Qayamat
Qiyamat - Doomsday
Qiyamat, resurrection or the day of judgment is the fifth fundamental belief in Islam.
The doctrine of Tawhid and resurrection are the most basic concepts of Islam which were
emphasized by all the prophets. This is the reason that we find these two concepts in almost
all the religions of the world. However, in other religions, the concept of resurrection has
been distorted like other teachings of the prophets and only Islam gives correct and
accurate information about the occurrence of this great event.
The Doomsday: Why! How! and When!
Why the Doomsday must occur ?
How the Doomsday would occur?
When the Doomsday shall occur?
These are indeed very pertinent questions. Almost every nation has asked these questions
from their prophets. But mostly the questions were asked in sarcastic manner to ridicule the
actuality of the concept.
Basically, those who are not capable to understand, why the universe was created, are not
qualified to comprehend, why the universe should have an end. But, even those scientists
who reject the core concept of the creation, believe in an inevitable occur rence of the
Doomsday.
The Holy Quran has answered these and many other related questions about the Doomsday
in hundreds of verses.
Allama Faiz-i-Kashani, one of the renowned scholar of Islam, has discovered more than 100
names of this great event and said that the significance of each name is that it reveals a
peculiar secret about the incident . The most common name of this event is Qiyamah which
has appeared 70 times in the Holy Quran.
Different names of Qiyamat
Some other names of Qiyamat which throw considerable light on what will happen on this
day are as follows
1 - Yaumul- Hisab: i.e., The day when the final and total accountability of all human deeds
will take place.
2 - Yaumul-Akhera: i.e., The final and the last day after which no any other event will occur.
3 - Yaumut- Talaq: i.e., The day when all belongings will be detached from their owners.
4 - Yaumul- Hashr: i.e., The day when all the human beings will gather to know their ultimate
fate.
5-Yaumul-Fasl: i.e., The day when a clear separation between the evil-doers and vir tuous
will take place or the day when all existing relationships among humans will be cut off.
6 - Yaumul-Jamaa: i.e., The day when every thing that existed will be brought into account.
7 - Yaumud-Deen: i.e., The day when the final judgment of all affairs with absolute justice
will be declared.
8 - Yaumul- Huq: i.e., The day when only truth will prevail.
9 - Yamus-Saah: i.e., The definite time when all of us will be resurrected for final judgment
10 - Yaumul-Baath: i.e., The day when all dead people will be given a new life.
11 - Yaumun-Nashr: i.e., The day when who were born in this world will rise.
12 - Yaumul-La-yanfaul maal wala banoon: i.e., The day when all material belongings and
family relationships will be of no use.
Thus, summing-up the meanings of these words used in the Holy Quran, and connecting it
with other facts described in other verses and hadiths, a clear picture of the Doomsday can
be visualized.
When the Doomsday will occur ?
Scientists strongly believe that one day the world will cer tainly come to an end but do not
know when it will precisely happen. It is vir tually impossible to know the timings of the
Doomsday. From the Quran and the hadith, it is clear that the exact timings of the Doomsday
is an absolute Divine secret. No one except Allah (swt) knows the time of Qiyamat.
Quran clearly tells us, why the time of the Qiyamat is held in secret.
The Hour of Doom is sure to come. But I choose to keep it hidden, so that every soul
may be rewarded for its efforts. (20:15)
They question you (Muhammad) about the Hour of Doom: When shall it be ? (say) you
have no knowledge to say anything about it. Allah alone knows when it will come. You
are but a Warner for those who fear. (79:42-44)
The Doomsday will come suddenly at its own time fixed by Allah (swt). The time is fixed but
no one knows it except Him.
They ask you (Muhammad) about the Hour ( of Doom ) and when it is to come. Say :
None knows except my Lord. He alone will reveal it at the appointed time. A fateful hour
it shall be , both in the heavens and the earth. It will come suddenly. (7:187)
People ask you about the Hour of Dooms. Say: the knowledge of it is with Allah alone.
Who knows? it may well be that it is near at hand. (33:63)
What will be the length of the Doomsday?
No one knows the actual length of the Doomsday. However, we can guess a figure from the
reliable data available to us.
The Doomsday will cause complete destruction of the universe. There are billions of galaxies
in the universe and each galaxy contains billions of stars. Thus, from the size of the universe
as well as from the hadiths, it seems that the whole event of Doomsday will take quite a long
period of time.
Professor Bashiurdin Mahmood has given an approximate length of the Doomsday. He said
that from the Quranic verse 70:4, the minimum length of the Dooms may be as long as 50,000
solar years. But the length of one day of Allah is equal to 1000 solar years (32:5) .
In this proportion, the period of Universal Doomsday from the star t to the end may be as
long as 18 billion solar years of our ear thly measure of time.
However, this is just a figure based on some reliable calculation. But no one knows the actual
duration of the Doomsday. Allah is All- Mighty. He can do everything. He can complete it in
18 seconds or less, and He can spread it in 18 billion of solar years.
Another clue in support of the above calculation is that Allah (swt) has created the universe
in six days. These days are not cer tainly the 24 hours days of ours, as the sun and the ear th
were not created then. Six days means six periods which may be of billions or trillions of
years duration. Thus, as creation of the universe has taken trillions of years, the distraction
process can also consume billion years. [Allah knows better.]
How the Doomsday will start ?
The Doomsday will appear all of sudden with a catastrophic big bang. It has been referred
in the Holy Quran as Soor. No one knows the actual nature of the Soor. But Quran tells us that
the Soor will be a tremendous bang which will spread a wave of terror throughout the universe.
And the day when the Soor will be blown and all who are in the heavens and the earth,
will stare in terror, save him whom Allah wills. (27:87)
There will be two Soors:
The First Soor
The Divine Bugle! The Big - Bang - Sound! - The star t of the Universal Doomsday.
It will be a horrible event. The whole universe will star t shaking causing to shake everything
everywhere. The Quran has called it a ˜heavy day™
Heavy day in the Heavens and the Earth. (7:187 )
An unprecedented and an unexampled condition of sweeping chaos on a cosmological
scale will grip the entire universe. The residents of planet ear th will experience tremendous
turbulence of whole-earthquake, that has never occurred before in the entire history of
mankind. Then a chain of disastrous events will occur one after the other destroying the
whole universe. Every living creature living anywhere in the universe, including the Angel of
Death and the Angel who will blow the Soor, will finally die.
Every thing that exists will perish, except the Face of your Lord, Full of Majesty, Bounty
and Honor. (55:26-27)
The Secound Soor
Resurrection Day :
Allah will then command the blowing of the second Soor by His will for resur rection of the
dead souls. The second Soor will bring the new order of creation. Allah will create a new
universe much larger than the present one and the most beautiful one. This will be the
fulfillment of the promise of Allah Subhanahu taala, made in the Holy Quran.
He will surely repeat the creation of the universe again (21:104)
The new world will be unimaginably different (but with some resemblance also) in all
respects viz. shape, size, climate, laws and living conditions.
On that Day when the earth will be changed into another earth and the heavens (they
will also be changed) (14:48)
An Important hadith about the initiation of the Doomsday.
Some one asked a question to Imam Zainul-Abideen (as) about the duration between the
two soors. Imam replied:
As much as Allah would please.
Then Imam was further asked by the same person about the nature of the soor and how it
would be blown.
Imam replied: So far as the first blowing is concerned, verily Allah will command angel Israfil
to come down towards the earth to blow the Soor. The Trumpet will have one mouth-piece
and two tubes. The space between the two tubes will be like the distance between the sky
and earth.
When the angels will see Israfil descending towards the ear th with his Trumpet, they will say:
Verily, Allah has ordered the inhabitants of the earth to die, and the inhabitants of the heaven
to die.
Then Israfil will bump into it, and the voice will come out from that tube which is towards
the earth side. All living beings on the ear th will die. And the voice will come out from that
tube which is towards the heaven side, and all living beings in the heaven will die, except Israfil.
Then Allah will say to Israfil: O Israfil, Die. and he will die.
Then they will remain in this condition as long as Allah would wish. And His ARSH will return
upon the water, as it was in the beginning, independent with His Majesty and Power.
At that time, Allah will create a very loud voice which will reach in every part of the heavens
and the earth, saying: Whose is the Kingdom this day? No one will answer as there will be
none alive.; then Allah will answer Himself creating a loud voice: It is of Allah, the One, the
Irresistible (Quran 40:16). The One Who created all the creatures and gave them death;
verily, I am Allah, there is no god except I alone, there is no par tner for Me nor any minister;
and I made the creatures by My hand (power) and I made them die by My Will; and I shall
resurrect them by My power. Then Allah will cause the second blowing of the Trumpet; the
voice will come out from the side which is towards the Heavens, and all inhabitants of the
heaven will become alive. and will take their previous positions, and then all people will be
gathered for reckoning.
While Imam was saying all this, he was weeping profusely. [Bihar-ul-Anwar, vol. iii]
The important part of the Imam™s narration is the eventuality of the whole episode, i.e.,
when all living creatures in the universe i.e. both, the inhabitants of the earth and the
heavens will die by the order of Allah, and then Allah alone will sustain His Arsh and will
create a loud voice saying, There is no god but Allah. This would be an absolute
affirmation that, He is the sole creator of everything, and He is alone and absolutely one,
He has no partner, no Prime Minister, no father and no son, and there is no god of any
kind but Allah, and there is no power other than Him who can create and destroy.
Absolute silence other than His one voice is an absolute proof of His absolute oneness.
The scientific clues of the Doomsday - From Big-Bang to Big-crunch.
Scientists can explain how and why the Doomsday would occur.
As the Big-bang theory explains how the universe came into existence, the Big Crunch theory
explains how the universe will come to an end.
Scientists believe from observing the red shift in distinct galaxies that the universe is currently
expanding. According to Einstein theory, the universe has a finite volume and finite number
of hydrogen atoms. At some time in the future, no one knows when, the expansion of the
universe would stop. The galaxies which are now receding from one another will star t to
approach towards each other and finally they will star t colliding with each other. As there are
more than 100 billions of galaxies, billions of collisions will occur one after the other - that is
how the scientists believe in the occurance of the Doomsday. The Holy Quran confirms it.
All that is there will perish, except the Countenance of your Lord, Full of Majesty and
Bounty and Honor. (55:26-27)
The Big Crunch will be like the Big Bang in reverse.
At present the universe is expanding, but it is being observed that the rate of expansion of
the universe is gradually slowing down. This shows that the time of the Doomsday is
approaching nearer and nearer.
Quran warns:
Closer and closer to mankind comes their reckoning, yet they heed not and they run
away. (21:1)
This verse is a dire reminder to all the inhabitants of the ear th that the Doomsday is not too
far but is gradually approaching its appointed time.
Every event has its appointed times. (54:3).
The possible scientific explanation of the Doomsday in the light of the Holy Quran has been
described by a renowned Muslim scholar Professor S. Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood in his monumental book Doomsday and Life after death. We shall take relevant material from his book.
Why the Doomsday will be indescribably a horrible day?
The earth is a planet out of the nine planets of the solar planetary system. The sun is one star
out of billions of stars in the Milky Way. The Milky Way is just one galaxy out of billions of
galaxies floating in the universe.
There are more than 200 billion [200,000,000,000,000,000,000.] stars in the universe. Many
of these stars are bigger than the sun. The sun is only a medium-sized star, but its diameter
is more than 100 times the diameter of the ear th.
The Doomsday will be a universal event in which billions of galaxies and their trillions of stars
along with their planets, satellites and all other kinds of heavenly bodies will collide with each
other and will ultimately come to an end with high explosion.
Both, Quran and science explain, how all this will happen in a chain-reaction immediately
after the Soor is blown.
A star is a huge ball of gas. The sun is also a star like other stars in the sky. It looks different
from other stars in its size and brightness because it is the only star which is very near to our
earth - 150 million Km. The other billions of stars are so far away that they appear to be like
phosphorescent dots. We can hardly imagine the great size of these stars. They look like the
tiny dots of light because they are billions of kilometers away from us. For example, the
nearest star - other than the sun - is more than 40 million million kilometers away. The fastest
108
Presented by www.ziaraat.comJet would take a million years to fly that far. But even this great distance is only one-billionth
the distance to the farthest stars. Stars produce nuclear energy by changing hydrogen into
helium through a series of nuclear reactions. This is just like the explosion of atom bomb.
Billions and trillions of atoms are exploding every second in sun and in other stars producing
tremendous amount of energy. It is a great mercy of Allah Subhanahu taala and His Hikmat
that He equipped the light to travel without a material medium but did not fit out the Sound
Waves to travel in this way. Thus, by His mercy, the residents of earth receive only light from
sun and not the horrible sound of nuclear reactions.
The First Soor
The great natural events that will occur on the planet ear th and in other parts of the cosmos
will start with the Soor - The Divine Alarm. It would be a bugle raised by a special angel -
Hazrat Israfeel, who has been appointed by Allah (swt) to declare the Doomsday. The bugle
will be an indescribably high - pitched sound which will be heard by everyone as if it were
near and will make all resident of the earth instantly unconscious for some time.
A series of earthquakes of extremely high intensity, massive volcanic eruptions on earth, and
gigantic thermonuclear explosions in the solar system and in other heavenly bodies will
combine to bring the following chaotic changes in the universe.
One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch,
and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them.[18:47]
Other Quranic Reference :
[18:49, 20:102, 23:101, 27:87, 30:25, 36:51, 38:51, 39:68, 50:20, 50:42, 69:13, 74:8,
78:18, 79:13-14.]
1 - The loudness of the Sound of the Soor will make everyone in the heavens and the
earth unconscious.
Sound is produced by vibrations of cer tain object. The intensity of a sound depends upon
the amount of energy flowing in the sound wave. At a given frequency, the more intense a
sound is, the louder it seems. Sound of 140 decibels produce severe pain in the ear and
can damage the tissues. A supersonic jet airplane creates shock waves which is 130 decibels
at close range. No one can imagine the intensity of the Soor and its immense vibrational
pressure. The loud noise, known as a sonic boom, of the Soor will sweep over the vast
universe. All who are in the heavens and ear th shall fall down fainting except those who will
be spared by Allah™s mercy.
On that day the Trumpet shall be sounded and all who dwell in heavens and earth be
seized with fear, except those whom Allah will be pleased (to exempt). All shall come
to Him. (27:87)
Other Quranic Reference :
[22:2, 52:45 27:87, 39:68,]
2 - The earth will burst and will be leveled flat.
It is more likely to happen due to bursting of the ear th™s interior explosive materials. There
are millions of tons of molten lava inside the ear th. According to the modern geologists, the
earth is gradually contracting since its beginning. As the ear th is constantly contracting, its
internal pressure is also continuously rising. At its climax, when it can no longer hold back its
internal pressure, the earth will explode like a bomb. This theory is supported by the Holy
Quran.
See they not ? How We are reducing the earth gradually, from all its sides.( 13:41)
As the Quran has told us 1400 years ago, the modern geologists have also reported in their
recent findings that the earth has been shrinking in size since it came into existence 4.5 billion
years ago. This shows that like living species, the earth is also approaching its end with its
age.
They wait not but one blast, which will surprise them, while they are disputing. (36:49)
The continous powerful earthquake can also level the earth. Earthquake greater than 8.5 on
Richter scale can level the skyscrapers and huge mountains. A severe ear thquake may release
energy 10,000 times as great as that of the first atomic bomb. Rock movements during an
earthquake can make rivers change their course.
Quranic Reference :
[ 36:51, 50:44, 54:7, 70:43, 79:13, 82:4, 99:6, 100:9, 18:4, 84:3,84:4-5,99:2]
3 - The gigantic mountains will fly like dust particles.
Massive earthquake, volcanic eruptions, and continuos showers of meteorites will grind the
huge mountains into pieces.
Prof. SB Mahmood gives some other explanations of how the gigantic mountains like
Himalayas and Kilimanjaro will become like carded wool.
According to him, this is likely to happen due to the increased centrifugal forces acting on
the body of the earth. The increase in the magnitude of centrifugal force will be due to the
increasing speed of rotation around the axis and on its orbits. First the mountains will break
apart, and then, they will be thrown around like the projectiles from a potter ™s vessel.
Another possible explanation rendered by him is that the ear th may explode like a powerful
bomb by its massive internal pressure.
The mountains which you see to be firm will pass away like clouds. Such is the Might of
Allah, Who has rightly perfected all things. He has knowledge of all your actions. (27:87)
Quranic Reference :
[18:47, 20:105-107, 27:88, 52:10, 56:5-6, 69:14, 70:9, 72:10, 73:14, 77:10, 78:20, 81:13,
101:15.]
4 - Vigorous shaking of the earth.
Vigorous shaking of the earth may be caused due to the combined effect of powerful
earthquake, disturbance in the gravitational equilibrium of the ear th - sun - moon and other
planets in the solar system.
It is possible if a giant asteroid or any other heavenly body of a extremely large mass strikes
the earth and pushes it out of its orbit. The ear th will start shaking vigorously as a result of
being hit by the massive asteroids and also due to the expulsion from the orbit.
Ground shaking by the normal earthquake causes huge structures to sway from side to side,
bounce up and down, and move in other violent ways.
One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the ear th as a level stretch, and
We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them. (18:47)
When the earth is shaken with a (violent)shock, and the mountains crumble away and scatter
abroad into finest dust. (56:4-5)
Quranic Reference :
[22:1, 56:4-5, 18:47, 73:14, 79:6-7, 99:1.]
5- All oceans will boil and catch fire.
The fire in oceans has been scientifically explained by Prof. S.B Mahmood in two ways.
1 - Violent release of red hot lava beneath the sea due to the volcanic activity.
2 - There is a large amount of hydrocarbon in the interior of the ear th. As it is highly explosive
in nature, it can easily catch fire beneath the sea beds during the massive ear thquakes.
When it happens, the oceans will become the fireballs.
Also, an earthquake on the ocean floor can ignite the under-sea-petroleum reservoirs, which
on explosion can cause fire in the oceans.
Quranic Reference : 81:6, 82:3-4
6 - The earth will pour out its entire contents.
This may be the result of ear thquakes and volcanic eruptions. Earthquake usually begin deep
in the ground in a range of 70 to 700 kilometers beneath the surface of the earth. Powerful
earthquake will throw out the contents of the ear th with pressure.
When the earth is expanded and casts out all that is within it and becomes empty,
obeying its Lord as it must do. (84:4)
Quranic Reference : [99:1-2, 84:4-5, 99:3, 99:4-5,86:9, 100:10.
7 - The earth will be pounded and pounded again and again.
The earth is revolving around the sun in its orbit and also spins on its own axis. The centrifugal
force and electrostatic force keep the earth in equilibrium. The disturbance in these forces
will cause imbalance in the ear th™s motion.
Quranic Reference :[56:4,69:14,89:21]
8- The normal atmosphere of the earth will be filled with suffocating smoke.
The combined effect of massive volcanic eruption, gaseous material from the heavenly
bodies and the bombardment by meteorites may fill the ear th™s atmosphere with dust,
porous glassy matter and mixture of gases.
Volcanoes release gases like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen
chloride, hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide and water vapors. These volcanic gases go
up to the 15 kilometers height in the stratosphere.
Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly
visible.
The Holy Prophet said:
Dukhan refers to the smoke which will be seen on the day of judgement. This is a warning
to those who reject the true faith. They will see smoke every where on the day of reckoning.
It will envelop them as a grievous penalty.
Quranic Reference : [44:10-11]
9 - The sun, planets and the moon will collide with each other.
There are many possible explanations.
1- All heavenly bodies are floating in their respective orbits under the influence of gravitational
and other kinds of forces. The disturbance in the equilibrium of these acting forces will bring
the heavenly bodies out of their orbits. Inevitably they all will star t colliding with each other.
2- After the sun becomes a red giant, it may explode and the debris may be blasted into space.
3- The sun and its planet are in equilibrium. When the nuclear fuel of the sun would be
exhausted, the planets including our ear th will fall into the sun.
When the Sun is folded up (81:1)
Quranic Reference : [84:4-5, 99:2-3, 75:8, 75:9. 44:10-11]
10 - The dazzling light will blind the eyes.
So when the sight becomes dazed. [75:7]
11 - The galaxies will be split asunder.
Once the precise equilibrium of the universe is disturbed, billions of stars and planets will
crash into one another filling the space with gases.
A day, when the heaven splits asunder, with a dazzling white cloud, and the angels
ascend in continuos stream. (25:25)
Quranic Reference: [25:25, 55:37, 69:15, 73:18, 77:9, 78:19, 82:1, 84:1-2.]
12 - The stars will disintegrate and will be scattered into dust balls.
In the receding universe, stars, embodied in white hot space will star t to boil, then explode.
The stars will disintegrate and their atoms will be smashed to pieces.
Quranic Reference: [77:8, 81:2, 82:2,70:8, 55:37]
13 - The galaxies will shake vigorously and the entire space will be filled with gaseous
material.
It would be the scene of a contracting universe. Galaxies will be full of turbulence as the stars
would be crashing into each other, spewing out hot plasma gases, space filling up with
smoky radioactive particles, the skies littered all round with the radioactive debris.
Thus, when clusters of galaxies containing billions of stars will collide with each other, the
entire space will be filled with their radioactive gaseous materials by nuclear blasts.
Quranic Reference: [52:9, 44:10, 39:68]
14 - The stars in their galaxies will be rolled back like the scroll of papers.
According to the modern cosmological theories, the present universe is not open but
closed one. This precisely means that the universe has a beginning and eventually it would
come to an end. This phenomenon of creation and then annihilation is described as
cosmological expansion and contraction.
Quran also tells us that there was a time when Allah (swt) created the universe, gave a full
course of its evolution, and finally He will fold it back. Allah Subhanahu taala will then
recreate a new more larger and magnificent open universe which will never end.
Remember the Day When We shall roll up the Heavens As a Recorder rolls up a Scroll:
Likewise We began the First Creation, Surely, We are going to repeat it (21:104)
Quranic Reference: [21:104, 39:67]
15 - The whole universe will collapse and will take a new shape.
The universe will be shrinking more and more. Finally the cosmic contraction will end into an
uncontrolled implosion, Big-Crunch, setting the stage for a re-beginning.
Quranic Reference: [14:48, 55:26]
Thus, these were some of the conditions of the Doomsday, but no one can imagine its full
destructive nature. In one verse of the Holy Quran, the condition of the men at the initial
occurrence of the Doomsday has been pictured as;
O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him. Verily, the earthquake of the
Doomsday is a terrible event. The day you shall see it, every nursing mother will forget
her nursling, and every pregnant mother will drop her load, and you shall see mankind
reeling like drunkards although not drunk ; but dreadful will be Allah™s chastisement.
(22:1-2)
Thus, the First Divine Doomsday bugle - will envelope the entire universe and will shake the
billions of galaxies at once. Everyone in the heavens and the earth will die except what Allah
wills. The whole course of destruction of the universe might take billions of years.
The Second Soor
1 -The Second and the last soor will bring the new world into existence. [17:51]
3- The Resurrection Day Begins ! All men will be brought into life and will be assembled in
groups and nations. Each group will attend the Divine Cour t with his Imam. Every event
recorded or not recorded in the history of the previous world will be discussed with the
highest accuracy and with all minor and major details. Allah, The Master of the Day of
Judgment will give His final judgment.
Quranic Reference :
[53:47, 2:28, 2:73,2:222-259-260, 4:7, 18:48, 6:36, 60, 7:14, 7:24, 7:36, 16:21, 21:104,
22:5, 23:16, 26:81, 27:65, 30:14, 30:19, 31:28, 36:52,37:144, 38:79, 42:9, 58:6-18, 64:7,
67:15,71:18, 72:7, 78:18, 83:4-6, 89:25, 99:6,45:28, 101:9.]
✎ CORE CONCEPT.
All Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus and atheist scientists strongly believe that the world is
not a permanent place to live. A day will come when the whole solar system will collapse.
According to the modern astronomical findings, the sun has passed 4.5 billions years of its
age and has another 4.5 billions of years to live. But ultimately the sun will also die like many
other stars in the galaxy.
It is not very difficult to perceive the concept of the Doomsday. We know that the usual small
scale Doomsday have occurred several times in the universe.
Astronomers know very well that a large number of stars die somewhere in the universe at all
times. Similarly, the earthquakes and natural disasters frequently occur on the earth.
Doomsday would be just the universal disaster with total collapse of the cosmos.
However, only Islam gives the most precise picture of the Doomsday and its purpose. Islam
teaches its adherents to do all the necessary preparations to escape from the horrors of the
Doomsday.
Both, creation and the destruction of the universe is according to the Divine planning. Neither
the universe came into existence accidentally nor it will be destroyed by any accident.
We have not created the heavens and the earth, and all that lies between them but with a
purpose, according to a pre-fixed measurement. [Quran - 46:3]
Explicit signs of the Qiyamat
Exact timings of the Qiyamat, as mentioned earlier, is an absolute Divine secret. No one
knows it except Allah Taala. Even the archangel Israfeel, who has been assigned the duty from
the first day to blow the Soor on its appointed time, does not know its exact time and is
vigilantly waiting the command of Allah.
But Allah Subhanahu taala has told His last Prophet (sws) some of the major signs which will
appear before the commencement of the Qiyamat. This is a great favor to him and his Ummah.
The Holy Prophet (sws) has explained these signs in many different ways. But it was
impossible to illustrate the exact signs to the people of his time who were totally unaware
of the things which would happen in future. For example, the people during the time of the
Holy Prophet (sws) had no idea about the television, computers and many other
sophisticated products of modern technology.
Thus, the Holy Prophet (sws) had used simple symbolic expressions familiar to the people of
his time to ascertain the identity of the future events.
It is, therefore, imperative to analyze the metaphorical expressions of the hadith, serving as
illustration, in order to identify the figurative objects hidden in the words to elucidate the
related events of the future. This kind of explanations based on deep research can give the
true picture of the scene.
Hudhaifah bin Usaid al-Ghafari, quoting the Prophet (sws), narrated the following 10 specific
signs of the Doomsday. Some of them are as follows:
(1) The Smoke (2) Dajjal (3) Dabbatul-Ardh (4) Rising of the sun from the West (5) Reappearance of Imam Mehdi (as) and Hazrat Isa (as) (6) YaJooj and Majooj.
The Smoke - Climax of the climatic deterioration
According to many traditions, some kind of smoke will spread throughout the world near the
Doomsday. This will penetrate the ears (and eyes) of the people.
Possible explanation : It may be the result of big volcanic explosions releasing many kinds of
volcanic gases followed by strong wind storms, and excessive meteorite showers. The
combined effect of all these catastrophic things can fill the whole atmosphere of the ear th
with smoke.
Dajjal - Climax of the spiritual deterioration
According to many hadith, Dajjal will rise near the Doomsday. He will be a powerful ruler and
a staunch enemy of the Muslims. He will demonstrate incredible things to attract the people.
He will have the means to travel from the East to the West in a day or a part thereof. He will
have with him Jannat and Jahannum. He will grant Jannat to his followers and will throw his
opponents in his Jahannum.
It is also mentioned in ahadiths that Dajjal will be one-eyed person who will falsely claim that
he is the Messiah, awaited by the Jews ( or by Christians ). He will attract a large number of
the people living in different par ts of the world and with this increase of power, popularity
and prestige, he will finally claim that he is god. The Dajjal will be killed by Imam Mehdi (as).
It has been reported in Sahih-e- Muslim, that the Holy Prophet (sws) said:
There is not, between the creation of Adam up to the appearance of Qiyamat, any
matter more difficult than that of Dajjal.
Now it is difficult to hypothesize accurately the nature and picture of Dajjal from the words
of the hadith. Many people can imagine Dajjal literally as a one-eyed person. But Dajjal could
also be a powerful technologically advanced nation. A nation who calls himself a Massiha
(peace-maker), and a Superpower ( god ). One-eyed person can be interpreted as a
developed nation exploring the universe with one eye, i.e., material aspects only.
Today, the United States is being considered by many people as Jannat. There are many
Muslims, living in Muslim countries, who desperately wish to migrate to the United States by
all means. Green Card for them is like an entry permit of Jannat.
Viewing the technological advancement and spiritual decline of this country in the light of the
hadith, one can say that America is the Dajjal. There can be many other countries in the world
which can be referred as the Jannat of Dajjaal. The Holy Prophet has warned the Muslims
repeatedly about the Fitna of Dajjal. The literal meaning of Dajjal is The Deceiver Allah knows
better.
Yajuj (Gog) and Majuj (Magog). Nuclear World War
According to the Muslim scholars, Yajuj and Majuj are the two big tribes from the children of
Japheth. In Old Testament, Majuj has been referred to the chief of Mashech and Tubal. These
places have been identified by the researchers as located now in present Moscow.
Some scholars have also identified the word Mangol as the Chinese word Mangog or
Manchog. If this is true than the region associated to Yajuj and Majuj would cover the entire
area between Russia and China from the Moscow river to Mongolia.
In the Tafseer Majma-ul-Bayan, the author says that after dominating the earth, Yajuj and Majuj
will aspire to conquer the space. They will shoot the arrows towards the heavens and it will
return to them with something like blood-stain on it. So they will say: we conquered the
inhabitants of the earth and the heaven.
Allama S. Saeed Akhtar Rizvi has interpreted the arrows as rocket and space-ships. If his
analysis is correct then we can conclude from this that the whole story of Yajuj and Majuj
indicates a World War between the future nuclear powers such as Russia, China and the
United States , using the rockets from the various space stations to launch nuclear arsenals.
The Smoke, another major sign of the Qiyamat, may be the result of this nuclear war.
Dabba-tul-Ardh
The meaning of Dabbat-ul-Ardh is a walker of earth. There is a lengthy hadiths explaining
the nature of Dabbatulardh.
Re-appearance of Imam Mehdi (as)
There is no confusion or difference of opinion among the Muslim scholars about the ar rival
of Imam Mehdi (as) before the Doomsday. In a hadith, unanimously accepted by all Muslims
as an authentic one, the Holy Prophet (sws) stressed that Imam Mehdi (as) will cer tainly
come before the commencement of the Doomsday.
The Holy Prophet (sws) said;
If there were to remain in life of the world but one day, Allah (swt) would prolong that day
until He sends in it a man from my family and my household. His name will be the same as my
name. He will fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny.
Shia and Sunni ahadith about Imam Mehdi(as).
There are more than 3000 ahadith of the Holy Prophet (sws) and Holy Imams about Imam
Mahdi (as) recorded by Shia scholars. Also, there are more than 70 books written by
renowned Sunni scholars about Imam Mahdi (as). For example, Hafiz Muhammad ibn Yusuf
ash-Shaafi, a renowned Sunni scholar, has written a book, Al- Bayan fi Akhbar Sahibi™z
Zaman, in two volumes, in which he has recorded the traditions regarding the coming of the
Holy Imam.
The other books written by Sunni scholars in which they have recorded hundreds of
traditions about the Imam Mehdi (s) are:
1 - Al Masnad of Ahmad bin Hanbal (d.241AH)
2 - Sahih Bukhari (d. 256 AH)
3 - Sahih Muslim (d.261 AH)
4 - Sunan of Abu Dawood (d.275 AH)
5 - Sahih Tirmidhi (d.279 AH)
The above most famous books are considered by all Sunni scholars as the most authentic
books. As mentioned in the brackets, the authors of these books died either before the bir th
of Imam Mahdi (as) or shortly after his birth.
Muslims are united in their basic belief that Imam Mahdi(as) will cer tainly rule the
whole world before the occurrence of the Doomsday.
He has a title Imam ul-Asr, meaning the Imam of the period.
Briefly, Imam Mehdi(as) is the son of the 11th Imam, Hazrat Hasan al - Askari and Bibi Nargis.
He is our 12th and the last Imam. He was born on 15th Shaban 255 AH / 869 AD in Samarra,
Iraq. He lived under his father ™s care until 260AH / 874 AD.
As a normal trend of Imamat, just after the martyrdom of his father, Imam Hasan al - Askari
(as), he became the Imam in 260 AH. He then by the Allah™s Command went into occultation
(ghaybah) immediately.
The occultation (period of ghaibat) of Imam Mehdi (as) is divided into two par ts.
1 - The minor occultation ( ghaibatu™l-sughra ), which occurred from 260 AH / 872 AD to
329 AH /939 AD, lasting 70 years.
2 - The major occultation ( ghaibatu™ l- kubra ), which occurred from 329 AH / 939 AD and
is still in process.
No one, except Allah (swt), knows the length of the major occultation. Even the Imam himself
does not know about the time when his occultation will be over.
No one, except Allah (swt), knows the exact place of Imam™s residence. However, there are
some reliable narration and reasonably trustworthy clues to form a hypothetical opinion
about his station.
Philosophy of the occultation
It is important to do extensive research on the hadiths to know correctly about the purpose
of occultation, and the way Imam Mehdi (as) would re- appear.
It is not as simple as we think that our Imam is just living somewhere in hiding, does hajj every
year, helps people or Ulema and will reappear on any Friday to establish an unparalleled
Islamic government after killing all the Kafirs by his sword.
There are some important questions concerning the occultation of the Imam which need
rational explanation.
1 - What is the Divine scheme and purpose of keeping the Imam alive but totally invisible to
the public?
2 - What is the daily routine of the Holy Imam ? Is he just helping the Ulema occasionally,
passively observing the daily performance of the Shias, attending and helping the people
in their desperate need and that™s all ?
What would be the productive turnout of his hundreds of years stay in occultation ?
3 - How will the Holy Imam, on his arrival just as one single person, destroy the giant nuclear
powers of the time by a conventional weapon - the sword ?
eg. China alone has about 2 million troops on active duty, 600,000 people in reserve and
about 1 million in its armed militia uses as a military draft. The combined armed forces of
these nations that are trained to fight both in air and on land have more than 10 million
troops on active duty.
We know that Muslim countries are not united to raise a strong army for the Imam nor they
are technologically equipped to assist him in any other useful way.
How the conventional sword would match with intercontinental ballistic missiles, atomic
bombs, artillery shells, mines, torpedoes and many other kinds of strategic nuclear weapons
normally used in world wars ?
We know that the United States alone has a war machine that could launch its forces within
minutes of a warning and strike anywhere in the world.
4 - According to Sunnis belief, Imam Mehdi will be born before the Doomsday and will
destroy the evil Empires of his time. Does it mean that the Imam will conquer the giant super
powers by some supernatural means ? But it has never happened in the whole his-tory of
prophethood. Even the Head of all prophets, the Holy Prophet (sws) did everything from
the scratch to the establishment of Islamic government in normal and natural way.
These are indeed some valid and useful questions which need satisfactory answers to
strengthen the unshaken belief in the re-appearance of the Holy Imam (as).
According to my research, Imam is not just idly sitting and waiting for Allah™s command to
come out from the hidden place. I believe, Imam must have a full scheme of work and a
broad Divine agenda to follow up during the long period of occultation.
But what is that Divine agenda and his scheduled occupation all through the long duration of
his concealment?
The rational explanation of this question will convince the unprejudiced Muslim minds, the
grave repercussion of the misconceptions they have about the coming of Imam Al-Mehdi
(as). The Sunni believe that Imam™s bir th will take place in future. This misconception
jeopardizes the basic Divine objective of sending the Imam before the end of the world.
There is a precise purpose of occultation.
However, our explanation may or may not be absolutely correct as there are many things
beyond the range of our perception.
A powerful Empire behind the iron curtain.
We know that all the prophets were sent by Allah (swt) to guide the mankind in natural way.
They all were human beings. They all lived in a natural way like other ordinary human beings.
Our 12th Imam is also living in occultation in conformity with the normal sunnah of the
prophets and his eleven predecessors.
The Holy Prophet (sws) and all 11 Imams (as) had married women and had many children
from them. Despite the very short life span of the Imams, and mass killing of saadat, a great
number of sayyed exist today.
The 12th Imam must also have married many women. The Holy Prophet (sws) was granted
by Allah a special provision of marrying more than 4 wives at a time because of some good
reasons. We don™t know if our living Imam is also having such provision of mar rying many
wives at a time to raise a large population of momineen.
In any case, viewing his extremely long life span, we can genuinely imagine a large population
of people in his generation. He must be living with millions, if not billion, of people from his
own long chain of generation progressed in more than 1000 years. This population must be
steadily increasing day by day in the dominion of the Holy Imam.
This is not merely a hypothetical guess work. There are some remarkable clues in suppor t of
the speculation that there exists a powerful invisible country somewhere in the world.
There are reliable traditions repor ted by great Shia scholars about the huge number of
inhabitants living in a group of islands known as the JAZIRATUL KHADHRA (The Green Island).
These islands are totally cut off from the rest of the world by a large sea known as Bahrul
Abyadh (White Sea ).
There is a long story narrated by Muhammad bin Ali Alawi Hussaini, repor ted in an
authoritative book Al - Najmus Thaqib. In this story, a reliable person tells in full detail, how
he happened to visit these islands totally governed by the Imam Zaman (as). He told that
there are large cities in these islands, highly developed and advanced. The names of these
cities mentioned in the book are as follows:
(1) Mubaraka. (2) Raequa. (3) Sophia. (4) Zaloom. (5) Panatis.
There are also some other authentic repor ts confirming the existence of a huge empire of AlMehdi(as).
There are also some other reports by Non-Muslim news agencies disclosing the mysteries of
these islands. These reports got a blaze of publicity throughout the world. International
magazines, newspapers, radio and television gave substantial coverage to these repor ts. The
encyclopedias and World Books have also endorsed these repor ts in full detail. We are giving
here a report from the World Book Encyclopedia.
There is a group of islands, known as Bermuda Triangle, in the southeastern coast of Florida
where many ships and airplanes have disappeared. However, commercial and military crafts
cross this area safely every day.
Many people believe the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle have taken place under
mysterious circumstances. Only a few captains or pilots radioed distress messages.
The first recorded disappearance of a United States ship in the Bermuda Triangle occurred in
March 1918, when the U.S.S. Cyclops vanished.
On Dec. 5, 1945, a squadron of five US bombers disappeared, and a sea-plane vanished
while searching for the aircraft.
There are many other reports confirming many other such incidents of this nature occurred
in this area.
These islands cover about 1,140,000 square kilometers area which is bigger than France,
Germany, Greece, japan, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and many other countries of the world.
These reports show that a powerful system is working in this par t of the world which can
capture, destroy or jam the most advanced ships and aircraft of the world.
Also, there is a lot of talk going on for years about the mysterious unidentified flying objects
(UFO).
What is the reality of these objects ?
Scientists define these objects as something unidentified that has no obvious explanations. It
means that these objects are the product of such highly developed technology that the
world™s top scientists can not understand them and, therefore, they are not able to identify
them. Indeed, in such circumstances, any kind of scientific explanation is out of question.
Let us see first what these unidentified objects are?
Here is the full report from the World Book Encyclopedia.
People have reported aircraft, missiles, satellites, birds, insects, and weather balloon.
Investigators can explain all but a small percentage of UFO repor ts. The remainder may be
due to an unknown phenomenon or merely to limitation in human perception, memory, and
research.
In 1952, the United States Air Force, in a program called Project Blue Book, investigated
about 12000 UFO reports to determine whether UFO™s were a potential threat to national
security. In addition, from 1966 to 1968, the Air Force sponsored an independent study of
UFO™s by scientists at the university of Colorado. The Colorado scientists advised the Air
Force that further study of UFO™s was not likely to produce useful information concerning a
security threat. As a result, the Air Force ended Project Blue Book in 1969.
Many people throughout the world believe that UFO™s are spacecraft from other planets.
Accounts of encounters with alien visitors have appeared in numerous books, newspapers,
motion pictures, and TV programs. Some people have even repor ted that they have been
abducted by aliens.
Reviewing and analytically judging all these international reports viz., the Bermuda Triangle,
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO), and authentic narrative accounts of many religious people
recorded in reliable books such as the one by Muhammad bin Ali Alawi in his book ˜Al -
Najmus Thaqib™ about the Jaziratul Khadhra, ( the Green Island ), we can rationally arrive at
some useful conclusions.
1- That these groups of islands, Green Islands or Bermuda Islands, may be occupied and
governed by the Holy Imam Al- Mehdi (as) and his people, where he has established a
powerful Islamic government.
2- The Imam™s country is totally invisible and is protected and monitored by computerized
electromagnetic devices that produce intense light beams.
There are some highly sensitive clockwork equipments, which can accurately ascer tain the
identity of all the passing ships and airplanes. As repor ted above, they allow many ships
and airplane to go while stop some in accordance with the programmed instructions to
divert them to the desired destination for reason not known to us. Some pilots who were
allowed to escape say that they believe the country has highly developed technology
which can easily destroy or interfere all kinds of ships, airplane, radar and electronic
navigational systems.
3 - The Imam™s country, behind the iron curtain, is immensely developed in science and
technology.
They have highly advanced aircrafts, missiles, artillery shells, satellites, and many other
kinds of nuclear devices.
According to the UFO reports, they have powerful long range-bomber aircrafts which are
designed to launch an attack from great distances on specific targets in any par t of the
world.
The peculiar birds and insects (UFO™s objects) witnessed by many people may be these
long-range bomber aircrafts.
Quran has mentioned these kinds of ballistic missiles sent by Allah to destroy the big army
of the elephant which came from Yemen under the command of Abrahah Al-Ashram to
frighten the Muslims and to destroy the Kabah at Makkah. .
Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with the companions of the elephants. Did he
not make their plot go astray ?
And He sent against them Flights of Birds. Then He made them like an empty field of stalks
of which the corn has been eaten up by cattle. (105:1-5)
These few samples of Imam™s world, i.e., the UFO™s, have demonstrated the fact that the socalled Super Power of this world and their allies are far behind in scientific and technological
advancement. The scientists of this world can not even understand the level and standard of
Imam™s technology. This is why they call these technological products unidentified objects,
meaning something beyond comprehension.
As mentioned above, several teams of specialists from different countries have made all
possible efforts to know the origin of these flying objects. We know that different kinds of
satellites such as weather, communication, navigation, space and earth observation satellites are
constantly monitoring the world from space in all sides and at all times. The US military satellite
- often called as Spy Satellite- can detect the launch of missiles, the course of airplane in air
and the movement of any kind of flying object. But despite this tight security of the planet, no
one knows from where these different kinds of flying objects are coming. Out of frustration,
some scientists said that they may be from any other planet. But the unmanned space crafts
have already confirmed that there is no possibility of any kind of life in any of the planet.
Thus, we believe, the 12000 flying objects (UFO™s) seen in different par t of the world may
be the military maneuvering from the Imam™s war depar tment. This gives an image of the
imam™s war machinery, which is certainly much superior than the combined military power of
the whole world. In fact, it is not even the 1% of Imam™s military strength.
When Imam will reappear, his new kind of weapons will repeat the performance of his great
grand father ™s sword - THE ZULFIQAR. The whole world will surrender to him.
This is a rational explanation of what Imam has been doing during the occultation, which is a
period of more than 1000 years, and how the Imam will defeat the strong nuclear powers
of our time in natural way.
UFO™s reports, which can not be denied, are a mystery for the non-believers and non-Muslim
scientists because they have no ground to imagine a powerful country on this earth. But for
us, it strongly connects us with our belief that Imam is alive and is fully busy in preparation of
his reappearance to overthrow all the powerful Un-Islamic governments and their allies.
4- The whole population of the Imam™s country is solely true Muslim. They are all the true
followers of Ahlal -Bayate. The country and its all sectors are fully governed by the Holy
Imam and his appointed Deputies.
There may be hundreds of highly advanced universities with vast laboratories and
workshops, big industries and nuclear plants, space platform and manned orbiting habitat
etc., all fully equipped and embellished with highly sophisticated and computerized
tools. In these places, great scientists of all disciplines must be working under the
supervision of Imam Al-Mehdi (as).
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (as) got a little oppor tunity and limited time to do some work. But even
then he had produced 4000 students, among them were great scientists such as Jabir bin
Hayyan, Father of Chemistry.
Imam Muhammed Al- Mehdi (as) has been given a full oppor tunity and enough time to
develop an ideal world in all respect. So he must produce thousands of great scientists,
fuqha and scholars in every discipline of knowledge.
The modern scientific and technological revolution, which has stunned the world, is just 200
years old. It was not supervised by good and matured leaders. It can never compete with
the 1000 years old scientific revolution, fully guided and supervised by the Holy Imam.
Thus, there is a strong possibility that from the beginning of the occultation, the Holy Imam
Al-Mehdi has been working to develop a great powerful Islamic government, ideal in all
respects, perfect in every sphere, in some part of the world. No one can surely know that
place as everything belonging to the Holy Imam(as) is hidden.
It is mentioned in the Holy Quran that a time will come when the righteous people will take
over the power and government of the world, where they will govern the whole earth in
accordance with the perfect laws of Islam.
We have written in the Scripture after the message had been given: The righteous among
My servants shall inherit the earth. Verily in this is a message to those who serve Us. (21:105 )
The development of such an ideal government during the long period of occultation is an
exciting and remarkable achievement of the Holy Imam (as). Ever since man has inhabited the
earth, no such country has existed to lead a perfect social and intellectual life filled with
happiness in its true sense.
When the Holy Imam Al-Mehdi will reappear, his absolutely perfect and ideal world which he
would have established during the period of occultation, will convey the Divine message to
all mankind - this is the kind of peaceful and ideal world Allah™s messengers were planning
to make for you.
This was the Divine purpose of keeping the Imam in concealment. This is what Allah
Subhanahu taala wants to show the inhabitants of the ear th before the Doomsday. The Divine
message is apparent in the wordings of the hadith, that ...... if there were to remain in life of
the world but one day, Allah would prolong that day until He sends in it a man from my family
and my household.
This is a rational explanation of Shia belief that Imam Al-Mehdi™s bir th has taken place and he
is alive and will re-appear to restore unprecedented peace and tranquillity in the world in a
natural way. The Sunni belief that his bir th will occur in future to bring peace and order in the
corrupted world fails to explain the means and mode of his revolution.
Nevertheless, though these conclusions are in good agreement with our belief in the
existence of our living Imam in occultation, and also in conformity with the true
understanding of the Holy Quran and ahadith, but nothing can be said with cer tainty and the
whole idea about the Imam™s powerful Kingdom is a guess network.
Does identifying the residence of Imam invalidate the purpose of
occultation?
The Ghaibah of Imam has a Divine scheme that no one should know the whereabouts of the
Imam. Some one can argue that if we know precisely where Imam is living then the purpose
of occultation is not served.
But our guess-work of pinpointing a specific place of residence for Imam does not invalidate
the philosophy of occultation. If our assumption that Imam is stationed on these islands is
true and if the whole world realize his presence there, even then they will not be able to
see him, to approach him, or to reach him by any means. This is the purpose of Ghaibat of
Imam which is fully preserved.
Al -Imam al- Hujjaah AI- Mehdi (as) said :
Rest assured that no one has a special relationship with Allah. Whoever denies me is not my
follower. The appearance of the Relief (al-faraj ) depends solely upon Allah ; therefore ,
those who propose a certain time for it are liars.
As to the benefits of my existence in occultation, it is like the benefit of the sun behind the
clouds where the eyes do not see. Indeed my existence is an amnesty for the people of the
earth. Pray much to Allah to hasten the Relief, for therein also lies the release from your
sufferings.
This statement of the Holy Imam has made it very clear that everything regarding the Imam™s
occultation i.e., where he is staying, what he is doing and when he would reappear is an
absolute secret and if anyone claims that he knows about it accurately and with cer tainty
then he is a liar.
So, I want to clarify once again that whatever I have said is merely a guess work which may
or may not be true. But the rationality of my guess work can clear the self-caused
mystification, confusion and astonishment which is always disturbing the minds of our youths
and of the people who have seen the UFO™s objects and disappearance of several airplanes
and ships. There can be no other possible explanation of the unidentified objects which is
a proven reality.
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CHAPTER 17
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WOMB TO TOMB
MAN------------------ NATURAL AFFINITY-------------- WOMAN
30:21
Marriage
24:32, 25:74
Coupling
2:187, 2:223
Fertilization
75:37, 76:2, 23:13, 32:8
Conception
86:6, 71:14
Fetal Processing
40:67, 23:13, 22:5
Embryo
22:5, 96:2
BIRTH
53:45, 32:9, 54:49
Breast Feeding
2 Years
2:233, 31:14
Weaning
46:15, 31:14, 82:7
Physical and Mental Development,
Crawling and Learning
87:2
Nursery
Anatomical Development
76:2
Prime Youth Age
22:5, 23:12-14
Development of Skills,
YOUTH AGE
40:67
Marriage
25:54, 4:3
University Education,
Age of Reason
76:3
Age of Production,
Intellectual Specialization & Reproduction
OLD AGE
36::68
Climacteric-Senile Psychosis,
Mental or Organic Disorders
36:68
DEATH
21:35, 23:15, 29:57
Purgatory
36:52
DAY OF JUDGMENT AND INFINITE LIFE
Paradise Hell
77:38, 6:31, 23:15-16, 36:63, 41:28 36:55-56, 2:25, 2:39, 2:81,
From this self-explanatory map, a man of rational thinking can easily arrive at the following
conclusions.
1 - Allah Subhanahu taala has first created the souls and kept them in a specific place.
2 - The soul was introduced in an organic body after the process of fertilization. The body
with soul stayed in the mother ™s womb for 9 months from where it arrives in the physical
world at the time of birth.
3 - The life in the physical world is an infinitesimal por tion of the actual life.
4 - Death is not the end of life but the beginning of the second phase of the eternal life.
Death separates the body from the soul.
5 - After experiencing death, the departed soul of every man and woman continues to live
in a place which is conditioned in accordance with his/her performance in the world.
This intermediate place which is a bridge between the first physical world and the
second meta-physical world is known as the Barzakh.
6 - The stay in Barzakh may be pretty long but definitely not permanent. The soul will remain
at this station from the time of the death until the end of the world / beginning of the new
world, i.e., the day of Qiyamath / the resurrection day.
7 - The world will end at a definite time which only Allah knows. The entire universe and
everything in it will be annihilated. Thereafter i.e., after the execution of the Qiyamah and
total annihilation of the universe, Allah will then resurrect the entire human race that has
ever existed anywhere and at any time for final judgment. This will be the most important
day for every soul.
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Every man and woman who was born in this world will acquire the final and eternal life which
he or she will spend in a place known as Jannat or Jahannum.
Phases of life.
As the map of life shows, we have various stages and phases of life.
1 - Life before birth.
2 - Life in this world.
3 - Life after death.
4 - Life after resurrection.
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Chapter 18
First Phase of Our Existence -
Life Before Birth.
We have come in this world from the body of our mother as a new born baby. But our
appearance in this world as a new living species is not the first stage of our existence. We
were created by Allah Subhanahu taala much before our bir th. Before our birth, we all were
living somewhere in the universe as individual souls. This is what Quran and ahadith tell us
about the origin of our existence. The Holy Quran says:
When your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam™s children, and made
them testify concerning themselves (saying) AM I NOT YOUR LORD ? they replied :we bear
witness that you are.....(this he did so ) so that you should not say on the Day of
Judgment that we had no knowledge of this. (7:172)
This verse of the Holy Quran reminds us about a pact that was made between us and our
Lord before our birth, that none other than Him is our God.
This confirms that we had an existence and conscious life before our bir th.
Those who don™t believe in Quran will instantly reject this piece of information i.e. pre-birth
existence, on ground that it can not be testified on the basis of scientific experiments. But
there are many things which scientists believe but they can not prove them by experiments.
At least all scientists believe in some realities which are totally beyond the limits of
experimental verifications.
Thus, it is true that we can not prove our pre-birth or after-death existence by any experiment
but the incapability of proving it by experiment is not the valid ground to deny these facts.
We now know about the development of embryo during the various stages of the pregnancy
(i.e., many facts about pre-birth developments) which no one could have imagined
hundreds years ago. Similarly we can never know many facts of our life that occurred before
our birth or that will take place after our death. This shows the necessity of Divine books and
Prophets which are the only reliable source of such information.
There is also a hadith of the Holy Prophet(sws) in which he has told us some impor tant facts
of pre-birth existence.
The Holy Prophet (sws) said:
The souls are (like) an army joined (in the world of spirits) whichever souls knew each
other (in that world) are attracted towards each other (in this world) and whichever
remained distant and indifferent (there) are disinterested to each other (in this world).
In another hadith, Imam Jafer as-Sadiq (as) says:
Verily, Allah established brotherhood between the souls in the (world of ) shadows (souls),
2000 years before the creations of their bodies.
Similar hadith is also present in the Bukhari, in which the Holy Prophet said:
In their previous existence souls lived together as a community. Those who were spiritually
close to each other there, remain close to each other here also, i.e., in this world. Those who
were at distant from each other there, also have little affinity for each other here.
The essence of this hadith is that before our bir th we all humans were living as SOULS
somewhere in the universe. Like in this world, some souls developed relationships with some
other souls and the force of that attachment remains effective and we revive that relationship
whenever we happen to meet them in this world.
The truth of this hadith is witnessed by all of us. i.e., we feel a sor t of deep admiration and
likeness for some people and also a kind of repulsion with some other people.
In actuality, all souls have been created by Allah Subhanahu taala as an isolated singular. But after
birth, we find ourselves associated with each other as parent-offspring and their derivatives.
Thus, we can extend our speculation on the basis of these ahadith, that the blood
relationships that are formed after birth in this world such as brother-brother, brother-sister,
sister-sister, parents-children have their roots in our souls. i.e., souls which have developed
deep love and affection for each other in the first world are implanted by Allah in genes to
revive that former intimacy in this world. Otherwise, there is no any other good reason
known to us to justify why there is always intense love and affection in these relations.
What is Soul
Every living creature has two important components in itself which makes him a living species.
Organic body.
Soul.
Many scientists do not believe in the existence of Soul.
Organic body
As far as the organic body is concerned, scientists have discovered a large number of
secrets about it. They have studied almost the whole body and its composition with the help
of powerful microscopes. They can now explain the function of the body from its smallest
parts through its largest ones.
So there is no doubt in the existence of body as it is clearly visible and understandable.
But scientists do not know many facts about the body and therefore can not answer many
basic questions such as;
How the different organs of the body work?
Why a dead body can not move, when the same body was amazingly doing incredible
things just before the death?
What goes out from the body which makes it totally inert and motionless immidiately after
death?
Why the same atoms and molecules which are present in the body do not show life in
other substances? There is not a single peculiar or unusual atom or molecule in the human
body. So what makes the living and non-living things different from each other ?
Scientists will never be able to understand all such questions unless they approach the last
Prophet of God.
The Soul
As far as soul is concerned, we have very little knowledge about it. It is because, soul is
totally invisible and beyond the reach of any powerful microscope. This is the reason that
scientists do not recognize the existence of soul and declared it outside the scope of science.
If we can not see or detect anything by our powerful instruments that does not mean that it
does not exist.
Many tiny creatures such as microscopic insects, bacteria and viruses are invisible. But after
the invention of powerful microscope, we can see them now and have no doubt about their
existence. Today, majority of the ordinary people have not seen these microorganisms but still
believe in their existence. It is because they trust the scientists and accept their observations.
Those who do not accept the reality of soul argue that they can not understand anything of
this nature. But they should realize that soul is not the only secret of nature which they cannot
fully comprehend.
There is an unending list of things in the universe about which scientists have either very little
knowledge or know nothing. Soul is just one of them.
Similarly invisibility or incomprehensibility of soul is not the valid reason to deny its existence.
The nature of soul is such that no scientist can detect its presence with the help of any
powerful microscope or any other type of instrument.
Quran and ahadith are the only source of knowledge about the soul.
That is why we say that scientists can never discover the complete picture of anything unless
they accept the leadership of Prophets and Imams. Just as students can not seek knowledge
by books only but desperately need the help of professors and teachers, scientists also can
not seek knowledge about the universe from their observations without the guidance of the
Prophet and Divine book.
Quran has enlightened us about the Soul by giving the following information.
They put questions to you about the SOUL, say : the Soul is an order of my Lord, you
have been given, but a little knowledge. (17:85)
This verse of the Holy Quran educates us, how to deal with the mysteries of the universe
such as soul.
From this verse of the Holy Quran, we can infer the following impor tant points:
1 - There are many natural facts and phenomena which scientists and scholars will never be
able to comprehend and Soul is one of them.
2 - The Soul is a Divine Command.
3 - The Prophet (sws) has not told much about the soul because scientists can not
understand the Prophet™s explanation due to their limited knowledge. This means that the
basic nature of the soul is unimaginable and man can never conceive it.
Thus, the whole picture of the soul is beyond the human perception. For example, we can
never know about the feelings of the man after his death. We can not know whether the
dead person can hear or not. But the Holy Prophet disclosed this secret which no scientist
or philosopher can correctly do. It is narrated that during the battle of Badr a number of the
prominent leaders of Mushrakeen were killed. The Prophet asked his companions to throw
the bodies of the dead mushrakeen into a ditch near the battle field. Then the Holy Prophet
(sws) himself went to that well and addressed the dead.
We have found that what Allah had promised to us has come true. Have you also got what
He promised to you ?
Some companions of the Holy Prophet said : Prophet of Allah! do you talk with those who
have been slain and are dead? Do they hear what you said? The Holy Prophet replied; Now
they hear better than you.
From this tradition and from many other traditions, it becomes clear that in spite of the
separation of body and the soul after death, the soul does not totally break its relation with
body with which it was attached for years.
4 - As we know very little about the nature of the Soul, we can not say with cer tainty about
actuality of such things as;
a - where in the body soul lives,
b - does it live in the brain or is spread everywhere in the body.
However, there is no doubt that we all have soul in ourselves and our body is a vehicle or
tool of the Soul.
As the entire organs of the body work under the full command of the organic brain, the brain
itself is dictated by the Soul.
SOUL ”” Brain™s network ”” Organs of the Body
All scientists believe without any difference of opinion that each and every organ of the
body strictly follows the instructions of the brain. The brain does give instruction to special
organs to perform work and only then they do cer tain kinds of work.
But SOUL is the master control center of the brain.
Imam Ghazali, a renowned Sunni scholar of the 11th century beautifully expressed this fact
in a very simple manner. He said;
Body is just a vehicle for the soul as a horse is for the rider; it is the soul that determines our
journey in this life, just as the rider guides the travel of the horse in the land. Accountability,
therefore, is for the rider, not the horse.
This is also clear from one of the hadith of the Holy Prophet (sws) in which he said;
Actions will be judged according to intentions.
The intentions are always formed by the souls, and actions are simply their manifestations.
The brain is only an instrument that brings the intentions into actions. The other par ts of the
body are the means that carry out the function.
Judgments, intentions, planing, decisions, don™t have any location within the cells of the brain
nor can they be traced out in the hear t or any other part of the organic body.
The brain simply takes commands from the Soul and executes it through its army (appropriate
organs of the body) solely for the pleasure of the Soul.
Thus for our every action and thought, the Soul is solely responsible. The rewards and
punishments is also for the Soul only. Quran says;
On that day we shall seal their mouths. There hands will speak to us, and their feet will
testify to their misdeeds. (36:65)
When they enter hellfire, their eyes and ears and the skins on their bodies shall give
witness against them on account of the sins they have committed. They will address their
skins asking them, why do you give witness against us? They will receive the answer: the
Lord Who gave speech to all things and Who first created you has given speech to us too,
certainly you will return to Him. (41:20-21)
This means that all our organs which were used by the Soul to seek its pleasure, will testify
against our Soul and will speak on how they executed or performed the commands of our Soul.
Thus all kinds of pains and pleasures are experienced by the soul through the network of brain.
This is why the Soul is absolutely responsible for all our actions whether good or bad.
Second phase of our existence
Life in this world.
The second phase of our existence is the most crucial and decisive period of our life. The
span of this life is relatively very short i.e., 60 to 70 years in average, but it shapes a definite
nature of our endless life. On Quranic scale, the length of our stay in this world is less than a day.
How the present shapes the nature of eternal life?
This is the most important question which all of us should strive to know. Quran has
repeatedly mentioned that the nature of our endless life depends upon how we live in this
world. For this, we all will be examined for two things.
1 - Thought and perception. i.e., Emaan
2 - Actions and deeds. i.e., Amaal
All human beings will be judged for these two things and will go either to Jannat or
Jahannum accordingly.
The first basic qualification required by a person to enter jannat is perfect religion. Quran has
explicitly warned the entire mankind that no religion other than Islam will be accepted on the
Day of Judgment.
The only true religion before Allah is Islam. (3:19)
Thus all non-Muslims, who don™t fulfill this pre-requisite condition are not qualified for Jannat.
The second important requirement is Amaal, i.e. actions.
Islam has given a full scheme of work, called Shariah (Islamic laws ), which has identified all
good and bad actions, obligatory duties and forbidden acts.
Thus all those Muslims who don™t follow the rules of Shariah will not be qualified to enter
Jannat.
However, Allah is so kind and lenient that He forgives all our sins if we sincerely ask Him for
forgiveness. And His generosity is such that He will multiply the reward of our good deeds
ten times i.e. far above the merit, and the punishment will be no more than what
commensurate with our sin.
Quran confirms this in the following verse.
He that does a good deed shall be repaid tenfold: but he that commits a sin shall be
punished only for it. (6:160)
What is successful life
As the second phase of our life i.e., life in this physical world, is the most impor tant and
decisive period of our entire life, it is essential to know how to make this life most successful
and productive.
There is a vast Islamic literature, which includes more than 6000 Divine verses, more than
15000 ahadith of the Prophet, more than 300 sermons & duas of Imams and a huge stock of
books by Ulama, all this just to tell with all minor and major details about, What is a successful
life and how to get the ultimate success.
How can we accomplish the purpose of our life
It is very important to understand fully and correctly what should be the primary and ultimate
aim of our life which should never be compromised with anything in any circumstances.
Quran has told us in a very decisive manner that the Divine purpose of creation is to worship
Him. Every second of our life should be spent in His worship. This means that worship doesn™t
mean traditional or ritual worship in which we do cer tain acts prescribed in the shariah.
Worship means to follow His commandments in every action.
Some key points of successful life.
1 - The first and foremost thing in the agenda of life is the true intention of total submission
to Allah Subhanahu taala. i.e., we should have this feeling in the hear t of our heart. We
should please Allah Subhanahu taala by all possible means. We should do anything and
everything to seek His pleasure and His nearness.
2 - We should know this fact very well that every pleasure and success in this world is of
temporary nature. The real success is the success of Akherah. Thus, we should not do
anything at the expense of Akherah. Quran has repeatedly warned the residents of planet
earth that their stay on earth is pretty short. Every intelligent person at least knows this fact.
3 - Acquire useful knowledge to strengthen Emaan. Quran has stressed on the exploration
of the universe and study of nature.
Indeed: In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and
day, there are signs for men of understanding, those that remember Allah when standing,
sitting and lying down, and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth (saying):
Lord, you have not created these in vain. Glory be to You: save us from the torment of
the fire. (3:190)
Thus, it is important to ponder in the vast creation of Allah Subhanahu taala in order to glorify
His majesty.
Today, the Western scientists have collected a large amount of information about the universe
and its innumerable entities through their researches and explorations. As one can not grasp
the enormous amount of acquired knowledge, it has been divided into bits and pieces,
classified as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy etc. All these disciplines of sciences,
being taught in secular institutions, can be made very useful if they are taught with Islamic
perspectives.
4- One must know the laws of Islam in order to fulfill the obligatory duties and to abstain
from the forbidden acts.
The sunnah of the Holy Prophet (sws), as interpreted by his Ahlal Baiyt, covers each and
every aspect of an ideal life. Thus, it is essential to follow his sunnah and the teachings of the
Imams in every sphere of life.
We should acquire taqwa in life. Taqwa means, to observe the obligatory duties in full and
to abstain from the evils and forbidden things.
Third Phase of Our Existence
Life After Death
Our third phase of life or the third stage of our existence is the life af ter death.
World of Souls (Alam-e-Arwah) ” Womb of Mother ” Physical World ” World of Soul
(Barzakh)
What is life and death ?
Many scientists do not believe in the existence of the Master of the universe. They think that
all living beings in the world are the accidental products of Darwin™s evolution. The inevitable
outcome of this baseless faith is that everything is for nothing. Such mindless people can
never comprehend the philosophy of life and death.
That is the reason that Western scientists who have discovered a large number of facts about
life and death know very little about life. They admit that they can not give one simple
definition of life that can appropriately cover all its aspects. We find this confession in all
standard books of biology that scientists can not define life because they can not locate the
dividing line between the living and non-living things.
For example, a virus is a lifeless particle by itself, but it becomes active and multiplies rapidly
when invades in a living cell. i.e., the virus has the characteristics of both living and non-living
species.
Thus, scientists openly confess that they can not give a precise definition of life and can only
give some common characteristics of living creatures.
So when scientists cannot even define life, how can they create life. Test-tube baby, surrogate motherhood or cloning are nothing but the manipulation of natural bir th mechanism.
Similarly, scientists cannot comprehend the philosophy of death.
They say, death is the end of all life processes in an organism. But they can not say anything
about what makes the life process to cease.
Today, surgeon can transplant almost every organ of the human body if it starts
malfunctioning. This means that they should be able to avoid death as it is always caused by
the malfunctioning of any organ. But we all know that despite the tremendous progress in
surgery and medicine, the life span is more or less the same as it was 100 years ago.
So, scientist can neither create life nor can they stop occurrence of death. This fact reveals
the actual nature of life and death.
Blessed be He in Whose hands is all sovereignty: He has power over all things. He
created life and death that He might put you to the test and find out which of you
acquitted himself best. He is the Mighty, the Forgiving one. ( 68:1)
In such a short sentence, Quran has given a complete and perfect definition of life and
death. It gives a full account of the origin and the prospect of life and death.
Briefly we can highlight the impor tant features of life and death from this shor t verse of the
Holy Quran.
1 - Life is not the accidental product of some spontaneous bio-chemical reactions.
Rather, it is the great creation of All-Mighty Allah Subhanahu taala.
2 - Death is not the disorder of physio-chemical functions of organic systems of the
body. Rather, it is also another kind of creation of All-Mighty Allah Subhanahu Taala.
3 - Both, life and death have a well defined purpose in the existence of a living being.
4 - Death is not the end of life but the beginning of another kind of life.
This complete and perfect definition of life and death opens our mind to think seriously
about the life after death.
What happens after death?
From medical point of view, a person whose breathing and hear tbeat has completely
stopped is considered dead.
Many changes occur immediately after death. For example, the temperature of the body
drops to that of its surroundings, the muscles of the body become stiff, the circulation of the
blood stops and produces reddish-purple discoloration in the lowest par t of the body, and
finally the bacteria and other tiny organisms grow on the corpse and cause it to decay.
So, there is no dispute or doubt that death is the end of worldly life.
But we believe that a human being is made-up of two components. i.e., organic body and
nonphysical soul.
Thus, death is the termination of organic functions.
We can say death is caused by the separation of soul and body or we can also say, the
sparation of soul and body causes death.
So death is the end of organic life but not the absolute end of whole life. This means that
there is some kind of life after death and death is simply a major change in the present kind
of life.
This is true. The entire edifice of Islam is based on this fact that death is not the end of life
but it is a sharp turning point from where another kind of life begins.
A large number ahadith and Quranic verses are there which clearly explain the philosophy
of life and death. If we understand them correctly then we will realize that life in this world
has a direct effect on the life after death. We are told to do good preparation in this life for
the next life.
The Holy Prophet (sws) and Imams have explained the repercussion of this life on the life
after death in the following words:
You have not been created to perish, but to remain for ever; only you will be transferred
from one home to another; and the souls in the bodies are (like) prisoners. (Holy Prophet)
Death is one of the three things happening (to the dying person), either it is a good tiding
of eternal bliss, or bad tidings of eternal punishment, or there is obscure uncer tainty so that
he does not know in which category he will be grouped. (Hazrat Imam Ali)
(Death is) the greatest happiness which comes to the believers, when they migrate from
the house of misery to the eternal bliss; (it is) the greatest disaster which befalls the
unbelievers, when they go from their paradise(i.e., this world) to the fire which will never be
extinguished and will never burn itself out. (Hazrat Imam Hassan)
Death is nothing but a bridge which takes you from difficulties and troubles to the vast
paradise and everlasting bliss. So among you who would dislike to transfer from the prison
of the world to the paradise (Hazrat Imam Hussain)
It (Death) is for the believer like removing a dirty cloth and like removing heavy shackles and
chains, and to take the finest and best cloths, or finest horses and most lovely abode
( Hazrat Imam Zainul Abideen)
Death is like sleep that comes to you every night, but this is a sleep which is very long and
there is no awakening but on the Day of Resurrection. ( Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqar)
Death for a believer is like fragrant breeze, by smelling which he becomes revived and every
trouble and sorrow is removed from him. And for unbelievers, it is like snake-bite and sting
of the scorpions and even worse. (Hazrat Imam Jafer-e- Sadiq)
Why we fear death
Those who do not believe in life after death and assume death as the painful end of
everything, always live with an intense fear of it.
This is the reason that most people fear death and try to avoid thinking about it.
Medical reports reveal that in the Western hospitals, close relatives, intimate friends, and even
doctors and nurses leave the dying patients to die alone and avoid seeing the occur rence
of death because of the fear of death.
In Muslim society, there is no such thing. Relatives and friends live very closely with the dying
person and recite duas and Quran until the last breathing of the patient.
Thus, the major cause of fear of death is ignorance or the feelings of uncer tainty.
In one hadith it is mentioned that Imam Hadi (as) went to visit a dying person who was
drowning in the ocean of fear. Imam beautifully explained him the nature of death in the
following way;
O servant of Allah, you fear death because you do not understand it correctly. Tell me: if
your body were soiled with dirt so that it was paining you and afflicted you with sores, and
you knew that a washing in the bathhouse would rid you of all that dir t and pain, would you
wish to avail yourself of the bathhouse to clean yourself of the dir t? or would you be
reluctant to avail this facility and will prefer to remain in your polluted state
The sick man replied: O descendant of the Prophet: I would definitely prefer to wash myself
to become clean.
Then Imam responded:
Know, then the death is exactly like the bathhouse. It offers you the last chance to rid
yourself of your sins and to purify yourself of evils. If death embrace you now, there can be
no doubt that you will be freed of all sorrow and pains and will attain an everlasting
happiness and joy.
This clear picture of death in the explanation of the Imam relieved the dying person from the
unknown fear of death and allowed him to die with peace and grace.
So mostly people fear death because they are not sure what is going to happen with them
or they know very well that time of severe punishment has come.
Hazrat Ali (as), The Commander of Faithful, has disclosed the truth that Godfearing people
do not have any fear of death as he repeatedly said the following words in his lifetime:
I swear by Allah that the son of Abu Talib is more at ease with death than a suckling infant
with the breast of his mother.
The taste of death
The internal feelings that a dying person has when death approaches him is very difficult to
know. Normally all sorts of communications are blocked between the dying person and the
rest of the world.
But the Holy Quran has clearly told us at two different places that there is a par ticular taste
of death.
Every soul shall have a taste of death. (3:185)
Every soul shall have a taste of death. (21:35)
Thus, the Holy Quran tells us that every person will have some kind of strong feeling at the
time of his death.
We know that there are three different kinds of taste, namely, sour, sweet, and bitter. As
Quran has not described any particular kind of taste for death, the intense feelings of death
may be either sweet, sour or bitter.
This is true. Both, Quran and ahadits tell us that good people will find a sweet taste in their
death, and bad people will meet a frightful death.
Death - A sweet taste
No sophisticated machine can disclose the internal feelings of a dying person. Usually, a
person becomes unconscious before the occurrence of death. During this period the acute
pain of the killing disease or wound disappears and it is replaced by an intense fear or
perfect peace.
This is the time when the dying person loses all contacts with the physical world and
communication with the angel of death begins. The internal feelings during this
communication can not be made known by any instrument. However, a careful and
knowledgeable person can read the internal conditions from his facial expressions.
The Holy Quran transmits out the text of inter-communication.
The angels will say to those whom they cause to die in purity, peace be on you: come
into paradise for what you did.(16:32)
This verse of Quran tells us that the pious people will be warmly welcomed by the angel of
death with a salutation of peace.
According to the ahadith of our Imams noted by Allama Mur taza Mutahheri as an authentic
one, for the righteous people after their death there are several paradises, not one single
paradise. In the next world they vary according to degree of their intimate proximity to Allah.
In addition to these paradises, there are some other paradises in the Barzakh. Hence the
paradise mentioned in the above quoted verse would give a wrong impression that it relates
to the Day of Judgment.
In one hadith, much more details of conversation between the angel of death and the dying
person which occurred just before the commencement of death, has been given.
One companion of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (as) asked him about the internal feelings of the true
believer just near his death.
The Imam answered:
When the angel of death comes to take the soul of a believer, he is at first distraught. But then
the angel consoles him and says :
O friend of Allah, do not distress yourself. I swear by the Lord who sent Muhammad as His
messenger that we will treat you more kindly and gently than your father.
The angel of death will further say;
Open your eyes and look at us. Then the Messenger of Allah and Imaams will appear before
him, and the angel will introduce them to the dying believer by saying: This is the Prophet
(sws) and the leaders of religion who will be your friends and companions.
He will then open his eyes partly, and hear Allah calling him as follows:
O soul that found tranquillity in the protection of Muhammad and his pure family, now return
to your Lord. You have accepted as truth the authority of the Imams, and because of this you
are now happy. Be certain that you have also earned thereby the pleasure of your Lord.
Come now and be the companion of My chosen elite, and take up the abode that has been
prepared for you in everlasting paradise.
Imam further said; nothing could be more desirable for the believer at that moment than for
his soul to take flight and receive all that it has been promised.
This is a clear indication that there will be no pain or any kind of discomfor t in death for
righteous people. This is a sweet death.
In the battle of Karbala, Imam Hussain (as) asked his 10 year old nephew, Hazrat Qasim bin
Hassan, just before he was going to sacrifice his life; My dear son! you are going to die, how
do you feel about death? The young Qasim instantly replied with confidence; My uncle I find
death sweeter than honey.
Death - A bitter taste.
But the wicked people will face a dreadful death. Quran has depicted the scene of horrifying
death.
If you could see the angels when they carry off the souls of the unbelievers : They shall
strike them on their faces and their backs, saying : Taste the torment of fire. This is your
punishment for what your hands committed. Allah is not unjust to His servants. (8:50)
This verse of the Quran also gives a clear picture of what really happens when wrongdoers
die. This is a deadly bitter taste of death.
All those people whose conduct was not fair but they were not rebellious will feel a sour
taste in their deaths. The Holy Quran has also described the miserable dying conditions of
such Muslims who were not practicing the Islamic codes of life in this world.
Burial
According to the Islamic Shariah, the dead body of the deceased should be buried with full
Islamic honor as early as possible after death. When the dead body is taken for the burial, his
guardian angels go with his body in company of his soul. During the bath (Ghusl-e-Mayyet ),
dressing of Kafan and other burial formalities, the soul feels all those going with his dead
body and listen to the screaming of the relatives and the friends.
When they take the body to the grave, the soul sees the burying of his dead body in a
narrow place - The Grave. After burial, the guardian angels allow the soul to see off his
departing relatives and friends. As soon as the relatives leave the grave of the dead person,
the guardian angels take the soul into the grave for questions - answers.
It is narrated in a hadith, recorded by Shia and Sunni authentic books, that the Holy Prophet
(sws) has advised the Muslims to stand by the grave of the dead person af ter the burial, and
should pray to Allah Taala for the forgiveness. The Prophet said, it is the most difficult time for
the dead person as he is put to the questions concerning his beliefs and actions. The Talqeen
in Shias is recited at this time.
The Barzakh ( Purgatory ) - Resting place of souls.
Barzakh is an Arabic word which means a barrier, i.e., a thing that separates two things. Quran
has used this word to inform us that there is another world between this physical world and
the eternal world where we will live after our death until the day of resurrection. Quran says;
And behind them is the Barzakh till the day of judgment. (23:100)
Thus, barzakh is the place where every departed soul will live until the resurrection day. No
one knows how long the souls will live there as the time of resurrection is known to Allah
only. Even the Prophets have expressed their unawareness about it.
What happens in the grave ?
The first stop in the barzakh is grave.
This is the place where the soul of the dead person meets with two angels who ask him
certain fundamental questions. The names of these two angels are Munkir and Nakeer.
According to the reports from Imams, in the Barzakh man is interrogated about his faith and
belief only. Other questions are left to the Day of Resurrection (Allama Mutahheri).
The soul of the dead person will re-enter the body and he will be asked by the angels to get
ready for the questioning.
Munkir and Nakir will ask the following questions:
I - WHO IS YOUR RABB (creator) ?
2 - WHO IS YOUR PROPHET ?
3 - WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION ?
4 - WHAT IS YOUR BOOK ?
5 - WHO IS YOUR IMAM ?
These questions apparently seem to be very easy and straight forward. We think that, even a
small boy can answer them easily.
But in fact, only a true and practising Muslim will be able to answer these questions correctly
and the rest of the people will become stunned and perplexed.
In the grave, the unconscious mind (Rooh or spirit) will speak. If the dead person had
recognised Allah in his lifetime by vir tue of his knowledge and deep understanding, then he
will be able to answer the first question correctly. But if he was a materialistic person, his
unconscious mind will answer accordingly. He might respond to the angels telling them -
dollar, pounds, shilling, or another things as his god. It is because, he was worshipping them
in place of God in his lifetime.
It is narrated that, those who used to worship idols and images will star t worshipping the
angels and will say that they are their gods.
Similarly the second question, i.e., who is your Prophet ? and who is your Imam ? the answer
will depend on the lifestyle and perception. Those who have sincerely and wholehear tedly
followed the teachings of the Holy Prophet (sws) and the Holy Imams (as) in their lifetime will
instantly give the correct answer. But, those Muslims who proclaim that they love the Holy
Prophet and Imams but were following the lifestyle and footsteps of some other people, the
unconscious mind will name the same persons instead of Prophet or Imams.
These questions and answers are just to show the dead person, what should be his status in
the barzakh and thereafter.
The Squeezing of the body in the Grave.
The squeezing of the body takes place in the grave on the first night. For some, this squeezing
will be as two intimate friends embrace each other when they meet after a long time. But, for
others this will be so severe that the ribs of right and left side will penetrate into each other.
How does a soul live in Barzakh?
Immediately after death, we will find ourselves in an entirely new world. How would be this
world and what will be the nature of life there?
From Quran and hadith, our ulema explains that immediately after death, man enters a new
stage of life in which he feels everything. i.e., after the death, the body becomes motionless
and useless, but the soul does not die and the sense of feelings remains. The soul of the
dead person feels both pain and pleasure. But the pain and pleasure in barzakh depends on
the conduct of the previous life.
The place and the living conditions in the barzakh will be different for different people.
The Holy Prophet (sws) said: Grave is the first encounter with the events leading to the
Resurrection. If one finds it easy, his future will also be secured, but if this is not good for
him, then the remaining events of the resurrection might be even worse for him.
Allama Mutahhaeri has mentioned 15 verses of the Holy Quran which tell about the nature of
life in barzakh.
We can send gifts and presents to our dear relatives and friends who live in barzakh. The
meritorious deeds performed by the relatives of the dead person with intention that their
reward should go to his dead relative reaches him and makes the dead person happy. If alms
and charities are given with an intention that their reward should go to one™s depar ted father,
mother, brother, husband, wife , friend, teacher, or anyone else, these charities in form of
gifts are delivered to the concerned deceased person. This makes him cheerful and happy.
Similarly if anyone performs salat, fasting, tawaaf of Kaaba, hajj, or any other mustahab act on
behalf of a dead person, its reward goes to him and make the dead person blissful. It has
been advised that those who have displeased their parents during their lifetime, should take
the advantage of this privilege. They should do something to please them af ter their death if
they did not please them when they were alive.
Wadi-e-Salaam
This is the resting place of the good souls. The good practising Muslim is transfer red after the
Questions - Answers session to a place known as Wadi-e-Salaam. Here, he would meet many
of his relatives and friends who died before him and were housed here because of their
good deeds.
They see the delights of the paradise throughout this period in reward of their exceptionally
good deeds.
The Valley of Barhut.
This is the place where the souls of the non-believers, polytheists, infields and rejected
people are transferred immediately after the death. The new dead man will find many of his
dead relatives, friends and followers camped there in miserable conditions.
All of them, i.e., their souls, will live there until the day of resurrection.
Although the final accountability and the punishment of the dead person will be on the Day
of Judgment, but the souls of the rebellious people like Firaun, Namrood, Yazid and other
enemies of the Prophets and Imams will be exposed to the punishment soon af ter their
death.
Fourth Phase of Our Existence
Life after Resurrection
Resurrection
The last phase of our existence, and the second stage of the life after death is Resurrection.
This will be the beginning of the life that has no end i.e., the eternal life. This is the end of
which there is no end.
In the Holy Quran, Resurrection has been described by various characteristic names, each
gives a definite explanation of the event related to the Resurrection.
Though, a lot of Quranic verses and ahadith of the Holy Prophet (sws) and Imams(as) are
there to enlighten us about the events that will take place one after the other, but still the
complete picture of resurrection is beyond our comprehension. It is a very vast subject. The
words, terms, and expressions that we have in the vocabulary of all the spoken languages
are not sufficient to encompass the variety of things related to this subjects.
Day of Judgment
The Day of Judgment is the fundamental ar ticle of Islamic faith. This is the basic reason of
resurrection. It is the day when every person, who lived anywhere and at any time, will be
brought to the Divine Court for final judgment. Allah Subhanahu taala Himself will be the
judge and will decide the ultimate fate of every individual. We are repeatedly reminded this
truth in Surah al-Fatiha which we recite daily at least 10 times in prayers.
Master of the Day of Judgment ( 1:4 )
There shall be absolutely fair and impar tial judgment. Quran has repeatedly said that there will
be no injustice at all. Hence, on the Day of Judgment, Allah will establish a real Supreme
Court where nothing but justice will prevail. However, Allah is Just but His mercy always
overshadows His justice. He will pay 10 times or even more against one good deed, but will
give one punishment for one evil or will forgive.
Court Procedure:
This will be a unique Court of Justice, where no one can deny from what he had done.
Quran confirms;
On the Day when their tongues and their hands, and their feet will testify against them
about their actions. On that Day Allah will pay them back their just dues, and they will
realize that Allah is the truth. (24:24-25)
Allah (swt) has prepared a written record of every individual. This written record will be
given to him on the Day of Judgment.
Quran clearly states on this matter.
The works of each man, We have bound about his neck. On the Day of Judgment, we
shall confront him with a book spread wide open, saying: Read your book, enough for
you this day that your own soul should call you to account. (17:13)
This confirms that a Video film of our whole life is being prepared and on the Day of
Judgment, Allah (swt) will give the same Video cassette to us to see everything which we
had done in this world.
Quran says:
O woe unto us! what is about this book: it had not left any small or big thing without
recording it thoroughly:
Imam Jafar as - Sadiq (as) said;
On the Day of Judgment, a man will be given his scroll, to read ....... then Allah will make him
remember: there will be not a single look, or a single word, or a single step, or anything
which he had done but that he will remember as he had done it that very moment. It is for
this reason that they will say ; O woe unto us! What is about this book: it had not lef t any
small or big thing without recording it thoroughly.
The description of Amaal Book (Nama-i-amaal) in Imam™s hadith gives a clear picture of Video
Recorder. 1400 Years ago, no better description than this was possible. Today, after the
discovery of video cameras, computers and televisions , everyone of us can understand that
how truly Quran and ahadith have told us about the events that will occur in future in this
world and hereafter.
Nor could they spend anything (for the cause) - small or great- nor cut across a valley,
but the deed is inscribed to their credit: that Allah may requite their deed with the best
(possible reward).
J A N N AT
MIZAN SHIFAT ARAFA
H E L L F I R E
SIRAT - BRIDGE
The good people will be given their book in their right hands and will be asked to proceed
to Jannat, while the bad people shall get their book in their lef t hands and will be thrown
out into the Jahannum.
Shifaat - Intercession.
Allah Subhanahu taala out of His unlimited mercy and grace will allow His Prophets and Imams
to release many of His servants from the Hell-fire.
Thus, the Holy Prophet and the Holy Imams (as) will save a huge number of people from the
hell-fire. But shifaat doesn™t mean that everyone will be pardoned. The Holy Prophet (sws)
and Imams(as) have made it very clear that there are certain sins and attitude for which there
is no Shifaat. We must know the basic criteria of Shifaat so that we can know for whom they
will do shifaat and for whom they will not do it. For instance, Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) said that
anyone who takes Salaat for granted is not qualified for our Shifaat.
This is a simple matter which any person of average intellect can understand. But many
people misinterpret the concept of Shifaat and think that the Prophets and Imams will save
them from the hell-fire even if they were disloyal and disobedient to Allah (swt). Quran has
made it very clear that no Prophet or Imam will do Shifaat without the consent of Allah.
Sirat
Sirat is an Arabic word which means path. Pul-e-Sarat is a bridge over the Hell. All people
have to cross it. Quran confirms
Not one of you but will pass over it. This is an established decree of the Lord. Then we
shall save, those who guarded themselves against evil, and we shall leave the wrongdoers therein to their knees. (19:71-72)
Jannat and Jahannum
Jannat or Jahannum is the last and ultimate destination of every individual.
Jannat - Paradise.
It is impossible to describe the real picture of Jannat. Every beautiful thing which we find in
BOOK OF DEEDS
Left hand - HELL
Right hand
HEAVEN
this world is inferior and of lesser value comparing to the bounties of Jannat. Quran has
described the Jannat in 76 verses just to give some idea of the Jannat™s blessing. But the
actual Jannat is beyond our imagination.
Mulla Hassan Yazdi has described some of the bounties of the Jannat from Quran and ahadith
in his famous book Anwar ul Hidayah. They are as follows:
1 - The greatest bliss in the Jannat will be Allah™s proximity.
2 - The people in Jannat will get married with 70000 beautiful women and will enjoy their
company.
3 - The people in Jannat will get in abundance numerous kinds of foods, drinks, fruits and
tasty things.
4 - The people in Jannat will have full comfor t, security, stability. There will be no pain and
fear of anything. No death and no disease, no pover ty and no distress.
5 - The people in Jannat will live in big castles. These castles will have beautiful big gardens,
streams, rivers and many other things which we can not imagine.
6 - The people in Jannat will have many kinds of enter tainment.
7 - The people in Jannat will get anything they will like to have.
8 - The people in Jannat will be allowed to visit the Holy Prophet (sws) and Imams(as) and
any other person they would like to meet.
9 - The people in Jannat can invite The Holy Prophet, Imams and billions of other people at
a time.
10 - Quran and ahadith summarize the blessings of Jannat in the following words:
No person knows what delights of the eyes are kept hidden in Jannat for them as a
reward for their good deeds.
I have kept ready for my servants what no eye has ever looked and no ear has ever
heard, nor any heart has ever imagined. Hadith Qudsi
Those who believe, and work righteousness,- their Lord will guide them because of their
faith: beneath them will flow rivers in gardens of bliss
Thus, all beautiful and precious things of this world are just the ordinary samples to have
some idea of the Jannat.
In this world, not a single person is free of two miserable things.
1 - Fear.
2 - Sorrow.
If a person is extremely rich, then he has intense fear of death, disease and insecurity. Poor
people cry for poverty
In Jannat, there will be neither fear nor sorrow but pleasure and pleasure, and that will be
Presented by www.ziaraat.comCHAPTER 21
basic beliefs of islam
absolutely new kind of pleasure which no one has ever experienced before.
Names of Jannat
There are many different names of Jannat. Some of the names are as follows.
1 - Jannat ul- Firdaus
2 - Jannat ul- Khuld
3- Jannat ul- Mawa
4- Jannat un- Naeem
5- Dar-us-Salaam
6- Dar-ul-Akhirah
7- Dar-ul- Maqaamah
In each Jannat, there are millions of classes. The lowest class of Jannat will be billions times
better than the most precious and most beautiful city of this world.
Jahannum - Hell Fire.
Jahannum is the house of all kinds of miseries and painful things. It is a place where disgrace
and rebellious people will live to face many different kinds of punishments.
As no one can imagine the blessing of Jannat, no one can also imagine the tor ture and pains
of Jahannum. Quran has described some of the miserable conditions of Jahannum in order
to avoid it by all means.
Names of Jahnnum
Jahannum has also many different names and each name reflects a peculiar kind of misery.
Some of these names are as follows.
1 - Ludha - House of fire. Electric furnace.
2 - Jaheem - House of Fire. Full of burning charcoal.
3 - Hutamah - A furnace of its own kind. It will grind the bones into ashes.
4 - Hawiyah - A miserable house.
5 - Saquar.
6 - Saeer - Blazing fire.
7 - Jahannum.
Aaraf
Aaraf is a huge mountain between the Jannat and Jahannum.. Those people who are neither
in Jannat nor in Jahannum will stay here for some definite period of time.