The Meaning of “To Allah We Belong”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Zayn ad-Din Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ahmad ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (r.a.) wrote, in his Jami’ al-‘Ulum al-Hikam, “Fudhayl ibn ‘Iyadh asked a man, ‘How many years have come upon you?’ 

He replied, ‘Sixty years.’ 

He said, ‘Therefore, for sixty years you have been going to your Lord, and you are about to reach.’ 

So, the man said, ‘To Allah we Belong, and to Him we shall Return.’ 

Fudhayl ibn 'Iyadh asked, ‘Do you know the meaning of that?  You are saying, ‘I Belong to Allah as a servant, and I am going to return to Him.’  So, whoever knows that he Belongs to Allah as a servant, and that he will return to him, then he should know that he will be Stopped.  And whoever knows that he will be Stopped, then he should know that he will be Questioned.  And whoever knows that he will be Questioned, then let him prepare an answer for the Question.’”