Al-fatihah...

I received a sad news about an hour ago... a dear old friend died in her sleep this morning...

I was, in fact we (possibly all her friends) were really taken by surprise. Mainly because she was always known to be fit and healthy. One would never have guessed her age - she was going to be 50 end of this year, but those who didnt know that would surely have guessed that she was only 40. In fact, if she was siting next to me, people would say that she was younger than me..

The news of her death was told to me by one of her daughters in a text message. I didnt recognise her no, the nice girl took an effort to send text to all nos in her dear mom's phone book in her mobile phone. It read "Ibu saya, Zubaidah meninggal di dalam tidur pagi tadi dan telah selamat dikebumikan selepas zohor hari ini".

I immediately called her to offer my condolences. She told me that her mother only had a fever since 2 days ago, and she did see a dr who only prescribed PCM. To her knowledge, her mom never suffered any chronic illnesses like diabetes or hypertension which are common among Malaysians over 40.

That is why I said the news took me by surprise. I'm sure if I go today, people would not be surprised at all, as I have always been in and out of hospitals, especially in the past few years. In fact I remember, when I was admitted for an operation about 2 months ago, certain people were already calling me "nenek kebayan" and warning me about dying and about my preparation for death...

Hm... that's one thing about ajal, as Allah promises it... bila sampai ajal kamu, ia tidak akan dicepatkan atau dilambatkan walau sesaat... noone knows it when his/her time would come. Like last year... a neighbour passed away - the wife had been suffering from breast cancer and was in and out of hospitals for chemotherapy, when suddenly the husband passed away choking on biscuit while having tea. When I saw many people at her house that evening, I assumed that it was the wife that had died, but was very surprised to find out that it was not her, but the husband.

Anyway... back to my friend... Al-fatihah for Arwah Zubaidah and may she be placed among the shuhada and solihiin...

And to her 3 lovely daughters, I hope that they will be strong facing this difficult time...