Islamic Vision of Life and Death (الآخرة )
Believing in the hereafter (الآخرة ) is the 5th principle of Arkanul Iman.
There are two types of the hereafter: القيامة الصغرى which is death and believing in البرزخ (the life in the grave), and in the reward and punishment in the grave (فتنة القبر ).
The second type of the hereafter is القيامة الكبرى , which is the total destruction of all of Allah’s creation, and we must believe in all the major and minor signs of القيامة , the resurrection and gathering in front of Allah (الحشر ), accountability (الحساب ), intercession (الشفاعة ), the balance (الميزان ), the bridge (الصراط المستقيم ), paradise and hell (الجنة و النار ).
Life in Islam is an everlasting journey, and al-Qur’an declares that all humans must pass through these four stages of life:
1. The world of spirits ( ارواح ) before coming to this physical world,
“O mankind, fear your Lord Who created you all of a single soul,” (4:1).\
“When your Lord took from Bani Adam their progeny from their loins and made them testify concerning themselves, Am I not your Lord? They replied, yes! We do testify, That you may not say on the day of resurrection, we were ignorant of this,” (7:172).
The world of spirits is our origin (مبدأ ) from Him, and death is our returning (معاد ), “To Him is your going back, all together—God’s promise in truth. He originates creation, then He makes it return, so that He may justly compensate those who have faith and do wholesome deeds,” (10:4).
2. Life in this temporary physical world.
Life in this world is only a transit or a stopping place before we go into the next world. This world is nothing compares to the next world, and it is meaningless if the connection with the next world is disconnected or severed.
“Surely the abode of the next world is life, did they but know,” (29:64).
“The life of this world is naught but a sport and a diversion,” (6:32).
“Whatever you have been given is the enjoyment and adornment of this life of this world, but what is with God is better and more subsistent. Will you not use your intelligence?” (28:60).
Human beings are honored to be put in this world to carry the trust (أمانة ) as being His ‘abd and khalifah, (17:70), (33:72), and He is near to us than our jugular vein (50:16-18).
The returning (معاد ) does not necessarily occur at the time of death. Since Allah SWT is already so near to us, the returning of meeting Him can even happen in this world. This is the third component of Hadith Jibrail, which Prophet Muhammad SAW definedihsan as “to worship God as if you see Him, for if you do not see Him, He sees you.”
Hence human beings has the option either “to see Him” in this world or meeting Him in the next world.
“Surely death from which you flee, shall encounter you. Then you shall be taken back to the Knower of the Unseen and the Visible, and He will tell you what you have been doing,” (62:8).
“If you could only see when the wrongdoers are in the agonies of death and the angels are stretching out their hands: “Give up your souls!”” (6:93).
Every action, either internal or external, in this world, is recorded by the two angels, Raqib and ‘Atid, and it will be shown and retributed accordingly.
“Then shall anyone who has done an atom’s weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom’s weight of evil, shall see it.” (99:7-8)
The Prophet SAW said, “As soon as a sin is committed, a black impression falls on the pure soul. If it is not removed, it remains and thus hundreds of black impressions make the whole region of the heart black. It is the duty of every man to remove these black impressions by washing them with the water of tears and repentance.” (Mishkat al-Masabih, 3:760).
The retribution of either rewards or punishment can happen either in this life or in the next life.
The Prophet SAW said, “For every misfortune, illness, anxiety, grief, or hurt that afflicts a Muslim even the hurt caused by the pricking of thorn – God removes some of his sins.” (Sayyid Sabiq, Fiqh us-Sunnah, 5:1)
3. Life after death, i.e., the world in the grave which is called برزخ .
Literally it means interval, break, or partition. “Till, when death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord, return me; perhaps I will work wholesomeness in what I left behind.” No, it is but words he speaks. And behind them is a barzakh until the day they shall be raised up,” (23:99-100).
All human beings will encounter death since our life on this earth has been given within a fixed appointed time (أجل ).
“Nor can a soul die except by God’s leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude,” (3:145).
“We granted not to any man before thee permanent life (here); if then thou shouldst die, would they live permanently? Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial. To Us must ye return,” (21:34-35).
Death is usually called as القيامة الصغرى or the minor Qiyamah.
In the grave, the human being will be asked by the two angels Munkar and Nakir about his God, his Prophet, and his religion.
If he is able to answer correctly, then his grave will be made spacious and comfortable and he enjoyed the blessed life in the grave until the end of the world or القيامة الكبرى .
If he is not able to answer the questions, then his grave will be made tight and he will received all sorts of punishment in accordance with his acts of disobedience.
As the Prophet Muhammad SAW said, “People are asleep, and when they die, they wake up.”
“(It will be said): “Thou wast heedless of this; now have We removed thy veil, and sharp is thy sight this Day!”” (50:22).
“And everyone of them will come to Him singly on the Day of Judgement,” (19:95).
The eternal life after resurrection (خلود ), “Their Lord gives them good news of mercy from Him and good pleasure; for them await gardens wherein is lasting bliss, therein to dwell forever; surely with God is a tremendous wage,” (9:21-22).
This is القيامة الكبرى , which is the total destruction of the whole universe including all the creatures that Allah SWT has created.
There are some minor signs ( علامات الصغرى ), such as the spread of zina, the drinking of liquor, the spread of war and the killing of innocent people, and the loss of knowledge due to the death of knowledgeable and qualified scholars.
There will be major signs such as the rising of the sun from the west, the appearance of Dajjal, and the coming of Imam Mahdi and Prophet Isa AS.
Then the angel Israfel will blow the Trumpet signifying the total destruction of this whole universe, “On the day the Trumpet is blown, whosoever is in the heavens and the earth will be terrified, excepting whom God wills. Everyone shall come to Him, all utterly abject. You shall see the mountains, that you supposed fixed, passing by like clouds,” (27:87-88)
“When the sun is enfolded, when the stars are darkened, when the mountains are taken away, when the pregnant camels are abandoned, when the wild beasts are mustered, when the seas are set boiling, when the souls are paired (with their deeds), when the buried infant is asked for what sin she was slain, when the scrolls are unrolled, when the heaven is pealed back, when hell is set blazing, when the Garden is brought near, then a soul will know what it has made present,” (81:1-4).
4. The resurrection and gathering:
Then the angel Israfel will blow the Trumpet for a second time, and all the creatures of Allah SWT will be resurrected and brought out of their graves, and everyone will be resurrected in their bodily forms.
“The trumpet shall be sounded, when behold! From the sepulchers (men) will rush forth to their Lord! They will say: “Ah! Woe unto us! Who hath raised us up from our beds of repose?”….. (A voice will say:) “This is what (God) Most Gracious had promised. And true was the word of the messengers!” (36:51-52).
“Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? Nay, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tip of his fingers,” (75:3-4).
All the living creatures will be gathered together at one place called al-mahshar (المحشر ) including the angels, jinn, man and animals.
“The Day that We roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books (completed), even as We produced the first creation, so shall We produce a new one: a promise We have undertaken: truly shall We fulfill it.” (21:104)
“That Day shall a man flee from his own brother. And from his mother and his father. And from his wife and his children. Each one of them, that Day, will have enough concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others,” (80:34-37).
Then comes the time of accounting (الحساب ), where even the organs of the human body will testify on behalf of the owner, “Ye did not seek to hide yourselves, lest your hearing, your sight, and your skins should bear witness against you! But ye did think that God knew not many of the things that ye used to do!” (41:22).
On that difficult day, Allah SWT will provide a shade for some group of people, which includes:
- A just king or ruler, who has been just and responsible towards his subjects.
- A young person who used to worship God constantly and intently during his youth.
- A person whose heart is always towards the mosque and frequently performed his ibadah at the mosque.
- Two persons who love each other for the sake of Allah SWT. They joined and met for the sake of Allah SWT and they separated also for the sake of Allah SWT.
- A man who refuse to commit adultery due his fear towards Allah SWT.
- A person who gives charity but the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand has given.
- A person who remember Allah until he cries.
All the deeds of a believer will be put on Allah’s scale of justice. Heavier good deeds will be rewarded with paradise and light good deeds will bring the person towards hell and punishment.
“We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgement, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least, and if there be (no more than) the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it (to account): and enough are We to take account,” (21:47).
“Then he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy, will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction. But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light, will have his home in a (bottomless) Pit,” (101:6-7).
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