Send me back, my Lord!

In His Name, the Most High

Allah (swt) says in Surat al-Mu'minoon, verses 99-100:

حَتَّى إِذَا جَاء أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ
لَعَلِّي أَعْمَلُ صَالِحًا فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ كَلَّا إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا وَمِن وَرَائِهِم بَرْزَخٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

When death comes to one of them, he will say: "Send me back, my Lord, send me back, so that I can do good in place of what I neglected." By no means!

Allamah Tehrani in his work Ma'ad Shenaasi makes the following beautiful point about those who protest to their Lord and ask for a second chance after they have seen the destiny they have created for themselves:

1- Is it the case that those who request a second chance are not speaking the truth? Clearly from the verse this is not the case. They have already seen the truth of what lies beyond death! They do indeed believe that if they were to return they would reform their ways.

2- Why does Allah (swt) not accept their plea? Is it the case that in the hereafter Allah (swt) is no longer All Merciful? God forbid! Allah is always the Most Merciful.

3- Rather, the explanation for this verse lies in that those who want to go back have been detached from their bodies. In this state of detachment after death, they sincerely feel that they can reform. But let us suppose they were to be reattached to their bodies. The minute they would once again have eyes, ears, hands, etc., the temptation to sin would be too much, and they would soon revert to their old ways.

Lesson learned: our life in this world is the place and time to form the person we really want to be.