The time between the onset of a heart attack and death varies depending on the person’s health condition, the severity of the blockage, the immediacy of treatment, and other factors. Unfortunately, most deaths occur within a very short period.
The highest risk of death is within the first few minutes to one hour from the onset of symptoms — the Golden Hour.
For some individuals, even this one hour is too long; death may occur within seconds or minutes.
The concerning reality is that most heart-attack-related deaths occur even before reaching the hospital.
Fear of Death
In psychology, the fear of death is called Thanatophobia.
Humans are the only species on earth that can foresee their own death and fear it.
Other living beings also fear danger, pain, and immediate threats — but this fear stems from their survival instinct, which depends solely on the situation at that moment.
Humans, however, fear their future mortality. They continuously think about it.
Fear of enemies attacking when alone, fear of crossing a road, fear of flight accidents, fear of elevators getting stuck or falling, fear of seeing huge waves and imagining a tsunami — all these are forms of death-related anxiety experienced by humans.
Naturally, humans prefer a mental state where there is no fear, no anxiety, and complete safety. Thus, they desire to remain in their comfort zone.
So how can a person who desires such safety remain unafraid of death?
Allah the Almighty says:
“Wherever you may be, death will reach you — even if you are in fortified towers.” (Qur’an 4:78)
Even if a person hides in a fortified, secure place and feels safe within his comfort zone, death will still reach him — this is the decree of the Qur’an.
You may wonder: If 1000 people guard a fortress outside, 500 guard it inside, and 100 loyal guards protect one person, how can death reach him?
Yet it will — and one such way is a heart attack.
Wherever a human hides, death will still reach him, says the Qur’an. A heart attack is one of the mediums through which death can occur.
Death is not merely an external, worldly event — it can also arise from internal physiological causes.
The Qur’an subtly conveys this reality.
Although the Qur’an does not explicitly use the word “heart attack”, the descriptions of how deaths occur indirectly point toward it.
The People of Prophet Nuh (Noah) and Heart Attacks
The Qur’an states that the people of Prophet Nuh were destroyed by a great flood because they disobeyed Allah.
“Indeed, they were a wicked people; so We drowned them all.” (Qur’an 21:77)
There is a profound relationship between drowning and heart attacks.
During a heart attack, blood flow to the brain is cut off.
While drowning, oxygen flow to the lungs is cut off.
Though the events differ, both highlight a common principle:
the brain requires uninterrupted oxygen for survival.
