DEATH, DYING AND THE AFTERLIFE IN THE QURAN

DEATH, DYING AND THE AFTERLIFE IN THE QURAN

In his magnum opus, Revival of the Religious Sciences, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī (d. 505/1111) begins the chapter on death with the following passage:

Praise be to God, who with death did break the necks of tyrants, shattering with it the backs of Persia’s kings, cutting short the aspirations of the Caesars, whose hearts were long averse to recalling death, until the true promise came to them and cast them into the pit. From the loftiest of palaces to the deepest of graves, they passed, and from the light of the cradle into the sepulcher’s gloom. From dallying with maidens and boys into sustaining insects and worms, they passed; from reveling in food and drink into wallowing in the earth; from the friendliness of company into the forlornness of solitude; and from the soft couch into the woeful perdition. See if they had found any strength and protection from death, or taken against it a barrier and refuge. See Dost thou perceive even one of them, or hear from them a murmur? [19:98].

From the earliest days of Islam, following the example of the Prophet, Muslims have made the remembrance of death a foundational spiritual practice. The impermanence of the world is a recurring theme in the Quran. Hardly a page can be found that does not contain references to the “fleeting life of this world” or “this world and the Hereafter” or a reminder of the day that would make children gray-haired (73:17). Without death, it is questionable whether we would have any need for religion at all. At a fundamental level, religion’s greatest claim is making sense of the reality of death, which relentlessly impinges on our living consciousness.

One of the most singular aspects of the pre-Islamic Arabia in which the Quran was revealed is the fact that the Arabs of the day, notwithstanding a small number of Christian Arabs and an even smaller number of primordial monotheists known as ḥanīfs, did not believe in an Afterlife, although they followed their own form of religion. Death was the end of the road for them, and “immortality” lay in the praises of poets, not in the reality of the Afterlife promised by the prophets. The Quran describes the pre-Islamic Arabs’ nihilistic attitude toward life and death: They say, “There is naught but our life in this world. We die and we live, and none destroys us save time.” But they have no knowledge thereof. They do naught but conjecture (45:24).

In the Quran, the Arabs’ denial of the resurrection of the dead is addressed and refuted in several simple yet engaging metaphors. It declares repeatedly that all things in this world have been made in pairs, of which the duality of life and death is a central one, highlighted in sundry verses. Coupled with life and death is the other essential pairing of this world (dunyā) with the Afterlife (ākhirah), a pairing whose sign, the Quran declares, should be discerned alongside Heaven and earth, both of which are commonly repeated motifs in the scripture. Given that all things in this world are created in paired opposites, it would follow that this world also has its opposite, which is the next world. Furthermore, as this world is temporal, its opposite is logically speaking eternal.

Another important Quranic motif is the evolving process of life itself. Gray hairs, which begin to emerge at the spiritually significant age of forty, are referred to as a warner (nadhīr), exegetes say; they should cause those who have lived long enough to see them to be reminded of death. As for those who do not heed the warning, after death.

They will cry out therein, “Our Lord! Remove us, that we may work righteousness other than that which we used to do.” “Did We not give you long life, enough for whosoever would reflect to reflect therein? And the warner came unto you, so taste [the punishment]! And the wrongdoers shall have no helpers.” (35:37)

The imagery of gray hairs is borrowed by the poet Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Būṣīrī (d. 695/1294) in his poem in praise of the Prophet, The Cloak (al-Burdah):

This self of mine that commands me to evil Has blindly ignored the warnings of grey hairs and the approach of old age. Nor has it prepared a banquet of beautiful deeds for this unexpected guest Who’s alighted on my head, shamelessly refusing to leave. Had I known, I would have shown him no honour— I would have covered over his obvious secret with black dye!

The importance of the age of forty, when the trajectory of life begins its descent toward death, is accentuated in the Prophet Muhammad’s life. He began to receive the revelation of the Quran at the age of forty, a turning point from the old age of youth to the youth of old age. As the Prophet approached forty, he began meditating in the cave at Ḥirāʾ, and when he was forty, the Archangel Gabriel revealed himself to the Prophet for the first time. “Recite!” was the Archangel’s command. In this initial revelation we are reminded, Nay, truly man is rebellious in that he considers himself beyond need. Truly unto thy Lord is the return (96:6–8). Human dependence on and need for God are central to the Quran’s message, and they become most obvious when we meditate on our inability to ward off old age and death. Devout Muslims are encouraged to read every day Sūrah 56, entitled “The Event,” one of the myriad Quranic names for the Day of Judgment. This sūrah provides a profound meditation on death, the categories of people in the Afterlife and their states, and reflections on the signs of the Resurrection that are evident in everyday events of this world. The sūrah challenges those who do not believe in the Resurrection: Why, then, when it (the person’s last breath) reaches the throat, while you are then looking on—and We are nearer to him than you, though you see not—why, then, if you are unconstrained, do you not return it, if you are truthful? (56:83–87)

The Quranic theme of human beings’ return to God includes the instruction to repent before death in order to avoid the calamities of an unrepentant life. The signs (āyāt) to be read come from the Lord, and among the greatest of them is death. A sign, however, signifies something that requires interpretation. It has no meaning in and of itself, but indicates meanings that transcend the sign itself. What is this sign from God that the Quran calls death? What is its meaning? Why does its aroma suffuse the entire Book? The Quran states: They have taken gods apart from Him, who . . . have no power over death, or life, or resurrection (25:3); Say, “Then ward off death from yourselves, if you are truthful” (3:168); and Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in towers raised high (4:78). These and other verses remind us that we are powerless in the pervasive presence of death, which takes us back to our Lord and has the power even in this earthly life to awaken our higher senses to our real calling, which is to know and worship our Lord and to prepare for meeting Him on that day that is the only tomorrow that matters ultimately.

An unidentified voice from Pharaoh’s inner circle summarizes this message when he warns Pharaoh and his council:

O my people! Follow me; I shall guide you unto the way of rectitude. O my people! The life of this world is but fleeting enjoyment, whereas the Hereafter is truly the Abode of Permanence. Whosoever commits an evil deed will not be requited, save with the like thereof; but whosoever, whether male or female, performs a righteous deed and is a believer shall enter the Garden wherein they will be provided for without reckoning. (40:38–40)

This summary of the message of the Quran reminds us that worldly life is fleeting, but our decisions here will have either negative or positive repercussions in another world. Since that other world is a permanent one, wisdom counsels belief and good actions.

“Death” and Its Various Usages in the Quran

A classic methodology employed by the great Quranic exegetes was to examine key Arabic words in the Quran, identifying themes and exploring the semantic webs of meanings embedded within them. The derivative nature of Arabic words facilitates this approach, as most can be reduced to three-letter roots from which the various possible meanings are derived. In addition to this method, traditional exegetes also explored the contextual meanings of terms as they shifted throughout the book.

Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. 502/1108) clarifies the different usages of the term “death” in the Quran as follows:

The types of death are consistent with the types of life. The first relates to the power of regeneration that exists in plants, animals, and human beings and is referred to in Sūrat al-Rūm, “The Byzantines”: He revives the earth after its death (30:19). The second is the condition of being insensate and is intended in Mary’s plea, Would that I had died before this (19:23). The third is the loss of the faculty of intelligence, which is the state of ignorance, reflected in the verse, He who was dead, and to whom We give life, making for him a light by which to walk among mankind (6:122). The fourth type is a state of depression where life becomes unbearable, as is meant in the verse, Death shall come upon him from every side; yet he will not die (14:17). The fifth is death that means sleep, as it is said in a proverb, “Sleep is the light death, and death is the heavy sleep.” This meaning is indicated in the verses He it is Who takes your souls by night (6:60) and God takes souls at the moment of their death, and those that die not during their sleep (39:42).

REGENERATION AFTER DEATH

The first type of death has to do with growth and the power of regeneration after death. The Quran conveys the idea of life as growth and death as decay, decline, and desiccation. Many verses use the image of the dead earth brought back to life as an analogy for the Resurrection. In Sūrah 22, al-Ḥajj, two analogies for the Resurrection are given. The first is embryological, and the second is agricultural. The surāh begins with a reminder of the end of time and its inevitability as well as the tremendous terror of a day that will cause every pregnant woman to miscarry (22:2). Then follows a challenge:

O mankind! If you are in doubt concerning the Resurrection, [remember] We created you from dust, then from a drop, then from a blood clot, then from a lump of flesh, formed and unformed, that We may make clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for a term appointed. Then We bring you forth as an infant, then that you may reach maturity. And some are taken in death, and some are consigned to the most abject life, so that after having known they may know nothing. And thou seest the earth desiccated, but when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells and produces every delightful kind. (22:5)

The human embryonic stages are highlighted in this verse, reminding us that we came from mere dust and are created out of lifeless matter. This fact itself should be proof that the Resurrection is possible, given that the One who created us once can surely do so again.

The second analogy the Quran provides was more accessible to the desert Arabs at the time of the Prophet Muhammad, for the dramatic and lifeless topography of the desert revealed to them sudden regeneration each year:

And thou seest the earth desiccated, but when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells and produces every delightful kind. That is because God is the Truth, and because He gives life to the dead, and because He is Powerful over all things, and because the Hour is coming, in which there is no doubt, and because God will resurrect whosoever is in the graves. (22:5–7)

SENTIENT DEATH

The second type of death is the death of feeling or the empathic life of the human heart. Many verses in the Quran berate the hard-hearted, who exhibit no compassion, and refer to the disbelievers as unaware and unfeeling. 4 The Quran makes reference in several verses to the need for “spiritual growth” through purification (tazkiyah): Indeed, he prospers who purifies it (his soul). And indeed he fails who obscures it (91:9–10). This spiritual growth is along a path of states and stations that is mapped out in the Quran. Thus, death becomes a metaphor for the death of the lower soul and its possible restoration to life and growth in a more perfect state.

INTELLECTUAL DEATH

The third type is the death of intelligence understood in its traditional sense. 5 The Quran categorizes some people as deaf, dumb, blind, and with hardened heart (the heart is the seat of intelligence)—in other words, intellectually insensate. In other verses, this state is likened to a type of death: Is he who was dead, and to whom We give life, making for him a light by which to walk among mankind, like unto one who is in darkness from which he does not emerge? (6:122). This morbidity of the spirit resulting from lack of guidance can be reversed through a type of spiritual resurrection as illustrated in 6:122. Yet another metaphor for the heart’s revival with spiritual truths is that of rain, which gives life to the earth after a prolonged drought:

Has not the time come for those who believe that their hearts be humbled to the remembrance of God and the truth that has come down, and to be not like those who were given the Book aforetime? But the span of time was too long for them, such that their hearts hardened and many of them are iniquitous. Know that God revives the earth after its death. We have indeed made the signs clear for you, that haply you may understand. (57:16–17)

Many aḥādīth also refer to the spiritual death of the heart that prevents it from functioning as the seat of intelligence, so that it requires spiritual therapy in order to be revived. Spiritual death is, however, also seen in a pristine light and associated with the gaining of a new spiritual life. The Prophet in fact recommended to his followers, “Die before you die.” 6 The death in this recommendation is called death chosen by free will (al-mawt al-ikhtiyārī); it is contrasted with the forced death (al-mawt al-ijbārī) that all beings experience at the end of their earthly life and over which they have no control.

DESPAIR AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEATH

The fourth type of death takes the form of despair and psychological misery in which life is experienced as devoid of meaning and even pleasure. This state was well known in pre-Islamic Arabian poetry, as seen in the following verse by Ibn al-Raʿlā:

The only real dead person is one who is depressed,

Plagued with grief, without hope.

This fourth type of death also relates to the state of one who is in the Fire, who neither dies therein nor lives (87:13). The Quran warns that worldly preoccupation distracts us from the inevitability of death and results in spiritual sloth. This type of spiritual death is akin to the Catholic deadly sin of acedia. The Quran says:

O you who believe! Let neither your property nor your children divert you from the remembrance of God. And whosoever does so, it is they who are the losers. And spend of that which We have provided you before death comes upon one of you and he says, “My Lord, wouldst that Thou grant me reprieve until a term nigh, that I may give charity and be among the righteous!” Yet God will not grant any soul reprieve when its term has come. And God is Aware of whatsoever you do. (63:9–11)

 In this vein, the Prophet is reported to have said, “Those who make all of their aspirations of this world one aspiration [that of the next world], God will take care of all of their other aspirations.

DEATH AS SLEEP Finally, the fifth type of death mentioned by al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī is related to sleep. The Quran says: He it is Who takes your souls by night. . . . Then by day He resurrects you (6:60); and God takes souls at the moment of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He withholds those for whom He has decreed death, and sends forth the others till a term appointed (39:42). One of the signs relating sleep to death in these verses is the inevitability of both; in both cases we are powerless to exercise our will. The “gentle tyrant” of sleep that overpowers us is like death. At night, sleep conquers even the most powerful, leaving them lifeless—a daily reminder of death’s inevitable overpowering presence, to which all must succumb. Sleep is regarded as a little death, and death, when compared to the reality of earthly life, can be considered a great sleep.

Likewise, each awakening is a reminder of our inevitable resurrection. As the Prophet has said, “Man is asleep, and when he dies he awakens.” 9 In sleep, we find ourselves in the world of dreams, often of expanded time and fantastic experiences, only to awake to the reality of our earthly lives. The Prophet’s prayer upon waking was, “Praise be to the One who brought me back to life after causing me to die, and to God is the Resurrection.” 10 And the Resurrection is experienced as an awakening for people in their graves: And the trumpet will be blown. Then, behold, they will rush forth from their graves unto their Lord. They will say, “Oh, woe unto us! Who has raised us from our place of sleep?” “This is that which the Compassionate did promise; and the message bearers spoke true” (36:51–52).

Meditating upon sleep as a reminder of one’s mortality and equating it with the sleeplike state we enter into when in the grave, which culminates in the awakening of the Resurrection, is a Prophetic practice to which many Muslims adhere to this day. The many types of reminders of death found in the Quran as outlined by al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī are meant to motivate us to actively prepare, mentally and spiritually, for the attainment of a promised abode, for a life of unlimited grace and enjoyment, rather than the threatening abode of indescribable terror and pain.

After Death

Human beings are created in stages, the Quran states, and continue their lives through a series of movements that lead inevitably to one of two abodes: the Garden or the Fire. Death, like birth, is but one in a series of stages leading to our final destination. The exit from this lower and temporal world occurs through death, which is the cessation of what we experience as biological life. The Quran states: Every soul shall taste death, and you will indeed be paid your reward in full on the Day of Resurrection. And whosoever is distanced from the Fire and made to enter the Garden has certainly triumphed. And the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion (3:185).

Several Quranic verses remind us that the next life is indeed the real life. For example, The life of this world is naught but diversion and play. And surely the Abode of the Hereafter is life indeed, if they but knew (29:64). Furthermore, disdain is expressed for those who prefer this life to the next, who seek the perishable over the permanent. The Quran views this preference for the temporary over the everlasting as a delusional state that will quickly dissolve into remorse as the reality of death overwhelms us upon its occurrence: Vying for increase distracts you, till you visit the graves (102:1–2). In addition, You were indeed heedless of this (the Afterlife). Now We have removed from you your cover; so today your sight is piercing (50:22; this verse refers to the awakening to which the Prophet referred in the ḥadīth cited above).

The Quran also indicates that immense spiritual unveilings occur at death. For those who have squandered their lives without the requisite preparation, there is great remorse. Everyone experiences a profound spiritual awakening upon death, but for the heedless in this world it results in nothing but remorse, which, then, is of no avail. Several verses indicate also that if such people were allowed to go back, they would return to a life of worldly pleasures.

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, the Prophet’s cousin and the fourth Caliph, is also associated with the Prophetic saying, “People are asleep, and when they die, they awaken.” 11 This initial awakening occurs at the moment a person is visited by the Angel of Death, who is known as ʿIzrāʾīl (Azrael). The Prophet explained that ʿIzrāʾīl seizes all souls in another dimension of reality; this enables him to be in all the various appointed earthly times in his own celestial time, which is experienced here as the time of death of a particular person. The Quran states, The angel of death, who has been entrusted with you, will take you (tawaffā); then unto your Lord shall you be returned (32:11). The word used in this verse, tawaffā, is another word for “to cause to die”; the more common term is yumīt, from which the Divine Name al-Mumīt (“the Causer of Death”) is derived. The root of the verb tawaffā is wafā, which means “to fulfill, to remain faithful, to repay a debt, to recompense.” In this particular verse, tawaffā means “to receive or take to oneself,” as in “God receives the soul of one who dies.” In other words, God causes us to die and then receives us in order to recompense us for our actions on earth.

As the Quran explains, people experience the moment of their individual death differently in accordance with how they lived. For believers who have led good lives, the transition from life to death is one of ease and repose. The traditional Christian saying, “He who lives well dies well,” has its exact Arabic equivalent: man ʿāsha saʿīdan māta saʿīdan. According to Islamic teachings, at the moment of death, angels address the believers, Fear not, nor grieve, and rejoice in the Garden that you have been promised (41:30). As for the disbelievers, the angels begin pouncing on them. The Quran states, And if only thou couldst see when the angels take those who disbelieve, striking their faces and their backs, and [saying], “Taste the punishment of the burning!” (8:50; cf. 6:93).

The wrongdoers will plead to be given a second chance, as the Quran says, till, when death comes to one of them, he says, “My Lord! Return me, that haply I may work righteousness with regard to that which I left.” Nay, but these are [mere] words that he speaks. And behind them is a barrier till the Day they are resurrected (23:99–100).

The Intermediate State Between Death and Resurrection (Barzakh) The period after death until the Day of Judgment is known as the barzakh, or intermediate state, although, according to some scholars, in Islamic eschatology it could also refer to a state similar to the Christian concept of purgatory. The barzakh involves the experience of waking up completely as if from a deep sleep. During this period, a spiritual awakening occurs with an experience of heightened consciousness. Immense remorse for the squandered opportunity is experienced at this stage by those who did not make the necessary preparation. The duration of the barzakh is not known. The Quran states that it will seem like it was a day or an hour of a day (46:35). The deceased’s experience of time is radically altered. As the Quran says, And on the Day when the Hour is come, the guilty will swear that they had tarried naught but an hour; thus were they perverted. And those who have been given knowledge and belief will say, “Indeed, you tarried in God’s Book until the Day of Resurrection; and this is the Day of Resurrection! But you knew not (30:55–56).

The righteous will find the barzakh a pleasant experience: a sense of relief will set in as they grow aware of release from the trials of the previous world and the prospect of the delights of the next. According to others, the barzakh is the state in which those who must be purified further find themselves and where they remain until they are fully purified and made worthy of entering Paradise. The waiting period in the barzakh is akin to what is taught in Catholicism concerning limbo, as those needing further purification during this time can benefit from the prayers said and deeds done by the living in their name. This of course does not preclude praying for the dead whom one considers to be not in the barzakh, but in Paradise. Actions that Muslims have traditionally performed for the dead include: praying and seeking forgiveness; making a pilgrimage on their behalf; giving charity on their behalf; and reciting the Quran and gifting their own reward.

Although some dispute the merit and efficacy of these practices, Abu’l-Walīd Muḥammad ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198), like many others, argues that when a difference of opinion occurs concerning the Mercy of God, one should side with the vastness of God’s Mercy; hence, he sees no real debate regarding the merit of these actions. The Quran says, And those who came after them say, “Our Lord! Forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and place no rancor in our hearts toward those who believe” (59:10). The angels also ask forgiveness for the righteous, while they are alive as well as after they die: The angels hymn the praise of their Lord and seek forgiveness for those on earth (42:5). Funeral prayers are also considered a source of intercession by the living for the dead. The great polymath Yaḥyā ibn Sharaf al-Nawawī (d. 676/1278) says in his Remembrances (al-Adhkār), “It is encouraged for the visitor of a graveyard to recite the Quran, remember God, and pray for the people in the graves, as well as for the rest of the dead, and for all the Muslims.

This period in the grave is the first of the “stages of the Afterlife” (manāzil al-ākhirah). The Prophet is reported to have said, “The grave is the first of the stages of the next life. If one passes through it safely, then what follows is easier than it. However, if one fails at this first stage, what follows is more severe than it.” 17 The Quran states: And he has set forth for Us a parable and forgotten his own creation, saying, “Who revives these bones, decayed as they are?” Say, “He will revive them Who brought them forth the first time, and He knows every creation” (36:78–79)

The Questioning in the Grave (Suʾāl al-Qabr)

The initial phase of the barzakh is the questioning in the grave. After the deceased is laid to rest in the grave and the burial is complete, two angels, Munkar and Nakīr, visit the deceased and ask that person a series of questions. Some aḥādīth indicate that those who lay the deceased to rest in the grave should recite the proper answers to the deceased; this is known as talqīn and is often practiced in Muslim burials. The basis of the angels’ questioning is explained in the Quran: God makes firm those who believe with firm speech in the life of this world and in the Hereafter (14:27). Exegetes say that the firm speech (qawl thābit) refers to the correct responses the deceased provides to the angels’ questions.

Those with the correct responses to the questioning in the grave are protected from the terror of the barzakh (fazaʿ al-barzakh), which precedes the greatest terror (al-fazaʿ al-akbar), which is mentioned in 21:103: The greatest terror shall not grieve them, and the angels shall receive them. “This is your Day, which you were promised.” Each person is asked the questions appropriate to his or her respective community. The Prophet’s community includes those who believed in him and his message as well as those who were called to believe in him. The following ḥadīth describes what happens to the deceased upon burial:

Surely when a servant is placed in his grave and his friends depart, even as he hears their sandals striking the earth, two angels appear and sit him up and then ask him, “What do you say about this man?” meaning Muhammad. As for the believer, he says, “I testify that he is the servant of God and His messenger.” It is said, “Look at your place in Hell; it has been changed to a place in Paradise,” and he looks upon both. Then his grave is made an expanse of seventy cubits, and it is filled with green foliage until the Day of Resurrection. As for the disbeliever, or the hypocrite, he is asked what he said about this man [Muhammad], and he will reply, “I do not know. I simply said what the people said.” The angels say, “You do not know! Nor did you follow.” And they begin to pound him with iron hammers between his ears, and he screams a scream heard by everyone around except spirits and human beings. His grave becomes so constricted that his ribs burst.

The End of Time The end of time is also known as al-sāʿah, which is perhaps best glossed as “the Moment” or “the Hour.” Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī says three “last hours” occur: the moment of one’s death, which is called the lesser hour (al-sāʿah al-ṣughrā); the end of a generation, which occurs when an entire generation of people die (e.g., the generation of World War I); and the actual Hour when this world is terminated and the eschaton is initiated. This period is preceded by signs, one of which is the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, who said, “I was sent in the presence of the Final Hour.” The Quran states, Do they await aught but that the Hour should come upon them suddenly? Yet its portents have already come. Then when it has come upon them, what will their remembrance do for them? (47:18). Many verses warn of this apocalyptic apotheosis.

The signs of the end of the world are numerous and extensively described in the Ḥadīth and to a lesser extent in the Quran. Among them are the splitting of the moon (54:1), which Muslims believe to be a miracle performed by the Prophet when challenged by the Quraysh; a clear smoke (dukhān) that arises over people (see 44:10–11c); and a beast who emerges from the earth (27:82), although al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī does not consider it necessarily an animal. The period preceding the greater signs is one of immense disequilibrium, widespread corruption and oppression, and the inversion of the natural order. The Prophet also predicted that Arabs would vie with one another in constructing tall buildings and that some of Makkah’s mountains would be removed and the height of its buildings would surpass that of the surrounding mountains; religion would wane and commerce would wax; materialism would be rampant and human life considered of little value, with rioting and bloodshed to such a degree that “the killer will not know why he is killing, and the one killed why he is being killed.” Religion would continue to decline until it was almost entirely forgotten.

The trumpet blast initiating the Resurrection occurs once the earth is filled with atheists, and no one remains who utters the Name of God. What the Quran calls the Great Calamity (79:34) kills those remaining and arouses the dead from their graves. Then the Resurrection begins: And the trumpet will be blown, whereupon whosoever is in the heavens and on the earth will swoon, save those whom God wills. Then it will be blown again, and, behold, they will be standing, beholding (39:68). With the first blast, the general destruction occurs, and with the second, the bodily resurrection takes place, in which human beings are recreated with immortal bodies. The trumpet blast causes a shock so great that those already in the barzakh lose consciousness, and immediate death occurs for those remaining on earth.

Accompanying the first blast are several apocalyptic signs, such as the destruction of mountains (20:105–8; 69:13–14; 70:9), great earthquakes that cause the oceans to boil over, and events mentioned in this terrifying description:

O mankind! Reverence your Lord. Truly the quaking of the Hour is a tremendous thing. On the day you see it, every nursing woman will forget what she nurses, and every pregnant woman will deliver her burden, and you will see mankind drunk, though drunk they will not be. Rather, the Punishment of God is severe. (22:1–2; see also 36:48–50)

The influential commentator Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) says, “The first blast is that of the terror (fazaʿ). While people are in their marketplaces buying and selling, God commands the angel Isrāfīl, or Seraphiel, to blast the trumpet, which is heard throughout the earth. Humanity is then led to an earthly gathering place (maḥshar), followed by the swoon (ṣaʿq), whereby they all perish.”

The heavens and the earth are weighted down with the presence of the Hour (7:187), when the entire universe is rolled back into its initial “singularity”: The whole earth shall be but a handful to Him on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be enfolded in His right Hand (39:67). After an undefined period of time, at a second blast, people are raised out of their graves in an awakening akin to waking up from sleep and are compelled toward the great plain of gathering for the next phase, Judgment: A day when the trumpet is blown and you come forth in throngs, and the sky is opened as if it were gates (78:18–19). The blasts can symbolize the “destruction of forms by pure sound or transcendence, or again, the separation of forms and their contents.” Many verses deal with these events, which follow the sequence of a blast (nafkh; see 18:99; 20:102–4), the initial awaking from the grave (baʿth and nushūr), 25 and finally the Gathering (ḥashr). 26 Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī (d. 310/923) says, “Each nation will gather behind its respective prophet,” on the Day We shall call every people by their leader (17:71).

The Resurrection (Baʿth and Nashr) Because the Arabs denied the resurrection of the dead, the Quran contains several verses highlighting its reasonableness and inevitability. The embryological and ecological “proofs” that were mentioned earlier can be found throughout the Quran. Sūrahs 22 and 51 in particular draw attention to dead earth revived by rain as a clear sign for the resurrection of the dead. Other examples from the Quran include: So observe the vestiges of God’s Mercy, how He revives the earth after its death. Truly that is the Reviver of the dead, and He is Powerful over all things (30:50); And God is He Who sends the winds, then they cause clouds to rise. Then We drive them to a land that is dead, and thereby revive the earth after its death. Thus shall be the Resurrection! (35:9).

As further proof of the Resurrection, the Quran cites how easy it is for God to accomplish any creative act, as in 17:51: Then they will say, “Who will bring us back?” Say, “He Who originated you the first time” (see also 2:148; 36:78–79; 56:47–50). Sūrah 56, al-Wāqiʿah, provides a litany of examples of God’s Power in order to establish God’s Ability to resurrect the dead. The Quran also responds to the atheists and naturalists who deny the Resurrection by declaring that they are only following their conjecture: the disbelievers say, There is naught but our first death, and we shall not be resurrected (44:35). In this same vein, 64:7 states: Those who disbelieve claim that they will not be resurrected. Say, “Yea! By my Lord! Surely you shall be resurrected. Then you shall be informed of that which you did; and that is easy for God.” Having created human beings the first time, God should surely find it, by our own reckoning, as easy to do the second time: He it is Who originates creation, then brings it back, and that is most easy for Him. Unto Him belongs the loftiest description in the heavens and on the earth, and He is the Mighty, the Wise (30:27).

Sūrah 50, Qāf, deals mostly with eschatological realities:

And listen on the Day when the caller calls from near at hand, on the Day when they hear the Cry of Truth; that is the Day of coming forth. . . . That Day the earth is split asunder from about them—as they hasten forth. That is a gathering easy for Us. We know best that which they say. Thine is not to compel them. So remind, by means of the Quran, those who fear My Threat. (50:41–42, 44–45)

In another sūrah, human beings are described as locusts: So turn away from them (the disbelievers) on the Day wherein the caller will call unto a terrible thing. With their eyes humbled they emerge from the graves as if they were scattered locusts, scrambling toward the caller. The disbelievers say, “This is a calamitous day.” (54:6–8)

Several verses describe this day as extremely difficult for the disbelievers (see, e.g., 74:8–10). Those who had denied it have immense regret, pleading for a second chance. Those who were expecting it are described as having no fear or grief. At this stage, there is no kinship between them (23:101), and on that Day a man will flee from his brother, and his mother and his father, and his spouse and his children (80:34–36).

According to the Prophet, the Resurrection occurs on Friday; thus Muslims are encouraged to prepare every Friday for this event with extra acts of devotion, and religious scholars recommend that the Friday sermon be peppered with reminders of death and the Resurrection. The Prophet stated that the animal kingdom is particularly sensitive to the coming of the eschaton, and in fact we see that animals display agitation just prior to any natural disaster, such as an earthquake. Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī (d. 671/1272) writes:

Once resurrected from their graves, all of humanity is not in one situation; nor will everyone stand together. They differ just as they differed in the worldly abode. There are five stations: the first is the Resurrection itself; the second is the movement and gathering for Judgment; the third is the Reckoning; the fourth is the movement to the place of recompense; and finally, the fifth is taking up residence in one of the two final abodes.

The “return” (maʿād) refers to the restoration of humanity’s place in the Divine Presence that preceded earthly existence. The Quran describes the pretemporal covenant in these terms:

And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their progeny and made them bear witness concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” they said, “Yea, we bear witness”—lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Truly of this we were heedless.” (7:172)

If a true messenger delivers the “reminder” to a community or, as in the case of the Prophet Muhammad, to all of humanity, the covenantal bond, both primordial and binding, should be enough to jar the pre-existent memory of the original covenant that all of Adam’s progeny made with God.

The Gathering (al-Ḥashr)

The next stage of the Afterlife following the Resurrection is known as the Gathering. All the souls are driven without personal volition to what is known as the Plain of the Gathering (arḍ al-maḥshar), which differs from the places of earthly gathering at the end of time. For atheists, this event is humiliating: We shall gather them on the Day of Resurrection upon their faces—blind, dumb, and deaf (17:97). For the righteous, it will be preceded by angels comforting them and reminding them that this is what they were promised. All the souls will find themselves directed to this vast gathering place and assembled with their kindred spirits, the good with the good and the bad with the bad, on that Day.

Once on the Plain of the Gathering, great fear and trepidation will grip most people. The Prophet has said that people will be up to their necks in sweat. The period of waiting here is described as unbearable; for many it is experienced as eons of time. Righteous Muslims will be able to drink from the cistern of the Prophet, and other prophets will have cisterns for their righteous followers. Because of different narrations, some scholars argue this will take place before people are called to cross a traverse (ṣirāt) into Paradise, and some say it will come after it. Still others argue that two cisterns, both called al-Kawthar, exist, one before the Gathering and the other after the traverse. The one who drinks from it will never suffer thirst. In his commentary “The Radiant Pearl” (alKharīdat al-bahiyyah), Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Dardīr (d. 1201/1786) states:

The cistern of the Prophet has reached the level of factual reports given the number of traditions. In the two sound collections (alṢaḥīḥ) of ḥadīth [al-Bukhārī and Muslim] the Prophet said, “My cistern is the length and breadth of a month’s journey. Its angles are equidistant. Its water is whiter than milk. Its odor is that of musk. Its cups are more numerous than the stars. Whoever drinks from it will never thirst.”

The Prophet said that he will know his people from the glow of their lustrations that were performed for their prayers in this world. 31 In other words, the Prophet’s eye can discern what people have done in this world, and those who have been righteous will get to drink from the Prophet’s cistern.

At this point, the next phase ensues, that of the Great Intercession.

The Great Intercession (Shafāʿat al-Kubrā or al-Maqām al-Maḥmūd) The Prophet Muhammad was given by God the highest station, known as “the praiseworthy station,” alluded to in the verse It may be that thy Lord will resurrect thee in a praiseworthy station (17:79). This exalted station is reserved for him for the Day of Judgment, when all of humanity is gathered, naked, desolate, and filled with awe before the Divine Majesty. The Prophet said that, at this point, human beings will seek out Adam, the father of humanity, to intercede on their behalf. He will excuse himself and send them to Noah, who will also decline and send them on to another prophet. This process will continue with the other prophets, each of whom will excuse himself from interceding on their behalf. Finally, humanity will arrive at the last messenger, the Prophet Muhammad, who will accept the task and proceed to intercede with God on behalf of humanity. The prolonged period of waiting will end with his intercession, and the proceedings of the Reckoning will begin. This event occurs, if reckoned in earthly time, after an immense amount of time elapses, described as akin to fifty thousand years (70:4).

The Day of Reckoning (Yawm al-Ḥisāb)

The Day of Reckoning, or Day of Judgment, is mentioned in the opening sūrah of the Quran: Master of the Day of Judgment (1:4). 32 The Quran refers to the Day of Judgment by several names. The most common of these is the Day of Resurrection, or more literally “the Day of Standing” (yawm al-qiyāmah). For example, the Quran says, Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? And what is the recompense of those who do so but disgrace in the life of this world? And on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most terrible punishment (2:85).

Other names used to describe this day include the Day of Division (37:21; 44:40; 77:13–14, 38; 78:17), the Day of Regret (19:39), the Day of Victory (32:29), the Day of coming forth (50:42), the Day of Mutual Calling (40:32), the Day of the Meeting (40:15), the Day of the Imminent Event (40:18), as well as a calamitous day (76:10), a weighty day (76:27), a tremendous day (19:37), a Day in which there is no doubt (3:25), a day wherein there shall be neither bargaining nor befriending (14:31), a Day of Reckoning (38:16, 26, 53; 40:27; cf. 14:41); the Day of the Moment Known (15:38; 38:81); and the Day of the Threat (50:20). It is also called the Last Day (twenty-six places).

The Quran and Ḥadīth describe this time of reckoning as a terrible scene of suffering due to the sins of individuals, and these descriptions are likely to have indirectly inspired Dante’s visions of the Inferno. In fact, Islamic eschatology and the Ascension (miʿrāj) of the Prophet served as a source of inspiration for the whole of the Divine Comedy. According to traditional Islamic sources, arrogant people are resurrected no larger than ants and are stepped on by other people. Those who earn interest and lenders of usurious loans are resurrected as if they were mad; the Quran says, Those who devour usury shall not rise except as he whom Satan has deranged by his touch rises. That is because they say, “Buying and selling are simply like usury,” though God has permitted buying and selling and forbidden usury (2:275).

Those who refused to pay alms (zakāh) or were miserly when asked by those in need have the weight of their wealth tied around their necks on the Day of Judgment: And let not those who are miserly with what God has given them from His Bounty suppose that it is good for them; rather, it is evil for them. On the Day of Resurrection they will be collared by that with which they were miserly (3:180). Embezzlers and hoarders of public wealth are weighted down with what they stole, breaking their backs (6:31). The Quran says, And whosoever defrauds will bring what he obtained by fraud on the Day of Resurrection. Then every soul shall be paid what it has earned in full, and they shall not be wronged (3:161). The Prophet also said that an unjust bigamist who failed to treat his wives with complete equality will come on the Day of Judgment with one-half of his body paralyzed.

Some are raised up blind and ask, “My Lord! Why hast Thou raised me blind, when I used to see?” He will say, “Thus it is. Our signs came unto you, but you forgot them. Even so, this Day shall you be forgotten!” (20:125–26). The inner eye’s blindness here is manifested as the outer eye’s blindness there: Whosoever was blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter, and further astray from the way (17:72). Sinners will be driven to the place of gathering upon their faces (54:48). When the Prophet was asked, “How will they walk on their faces?” he replied, “The One who made them walk on their feet here will make them walk on their faces there.”

In contrast, on that day, those who had performed righteous deeds will find much relief as a result of those deeds, even if those deeds were minute. For example, a just ruler as well as a person who wept alone at night in awe of the Divine are among those granted special shade. The Quran and Ḥadīth also mention certain deeds that lighten the load on that day: And hasten unto forgiveness from your Lord, and for a garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth—prepared for the reverent, who spend in ease and hardship, and curb their rage, and pardon others—and God loves the virtuous (3:133–34). Conscientious people free slaves, build places of worship, call others to prayer, and perform other good deeds. The Quran pronounces this truth in these terms: So whosoever does a mote’s weight of good shall see it. And whosoever does a mote’s weight of evil shall see it (99:7–8).

THE AMASSING OF HUMANITY FOR INSPECTION OF DEEDS (ʿARḌ)

At this stage, human beings are presented before their Lord in ranks, and a profound unveiling occurs that enables them to be cognizant of their Lord, though scholars emphasize that this type of witnessing is not within the created dimensions of time and space. It is at this point that God reveals Himself to humanity and declares to those who rejected the Resurrection that this is indeed the Day that His prophets had promised would arrive:

On the Day . . . they shall be arrayed before thy Lord in ranks. “Indeed, you have come unto Us as We created you the first time. Nay, but you claimed that We would never appoint a tryst for you.” And the Book will be set down. Then thou wilt see the guilty fearful of what is in it. And they will say, “Oh, woe unto us! What a book this is! It leaves out nothing, small or great, save that it has taken account thereof.” And they find present [therein] whatsoever they did. And thy Lord wrongs no one. (18:47–49)

Elaborating upon this event, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar al-Awzāʿī (d. 157/774) stated that people would see their lives displayed before them moment by moment

THE RECKONING

The next phase involves the actual accounting of deeds and a personal defense of one’s life. The first chapter of the Quran begins, Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment (1:2–4). The second verse declares God’s lordship, and the fourth, according to the Andalusian exegete Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Juzayy al-Kalbī (d. 741/1340), summarizes the entire eschaton in describing God as Master (or Sovereign) of the Day of Judgment. The Arabic word for “judgment” or “reckoning” in this context is dīn, which usually means “religion” and is related to the word for “debt.” The Day of dīn can thus be understood as the day when debts fall due. Many verses in the Quran reiterate the accounting that is constantly taking place during our life by God through the angels who record all of our deeds. However, it is not only the angels carrying out this recording. The Quran states that our own body parts and organs are recording our actions and will testify for or against us: On the day their tongues, their hands, and their feet bear witness against them as to that which they used to do (24:24); On that Day We shall seal their mouths. Their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to that which they used to earn (36:65); And they will say to their skins, “Why did you bear witness against us?” They will reply, “God, Who makes all things speak, made us speak. He created you the first time, and unto Him shall you be returned” (41:21).

Even the rocks, trees, and animals will have their day in court on that day. Many aḥādīth also indicate that the recording of deeds is a constant process. The Quran says that on that Day people will exclaim, What a book this is! It leaves out nothing, neither small or great (18:49). Sūrah 36, Yā Sīn, recited daily by countless Muslims and especially for the dying and the dead, serves as a cogent meditation on death and contains this reminder:

Thou only warnest whomsoever follows the Reminder and fears the Compassionate unseen. So give such a one glad tidings of forgiveness and a generous reward. Truly We give life to the dead and record that which they have sent forth and that which they have left behind. And We have counted all things in a clear registry. (36:11–12)

Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbī writes that that which they have sent forth refers to the actions that will greet people in the Afterlife and that which they have left behind refers to the good deeds that carry on after their death, such as knowledge or perpetual charity. The registry refers to either what the Quran terms the Preserved Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ; 85:22) or the scrolls of our deeds also mentioned in several verses (see 17:14; 80:10, 13–16).

The Last Day is mentioned in the Quran as the Day on which some faces shall be radiant, gazing upon their Lord, and some faces shall be scowling, knowing that a spine-crushing calamity will befall them (75:22–25). Due to the terror of the day, people will initially abandon one another and be concerned only with their own reckoning:

On a day when the sky is as molten lead, and the mountains are as carded wool, and no loyal friend shall ask about a loyal friend, [though] they will be made to see them. The guilty would wish to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day at the price of his children, his spouse and his brother, his kin who had sheltered him, and all who are on the earth, that it might save him. (70:8–14)

Actions will be accounted for in a great courtroom setting with God as Judge, with witnesses, and with sentencing and pleas for clemency by the prophets, saints, and martyrs. Even the earth will testify against those who wronged her

When the earth is shaken with her shaking, and the earth yields up her burdens, and man says, “What ails her?” That Day she shall convey her chronicles; for thy Lord inspired her. That Day mankind shall issue forth upon diverse paths to witness their deeds. So whosoever does a mote’s weight of good shall see it. And whosoever does a mote’s weight of evil shall see it. (99:1–8)

The sūrah about the Day of Judgment entitled “The Undeniable Reality” (alḤāqqah) says: On that Day the Event shall befall, the sky shall be rent asunder; for that Day it shall be frail. And the angels shall be at its sides; that Day eight shall carry the Throne of your Lord above them. That Day you shall be exposed; no secret of yours shall be hidden (69:15–18). This refers to the Reckoning, which is the stage before the determination of humanity’s final abode in either Paradise or Hell. This stage involves a thorough questioning that differs from the first questioning in the grave and involves all aspects of one’s entire life. A wellknown ḥadīth details the five central questions asked: “The progeny of Adam will not move along on the Day of Judgment until asked about five things: regarding his life and how he spent it; regarding his youth and how he exhausted it; regarding his wealth and how he earned it; regarding that for which he used his wealth; and regarding his knowledge and whether he acted upon it

The Quran also states that individuals are only asked about their own deeds and are neither accountable for others’ nor questioned as members of a collective body, such as a nation or community: That is a community that has passed away. Theirs is what they earned and yours is what you earned, and you will not be questioned about that which they used to do (2:134), since none shall bear the burden of another (6:164; 17:15). However, some people bear responsibility for those who are in their trust, such as children and dependents, and rulers have a responsibility for those they rule, since the Quran enjoins, O you who believe! Shield yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is men and stones (66:6). In this vein, the Prophet said, “God will ask every entrusted person about his trust, whether he guarded it or neglected it. A man will even be asked about the members of his household.”

The greatest trust, however, is a person’s heart and the inroads into it, which include his or her thoughts and actions. The Quran declares people’s responsibility for their hearing, sight, and heart: And pursue not that whereof you have no knowledge. Truly hearing, and sight, and the heart—all of these will be called to account (17:36). Guarding the eyes is enjoined in the Quran as purer for them (24:30; see also 33:53). The goal is to maintain the purity of the heart through struggle and vigilance, so that the soul is divested of sins and can arrive on the Day of Judgment in a prepared state, since it is the Day when neither wealth nor children avail, save for him who comes to God with a sound heart (26:88–89).

The tribulations of the world will manifest themselves as great benefits on that day, as they will become sources of freeing people from their sins. Commenting on the ḥadīth, “Surely God will try the believer, but God only gives him tribulation due to his great worth to God,” ʿAbd al-Raʾūf al-Munāwī (d. 1031/1621) writes:

Tribulation has great benefits and Divine Wisdom, some of which only reveal themselves in the Afterlife. Others are discernible here, such as recognizing Lordly might, seeking refuge in our servitude to God, and realizing that none can escape the Divine Decree, that destiny will not be thwarted. The reason is that God has decreed that Paradise is proscribed for anyone who has foulness in his heart. Such a person can only enter Paradise after God purifies him and removes traces of filth because Paradise is the abode of the pure, as in 39:73 when the believers are told, “You are now pure; so enter Paradise for eternity.”

The Prophet has said that people are first taken to account for their acts of devotion, first and foremost ritual prayer. Then they are taken to account for their conduct with and toward others, and in this category the enormities of bloodshed and murder are dealt with first. Despite the seemingly anthropomorphic nature of Quranic descriptions of God on the Day of Judgment, the vast majority of Muslim exegetes and theologians maintain that these are not descriptions that can be understood literally, but rather should be understood as being without modality. Commenting on the line from the widely accepted statement of Islamic creed al-Kharīdat al-bahiyyah, “Required is faith in the Reckoning, the Gathering, and reward and punishment,” al-Dardīr writes:

This means that God will stand His servants at the place of gathering (maḥshar) to see their actions, words, deeds, and belief in complete detail. This means that God will speak to them in His eternal Words, with neither letter nor sound. He will remove their veil so that they hear it; it is also possible that it will be with a speech that He creates to indicate to them His eternal, uncreated Speech; it could also mean that the angels speak on God’s behalf, or both.

THE LESSER INTERCESSIONS

The second group of intercessions (shafāʿāt) occurs after the Reckoning. The Prophet said, “My intercession on the Day of Judgment is for the people who committed enormities from my community.” 42 The Quran states: They intercede not, save for one with whom He is content. They are wary, for fear of Him (21:28); They have no power of intercession, save the one who has made a pact with the Compassionate (19:87; see also 20:109); And intercession will benefit none with Him, save whomsoever He gives leave (34:23). Some Islamic schools have rejected this intercession based upon other verses that apparently disallow it, such as 2:48, And be mindful of a day when no soul will avail another soul in any way, and no intercession shall be accepted from it, nor ransom taken from it; nor shall they be helped. Most exegetes, however, interpret this verse to mean that intercession will not be accepted before permission is given, during the Reckoning itself (see 2:48c; 2:255c).

Once people are condemned for their actions, the prophets are the first to intercede on behalf of their respective communities; then the righteous saints (ṣiddiqūn) intercede, then the martyrs, then those who were guardians of the Quran through memory and observance of its guidelines, and finally the righteous among the believers. The Prophet intercedes on behalf of his entire community after his great intercession for all of humanity. The Prophet also intercedes on behalf of those condemned, even among the disbelievers, in order that their punishment might be less severe. Finally, he intercedes on behalf of those who committed major sins, asking that they be removed from the Hellfire. The possibility of forgiveness is infinite. The Quran states: Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will (4:48). Even this declaration applies only to idolatry practiced after a people have received a revelation and the prohibition of idolatry has been made clear: So do not set up equals unto God, knowingly (2:22).

RECEIVING THE SCROLL OF DEEDS (TATAYYUR AL-ṢUḤUF)

After the Reckoning, the receiving of the scroll of deeds occurs and individuals are each given their own book. The books, which contain all human actions, each in an individual scroll, are described as “flying” in a flurry of apparent chaos, until each arrives at its appointed person. The believers receive theirs in their right hand and rejoice, while the hypocrites and disbelievers are given theirs in the left hand from behind their backs (see 69:19–37; 84:6–12). The Quran also refers to the book of deeds as a book inscribed (kitāb marqūm; 83:9) in which all of one’s beliefs, intentions, words, and deeds are recorded, as in 21:94: And whosoever performs righteous deeds and is a believer, there shall be no ingratitude for his endeavor, and surely We shall write [it] down for him. The Prophet said, however, that only good intentions are counted in the book; bad intentions upon which one does not act or that do not reach the level of assertion (ʿazīmah) are not recorded.

People will be gathered for review of their records as communities with their distinctive teachings (but the Reckoning and Judgment fall due upon people as individuals): And thou wilt see every community upon its knees. Every community is called to its book: “Today you will be recompensed for that which you used to do” (45:28). The Quran asserts that several groups are saved if they believed and performed righteous deeds: Truly those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabeans—whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord. No fear shall come upon them; nor shall they grieve (2:62; cf. 5:69). 43 The Andalusian sage Ibn ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) writes about the verse Be mindful of a trial that will not befall only those among you who do wrong; and know that God is severe in retribution (8:25) as follows:

What punishment is greater than the one that afflicts the deserving and the undeserving, the oppressor and the oppressed, the innocent and the guilty? But such is the nature of the limits of this world, because it is a mixed abode. Its natural evil does not discriminate. But the next life differs entirely, because it is the abode of discrimination. Hence, the punishments are meted out only to those deserving.

The Quran deems a “tribulation” (fitnah) that occurs in this world as natural rather than as a punishment, since it befalls both the deserving and the undeserving; however, in the next world, only those deserving of punishment receive it. Hence, the books in which our actions are recorded are done in an entirely discriminatory fashion: no one is wronged or falls victim to the apparently whimsical vicissitudes of natural or general evil that is the lot of this world.

People will be called to read their records and forced to acknowledge that what has been recorded is true: Read your book! On this Day, your soul suffices as a reckoner against you (17:14). One of the ninety-nine Names of God is “the Veiler of Wrongs” (al-Sātir). In a beautiful ḥadīth, the Prophet says of the Day of Judgment:

God will draw near his believing servant and place him in a private chamber and veil him from others. He will then ask him to acknowledge his sins, showing each one to him saying, “Do you remember this? Do you acknowledge this? Do you recall this?” until He forces him to acknowledge them, and the man believes that he will perish from them; God then says, “Just as I veiled them for you in that life, I forgive you for them today”; then he is given the book containing only his good deeds.

This is known as the “easy reckoning” in the Quran: As for one who is given his book in his right hand, he will be reckoned with an easy reckoning (84:7–8).

THE WEIGHING ON THE SCALES (AL-MĪZĂN)

 Once the records of the deeds are distributed among the resurrected, the weighing of actions on the scales takes place: We shall set the just scales for the Day of Resurrection, and no soul shall be wronged in aught. Even if it be the weight of a mustard seed, We shall bring it. And We suffice as Reckoner (21:47; see also 7:8; 23:102–3; 101:6–11). Scholars have differed as to the nature of the scales. Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al-Būṭī (d. 1434/2013) says:

We must, as the scholars have argued, withhold judgment as to what types of scales are used, their nature and quality. Is it one scale for all of humanity, or several? Such questions have no definitive answer. We believe in the scales as we have been informed by the Majestic and Exalted without tasking our intellects or imaginations with interpretations or metaphorical readings of the verses.

This interpretation has been the dominant position of traditional schools of theology throughout Islamic history. However, there are verses that describe the weighing of actions, and it is the good deeds that have greater weight, being ten times to seven hundred times heavier than evil deeds. And according to the Prophet, “The weightiest of things in the scales on the Day of Judgment are exalted and beautiful character and morality.” 47 Nonetheless, the burden of unabsolved sins is felt by those who were heedless of the Reckoning: Lost indeed are those who deny the meeting with God till, when the Hour comes upon them suddenly, they say, “Alas for us, that we neglected it!” They will bear their burdens upon their backs. Behold! Evil is that which they bear! (6:31). ʿĀʾishah, the Prophet’s wife, said:

I asked the Prophet if people would remember their families on the Day of Judgment, and he replied that they would not think of anyone during three stages of that day: at the scales, until they knew whether their deeds were light or weighty; at the distribution of the records, until they knew if they received them with their right or left hand; and at the traverse, when Hell is before them, until they pass over it.

The Prophet said that people will have recourse on the Day of Judgment to right the wrongs that were perpetrated against them. Even the animals that were abused by their owners or mistreated by other animals will take retribution. Those who slandered others will have their account of good deeds transferred to the accounts of the victims of their slander. The Prophet once said:

“Do you know who the bankrupt one is?” The Companions replied, “For us, he is the one without gold or silver.” To this, the Prophet responded, “Rather, he is the one who comes on the Day of Judgment with many good deeds but because he had slandered so and so and struck so and so, his deeds are taken from him and given to those he wronged until he has none left for himself.”

The settling of scores involves everyone, whether believer or disbeliever. Any part of the earth that was wronged, even a river that was polluted, will testify against the perpetrators of the crimes. The Prophet stated, “Take care of this earth, for she is your mother,” 50 and “No one wrongs her except that he is shackled with seven earths around his neck on the Day of Judgment.” 51 These scores will be settled during the Judgment, but another set of scores among the believers is settled before entering Paradise.

Once the records are given, people’s fates are determined as the judgment is given in each individual case.

The Cistern (al-Ḥawḍ)

After the Judgment, the multitudes proceed on to the traverse or bridge, but before that event, the believers are given a final thirst-quenching drink, after which they will never thirst again. Differences of opinion abound about the Prophet’s cistern. As mentioned, other prophets have cisterns for their communities to relieve them from the thirst of the Day of Judgment, but the Prophet Muhammad was given a special cistern to quench the multitudes from his community. A sūrah of the Quran entitled al-Kawthar (“Abundant Good”) states: Truly We have bestowed abundant good upon thee. So pray to thy Lord and sacrifice. Truly thine enemy shall be the one without posterity (108:1–3). Regarding al-Kawthar, the Prophet said:

It is a river in Paradise my Lord has promised me and it has abundant goodness. It is also a cistern that my community will alight upon on the Day of Judgment. Its cups are the number of stars; but some are kept away, and I will say, “My Lord, he is of my community,” and it will be said to me, “Thou dost not know what he did after thee.”

The last point refers to apostasy and heresy.

The cistern is found before the testing of the believers and is an indication that the cistern is both before the traverse and fed by the river al-Kawthar and then again appears after the traverse in Paradise. Al-Būṭī writes:

It is clear that the cistern and al-Kawthar are one and the same. Their source is in Paradise. So what flows from it is called alKawthar, and what has collected from it outside of Paradise is called the cistern. The believers, who had not changed their faith or innovated anything before they enter Paradise, alight upon it, and the Messenger of God greets them at the cistern. Moreover, the traditions about the cistern are so numerous they have reached the level of factual, multiply transmitted proof

The Traverse or Bridge (al-Ṣirāt)

The final stage of the Day of Judgment is crossing the traverse or bridge. Once the books have been assigned and deeds weighed on the scales, each individual’s fate is made known. What remains is the movement to one’s final abode and the possibility of intercession. People move toward what the Prophet described as “a darkened plane” as they approach the traverse, which is described in the Ḥadīth as a bridge that spans the ground of gathering (arḍ al-maḥshar) and Paradise, while crossing over one of the valleys of Hell.

The traverse is mentioned only in a few Quranic verses, such as 36:65–66: On that Day We shall seal their mouths. Their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will bear witness to that which they used to earn. And had We willed, We would have blotted out their eyes. Then they would race to the path (the traverse), yet how would they see? Other verses are understood as allusions to it (e.g., 19:66–73; 36:63). The discussion is, however, much clearer in the Ḥadīth, where it is said that it is “finer than a hair and sharper than a sword,” 54 and people cross it like lightning, the wind, birds flying, or camels trotting, “until finally a man comes who is unable to walk but can barely crawl. On each side of the traverse are suspended metal hooks [in another narration, ‘only God knows the vastness of their dimensions’] that are programmed to snatch people from the traverse. Some will be wounded by them, but pass safely nonetheless. Others are thrown by them violently into the Hellfire.”

Some exegetes argue that the disbelievers are sent directly from the scales to Hell and that only the believers and hypocrites cross the traverse. The hypocrites are included among the believers at this stage; they see a clear light emanating from the true believers that enables them to find their way to the traverse:

On the Day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say to those who believe, “Wait for us that we may borrow from your light,” it will be said, “Turn back and seek a light!” Thereupon a wall with a gate will be set down between them, the inner side of which contains mercy, and on the outer side of which lies punishment. They will call unto them, “Were we not with you?” They reply, “Indeed! But you tempted yourselves, bided your time, and doubted; and false hopes deluded you till the Command of God came, and the Deluder deluded you concerning God. So this day no ransom shall be taken from you, or from those who disbelieved.” Your refuge shall be the Fire; it shall be your master. What an evil journey’s end! (57:13–15)

Several traditions relate that after the dispersal of peoples’ books of deeds, the hypocrites and believers move from the place of judgment to a dark plane. At this point, the light of the believers’ actions reveals itself; the greater the good deeds, the greater the light. The hypocrites see this light and move toward the believers, begging to borrow from their light. The angels tell them to find their own light. Regarding this matter, the Prophet stated:

God will call humanity by their mothers’ last names on the Day of Judgment in order to veil [anyone who may have been illegitimate]. At the traverse, God will give each believer a light and each hypocrite a light, but when they are on the traverse, the light will be taken from the hypocrites, and they will say [to the believers], “Wait for us and give us your light.” The believers will say, “O God, complete our light,” and no one will remember any other.

The Companion ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ stated that the wall that descends as a barrier between the believers and the hypocrites is the Eastern wall of the alAqṣā Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The Golden Gate and the Door of Mercy are located on this wall. It was at this place that the Prophet saw Hell on his nocturnal Ascension (al-miʿrāj). 57 Some scholars believe that the barrier on the Day of Judgment is literally the Eastern wall, while others say it is a re-creation or an archetype that the wall in this world reflects.

This stage of the Day of Judgment is reserved for believers from all of the respective prophetic traditions. Those who rejected the truth will not cross the traverse, but instead follow their false gods into the abyss of Hell. The idols and human beings taken as gods will lead their followers into Hell, as is said of Pharaoh in 11:98: He shall go before his people on the Day of Resurrection and lead them to the Fire. Evil indeed is the watering place to which they are led! Some exegetes, however, argue that everyone, including the disbelievers, will cross the traverse, a disagreement based upon differing interpretations of there is not one of you, but that he will approach it (19:71).

The Arched Bridge into Paradise (al-Qanṭarah)

Reaching the other side of the traverse, believers will come to an arched bridge separating Hell from Paradise. Before the believers can cross this bridge, they must first resolve conflicts and grudges and ask forgiveness from those they have wronged. Lesser intercessions are also made at this stage for those who did not make it across the traverse. The righteous, martyrs, and those who lived by the Quran are permitted to intercede for the less fortunate. The prophets will intercede for their respective communities and finally God Himself removes those whom He pleases from the Hellfire. The next stage is the Afterlife of eternal bliss or damnation.

Hell and Its Torments

The Quran is replete with descriptions of the terror of the Afterlife and the torments of Hell. Unlike the Torah or even the New Testament, which contain comparatively little detail about the Afterlife, the Quran provides vivid images of the horrors that await ingrates and deniers, as in 32:20–21: And as for those who are iniquitous, their refuge is the Fire. Whenever they desire to go forth therefrom, they are returned unto it, and it is said unto them, “Taste the punishment of the Fire that you used to deny.” And We make them taste the lesser punishment before the greater punishment, that they might turn back (cf. 22:22).

Hell is reflected in the hellish experiences we endure in this world. The temporary torments of this world are reminders of the permanent ones awaiting the unrepentant among us in the next world. The purpose of these reminders is to engender a profound sense of vigilance in this life. The unrelenting evils are warded off with taqwā, often translated “piety,” “duty,” “reverence,” or “conscientiousness,” whose cultivation is a central moral theme in the Quran. Its root meaning is “to ward off evil,” and as employed in the Quran it also indicates fear, respect, and reverence for God. The first injunction in the Quran is, O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you, and those who were before you, that haply you may be reverent (2:21), that is, people of taqwā.

In the Quranic ethos, fear of Hell is to be cultivated in conjunction with hope for Paradise. The conscious awareness of God’s possible punishment engenders in this world an awe that can help one to live a morally scrupulous life. But the Quran describes human beings as weak by nature (4:28). This weakness leads to sin, and sin without repentance leads to Hell. Thus, another major theme of the Quran is repentance before death. The Quran hints that, if people simply followed the inclinations of their carnal soul (al-nafs) and refused to submit to God and His Law, Hell would be their natural destiny.

The Prophet stated, “Guard yourselves against the Fire, even with the charity of half a date, and if you do not find even that, then with good words.” 58 The concept that the Inferno is the natural destination of those who do not accept Divine Guidance is rooted in the Quranic understanding of freedom of choice. Human beings are free to choose, but embedded in the Arabic word for choice is “goodness.” Ikhtiyār means “choice,” but also it literally means “to choose good.” To relinquish conscious choice is to capitulate to the instinctive tendencies of the bestial or lower self. Alluding to this fact, the Prophet said, “Hell is surrounded by desirous things and Paradise by things that are disliked.”

Fallen people, cut off from their original and primordial nature, or fiṭrah, will naturally gravitate toward what is harmful, but by exercising choice correctly, they incline to do good and thus pave a path to Paradise. Hence, to exercise freedom by choosing what God has willed for His creatures is to choose Paradise. However, those who reject this choice are seen as ingrates who refuse God’s greatest gift, free will—the ability to choose God freely as opposed to relinquishing that choice and turning one’s back on God. As stated in 2:256: There is no coercion in religion. Sound judgment has become clear from error; and in 18:29: So whosoever will, let him believe, and whosoever will, let him disbelieve.

In other words, if left to our own devices we simply follow the road to Hell, but we must choose to turn back through repentance. The Arabic word for “repentance” is tawbah, which literally means “to turn around.” The prophets are those who have been placed upon our path as warners. They call to us and exclaim: “Stop! Turn around. You are heading the wrong way.” They also give good news concerning the road that leads to God. For many who failed to “turn around” in this world, purgatory and even Hell will be places of purification. This choice to return freely to God by acting as His vicegerents and caretakers in this worldly abode is related to the sacred trust (amānah) that even the mountains refused to bear.

The experience of Hell is neither one of life, which is essentially enjoyable, nor one of death, which is desirably avoidable in this life yet yearned for in Hell; thus one neither dies therein nor lives (87:13; cf. 20:74). The “physical” sufferings of Hell are the exteriorization of the inner reality of all who deny the blessings of existence by denying the Creator and Sustainer of those blessings. Thus the Quran repeatedly asks, So which of your Lord’s boons do you two deny? (55:13–77 passim)

THE PORTALS OF HELL

Like Paradise, Hell is described as having portals or gates: And verily Hell shall be their tryst, all together. Seven gates it has, and for each gate is appointed a separate portion of them (15:43–44). The Prophet stated, “Surely Hell has seven gates. One of them is reserved for those who draw a sword against my community.”

THE NAMES OF HELL

Hell is called by many names in the Quran. The most common is simply “the Fire” (al-nār), which occurs over a hundred times. The next most common names are Hell (jahannam) and the Hellfire (jaḥīm), occurring seventy-seven and twenty-six times, respectively. Alongside these two terms, five other names are prominent: the blaze (saqar), the flame (laẓā), the furnace (al-ḥuṭamah), the roasting fire (al-saʿīr), and the abyss (al-hāwiyyah). According to al-Ghazzālī, the seven portals and seven names represent the seven sinful members of the body through which people are led to the fire: the tongue, eyes, mouth, ears, stomach, hands, and feet.

THE SINS OF HELL

Of all the sins, those of the tongue are the most damning. The Prophet replied to a man’s question about whether people would be taken to account for their words, “Does anything cast people into Hell on their faces other than the harvest of their tongues?” 62 The Quran promises Hell for several specific offenses if those sins were not forgiven through the seeking of repentance: breaking God’s covenant (2:83–85), usury and economic exploitation (2:275–76), murder (4:29–30), embezzling the wealth of orphans (4:10), military desertion from a Muslim army (8:15–16), and hoarding wealth (104:2). But of all the sins mentioned, the one unpardonable sin is that of idolatry once knowledge of God’s Unity has been made clear: So do not set up equals unto God, knowingly (2:22); and Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him (4:48). However, the meaning of idolatry is far from simply “worshipping idols.” The sin that is unpardonable is denying God’s Reality, which is essentialized in His absolute Unity and Power. Nothing besides God has ultimate power. He alone is uniquely independent. All else is utterly dependent upon God, and to assert otherwise is to fall into idolatry.

For the mystics, the great idol is the carnal self (al-nafs), which claims to exist independently of the Divine. There is also the idolatry of making “the service greater than God,” which occurs in self-absolutizing religion when people arrogate to themselves the mind of God and force their misguided conclusions on others as if they were gods with the right to choose, for example, who lives and who dies. It is human beings who create idols, and what they manufacture is an unpardonable sin in Islam: Do you worship that which you carve, while God created you and that which you make? (37:95). The qualities of self-absolutizing idolaters are enumerated throughout the Quran as the qualities that lead to Hell: puffed-up pride (istikbār), derision (istihzāʾ), denial (kufr), ingratitude (kufrān), cruelty (qaswah), zealotry (ḥamiyyah), ignorant impudence (jahl), vaingloriousness (fakhr), wantonness (baṭar), and envy (ḥasad). The Prophet said, “Can I not tell you the qualities of the people of Hell? The people of Hell are every arrogant, pride-filled, rude, and cruel tyrant.

THE COMPANIONS OF HELL

The Quran uses the idiom inhabitants of the Fire to identify two groups that are mentioned and a third that exegetes say is implied. The first group comprises the angels assigned as the caretakers (khazanah) of Hell. The second category refers to the disbelievers who are destined for Hell: But those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, it is they who are the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein (2:39). Exegetes explain that the third category comprises believers who have committed sins, but are redeemed through God’s Forgiveness and Grace or are granted that honor of redemption through the intercession of one of the prophets or righteous servants.

FOOD AND CLOTHING IN HELL

The descriptions of Hell in the Quran are blood-curdling. The inhabitants drink boiling water and pus. 65 They eat thorny plants and a bitter desert fruit known as zaqqūm, mentioned three times in the Quran (37:62; 44:43–46; 56:52–53). Because the people of Hell have some knowledge of the states of those in Paradise, a dimension of mental anguish is heaped on to their physical suffering. Hell’s denizens beg for food and drink from the people of Paradise, but the only response is God’s decision to punish them (37:50–57).

THE PERPETUITY OF HELL

During the early period of Islam, scholars differed about the duration of Hell. The majority of them argued that Hell is perpetual and an actualized state that never ends. But some groups argued otherwise, citing verses that hinted at an end to Hell’s torment and arguing that this was more consistent with God’s saying, “My Mercy exceeds My Wrath.” 66 Thus the scholars fell into three camps. The first believed that although Hell did not end, its punishments and torments did. Their proof for this was the verse: Truly Hell lies in ambush, a place unto which the rebellious return, to tarry therein for ages (78:21–23). This was the opinion of Aḥmad ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728/1328), Ibn Qayyim alJawziyyah (d. 751/1350), and Ibn ʿArabī; a similar opinion that the majority of Hell’s denizens are ultimately released also appears to have been held by alGhazzālī, as is evident in his Fayṣal al-tafriqah (Decisive Criterion). The second camp comprised the annihilationists, who argued that Hell is extinguished entirely. Finally, the last group comprised the majority of scholars, who adhered to the notion of perpetual punishment understood literally.

Ibn ʿAbbās and others among the first community and Companions of the Prophet, however, relate statements that, nonetheless, indicate the vast Mercy of God in the Afterlife, such as, “Surely a day will come over Hell when it will be like a field of corn that has dried up after flourishing for a while.” Stronger still is the following sound ḥadīth, “Then God will say, ‘The angels, the prophets, and the faithful have all in their turn interceded for the sinners, and now there remains none to intercede for them except the most Merciful of those who show mercy.’ So, God will then remove a handful of people from the Fire who never worked any good.” The Quran also states: As for those who are wretched, they shall be in the Fire, wherein there shall be for them groaning and wailing, abiding therein for so long as the heavens and the earth endure, save as thy Lord wills. Surely thy Lord does whatsoever He desires (11:106–7). The following verse then describes Paradise: And as for those who are felicitous, they shall be in the Garden, abiding therein for so long as the heavens and the earth endure, save as thy Lord wills—a gift unfailing (11:108).

WOMEN AND THE HELLFIRE

A common misconception among some Muslims is that the majority of the inhabitants of Hell are women. This arises from an often quoted ḥadīth, “I looked into Hell and saw that the majority of its inhabitants were women.” But another ḥadīth, almost universally ignored, states, “I entered Paradise and found that the majority of its inhabitants were women.” Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd alRaḥmān al-Sakhāwī (d. 902/1497) says, “No contradiction exists.” For instance, we could consider the former to refer to its initial inhabitants and the latter to Paradise once people have been purified and prepared for it. It should also be noted that historically women have comprised the majority of the world’s population.

Paradise: Its People and Its Blessings

Ibn ʿAbbās, the cousin of the Prophet and one of the first great exegetes of the Quran, stated, “There is nothing in Paradise related to this world except the names.” In a ḥadīth whose authenticity is widely attested, the Prophet said, “God says, ‘I have prepared for my righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what never occurred to the heart of anyone,’ or recite if you like, No soul knows what comfort is kept hidden for it as a recompense for that which they used to do [32:17]”. Despite the unknowable nature of the Afterlife, ample descriptions are given throughout the Quran that both delight and terrify, but are clearly meant only to approximate our understanding of the ineffable. When asked, “Of what is Paradise made?” the Prophet replied, using a symbolic language, “Bricks of gold and bricks of silver. Its floor is of pure musk. The stones of Paradise are pearls and rubies. Its earth is saffron. The one who enters it is blessed, never experiences suffering, dwells therein eternally, and knows no death. Clothes do not wear out, and youth never fades.”

The essence of Paradise is mercy, which Islamic spirituality identifies with an inner dimension more apparent in the female nature. In this context it should be recalled that the Arabic word for “womb” is raḥim, which is cognate with and shares the triliteral root of the word for “mercy,” which is raḥmah. Such realities must be taken into consideration in imagining the spiritual role of women and their presence as natural inhabitants of Paradise in the form of houris.

As for the structure of Paradise, it is said in traditions that its gates are eight in number. The Prophet stated, “None of you performs lustrations before prayer, does it well, and then says, ‘I testify that there is but one God and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger’ except that all eight gates of Paradise are opened for him, and he may enter from any one he so chooses.” The Prophet also said, “I will come to the gate of the Garden on the Day of Judgment and request that it be opened. The one charged with it will say, ‘And who are you?’ I will reply, ‘Muhammad.’ He will then say, ‘I was commanded not to open it for anyone before you.’”

The people of Paradise are ranked in degrees. Sūrah 56, al-Wāqiʿah, marks them as the companions of the right and the foremost, while the companions of the left mentioned in this sūrah are those who are deprived of the paradisal state. The foremost are described as

the ones brought nigh, in Gardens of bliss—many from those of old, and few from those of later times—upon embroidered couches, reclining upon them, facing one another. Immortal youths wait upon them with goblets, ewers, and a cup from a flowing spring, wherefrom they suffer neither headache nor stupefaction, and with fruits as they choose, and the meat of birds as they desire, and [there shall be] wide-eyed maidens, the likeness of concealed pearls, as a recompense for that which they used to do. (56:11–24)

As for those on the right, they are the ones who are given their books in their right hands. The same sūrah describes them as the companions of the right: And the companions of the right; what of the companions of the right? Among thornless lote trees, clustered plantains, and extended shade, gushing water, and abundant fruit, neither out of reach, nor forbidden, and [upon] raised beds. Truly We brought them into being as a [new] creation, then made for them virgins, amorous peers, for the companions of the right—many from those of old, and many from those of later times. (56:27–40)

As they enter paradisal Gardens, the believers are greeted by angels who say, Enter . . . in peace, secure . . . as brothers, upon couches, facing one another (15:46–47). It is also said that the people of Paradise hear no idle talk therein, nor incitement to sin, save that “Peace! Peace!” is uttered (56:25–26), and that when they reach it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say unto them, “Peace be upon you; you have done well; so enter it, to abide [therein]” (39:73; cf. 13:22–24).

The age of the people of Paradise is said to be thirty years, considered the prime of life in Arabia. The Prophet stated, “Whoever dies in this world, either young or old, will be restored to the age of thirty in Paradise and will never increase in age; likewise for the denizens of Hell.” 77 Echoing Biblical descriptions, the Quran describes the Garden as having rivers of milk, wine, and honey (47:15). Its inhabitants also enjoy what is described as a camphor drink and one of ginger as well (76:5). In addition, wells spring forth when one desires to drink (76:6). Though, according to most authorities, animals of this world will be turned to dust on the Day of Judgment, those that were beloved pets of the righteous in this life will also appear in Paradise to accompany their owners. There are other animals in Paradise as well. In a sound tradition, the Prophet described the horses of Paradise, and a man asked, “Will there be camels?” The Prophet replied, “In Paradise is whatever pleases you and delights your eye.” 78 The food of Paradise is described as delicious fruits, such as grapes, pomegranates, bananas, and dates; aromatic herbs; drinks; and various meats, especially the meats of fowl. The body, apparently, will also have a type of metabolism, as it did in this life. The Prophet explained that the inhabitants of Paradise neither urinate nor defecate; instead they perspire a perfumed musk scent.

The descriptions of the sensual delights of Paradise in the Quran and the Ḥadīth have historically caused many non-Muslims much consternation. And although no soul knows what comfort is kept hidden for it as a recompense for that which they used to do (32:17), the descriptions seem to indicate that the delights of this world shall have their counterparts in kind, however different in degree, in the next life. The delights of Paradise are “likened” to the delights of this lower world, however, “because of the interconnection between all possible states of experience; they are ‘unlike’ them because of the incommensurability between different dimensions or levels of reality.” Earthly delights are in fact reflections of paradisal ones.

The wide-eyed maidens, or houris, of Paradise, as mentioned in several verses, are described as untouched and buxom (55:56; 78:33). They are pure companions for the righteous. Some exegetes argue that the houris are the spouses from this world who are purified and whose virginity is restored. Others maintain that they are uniquely created for Paradise. They represent lovingkindness (ʿarub) and are of the same age (38:52; 78:33). Their power is in their purity, and the consummation of that loving-kindness is union in Divine proximity. Ibn ʿArabī writes:

In relation to [the Prophet, women] are as the Universal Nature is to God in which He revealed the forms of the cosmos by directing toward it the Divine Will and Command, which, at the level of elemental forms, is symbolized by copulation. . . . Whoever loves a woman in this way loves with Divine Love, while he whose love for them is limited to natural lust lacks true knowledge of that desire.

The joys of Paradise are archetypes of the joys we experience in the earthly realm, including food, drink, and lovemaking. The joy of sexual union can even be seen as a symbol and earthly manifestation of spiritual union. Al-Ghazzālī states:

Man has been made subject to sexual desire for two beneficial reasons. The first of these is that by knowing its delight he is able to draw an analogy which suggests to him what the delight of the Afterlife must be like, for the delight of the sexual act, were it to last, would be the greatest pleasure of the body, just as the pain of a burn is the body’s greatest agony.

According to the Quran, Therein they shall have whatsoever they will; and with Us there is more (50:35). The “more” mentioned in this verse is the beatific vision. The highest and greatest blessing of Paradise is the vision of the Divine, which scholars of Islam have argued occurs with an eternal, nonspatial, and ineffable eye. In his creed, Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 324/935) writes, “The beatific vision is a reality for the people of Paradise without enclosure or modality, just as the Book of God pronounces, Faces that Day shall be radiant, gazing upon their Lord [75:22–23]. Its explanation is as God knows it to be and as He intended.”

Although the Quran suggests in several verses that people enter Paradise as a result of their actions in this world (see, e.g., 32:17), in reality it is ultimately by the Grace of God. Deeds are necessary, but not sufficient. The Prophet said, “None of you will be saved by his actions.” His Companions asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of God!” He replied, “Not even me, unless God envelops me in His Mercy.” 84 Nonetheless, the place of individuals in Paradise and their experience of the Afterlife is, without contradiction, also of course based upon what they have done and thought in this life. The Quran says:

Those who believe and perform righteous deeds shall be made to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein by the Leave of their Lord. Their greeting therein shall be, “Peace!” Hast thou not considered how God sets forth a parable? A good word is as a good tree: its roots firm and its branches in the sky. It brings forth fruit in every season, by the Leave of its Lord. And God sets forth parables for mankind, that haply they may remember. (14:23–25)

This parable immediately follows a description of Paradise for those who were righteous on earth. The parable is of the tree of belief. The actions that strengthen it are firmly rooted in this world. However, its branches and fruits are celestial and are obtained in the next world. The seeds of otherworldly fruits must be planted in this world, but are harvested in the next.

The Prophet said, “Let none of you wish for death due to some harm that has afflicted him. However, if he should feel compelled to do so, then, let him at least say, ‘O God, give me life as long as life is better for me; but grant me death, should death be better for me.’” Although the time of death is not to be hastened, those longing for the Divine welcome its inevitable arrival. The Prophet also said, “Death is the great gift of the believer.” Ibn ʿArabī comments on this second ḥadīth, stating:

Today, death is a great gift to a believer. His bier is a comforting transport because it takes him from this world to a place without trial or tribulation. He is neither a loser nor is he cheated. Whoever hopes for centuries here should be reminded that there you have a meeting with the Divine, and an imperishable cosmos. If a believer knew what really came after death, he would say with every breath, “O my Lord, take me now, take me now.”

The Quran is, from one point of view, a reflection on the impermanence of life and a reminder of a coming eternity that knows no death. The Prophet stated:

On the Day of Resurrection, death will be brought forward in the shape of a piebald ram. Then a caller will declare, “O people of Paradise!” Thereupon they will stretch their necks and look carefully. The caller will say, “Do you know this?” They will respond, “Yes, this is death.” All of them will see it. Then it will be announced again, “O people of Hell!” They will stretch their necks and look carefully. The caller will say, “Do you know this?” They will say, “Yes, this is death.” All of them will see it. Then it will be slaughtered, and the caller will say, “O people of Paradise! Eternity for you and no death; O people of Hell! Eternity for you and no death.” Then the Prophet recited, And warn them of the Day of Regret, when the matter will have been decreed, while they are in a state of heedlessness and believe not (19:39).

(Source: HamzaYusuf)

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John Doe

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John Doe

23/3/2019

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John Doe

23/3/2019

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