Life after Death

There are some who think revival after death is far from their understanding and ask how they shall be raised up after they have been reduced to bones and dust.

Let them recall to mind that they were created out of nothing; first as dust, then a sperm, then a leech-like clot, then a piece of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, kept in a womb for an appointed term, then brought out as babes and then fostered so that they reached an age of full strength; and further, let them ponder over the fact that the earth is first barren and lifeless but when God pours down rain, it is stirred to life, it swells, and puts forth every kind of beautiful growth in pairs.

Let them understand that He who created the heavens and the earth is able to give life to the dead, for He has power over all things.

God created man from the earth, into it shall he return and from it shall he be brought out again. For everyone after death there shall be an interval (Barzakh) lasting till the Day of Resurrection. On that day all the dead shall be raised up again. Even as God produced the first creation, so shall He produce this new one. We do not know in what form we shall be raised, but as a parable the Qur’an describes the Day of Resurrection as follows

On that day there shall be a dreadful commotion. The heaven shall be rent asunder and melted like molten brass. The sun folded up and the moon darkened shall be joined together, and the stars shall fall, losing their lustre. In terrible repeated convulsions, the earth shall be shaken to its depths and pounded into powder. The mountains shall crumble to atoms flying hither and thither like wool, the oceans shall boil over, there shall be a deafening noise, and the graves shall be turned upside down.

A trumpet shall be blown, no more than a single mighty blast, and there shall come forth every individual soul and rush forth to the Lord – the sinners as blackened, blinded, terror-smitten with eyes cast down and hearts come right up to their throats to choke; and the virtuous, happy and rejoicing. Then all except such as it will please God to exempt shall fall into a swoon. Then a second trumpet shall be sounded, when, behold! they will all be standing and looking on. The earth will shine with the glory, of the Lord and the record of deeds shall be opened.

All shall fully remember their past deeds. Anyone who will have done an atom of good shall see it and anyone who will have done an atom of evil shall see it. They shall also recognize one another, though each will have too much concern of his own to be able to be of help to others.

They will have neither a protector, nor an intercessor except God or those whom permission is granted by Him and whose word is acceptable to Him.

They shall all now meet their Lord. The scale of justice shall be set up, and not a soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and if there be no more than the weight of a mustard seed, it will be brought to account, and all shall be repaid for their past deeds.

There will be a sorting out of the sinners and the righteous. The sinners will meet a grievous penalty but it shall not be more than the retribution of the evil they will have wrought.

All in proportion to their respective deeds and for a period longer and shorter shall go through a state of pain and remorse, designated in the Qur’an as hell, and the righteous saved from hell shall enter a state of perpetual peace, designated as paradise.

Paradise has been described in the Qur’an by similitude in terms of what average human beings value most: dignity, honour, virtue, beauty, luxury, sensuous pleasures, and social discourse-and hell in terms of what they all detest.

People shall be sorted out into three classes. Those who will be fore­most and nearest to God, with whom God is well-pleased and who are well­ pleased with God. They shall have no fear, no grief, no toil, no fatigue, no sense of injury, no vanity, and no untruth. They shall enjoy honour and dignity, and, dressed in fine silks and brocade and adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls, shall live for ever in carpeted places. They will recline on thrones encrusted with gold and jewels facing one another for discourse. They will be served by youths of perpetual freshness, handsome as pearls, with goblets, beakers, and cups filled out of clear fountains of crystal white and delicious drinks free from intoxication and after-aches, which they will ex­change with one another free of frivolity and evil taint. They shall be given fruit and flesh of their own choice in dishes of gold to eat, and shall get more than all they desire. Their faces shall be beaming with the brightness of bliss. They shall have as companions chaste women, their wives, beautiful like pearls and corals. Those who believe and whose families follow them in faith, to them God shall join their families, their ancestors, their spouses, and their offsprings. Rest, satisfaction, and peace will reign all round. This will be their great salvation; but their greatest reward, their supreme feli­city, will consist in being in the presence of God.

Companions of the right hand who shall have their abode in another garden. They will sit on thrones on high in the midst of trees, having flowers, pile upon pile, in cool, long-extending shades by the side of constantly flowing water. They will recline on rich cushions and carpets of beauty, and so will their pretty and chaste companions, belonging to a special creation, pure and undefiled. They will greet one another with peace. They will also have all kinds of fruits, the supply of which will not be limited to seasons. These are parables of what the righteous shall receive.

Companions of the left hand who shall be in the midst of a fierce blast of fire with distorted faces and roasted skin, neither alive nor dead, under the shadows of black smoke. They shall have only boiling and fetid water to drink and distasteful plants (zaqqum)to eat. Nothing shall be there to refresh or to please.

The fire of hell shall, however, touch nobody except those most unfortunate ones who give the lie to truth.

But for these similitudes, we cannot conceive the eternal, bliss and per­petual peace that awaits the righteous in the life hereafter, nor can we conceive the agony which the unrighteous will go through. They will, however, remain in their respective states only so long as it is the will of God and is in accordance with His plans.

Neither is the bliss of paradise the final stage for the righteous, nor is the agony of hell the final stage for the unrighteous. Just as we experience the glowing sunset, then evening, and then the full moon at night one after another, even so shall everyone progress whether in paradise or in hell stage by stage towards his Lord, and thus shall be redeemed in the end.