Akhirat

Stages of Human Life

The life-span, ajal, is fixed. Humans pass through 4 phases: non-existence, life on earth, life in the grave, the intermediate phase, and life in the Hereafter. Islam does not accept the concept of re-incarnation. Each human has only one earthly life which ends on death. Death is a transitional event that occurs when the ruh is separated from the physical body. Death is in the hands of Allah. Humans do not know its appointed time. All humans will die and will have life after death. Life in the Hereafter, hayat al akhirat, is a higher and better existence than the earthly life, hayat al duniyat. Life after death has two consecutive stages: life in the grave and in life after resurrection either in jahannam or in jannat. On resurrection the ruh will rejoin its physical body. Life in the Hereafter whether in paradise or in hell is everlasting.

Life in The Grave, Qabr

Burial in the grave is a respectful send-off unlike most animals that just abandon their dead. It is followed by questioning during which the ruh is returned temporarily to the body. The believers will answer correctly whereas the evil ones will not know the answers. Everyone will be told their fate, jannat or jahannam, while they are still in the qabr. There will be rewards and punishment in the qabr. Transitional life, hayat al barzakh, is between earthly life and life in the Hereafter. Some authentic hadiths seem to indicate existence of some physiological functions in the deceased in the graves such as shouting, hearing. Ghosts do not exist. There is no direct between the dead in the qabr and living humans on earth. The dead cannot influence events on earth. The living cannot influence events in the qabr apart from dua. Dreams of the living about the dead are not a true form of communication between the living and the dead. Only dreams of prophets are true. Interpretation of dreams of ordinary humans is not a valid method of knowing anything about the dead.

The Last Day, Yawm al Akhirat

Belief in the last day is a pillar of iman. Denial of the last day is unbelief, kufr. The knowledge of the last day is with Allah Alone. The pre-events of the last day will be social, physical, and special changes. The social changes will be: mothers enslaved by their children, living in sky scrapers, plenty of wealth, much fitnat, disappearance of trust, and disappearance of iman. The physical events will be: rising of the sun from the west. The special events will be emergence of the false messiah; descent of Isa, and emergence of the daabat al ardh. This will be followed by the following events of the last day. The horn will be blown to herald resurrection. People will be gathered, their work record will be presented, accounts of their deeds will be made, the balance will be set up, and justice will be established. Intercession on the last day will be by Allah’s permission as mentioned in the Qur’an.

After-Life: Jannat and Jahannam

Jannat and jahannam were created by Allah before creation of humans. They exist today and are eternal. The jannat has many bounties and comforts that will be enjoyed in a physical form. People in jannat will enjoy these physical comforts without the biological and psychological stresses of life on earth. Jahannam is the abode of the unbelievers and wrong-doers. It is a place of punishment. The Qur’an has described life in hell as bad and frightening. There are many punishments one of which is physical burning. The physiological processes on earth will also occur in hell but will be a means of punishment and not satisfying physiological needs. The drink will not quench thirst. The food will not relieve hunger.

Nature of The After-Life

Life after resurrection from the graves will be physical and not metaphysical or spiritual. We do not know whether it will be exactly like that on earth or there will be some differences. The Qur’an makes it clear that it will be physical life with physical bodies with physiological functions of that life that are similar to those on earth. The resurrected humans will experience all events of the Hereafter as physical beings. There will be no more death after the last day. Those who enter paradise will stay there permanently. Hell will be permanent for certain categories of offenders. Those with minor offences will spend a time of punishment in hell and then be forgiven and enter paradise.