep

(Death and dying:

http://dying.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hinduism-

today.com%2Farchives%2F1997%2F1%2F1997-1-03.shtml). Some HIndu people go for

a pilgrimage to holy and sacred places if they know that they are going to die soon.

Hindus often prefer to die in their own house between relatives because they believe that

if a person is dying, his or her relatives should say some mantra which can easily relieve

one's soul from their body. In Hindu religion when a person is dying, his or her relatives

should be around him or her, which is what Morrie valued as well. Morrie's family was

there with him and supported him during his last days and also performed a living

funeral, which may be considered an honorable and a fortunate ceremony as not everyone

is able to do that.

Death is also something that we all have to face one day but we tend to ignore it. Jews

believe that if they know that their death is near, they are obliged to recite the shema

prayer and ask god for forgiveness of his or her sins. Jews also believe that death is

natural and part of god's plan for all people, which is similar to Islamic beliefs. Jewish

beliefs are also identical to Hindus as they believe that there is life after death. In Terri

Schiavo case, it was permitted to plug out the tube to let go the soul of Terri so she can

have a peaceful death. If a similar situation occurred in a Jewish household, they would

have permitted to pull that plug, as it's not against their religion. Muslims and Hindus do

not believe in that because in their religion life is considered as a precious gift of god, and

only he has the right to take it away as he is the one who gave it to us in the first place.

It's only him who can decide weather he wants to take it away or not. Morrie could have

done the living will option but he wanted to live fuilly till the last day. Also he wanted to

live as long as possible so he can teach as many people as possible: the value of life,

which he considered life's greatest lesson.

"Everyone knows they are going to die," he said again, "but nobody believes it. If we

did, we would do things differently" (Morrie, 71). From this quote Morrie is trying to say

that if we learn the importance of life, then we will learn how to live fully. He tries to

reason that it is only when you think your death could be anytime is when you would do

tings differently. For example if you are a Muslim you would start asking for

forgiveness, or if you are a Jew you would recite the Shema prayer. There is huge

difference between living a simple carefree life and living a life thinking that death could

be anytime. If a Muslim person doesn't think about whether if he would be alive

tomorrow or not, he would live life like normal people and wouldn't ask for forgiveness

for his or her sins as often, but if the same person knows that he is going to die soon he or

she would rather ask for forgiveness and try to go to the holy pilgrimage for more

forgiveness. If a Hindu person knew he or she was going to die soon, he or she would

think about death as falling asleep and waking up in a new form with the same soul. And

if a Jew knows he or she is going to die, he or she will recite the shema prayer to god and

pray for forgiveness.

In conclusion, all religions have different views on death, and different cultures have

different rituals for the preparation of death, but they all still have a common belief that

everything is directed from God and only God. And also that death could be acquired by

god at any time he pleases.