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 In
the Name of Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful
The Journey Of The Soul
Posted on: Thursday, December
12th 2002
“They will ask you about the spirit. Say, 'The spirit is at the
command of your Lord. You have been given only a little
knowledge.” Quran[56:83-85]
Death is among the mysteries of the world. Perhaps the most
frequently asked question is what happens when we die. In
Islam, death is not pure annihilation. It is merely movement
from one world to another. When the dead man feels the bliss or
punishment of the grave, it does not mean that he is alive in
his grave, needing food, clothes and so on. Nor does it mean
that his soul permeates all the parts of his body as it did
when he was in this world. The soul returns to the body again
in a way, which is not the same as in this world so that the
dead man can be questioned and tested in the grave. What is
most intriguing is that the journey after death as is agreed
upon in Islam, is very detailed and precise.
“Every soul will taste death.” Quran[2: 185]
The journey of the dead is confirmed in this sound hadith of
the Messenger of Allah (pbuh)
'When the believer is about to depart from this world and go
forward into the Next World, angels with faces as bright as the
sun descend from the heavens and sit around him in throngs
stretching as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel of Death
comes and sits at his head and says, "Good soul, come out to
forgiveness and pleasure from Allah!" Then his soul emerges
like a drop of water flows from a water-skin and the angel
takes hold of it. When he has grasped it, the other angels do
not leave it in his hand even for the twinkling of an eye. They
take it and place it in a perfumed shroud and a fragrance
issues from it like the sweetest scent of musk found on the
face on the earth.
‘Then they bear it upwards and whenever they take it past a
company of angels, they ask, "Who is this good soul?" and the
angels with the soul reply, "So-and-so the son of so-and-so,"
using the best names by which people used to call him in this
world. They bring him to the lowest heaven and ask for the gate
to be opened for him. It is opened for him and angels who are
near Allah from each of the heavens accompany him to the
subsequent heaven until he reaches to the heaven where Allah
the Great is. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says, 'Register
the book of My slave in 'Illiyun and take him back to earth. I
created them from it and I return them to it and I will bring
them forth from it again" (hadith)
Then, the soul returns and sees the washing of the body; its
covering, and the funeral sequence. When the body has been
placed in the grave, the soul introduces itself between the
corpse and the shroud so that the questioning can take place.
“O soul at peace, return unto your Lord, well-pleased and
well-pleasing! Enter among My slaves! Enter My Garden!" Quran
[6:93]
'His soul is then returned to his body and two angels come to
him. They make him sit up and say to him, "Who is your Lord?"
He replies, "My Lord is Allah." They ask him, "What is your
religion?" He replies, "My religion is Islam." They ask him,
“Who is this man who was sent among you?” He replies, “The
Messenger of Allah." They ask him, "How did you come to know
these things?" He replies, "I read the Book of Allah, believed
it, and declared it to be true." Then a Voice from on high
declares, "My slave has spoken the truth, so spread out carpets
from the Garden for him and open a gate of the Garden for him!"
Then some of its fragrance and perfume comes to him, his grave
is expanded for him as far as the eye can see, and a man with
beautiful garments and a fragrant scent comes to him and says,
"Rejoice in what delights you for this is the day which you
were promised." He asks, "Who are you? Yours is a face which
presages good." He replies, "I am your good actions." Then he
says, "0 Lord, let the Last Hour come soon so that I may rejoin
my family and my property!"(hadith)
Then the soul hears the retreating steps of the last people who
followed the funeral service, and the earth is leveled over
him. The Grave expands for the soul, and as a result for the
body as well. The body is in a grave of the narrowest magnitude
and yet it expands, because of the soul, as far as the eye can
see. These are the delights of the grave for the firm believer.
'Whoever turns away from My remembrance will have a life of
narrowness and We shall gather him blind on the Day of Rising.’
Quran[20:124]
If the dead person is an unbeliever, he will have to face a
great torment. Hidden away in the domain of the earthworms,
buried under the earth in a desolate grave. He was in the light
and now he is in darkness, he was surrounded by beauty and
spaciousness and now he is enclosed in gloom, he was in bliss
and he now is in torment.
When an unbeliever is about to depart from this world and go
forward into the next world, angels with black faces descend
from the heavens carrying rough hair- cloth and sit around him
in throngs stretching as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel
of Death comes and sits at his head and says:
“Foul soul, come out to the wrath and anger of Allah! "Then his
soul divides up in his body and it is dragged out like a skewer
is pulled out of wet wool. Then the angel takes hold of it.
When he has grasped it, the other angels do not leave it in his
hand even for the twinkling of an eye. They take it and wrap it
in the rough hair-cloth and a stench comes out of it like the
worst stench of a corpse on the face of the earth.”
‘Then they take it up and whenever they take it past a company
of angels, they ask, "Who is this foul soul?" and the angels
with the soul reply, "So-and-so the son of so-and-so," using
the worst names by which people used to call him in this world.
They bring him to the lowest heaven and ask for the gate to be
opened for him. It does not get opened. 'Then Allah, the Mighty
and Majestic, will say, "Register his book in Sijjin in the
lowest earth." Then his soul is flung down.'
'Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and
say to him, "Who is your Lord?" He replies, "Alas, alas, I do
not know!" Then a voice calls from on high, "My slave has lied,
so spread out carpets from the Fire for him and open a gate of
the Fire for him! "Then a hot blast from it comes to him, his
grave is made so narrow for him that his ribs are pressed
together, and a man with a hideous face and clothing and a foul
odor comes to him and says, "Grieve on account of what has
brought you disgrace for this is the day which you were
promised." He asks, "Who are you? Yours is a face which
presages evil." He replies, "I am your bad actions." Then he
says, "0 Lord, do not let the Last Hour come!" (hadith)
These are the delights and the torments which the dead will
have to face. What next, after the due date of resurrection,
what will become of the soul?
When the angel Israfil will blow the trumpet announcing the Day
of Judgment, all the souls will be joined with their bodies and
all creation will be standing with eagerness. It will be a Day
in which no one will pay notice to anyone even their own loved
ones. Everyone will be worried about their deeds. When everyone
will have risen from their graves, they will be structured into
separate groups. The Jews and the Christians will each be
standing on their separate lines. Those who attributed partners
to God will be arranged to stand in another line, as will the
Muslims. Amongst them, the nation of every prophet of God will
be gathered at one place and the sinners at another place.
Those who guarded their prayers and observed fasts will stand
separate from the drinkers of alcohol, separate from the
gamblers, separate from the thieves. Then Heaven will open and
the angels will descend with the records of deeds of each human
and jinn. Everyone will be handed his or her Record of Deeds.
The believers who performed their prayers, paid their zakah,
fasted, and were among the right doers will receive their book
of deeds in their right hands. Those who disbelieved in God,
His prophets, and His revelations, those who were proud and
arrogant and disobedient, will receive their book of deeds in
their left hands. After the weighing of the deeds, everyone
will be ordered to cross the Bridge to Paradise. The righteous
will pass it quickly and the gates of Paradise will open
awaiting their entrance, the angels will greet them with the
greeting of Peace and will congratulate them for their
obedience to God as well as for their good deeds. As for the
disbelievers and the sinners, the crossing of the bridge will
be impossible for them, and they will fall into the raging
fires of Hell. Yet those who had a grain of faith in them, will
eventually be taken out of the torment of Hell, and entered
Paradise. Then, only the polytheists and disbelievers, who had
no faith in God or the Last Day, will remain in the hellfire
for eternity.
In Islam, death can be a tremendously anguishing experience for
some, yet it can be just as tremendously delightful for others.
Our deeds will either bring us agony, or pleasures. Our actions
will be the judges.
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