We decided go to the beach before sunrise to enjoy swimming before the beach became crowded and full of sights that can affect one's faith negatively.

However, this group of young men preceded us to the beach and when we reached there we found something completely unexpected. One of the young men met us, screaming, “He is drowning!”

We inquired, “Who?” He said, “Ahmad, who joined you in the Fajr Prayer!”

We hurried to the beach with our hearts beating fast. When we reached the beach, we found people gathered without any trace of Ahmad! One of those who had seen him drowning said that he kept fighting the waves amidst a whirlpool. When his friends saw this, they fled to the shore leaving him to die. When the man who had witnessed the mishap said this, the gathered people looked scornfully at his friends.

My friends and I kept searching for a lifeguard or boat that might carry us to the open sea to search for Ahmad. One of my friends called a number written by the lifeguard teams on a signboard near us. When they told him that they would take some time to reach our location, he started shouting at them, weeping helplessly, and hung up the phone.

All the people at the scene, including us, were very angry at the coldness that Ahmad’s friends showed at that time.

None of them even took the trouble to search for any means to save him; they only cared about saving themselves and remaining unharmed. The young man who was their companion, whose life they misled and destroyed, was left to his fate as if they did not know him at all!

Twenty minutes later, one of the people said that he could see something floating on the water. We all looked at his friends, expecting that they would immediately go and see if this was their friend so that they might save him. Nonetheless, they did not move a muscle.

So, I, accompanied by two of my friends and another young man among those who were present on the beach, entered the water which was very deep, but Allah The Almighty saved us. We got hold of him and he was as stiff as a piece of wood. I was very frightened because this was the first time I carried someone who was in such a condition.

We took him out and checked his breath and pulse but he was dead. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction.} [Quran 4:78]

Now his soul is lonely and it receives the retribution of its acts just as his body, which remained lonely after his cowardly friends escaped, leaving him to his destiny. They disappeared after each one of them had packed his bags, leaving the corpse of their “friend” alone! It was unclear where it will go! Will it go to his house so that his mother sees him for the last time or will sadness kill her because she did not even have the chance to bid farewell to her son?

All this happened because Ahmad made a great mistake when he decided to take these scoundrels as friends. They know nothing but playing, frolicking, committing sins and satisfying their evil desires. If you can do this, then you are their friend and close companion and they will be around you all the time. However, in times of difficulty and disasters, you will not find any of them by your side to support you. In fact, you may even find one of them pushing you in his stead to save himself. Hence, you will find yourself face to face with your own destiny alone. Then, you will remember the Aayah (Quranic Verse) in which Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And the Day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands [in regret] he will say, "Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way. * Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend. * He led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan, to man, a deserter."} [Quran 25:27-29]

Ahmad’s body remained covered with newspapers until the police came, accompanied by an ambulance that took him to the morgue.

This is the story of a drowned young man and it is our turn to learn lessons from it and to start our journey back to Allah The Almighty.

Ahmad has passed away, but you still have a chance to join the flock of the repentant. I would like to conclude by sending a message to every young man whom Allah The Almighty has provided with righteous companions who help him adhere to the obedience of Allah The Almighty, and a message to everyone who is deceived by evil friends who beautified sins and evil desires in his eyes.

Dear young man, I truly love you for the sake of Allah The Almighty and I entreat Allah The Almighty to make our last moments good. I call you before the advent of death and its agonies, that sadden the young and the old, as well as the rich and the poor…

Dear brother, always keep good company and search for companions in blessed places like the circles for learning the Quran and other assemblies of knowledge.

Accompany them to enjoy the warmth of living according to the Divine Law. Such righteous friends are a source of pride in times of ease, and a helping hand during times of hardship.
Do not ever leave them to accompany bad friends, because they are the source of all evils. Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous} [Quran 43:67]