The Resurrection and the Afterlife
Qur’anic Arguments for the Resurrection
Although scientific findings like the second law of thermodynamics show that existence is on the way to destruction, even a collision of two planets could destroy the universe. Existence is an extremely delicately calculated organism, a system with parts subtly dependent upon each other. A human body is made up of about 60 million cells. As a single deformed, cancerous cell can kill the entire body, any serious deformation anywhere in the universe also could “kill” it. Our death sometimes comes unexpectedly and without any visible, diagnosed reason. Do we know whether or not the universe might “die” all of a sudden, unexpectedly, from a “disease” or a “heart attack”? Maybe our old world has terminal cancer because we abuse it so.
God’s universal acts point to the Resurrection. The Qur’an argues for the Resurrection. To impress upon the human heart the wonder of what the Almighty will accomplish in the Hereafter, and to prepare the human mind to accept and understand it, the Qur’an presents the wonder of what He accomplishes here. It gives examples of God’s comprehensive acts in the macro-cosmos and, at times, presents His overall disposal of the macro-, normo-, and micro-cosmoses (the universe, humanity, and atoms, respectively).
The first origination of the universe and humanity indicate their “second origination.” The Qur’an presents the phenomenon of the universe’s creation, which it defines as the first origination (56:62), while describing the raising of the dead as the second origination (53:47), to prove the Resurrection. It also directs our attention to our own origin, arguing:
You see how you progressed – from a drop of sperm to a drop of blood, to a blood clot suspended on the wall of the womb, from a suspended blood clot to a formless lump of flesh, and from a formless lump of flesh to human form – how, then, can you deny your second creation? It is just the same as the first, or even easier [for God to accomplish]. (22:5; 23:13-16)
The Qur’an makes analogies between the Resurrection and His deeds in this world. It sometimes alludes to the deeds God will perform in the future and in the Hereafter in such a way that we are convinced of them by drawing analogies to what we observe here. It also shows similar events here and makes comparisons between them and the Resurrection.
The Qur’an likens the universe to a book unfolded. At the end of time, its destruction will be as easy for God as rolling up a scroll. As He unfolded it at the beginning, He will roll it up and, manifesting His absolute Power without any material cause, will re-create it in a much better and different form:
On that day We shall roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books. As We originated the first creation, so We shall bring it forth again. It is a promise (binding) upon Us. Truly We shall fulfill it (as We promised it). (21:104)
The Qur’an likens the Resurrection to reviving Earth in spring following its death in winter, and mentions how God disposes of atoms and molecules while creating us in stages. Nature experiences death in winter, but spring revives the soil. Dried-out pieces of wood blossom and yield leaves and fruits similar – but not identical – to those that existed in previous years. Innumerable seeds that fell into soil in the previous autumn now begin to germinate and grow into different plants without confusion. God’s raising the dead on the Day of Judgment will be like this:
Among His signs is that you see the soil dry and barren; and when We send down rain upon it, it stirs to life and swells. Surely God Who gives the dead soil life will raise the dead also to life. Indeed, He has power over all things. (41:39)
and:
Look at the prints of God’s Mercy: how He gives life to the soil after its death. Lo! He verily is the Reviver of the dead (in the same way), and He is able to do all things. (30:50)
Especially in suras 81, 82, and 84, the All-Mighty alludes to the Resurrection, as well as the vast revolutions and Lordly deeds that shall take place at that time, in images that we can relate, by analogy, to what we see here – scenes that we have witnessed in autumn or spring – and then, with awe in our hearts, accept what the intellect might otherwise refuse. As giving even the general meaning of these three suras would take a great deal of time, let’s take one verse: When the pages are spread out (81:10). This implies that during the Resurrection, everyone’s deeds will be revealed on a written page.
At first, this strikes one as strange and incomprehensible. But as the sura indicates, just as the renewal of spring parallels another resurrection, “spreading out the pages” has a very clear parallel. Every fruit-bearing tree and flowering plant has its own properties, functions, and deeds. It worships according to its glorification of God, which is how it manifests His Names. Its deeds and life record are inscribed in each seed that will emerge next spring. With the tongue of shape and form, these new trees or flowers offer an eloquent exposition of the life and deeds of the original tree or flower, and through their branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms, and fruits spread out the page of its deeds. He Who says: When the pages are spread out is the same Being Who achieves these feats in a very wise, prudent, efficient, and subtle way, as dictated by His Names the All-Wise, All-Preserving, All-Sustaining and Training, and All-Subtle.
In its many verses, the Qur’an warns us that we were not created with no goals and so can do whatever we want. We are responsible beings, and whatever we do is recorded. Our creation from a drop of fluid through several stages, the utmost care shown to our creation and the importance attached to us, demonstrate that we have great responsibilities. We will be called to account for whatever we do in this world, which will take place in another world. In addition, our creation through stages is a manifest evidence for God’s Power, Who is also able to raise the dead to life.
A close analysis of the universe’s functioning shows that two opposed elements are found everywhere, are deep-rooted, and result in good and evil, benefit and harm, perfection and defect, light and darkness, guidance and misguidance, belief and unbelief, obedience and rebellion, and fear and love. The resulting continual conflict of opposites causes enough incessant alteration and transformation to produce the elements of a new world. These opposed elements eventually will lead to eternity and materialize as Paradise and Hell. The eternal world will be made up of this transitory world’s essential elements, which then will be given permanence.
Paradise and Hell are the two opposite fruits growing on the tree of creation’s two branches, the two results of the chain of creation, the two cisterns being filled by the two streams of things and events, and two poles to which beings flow in waves. They are the places where Divine Grace and Divine Wrath manifest themselves, and will be full of inhabitants when Divine Power shakes up the universe.
In this world, oppressors depart with their oppressive power intact and the oppressed are still humiliated. Such wrongs will be brought before the Supreme Tribunal, for God would be unjust and imperfect if He allowed them to be ignored. Indeed, God sometimes punishes the guilty in this world. The suffering endured by previous disobedient and rebellious peoples teaches us that everyone is subject to whatever correction God Almighty’s Splendor and Majesty chooses to apply. So, as declared in: Keep apart on this day, O you criminals (36:59), God’s absolute Justice requires that He separate the good from the wicked in the Hereafter and treat each group accordingly.
Our place among creation is unique, for in ourselves we contain some aspect of all that exists in the universe. Our mental and spiritual faculties represent angelic and other spiritual worlds, such as that of symbols or immaterial forms. But because of our inborn capacity to learn and our possession of free will, we can excel even the angels. Our physical or biological being represents plants and animals. Although contained in time and space, our spiritual faculties and such other powers as imagination allow us to transcend them. Despite our unique and priceless worth when compared with other members of creation, some of us die at birth and others when we are still quite young. In addition, we long for eternity and desire eternal life, and some of our senses or feelings are satisfied with nothing less. If we could choose between eternal life with severe hardship during this life and eternal nonexistence after a short luxurious life, probably we would choose the former, maybe even to the extent of preferring eternal existence in Hell to eternal nonexistence. God, the All-Merciful and All-Wise, did not condemn us to eternal nonexistence or implant within us the desire for eternity so that we would suffer while trying to fulfill an impossible, yet heart-felt, desire. So Divine Wisdom requires the existence of an eternal world.
This world cannot judge an individual’s actual worth. Although we have a small physical body, our mental and spiritual faculties allow us to embrace the whole universe. Our acts are not restricted only to this world, and therefore cannot be bound by time and space. Our nature is so universal that even the first man’s acts affects the last man’s life and character and all of existence. Restricting human beings to a physical entity, a very short life span, and a limited part of space, as materialists do, shows a complete misunderstanding and lack of appreciation for what each human being really is.
This world’s scales cannot weigh the intellectual and spiritual value of Prophets and their achievements, or the destruction caused by such monsters as Pharaoh, Hitler, and Stalin. Nor can they weigh the true value of sincere belief and moral qualities. What is the proper reward for a martyr who has sacrificed everything for the sake of God, of others, or for such universal human values as justice and truthfulness; or for a believing scientist whose dedicated research results in an invention that benefits all people until the Last Day?
Only the scales of the other world, which weigh an atom’s weight of good and evil, can weigh such deeds accurately:
We set up a just balance for the Day of Resurrection. Thus, no soul will be treated unjustly. Even though it be the weight of one mustard seed, We shall bring it forth to be weighed; and Our reckoning will suffice. (21:47)
Even if nothing required the Resurrection, the sole necessity of weighing our deeds would require an infinitely just and sensitive balance to be established.
Although God does whatever He wills, none of His acts are without purpose. Based on this fact, His universal Wisdom requires the Resurrection. If it did not, we would have to answer the following questions: Is it conceivable that the Majestic Being, Who manifests the Sovereignty of His being Lord via the universe’s inclusive and perfect order and purposiveness, justice and balance, would not reward believers who seek His protection as Lord and Sovereign, believe in His Wisdom and Justice, and obey them through worship? Would He allow those who deny His Wisdom and Justice, rebel against or ignore Him, to remain unpunished? As this impermanent world contains scarcely a thousandth part of His Wisdom and Justice with respect to humanity, most unbelievers depart unpunished and most believers unrewarded. Thus, God’s Justice is necessarily deferred to a Supreme Tribunal, where we will be rewarded or punished in full.
In short, we were created for universal purposes. This is even stated in the Qur’an:
Did you reckon that We only created you in vain, and that to Us you would not be returned? So, exalted is God (from exerting Himself in what is vain), the Sovereign, the Truth. There is no god but He; Lord of the Noble Throne. (23:115-16)
We were not created for mere play or sport, nor is our eternal nonexistence in the grave our ultimate destiny. Rather, we were created for an eternal life prepared for us by all of our actions and for an eternal world full of eternal beauty and blessing (Paradise) or evil and wickedness (Hell).
Divine Mercy and Munificence Require the Resurrection
God’s Mercy and Munificence are, of course, eternal. An Eternal One manifests Himself eternally and requires the existence of eternal beings. His eternal Mercy and Munificence demand eternal manifestation and therefore eternal beings on whom He can confer eternal bounties. But our world is only temporary, and millions of living creatures die in it each day. What does this indicate? It indicates this world’s final and complete death.
This world cannot receive the comprehensive manifestation of Divine Names and Attributes. Nor can living beings, who experience great hardship in maintaining themselves. For example, we cannot satisfy all our desires and appetites. Our youth, beauty, and strength, upon which we set our hearts, leave without a word and cause us great sorrow. Also, we have to exert ourselves even to obtain a cluster of grapes. If we were denied eternal nourishment after having tasted it, would this not be an insult and a mockery, a source of great pain? For a blessing to be real, it must be constant. Without an eternal life in which we can satisfy our desires eternally, all of God Almighty’s bounties bestowed upon us would change into pain and sorrow. Therefore, after He completely destroys this world, God will transform it into an eternal one that can receive the comprehensive manifestations of His Mercy and Munificence without obstruction, one in which we can satisfy all our desires eternally.
Divine Pity and Caring Require the Resurrection
Divine Pity and Caring heal wounds and wounded hearts and feelings, cause a patient to recover, end the pangs of separation, and change pain and sorrow into joy and pleasure. They help human beings and animals throughout their lives, especially before and right after birth. Their mothers’ wombs are well-protected homes in which they are nourished directly without any effort on their part. After birth, Divine Pity and Caring provide them with breast-milk, the best possible food, and their parents’ feelings of pity and caring. All of these are a single manifestation of Divine Pity and Caring.
Although Divine Pity and Caring encompass the whole universe, in this world we encounter wounds, hurt feelings, incurable illness, hunger, thirst, and poverty. Why? As above, the answer is that this world cannot receive the comprehensive manifestation of Divine Pity and Caring. Our inability to receive these manifestations, as well as our injustice to others and abuse of our innate abilities, intervenes between beings and the manifestations of Divine Pity and Caring. Above all, death is the fate of all living beings; only belief in another, eternal world can stop the sorrow it arouses in our hearts.
Divine Justice and Honor Require the Resurrection
God’s Names and Attributes are all absolute and eternal. Therefore He is absolutely and eternally Merciful, Relenting, and Forgiving, as well as absolutely and eternally Mighty, Just, and Dignified. Although His Mercy embraces all things (7:156), some people commit such great crimes and sins (e.g., like unbelief and associating partners with God) that they can receive their full punishment only in another world. Besides, despite His Divine declaration that whoever kills a human being unjustly, it is as if he (or she) has killed all humanity (5:32), especially in a world like today’s where “might is right” is the rule, thousands of innocent people are killed almost every day, and many others are wronged and deprived of their basic human rights. Even worse, a great many of the most abominable, atrocious sins and injustices go unpunished.
Death does not discriminate between the oppressed and the oppressors, the innocent and the guilty, the sinless and the sinful. This can only mean that while minor sins may or may not be punished in this world, major sins like unbelief, associating partners with God, murder, and oppression are referred to the Supreme Tribunal in the Hereafter, where God will rule on them with absolute Justice.
Divine Grace and Generosity Require the Resurrection
We are provided with whatever we need for almost nothing. The more necessary for life an item is, the more abundant and cheaper it is in nature. Our most pressing need is air, which we receive free of charge. Then comes water, which is almost free. God sends both of these from His infinite Mercy, and we make absolutely no contribution. Then come heat and light, which we receive from the sun for nothing. When we look at the rest of the bounties God provides, we see that they are extremely cheap. And yet we still demand that He perform a miracle so that we might believe in Him! Our effort to procure these blessings is minuscule when compared to how they were produced. However, if these bounties or blessings were only temporary and imperfect, our fear of death would change them into poison.
Thanks to God’s being eternal, He will provide for us eternal and ever-better forms of bounties through His Names and Attributes, free of charge. As these blessings will be eternal, they will not become a source of pain engendered by our fear of death. For believers, He transforms death into a changing of worlds, a discharge from worldly duty, an invitation to the eternal abode He has prepared for them, and a passport to go to that abode.
Divine Beauty Requires the Resurrection
Listen to the birds flying in the space and singing on a spring morning, the murmur of a brook flowing through green fields or in deep valleys. Look at the beauty of spectacular green plains and magnificent trees in blossom. Watch the sun rise or set, the full moon on a cloudless, clear night. All of these, and many more things that God Almighty presents to our senses, are but a single gleam of His absolute and eternal Beauty manifested through many veils. By observing such manifestations, through which He makes Himself known, we are enraptured.
Temporary blessings leave unbearable pain in our heart when they disappear. If spring came only once, we would sigh over it until we died. So, a true blessing must out of necessity be eternal. In this world, the Eternally Beautiful One shows us only shadows of His Beauty so that our desire to see Its eternal and perfect manifestation will be aroused. Moreover, somehow He will allow us to see Him in Paradise in a manner free of any qualitative and quantitative measure or dimension: On that day there will be shining faces, gazing upon their Lord (75:22-23).
The Relation between Things and Humanity Indicates the Resurrection
There is a basic relation between humanity and this world. We are born into an amiable environment and equipped with the required senses. We have feelings like compassion and pity, caring and love, for there are many things in the world to which we can apply them. We feel hunger and thirst, cold and heat. Fortunately, these feelings can be satisfied with that which was prepared before or with only a slight exertion on our part.
Take an apple, for example. Its color and beauty appeal to our eyes and our sense of beauty. Its taste addresses itself to our sense of taste, and its vitamins nourish our bodies. Despite our need of its nutriments, we might refuse to eat it if it were ugly and tasteless, and thereby deprive ourselves of its nourishment. This, as well as many other “natural” facts, shows that One with infinite Knowledge and Power created us and prepared a suitable environment for us. He knows all of our needs, capacities, and qualities, just as He knows “nature” down to its smallest building blocks.
Another example is reproduction, which depends upon mutual love and attraction between a man and a woman. If our Creator had not placed in each of us a love for and an attraction toward the opposite sex, if He had not allowed us to enjoy the process of reproduction, and if He had not ingrained in us a great love and caring for the resulting children, we would never have reproduced.
Death ends all pleasure and makes everything as if it had never been. Given this, if there were no Resurrection our life would be meaningless, leaving behind only suffering and pain. However, this world is a shadowy miniature of the other, eternal one. The bounties God bestows here are only examples of their eternal and much better forms in the eternal world, and are displayed here to encourage us to act in order to deserve them:
Give glad tidings to those who believe and do good deeds. For them there will be Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are served with the fruits therein, they will say: “This is what was given to us aforetime.” They shall be given in perfect semblance. And there will be pure spouses for them, and they will abide there forever. (2:25)
Recording and Preservation Point to the Resurrection
Nothing disappears completely from this world. While our every word and act is recorded and preserved, why should we not be able to grasp that God records all of humanity’s words and deeds in a way that is as yet unknown to us? Advances in science and technology constantly provide new evidence for the Existence and Unity of God and affirm, together with the Divine origin of the Qur’an, the truth of Islamic beliefs. The Qur’an declared centuries ago that:
We shall show them Our signs in the outer world and within themselves until it will be manifest to them that (the Qur’an) is the truth. Does not your Lord suffice, since He is witness over all things? (41:53)
If people sincerely search for the truth and can “see” it as it is, and are not blinded by prejudice, ignorance, and worldly ambition and desire, every new scientific advance displays the truth of the Qur’an. We see that God enfolds everything in small things like seeds. For example, each human being is enfolded in a sperm or in his or her 46 chromosomes. If we had 44 or 48 chromosomes, we would be something completely different. Similarly, when we die and disappear into the soil, our most essential part (our soul) does not disappear, for God will use it to rebuild us on the Day of Resurrection. God preserves everything, and so nothing can disappear forever. For example, a plant that dies in autumn or winter continues to live in innumerable memories as well as in its seeds that will bring it back in an almost identical form next spring.
Just as God preserves things in their seeds, He somehow preserves sounds and voices, as well as appearances and sights, to display them in another world. Maybe one day these sounds and sights will be discovered.
Divine Power Establishes the Resurrection
Consider an atom. How it is formed and maintains its relationships with other atoms are astounding miracles. Creating a solar system or an atom, both of which resemble each other due to their orbiting bodies, and then regulating their movements and establishing their relationships are equally easy for God. Similarly, a cell is like an autonomous government. It has its own departments, each of which is interrelated with others and ruled by a center, as well as a “ministry of finance” that manages its income and expenditure. It is as if each cell was as smart as the smartest person on the planet. Besides, there are very close and substantial relations between these cells, all of which are ruled by a center: the brain.
These are only a few examples of the Creator’s Power. Everything is equally easy for Him. Creating and administering the universe is as easy as creating and administering an atom; all of humanity, the most knowledgeable and conscious of all beings, could not create one atom even if all of us joined together to do so. So, if the absolutely Powerful One says He will destroy the universe and rebuild it in a different form, He will do so. God does not lie and is without defect, and so His promises can be believed. As stated in the Qur’an:
The Day of Final Decision and Judgment is a fixed time, a day when the Trumpet is blown, and you come in multitudes, and the heaven is opened and becomes as gates. (78:17-19)
Instances of Death and Revival Indicate the Resurrection
An overall death, except for a certain region in the world, and revival is repeated every year. In winter, a white “shroud” covers the soil, whose yearly life cycle ends in autumn. Nature has already turned pale and shows fewer traces of life. The shell has fallen in and, ultimately, trees become like lifeless, hard bones; grass has rotted away and flowers have withered; migrating birds have left; and insects and reptiles have disappeared.
Winter, which is only temporary, is followed by a general revival. Warm weather causes trees to begin to bud and, wearing their finery, present themselves to the Eternal Witness. The soil swells, and grass and flowers start to bloom everywhere. Seeds that fell into the ground during the previous autumn have germinated and, having annihilated themselves, are transformed into new forms of life. Migrating birds return, and the planet hosts countless insects and reptiles. In short, with all its splendor and finery, nature appears before us.
God created the world and humanity when nothing of either thing existed. He brought our body’s building-blocks together from soil, air, and water, and made them into a conscious, intelligent being. Is there any doubt that the person who made a machine can tear it apart and then reassemble it, or that an army commander can gather his dispersed soldiers through a trumpet-call?
Similarly, while reconstructing the world, God Almighty will gather our atoms and grant them a higher, eternal form of life:
Say: “Travel in the land and see how He originated creation, then God brings forth the later growth. Assuredly, God is able to do all things.” (29:20)
Look at the imprints of God’s mercy (in creation), how He gives life to the earth after its death. He surely is the reviver of the dead (in the same way), and He is able to do all things. (30:50)
After belief in God, belief in the Resurrection has the primary place in securing a peaceful social order. Why should those who do not believe that they will be called to account strive to live an honest, upright life? But those of us who are convinced that God will one day call us to account in the other world certainly try to live a disciplined and upright life. The Qur’an declares:
In whatever affair you may be, and whichever part of the Qur’an you recite, and whatever deed you do, We are witness over you when you are deeply engrossed therein. Not an atom’s weight in Earth and in the heaven escapes your Lord, nor is there anything smaller or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book. (10:61)
Whatever we do is recorded by the angels appointed for that task. In addition, God fully knows and is fully aware of all our deeds, intentions, thoughts, and imaginings. Those who live in full consciousness of this fact will find true peace and happiness in both worlds; a family and community composed of such individuals would feel that they were living in Paradise.
Belief in the Resurrection prevents young people from wasting their lives in transitory and trivial things, and gives hope to the elderly who each day are moving closer to the grave. It also helps children endure the death of loved ones. Children who believe that they will be reunited with their deceased loved ones in a far better world find true consolation in the Resurrection. Everyone, regardless of age, gender, and any other artificial human-devised difference, needs belief in the Resurrection as much as they need air, water, and bread.
As this belief leads one to a life of peace, intellectuals who seek public peace and security should emphasize it. Those who are convinced of what the Qur’an declares – Whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it (99:7-8) – live a responsible life, and a community composed of such people finds true peace and happiness. When this belief is inculcated in the hearts of young people, they will no longer be a harmful element in society, but rather will seek to serve their nation and humanity.
Children are very sensitive and delicate. Extremely susceptible to misfortune, they also are easily affected by what happens to them and their families. When they lose a family member or become orphans, their world becomes dark and they fall into deep distress and despair. What else other than belief in the Resurrection and reunion with loved ones who have emigrated to the other world can compensate for the loss of parents, brothers and sisters, and friends? Children will find true consolation only when they are convinced that their beloved ones have flown to Paradise, and that they will be reunited with them.
As for the elderly, how can you compensate for their past years, their childhood and youth that have been left behind? How can you console them for the loss of their loved ones who preceded them in death? How can you remove from their hearts the fear of death and the grave, to which they are drawing closer day by day? How can you make them forget death, which they feel so deeply? Will more and newer worldly pleasures console them? Only convincing them that the grave, which seems to them like an open-mouthed dragon just waiting to devour them, is really a door to another and much better world, or simply a lovely waiting room opening onto that world, can compensate and console them for such losses.
Our free will, which we use to direct our life, gives us a unique position among all creatures. Free will is the manifestation of Divine Mercy and, if used properly, will cause us to be rewarded with the fruits of Mercy. Belief in the Resurrection is a most important and compelling factor urging us to use our free will properly and not to wrong or harm others.
Belief in the Resurrection also consoles the sick. A believer who suffers from an incurable illness thinks: “I am dying; no one can prolong my life. Everyone must die. Fortunately, I am going to a place (Paradise) where I will recover my health and youth and enjoy them forever.” Secure in this knowledge, all beloved servants of God, Prophets and saints, welcome death with a smile. The Last Prophet, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, said during his final minutes of life: “O God, I desire the eternal company in the eternal world.” (Bukhari, “Marda,” 19.)
The world is a mixture of good and evil, right and wrong, beauty and ugliness, and oppressors and oppressed. Many instances of wrong (appear to) go unnoticed, and numerous wronged people cannot recover their rights. Only belief in being resurrected in another world of absolute justice consoles the wronged and oppressed, and dissuades them from trying to avenge themselves. Similarly, those stricken with affliction and misfortune find consolation in the Resurrection, because they believe that whatever befalls them purifies them, and that anything lost in a catastrophe will be restored in the Hereafter as a blessing of the Hereafter, just as if they had given these items as alms.
Belief in the Resurrection changes a house into a garden of Paradise. Belief in the Resurrection reminds people of their familial responsibilities, and as they implement these duties, an atmosphere of mutual love, affection, and respect will begin to pervade the house.
This belief leads spouses to deepen their love and respect for each other. Love based on physical beauty is temporary and of little value, for it usually disappears shortly after marriage. But if the spouses believe that their marriage will continue eternally in the other world where they will be eternally young and beautiful, their love for each other will remain even though they gradually become old and lose their physical beauty.
Such a belief-based family life makes its members feel that they are already living in Paradise. Similarly, if a country orders itself according to this same belief, its inhabitants would enjoy a life far better than what Plato imagined in his Republic or al-Farabi (Alpharabios) in his al-Madinat al-Fadila (The Virtuous City). It would be like Madina in the time of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, or the Muslim lands under the rule of ‘Umar, may God be pleased with him.
The grave can be represented in three ways, for there are three types of people. For believers, it is the door to a more beautiful world. For those who admit the next life but live a misguided, dissipated life, it is the door to solitary imprisonment and an eternal jail that will separate them from their loved ones. Since they believe and confirm but do not live according to their belief, that is exactly how they will be punished. For unbelievers and the misguided who do not believe in the Hereafter, it is the door to “execution.” Since they believe death to be an execution without resurrection, they will be punished in both the grave and the other world.
Death may come at any time, for its appointed hour is unknown. In the face of such an awesomely threatening reality, we urgently search for a way to avoid punishment and imprisonment, for a way to change the grave into a door opening onto a permanent world of light and eternal happiness. Death will be experienced in these three ways, as has been reported by 124,000 truthful reporters – the Prophets. Their reports have been confirmed by millions of saints relying upon their discernment, vision, and intuition. Also, innumerable truth-seeking scholars have proved it rationally with their decisive proofs at the level of “certainty depending on established knowledge.” Both groups agree that only belief in and obedience to God can save one from punishment and imprisonment, and make the grave a way to eternal happiness.
If only one reliable reporter warned that a particular way carried a 1 percent risk of death, people would be so afraid that they would avoid it. But countless truthful, authoritative reporters – Prophets, saints, and truth-seeking scholars – have provided proof of their truth and warn us that misguidance and dissipation carry a 100 percent risk of death followed by punishment. In contrast, belief and worship change the grave into a door opening onto an eternal treasury, a palace of lasting happiness. If we, especially those of us claiming to be Muslims, do not truly believe and worship in the face of such a mighty warning, how will we overcome our anxieties while waiting to die, even if we were given the rule of the whole world and enjoyed all of its pleasures?
Seeing old age, illness, misfortune, and numerous instances of death everywhere reopens our pain and reminds us of death. Even if the misguided and dissolute people appear to enjoy all kinds of pleasure and delight, they most certainly are in a hellish state of spiritual torment. However, a profound stupor of heedlessness makes them temporarily insensible to it.
Obedient believers experience the grave as the door to an eternal treasury and endless happiness. Since they have a “belief coupon,” a priceless ticket from the allocations of Destiny, they always expect the call “come and collect your ticket” with a profound pleasure and spiritual delight. If this pleasure could assume the material form of a seed, it would grow into a private paradise. But those who abandon this great delight and pleasure to indulge the drives of their appetites, who choose temporary and illicit pleasures that will give them great pain, fall far below the status of humanity.
So, those of you addicted to worldly pleasure and troubled about your future even while you struggle to secure it and your lives, if you want pleasure and delight, happiness and ease in this world, be content with what is religiously lawful. You must have understood by now that each forbidden pleasure contains a thousand pains. If future events, say 50 years from now, were shown in the theater, the dissolute would be horrified and disgusted with themselves. Those who wish to be eternally happy in both worlds should follow the Prophet’s instruction on the firm ground of belief.
The main aspects of Islamic eschatology are similar to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Since they were derived from the same source and so originate from Divine Revelation, many common points can be found: for example, the invasion of the world shortly before the end of time by the barbarous Gog and Magog (Ya’juj and Ma’juj) tribes, the appearance of Dajjal (the Anti-Christ) and then a Messiah and/or Mahdi who will bring justice and order after global chaos, a global apostasy just before the world’s destruction, Doomsday, Resurrection, the Supreme Judgment, the Bridge (Sirat), and Paradise and Hell as the final abode of conscious beings.
In this chapter, beginning with the “last things” before the world’s overall destruction, we will summarize the events and stations of the Hereafter. Before analyzing this, it is necessary to explain the language of the main Islamic religious literature.
The Language of the Divine Books and the Prophetic Traditions
The Qur’an decrees: There is not a thing wet and dry but it is in a manifest Book (6:59). The Qur’an contains everything, but not to the same degree, in the form of seeds, nuclei, summaries, principles, or signs. Things are explicit, implicit, allusive, vague, or suggestive. Each form is used to meet the Qur’an’s purposes and the context’s requirements.
The Qur’an pursues four main purposes: To expose and establish in human minds and hearts God’s Existence and Unity, Prophethood, bodily resurrection, and the worship of God and justice. To realize its purposes, the Qur’an draws our attention to God’s acts in the universe, His matchless art displayed through creation, the manifestations of His Names and Attributes, and the magnificent, perfect order and harmony in existence. It explains how to worship and please the Creator, makes frequent mention of the other life, and explains how we can gain eternal happiness and be saved from eternal punishment. It mentions certain historical events, and lays down the rules of personal and social good conduct and morality as well as the principles of a happy, harmonious social life. It also gives news of important future events, especially those that will happen before the end of time. These have a prominent place in both the Qur’an and the Prophetic sayings.
The Qur’an is the last Divine Book and Prophet Muhammad is the final Prophet. Thus, both address all times, places, and levels of understanding. As the vast majority of people always have an “average” level of understanding, the Qur’an and the Prophet use the appropriate style and language to guide them to the truth and the Qur’an’s basic purposes. Thus symbols, metaphors, allegories, comparisons, and parables requiring interpretation are quite common. Those who are well-versed in knowledge (3:7) know how to approach and benefit from the Qur’an and the Prophetic Traditions.
Another reason why the Qur’an does not concentrate on future events explicitly is that the point of religion is to examine and test the individual so that elevated and base spirits may be distinguished. Just as raw materials are fired to separate diamonds and coal, as well as gold and soil, Divine obligations test conscious beings and make them compete so that the precious “ore” in the “mine” of human potential may be separated from the “dross.”
Since the Qur’an was sent to perfect humanity through trial in this abode of testing and competition, it can only allude to future events that everyone will witness one day, and only opens the door to reason to a degree that proves its argument. If it mentioned them explicitly, the test would be meaningless. If the truth of Divine injunctions and Qur’anic and Prophetic predictions were clearly evident, everyone would have to affirm them, thereby rendering our God-given mental and spiritual faculties meaningless.
After this note, we may continue with brief mention of the last things:
The Dajjal (Antichrist). God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, mentioned two Antichrists: the Dajjal, who will appear in the non-Muslim world, and the Sufyan, who will appear in the Muslim world. Both beings are the greatest of all the Dajjals and Sufyans to appear in the world after the Messenger. Islamic sources report from the Messenger that more than 30 Dajjals will appear after him, and that the one or ones to emerge before the end of time will be the most harmful and destructive.
Another important point to stress is that the narrations of such beings are not exclusively about their persons. Rather, they are about their ideologies and committees, and the systems they will establish in all aspects of life. There are many reports from Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, about the Antichrist, with different degrees of authenticity according to the principles of Hadith science. We will mention some of them with the explanations of Bediüzzaman Said Nursi in his books Maktubat (The Letters) and Shualar (The Rays):
· “The hands of the Sufyan will be holed,” meaning that the Sufyan will be a prodigal one and encourage prodigality and dissipation.
· “A terrible person will appear before the end of time. When he gets up one morning, he will find that on his forehead is inscribed: This is an infidel.” This means that the Sufyan will be an apostate and, in imitation of unbelievers, will compel people to be dressed after the style of the non-Muslim world.
· “The dictators to appear before the end of time, including especially the Dajjal and Sufyan, will have a false Paradise and Hell.” This means that during their time, people will be addicted to amusement and worldly pleasures and the income disparity among social classes will increase. As a result, there will be rebellions against governments. Therefore, the places of pleasure and amusement, jails, and similar places of torture will stand side by side.
· “Before the end of time, there will be almost no people who worship God and mention His Names as an act of worship.” This means that the places in which God is worshipped and His Names are mentioned will be closed, and that the number of believing worshippers will decrease considerably. Another meaning is that just before the world’s destruction, God will take the believers’ souls and the world will be destroyed upon the unbelievers’ heads.
· “Certain terrible persons will emerge before the end of time, such as the Dajjal, and claim divinity and make people prostrate to them.” This means that such persons will derive their force mostly from atheistic and materialistic trends and suppose themselves to have godly power. Their statutes will be built, and people will be forced to bow before them as a way of adoration.
· “The dissipation and dissension to appear before the end of time will be so widespread and powerful that no one will be able to control his or her carnal self against them.” This means the dissipated life will seduce too many people, and that they will indulge in it willingly. The frightening dimensions of the dissipation and pleasure-addiction that the Dajjal will cause at this time have caused almost all Muslims, upon the Prophet’s order, to take refuge in God for 14 centuries.
· “The Sufyan will be a knowledgeable one and fascinate many scholars.” This means that although devoid of such means of power and reliance as kingdom, tribe, wealth, and courage, the Sufyan will gain authority due to his intriguing capacity and political genius. He bans religious education. Mostly because of their attachment to this life, many religious scholars and educationists will support him and his regime.
· “The first day of the Dajjal is equal to a year, his second day to a month, his third day to a week, and his fourth day to an ordinary day.” This miraculous Prophetic tradition means that the Dajjal will appear in the north and proceed toward the south. As we know, in the places near the North Pole a whole year consists of a day and night, each of which lasts 6 ordinary months. Coming toward the south, there are places where a day lasts 3 months, a month, and a week, respectively.
Another meaning is that both the Dajjal and the Sufyan will have four periods of rule: in the first period (one year) they will cause such destruction that normally could occur only in 300 years. During the second period, the destruction they will cause each year will be equal to 30 years’ worth of destruction by others, and in one year of their third period they will cause 7 years’ worth of destruction. Their fourth period will be normalized.
“When the Dajjal appears, everyone will hear him. He will have an extraordinary mount and travel throughout the world within 40 days.” This means that the Dajjal will appear when the means of communication and transportation develop to such an extent that an event happening in one part of the world will be heard in other parts, and that traveling throughout the world within around 40 days is possible.
Gog and Magog. According to Qur’an 18:94-98 and 21:96, these are two barbarous tribes living in eastern Asia. Once before, a world-conqueror known in the Qur’an as Dhu’l-Qarnayn went as far as their lands and, to protect neighboring peoples from their attacks, built a formidable wall. When the time comes, they will surmount this wall and invade the civilized world.
The Mongols, who invaded the Muslim world and went as far as central Europe, were considered as Gog and Magog by the Muslims and Christians of that time. Having mentioned this interpretation, Said Nursi adds that a new invasion will come from the same direction. According to certain Prophetic Traditions, such great wars will break out that almost nine-tenths of humanity will perish.
The Mahdi and the Messiah. This is perhaps the most important element of the last things. Both Jews and Christians expect a Messiah toward the end of time, and regard his coming as the sign of the final, worldwide triumph for each.
Islamic sources mention both individuals. Shi‘a Muslims give particular importance to the Mahdi, who they say is named Muhammad. He is the twelfth (and last) Imam of a series that began with ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophet’s cousin and fourth caliph. The Mahdi disappeared when he was 74 years old, and will reappear when the world is full of injustice to restore justice.
The majority of Muslims regard the Mahdi as one who will come toward the end of time, when the Muslim world is defeated and all Islamic principles are under comprehensive attack. Together with the Messiah, the Mahdi will defend the principles of Islam against atheistic and materialistic trends and revive the religious life. He will end the dominion of both the Dajjal and the Sufyan.
According to certain contemporary thinkers and scholars, including Said Nursi, the Mahdi is not a single person but rather the name of a global Islamic revival. It has three periods, each of which will be represented by a person and his group. Its leaders will be well-versed in religious sciences, have the highest moral standards, know the sociopolitical and economic conditions of their times, and be equipped with the necessary qualities of leadership. Together with his followers, the leader of the first period will defend Islamic principles against materialistic trends and expose them in an appropriate way. In the second period, the revived Islamic principles will gain ascendancy in many parts of the world, and Islamic life will experience a significant revival. The third period will see the global revival of religious life.
The third period most probably will follow the invasion of Gog and Magog, which will interrupt the second period. Christianity, according to the relevant Islamic sources, will be freed from its borrowings from certain ancient religions and philosophies and draw closer to Islam. Christianity and Islam will cooperate to repel the attacks of Gog and Magog and free the world from their invasion. Sciences will realize their full development. Cities will be built in the sky, and it will be easy to travel there. Probably as a result of developments in genetics, one pomegranate will suffice for as many as 20 people, and its rind will provide shade for them. Wheat produced in a small house balcony will be enough to feed a family for a year.
We will elaborate the Messianic mission attributed to Jesus in Islamic sources after the end of this section under a separate title.
The final, worldwide apostasy and the world’s destruction. The unprecedented developments in science and technology will cause humanity to believe that it has so much knowledge and power that an authority above itself is no longer required or necessary. This will lead people to rebel against Heaven and indulge in debauchery to the extent that a worldwide apostasy will take place. Few believers will be left, and the unbelieving, rebellious forces will destroy the Ka‘ba. This will mark the end of the world. God Almighty will gently take the souls of the believers. [1] According to Said Nursi, as the result of a probable collision of a heavenly body with Earth, the latter will begin to rotate in the opposite direction and the sun will rise in the west. This is the final sign of the world’s destruction. Some Qur’anic verses which describe this destruction are as follows:
When the sun is folded up; when the stars fall, losing their luster; when the mountains are moved; when the ten-month pregnant camels are abandoned; when the wild beasts are herded together; and when the seas are set boiling... (81:1-6)
When the sky is rent asunder, when the planets are dispersed, when the oceans are poured forth, and when the graves are overturned, each soul will know what it has sent forward and what it has kept back. (82:1-5)
When Earth is shaken with its (final) earthquake, and Earth yields up its burdens, and humanity says: “What is the matter with it?” That day it will proclaim its tidings, because your Master inspired it. That day humanity will come forth in scattered groups to be shown its deeds. Whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it then, and whoever does an atom’s weight of ill shall see it then. (99:1-8)
Some of the first converts to Islam were subjected to severe persecution in Makka. They bore them patiently and never thought of retaliation, as the Qur’an ordered Prophet Muhammad to call unbelievers to the way of God with wisdom and fair preaching, advised him to repel evil with what was better, and to respond to his enemies’ sins and faults with forbearance and forgiveness. Makkan intolerance eventually compelled the local Muslims to abandon their homes and property and emigrate to Madina, where they could live according to their beliefs and where Islam’s full social and legal dimensions could evolve in peace.
But the Makkans’ hostility continued, and in Madina the Muslims became targets of new conspiracies. Although the native Madinan believers (the Ansar) willingly shared everything with the Emigrants (the Muhajirun), all suffered privations. In such strained circumstances, God Almighty allowed them to fight their enemies, for they had been wronged and driven from their homes unjustly (22:39).
The Battle of Badr (624) was the first major confrontation of the Muslims and the enemy forces. Although outnumbered, the believers won a great victory. If we do not accept the opinions of some Qur’anic interpreters that Sura Muhammad, which contains regulations on how to treat prisoners of war, was revealed before Surat al-Anfal, no Divine commandment had been revealed about how captives should be treated. The Muslims did not even know whether they should kill the enemy on the battlefield or take them as prisoners. After the battle, the Prophet consulted, as he always did where there was no specific Divine commandment, with his Companions on this issue.
Abu Bakr said: “O God’s Messenger, they are your people. Even though they did you and the believers great wrong, you will win their hearts and cause their guidance if you forgive them and please them.” But ‘Umar said: “O God’s Messenger, they are the leading figures of Makka. If we kill them, unbelief will no longer be able to recover to oppose us. So give to each Muslim his closest kin. Hand ‘Aqil over to his brother ‘Ali to kill. And his son, ‘Abd al-Rahman, to Abu Bakr, and .... [so on].”
God’s Messenger turned to Abu Bakr and said: “O Abu Bakr, you are like Prophet Abraham, who said: He who follows me is of me, and he who disobeys me – but You are indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Compassionate (14:36). You are also like Jesus, who said: If You punish them, they are Your servants. If You forgive them, You are the All-Honored with irresistible might, the All-Wise” (5:118).
Then he turned to ‘Umar and said: “O ‘Umar, you are like Noah, who said: O my Lord! Leave not even a single unbeliever on Earth! (71:26). You are also like Moses, who said (of Pharaoh and his chieftains): Our Lord, destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they will not believe until they see the painful chastisement” (10:88). (Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 1:383.)
Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad
Islam, as the last, universal form of the Divine religion, orders its followers to believe in all of the Prophets. Thus being a Muslim also means being a follower of Jesus, Moses, and all other Prophets.
The Qur’an declares:
The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him by his Lord, and so do the believers. They all believe in God and His angels, His Scriptures, and His Messengers: “We make no distinction between any of His Messengers” – and they say: “We hear and obey. Grant us Your forgiveness, our Lord. To You is the journeying.” (2:285)
As historical conditions required that the messages of all previous Prophets be restricted to a certain people and period, certain principles were stressed in those messages. Also, God bestowed special favors upon each Prophet and community according to the dictates of the time.
For example, Adam was favored with knowledge of the Names, the keys to all branches of knowledge; Noah was endowed with steadfastness and perseverance; Abraham was honored with intimate friendship with God and being the father of numerous Prophets; Moses was given the ability to administer and was exalted by being God’s direct addressee; and Jesus was distinguished with patience, tolerance, and compassion. All Prophets have some share in the praiseworthy qualities mentioned, but each one surpasses, on account of his mission, the others in one or more of those qualities.
When Moses was raised as a Prophet, the Israelites were leading a wretched existence under the Egyptian Pharaohs. Due to the Pharaohs’ despotic rule and oppression, slavery had become in-grained in the Israelites’ souls and was now part of their character. To reform them, to equip them with such lofty feelings and values as freedom and independence, and to rebuild their character and thereby free them from subservience to the Pharaohs, Moses came with a message containing stern and rigid rules. This is why the Book given to him was called Torah (Law). Given that his mission required that he be a somewhat stern and unyielding reformer and educator, it was natural for him to pray in reference to Pharaoh and his chieftains: Our Lord, destroy their riches and harden their hearts so that they will not believe until they see the painful chastisement (10:88).
Jesus came at a time when the Israelites had abandoned themselves to worldly pleasure and led a materialistic life. In the Qur’an, we read that:
O you who believe! Many priests and anchorites in falsehood devour the wealth of people and hinder (them) from the Way of God. And there are those who hoard gold and silver and spend it not in the Way of God. Announce to them a most grievous chastisement. (9:34)
and that these same people exploited religion for worldly gain:
You see many of them vying in sin and enmity and how they consume what is unlawful. Evil is the thing they have been doing. Why do the masters and rabbis not forbid them to utter sin and to consume the unlawful? Evil is the thing they have been doing. (5:62-63)
The Gospels relate a similar sentiment attributed to Jesus:
You snakes, how can you say good things when you are evil, for the mouth speaks of what has filled the heart. A good person brings good things out of his or her treasure of good things; a bad person brings bad things out of his or her treasure of bad things. (Matthew 12:34-35)
Take care! Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of Moses’ Law. So you must obey and follow everything they tell you to do. Do not, however, imitate their actions, because they do not practice what they preach. They tie onto people’s backs loads that are heavy and hard to carry, yet they are not willing to lift even a finger to help them carry those loads. They do everything so that people will see them ... They love the best places at feasts and the reserved seats in the synagogues. They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to have people call them “Teacher” ... How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. You hypocrites ... You give to God one-tenth of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice, mercy, and honesty. You should practice these without neglecting the others. (Matthew, chapters 23, 13, and 12)
When Jesus was sent to the Israelites, the spirit of the True Religion had dwindled away and the religion itself had been reduced to a device for its exponents to rob the common people. So before proceeding to put the Law into effect, Jesus concentrated on belief, justice, mercy, humility, peace, love, repentance for one’s sins, seeking God’s forgiveness, helping others, purity of heart and intention, and sincerity:
Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Happy are those who mourn, for God will comfort them. Happy are those who are humble, for they will receive what God has promised. Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires, for God will satisfy them fully. Happy are those who are merciful to others, for God will be merciful to them. Happy are the poor in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:3-10)
Prophet Muhammad has all of the qualities mentioned above, except that of being the father of Prophets. In addition, because of his mission’s universality he is like Moses (he is a warner, established a Law, and fought his enemies) and Jesus (a bringer of good news who preached mercy, forgiveness, helping others, altruism, humility, sincerity, purity of intention, and moral values of the highest degree). Remember that the Qur’an declares that God sent Prophet Muhammad as a mercy for the whole of creation (21:107).
Islam presents God, before all other Attributes and Names, as the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate. By doing this, it indicates that He mainly manifests Himself as the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate, and that His wrath and punishment are shown when attracted by the individual’s own unforgivable sins and wrongdoing. But God, the All-Forgiving, forgives most of His servants’ sins: Whatever misfortune befalls you is for what your own hands have earned, and for many (of them) He grants forgiveness (42:30).
Prophet Muhammad had the mission of both Moses and Jesus. The historical episode mentioned at the article’s beginning shows that Abu Bakr represented more the mission of Jesus and that ‘Umar represented more the mission of Moses. Since Islam must prevail until the end of time, there may be occasions when its followers are required to act, according to circumstances, sometimes as Moses and sometimes as Jesus.
Islam and Jesus Christ’s Messianic Mission
The reliable Books of Tradition contain many sayings of Prophet Muhammad that Jesus will return to this world before the end of time and observe the Muslim law. Although such Traditions have been interpreted in different ways, they can be interpreted as meaning that, before the end of time, Islam must manifest itself mostly in the dimension represented by Jesus. In other words, the main aspects of his Prophethood must be given prominence in preaching Islam. These aspects are the following:
· Jesus always traveled. He never stayed in one place, but preached his message on the move. Those who preach Islam must travel or emigrate.
· They must be the repentants, worshippers, travelers (in devotion to the cause of Islam and to convey it), those who bow and prostrate (to God only), command good and forbid evil, and observe God’s limits. For them there is good news (9:112).
· Mercy, love, and forgiveness had the first place. Jesus brought good news. Therefore, those who dedicate themselves to the cause of Islam must emphasize these characteristics and, never forgetting that Prophet Muhammad was sent as a mercy for all the worlds and the whole of existence, must convey good news to every place and call people to the way of God with wisdom and fair exhortation. They must never repel others.
The world today needs peace more than at any time in history. Most of our problems arise from excessive worldliness, scientific materialism, and the ruthless exploitation of nature. Everyone talks so much about the danger of war and environmental pollution that peace and ecology are the most fashionable words on people’s tongues. But the same people wish to remove those problems through further conquest and domination of nature.
The problem lies in rebelling against heaven and in destroying the equilibrium between humanity and nature. This condition is a result of modern materialism’s conception of and corrupt attitude toward humanity and nature. Most people are reluctant to perceive that peace within human societies and with nature is possible only through peace with the spiritual order. To be at peace with Earth, one must be at peace with the spiritual dimension of one’s existence. This is possible only by being at peace with heaven.
In the Qur’an, Jesus introduces himself as follows:
I am indeed a servant of God ... He has commanded me to pray and give alms as long as l live. He has made me dutiful to my mother, and has not made me oppressive, wicked. (79:31-32)
From the viewpoint of Jesus’ promised messianic mission, this means that children will not obey their parents. Thus those who spread Islam in our age must strive to show due respect to their parents and elders, in addition to performing their prayers correctly and helping the poor and needy. The Qur’an enjoins:
Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you show kindness to your parents. If either or both of them attain old age with you, (show no sign of impatience, and) do not even say “uff” to them, nor rebuke them, but speak kind words to them. (17:23)
One of Jesus’ miracles was healing the sick and reviving the dead with God’s permission. In other words, respect for life was very important in his message. The Qur’an attaches the same degree of importance to life: One who kills another wrongly is regarded as having killed humanity; one who saves a life is regarded as having saved humanity (5:32). Those dedicated to the cause of Islam must attach the utmost importance to life and try to prevent wars, find cures for illnesses, and know that reviving a person spiritually is more important than healing diseases. The Qur’an declares: O you who believe! Respond to God and the Messenger, when the Messenger calls you to that which will give you life (8:24).
Death and the Spirit after Death [2]
People have an intrinsic feeling of eternity. They feel imprisoned in the narrow confines of this world and always yearn for eternity. Whoever hearkens to their conscious nature will hear it pronouncing eternity over and over again. Even the whole universe cannot compensate them for their “hunger” for eternal life, for which they were created. Humanity’s natural inclination toward eternal happiness comes from an objective reality: the existence of eternal life and the human desire for it.
What Is Death?
The body is an instrument of the spirit, which governs and controls all of its members, cells, and minute particles. When the appointed hour comes, any illness or failure in the body’s functions means an invitation to Azra’il, the Angel of Death. In reality, God causes people to die. However, so that people should not complain of this to Him, as many consider it disagreeable, God uses Azra’il as a veil in taking souls. Also, He puts illnesses or some calamities as veils between Azra’il and death so that people will not blame him for death.
Since Azra’il was created from “light,” like all other angels, he can be anywhere and in any form simultaneously. He also can do many tasks at the same time. Like the sun giving heat and light to all things while being present through its images in innumerable transparent objects, Azra’il can take millions of souls at the same moment.
However, Archangels like Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Azra’il have subordinates that resemble them and are under their supervision. When righteous people die, angels come to them with smiles and radiant faces. After that Azra’il comes, either by himself or with his subordinates charged with taking such souls from the bodies. Sometimes just a subordinate comes. The verses: By those who pluck out violently; by those who draw out gently (79:1-2) indicate that these angels are different from those tasked with removing the souls of the wicked. Such souls are plucked out violently, and so have a sour, frightened face at death.
At the time of death, windows usually are opened for righteous believers from their places in Paradise, or they are shown the other-worldly forms of their good deeds and sayings. The Messenger stated that these souls are drawn out as gently as the flowing of water from a pitcher. Better than that, martyrs do not feel the agonies of death and do not know that they are dead; instead, they consider themselves to be transferred into a better world and enjoy happiness. [3]
Prophet Muhammad asked Jabir, whose father ‘Abd Allah ibn Jahsh was martyred at Uhud:
Do you know how God welcomed your father? He welcomed him in such an indescribable manner that neither eyes have seen it, nor ears have heard it, nor minds have conceived of it. Your father said: “O God, return me to the world so that I will explain to those left behind how pleasant martyrdom is.” God replied: “There is no longer return. Life is lived only once. However, I’ll inform them of the circumstances you are in,” and He revealed: Never think of those slain in the way of God to be dead; rather they are alive and are provided in the Presence of their Master. (3:169) (Bayhaqi, Dalail al-Nubuwwa, 3:298.)
One dies how one lives. Those who live good, righteous lives have good deaths; those who live wicked lives do not. However, this does not mean that the righteous die easily or that those who seem to die easily were righteous, for God sometimes uses severe death agonies to cleanse people of sin. The Prophet says that whatever evil happens to a believer causes some of his or her sins to be erased. (Muslim, “Birr,” Hadith No: 49.)
For righteous believers, death is not something to be feared. Although the body decomposes and seems to extinguish the light of life and destroy pleasures, in reality it is only a discharge from the heavy duties of worldly life, a changing of residence, a transferring of the body, an invitation to and the beginning of everlasting life. The world is continually enlivened through creation, and continually stripped of life through other cycles of creation, determination, and wisdom. Plants and trees appear to die. But their seeds, while underground and rotting, do not die; instead, they undergo chemical processes that cause them to re-form and reappear as new plants and trees. Given this, the apparent death of their seeds is really the beginning of a new plant or tree, a new, more perfect and elaborate life.
If this is true of such simple life forms, how can it not be true for human beings? Was not humanity created for greater purposes than plants and trees? Death discharges us from this narrow worldly life, which becomes more of a burden as we age and become ill, and causes us to enter the infinitely wide circle of the Eternal, Beloved One’s Mercy. There, we enjoy the everlasting company of our loved ones and the consolation of a happy, eternal life. In effect, our grave is like our mother’s womb: we leave both places for a more perfect life in another world.
The Spirit in the Intermediate World
Following death, the spirits of those people whose lives were characterized by faith, goodness, virtue, and refinement are wrapped in silk or silk-like substances and carried away by the angels charged with taking the spirit to God’s Presence. While carrying the spirit of a good, righteous person through the heavens and all inner dimensions of existence, angels in every station it passes welcome it and ask: “Whose spirit is this? How beautiful it is!” Its bearers introduce it with its most beautiful titles by which it was called while in the world, and answer: “This is the spirit of that one who, for example, prayed, fasted, gave alms, helped others, and bore all kinds of hardship for God’s sake.” Finally, God welcomes it and tells the angels: “Return it to the grave where its body is buried, so that Munkar and Nakir, the interrogating angels, can investigate it.”
The spirits of evil people are treated with disdain everywhere it passes and then thrown back into the grave, away from the Presence of God Almighty.
Whatever evil happens to us in this world is, with the exceptions of Prophets, because of our sins. If we are sincere believers who sometimes cannot avoid sinning, God, out of His Mercy, allows some misfortunes to befall us and thereby erases some of our sins. Or He may give us a hard death, so that still-unpardoned sins will be forgiven or so that we may attain higher (spiritual) ranks, but then take our spirits very gently. If we still have some unforgiven sins after this, we will undergo some sort of punishment in the grave and then be spared any punishment of Hell. Since the grave is the first station toward eternal life, almost everyone except the Prophets will be interrogated by the two above-mentioned angels and subjected to some suffering.
As recorded in reliable Tradition books, ‘Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, desired very much to see ‘Umar in a dream after the latter’s death. When he finally saw him in a dream 6 months later, he asked him: “Where were you until now?” ‘Umar answered: “Don’t ask! I have just finished accounting (for my life).” [4]
In the grave or the intermediate realm, Munkar and Nakir ask each soul: “Who is your Master? Who is your Prophet? What is your religion, etc.” Those who died as believers in God and the Prophet and Islam can answer these questions. Those who died as unbelievers cannot. Then the person’s deeds are questioned.
Spirits interact with the body differently, for this relationship depends upon which world they inhabit. In this world, the spirit is confined within the “prison” of the body. If the evil-commanding self and bodily desires dominate it, the spirit inevitably deteriorates and the person is doomed. If a human being disciplines the evil-commanding self through belief, worship, and good conduct and frees himself or herself from servitude to bodily desires, his or her spirit becomes refined and acquires purity and laudable qualities. This will bring him or her happiness in both worlds.
After burial, the spirit is kept waiting in the intermediate world. Although the body decomposes and rots away into the ground, its essential particles (or atoms) do not. One hadith call this part the ajb al-dhanab (coccyx) (Muslim, “Fitan,” HN: 141). Whatever it is, the spirit continues its relations with the body through it, as it is a foundation upon which God will resurrect each individual. God will make this part and its contents suitable for eternal life during the final destruction and rebuilding of the universe.
The intermediate world (of grave) is the realm where spirits feel the “breath” of the bliss of Paradise or the punishment of Hell. If they led virtuous lives, their good deeds will appear to them as amiable fellows. Also, windows will be opened onto heavenly scenes and, as stated in a hadith, the grave will be like a garden of Paradise (Daylami, al-Firdaws, 3:231). However, those with unpardoned sins will have to undergo some sort of suffering in the intermediate world until their sins are purged and they are worthy of Paradise. Unbelievers and wicked people will meet their evil deeds in the form of bad fellows and vermin. They will see scenes of Hell, and the grave will be like one of Hell’s pits.
While we live in the world, it is our spirit that suffers pain and feels joy and happiness. Although the spirit feels pain apparently through the nervous system and then uses it to communicate with all parts of the body, science still does not understand the spirit-body interaction, especially the role of the brain. Any failure in any part of the body can render the spirit inoperative. This may be likened to a cut of the supply of energy.
Science has established that certain brain cells continue to live for a while after death. Scientists have tried to receive signals through those cells. If they manage to receive and decipher those signals, the field of criminology will receive a great boost. The following verses give us an example of this. During the time of Moses, God revived a murdered person:
When Moses said to his people: “God commands you to sacrifice a cow,” ... they sacrificed her, a thing they had scarcely done. You had killed a living soul, and disputed thereon – God would disclose what you were hiding – so We said: “Smite him with part of it [the cow];” even so He brings to life the dead, and He shows you His signs, that haply you may have understanding. (2:67, 72-73)
Since the spirit and the body live the worldly life together and share all its joys and pains, God Almighty will resurrect people both bodily and spiritually. The Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama‘a (the great majority of Muslims who follow the way of the Prophet and his Companions) agree that the spirit and the body will go to either Paradise or Hell together. God will build bodies in forms specific to the Hereafter, where everything will be alive: This life of the world is but a pastime and a game, but the home of the Hereafter, that is life if they but knew (29:64).
Sending Gifts to the Spirit after Death
Spirits in the intermediate world will see and hear us, if God allows this. He may permit some saintly people to see, hear, and communicate with certain still-living people, or allow some of them to help us.
After we die, our record of deeds remains open if we have left behind good, virtuous children, books, or institutions that continue to benefit others. If we have raised or helped to raise people who benefit humanity, our reward increases; if we leave behind that which is evil, our sins increase for as long as they continue to harm people. So, if we want to help our loved ones in the intermediate world, we should be good heirs. By helping the poor, observing the rules of Islam, leading a good and virtuous life, and especially by spending to promote Islam, general Muslim well-being, and helping humanity, their reward will increase.
Answers to Questions about Paradise [5]
Give glad tidings to those who believe and do good deeds. For them are Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Every time they are provided with fruit thereof, they say: “This is what we were provided with before,” and it is given to them in resemblance. There are pure spouses for them, and they shall abide there forever. (2:25)
The following are brief answers to questions about Paradise, which is everlasting. The Qur’anic descriptions, which are more beautiful than Paradise, leave nothing to be added. We shall point out some steps so that such brilliant, eternal, elevated, and beautiful verses can be understood easily. We also shall explain some fine points through five significant questions and answers.
Question: What does the defective, changing, unstable, and pain-stricken body have to do with eternity and Paradise? The spirit’s elevated pleasures must be enough. Why should a bodily resurrection take place for bodily pleasures?
Answer: Soil, despite its darkness and density when compared to water, air, and light, is the means and source of all works of Divine art. Therefore, it is somehow superior in meaning over other elements. Your selfhood, despite its density and due to its being comprehensive and provided it is purified, gains some kind of superiority over your other senses and faculties. Likewise, your body is a most comprehensive and rich mirror for the Divine Names’ manifestations, and has been equipped with instruments to weigh and measure the contents of all Divine treasuries. For example, if the tongue’s sense of taste were not the origin of as many measures as the varieties of food and