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Life After Death

Oct 17, 2024 | Articles

Muslims believe that all humans will be resurrected from their graves and judged by Allah based on their deeds. Every individual will be held accountable for their actions in this life. Good deeds, sincere faith, and repentance lead to Paradise/Heaven, while persistent disbelief and sinful behaviour lead to punishment in Hell.

There are several stages that occur after death that Muslims believe in:

Stage 1: The questioning of the grave and then in its bliss or torture,

Stage 2: The resurrection of bodies as they were created originally and the gathering of them to one plain.

Stage 3: The Reckoning and The Scales, then the receiving of one’s book of deeds in either the right or left hand.

Stage 4: Al-Ṣirāṭ[1]. This is a bridge over the surface of the Hellfire that people will have to cross.

Stage 5: Entering Heaven or Hell.

The verdict of the disobedient believer after The Reckoning (if Allah forgives him) is that he will enter Heaven from the very beginning, remaining in it forever, and if He doesn’t forgive him is that he will be tortured in the Hellfire for a period of time according to the degree of his sin then he will come out of it and enter Heaven, remaining in it forever.

What is Heaven? It is an abode of enduring bliss, whatever souls desire and eyes delight in will circulate in it. Heaven contains that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and hasn’t crossed the mind of any human being. Heaven includes spiritual and physical bliss; the spiritual is for the delight of the soul such as glorification, worship, the beatific vision of Allah (exalted is He), and His informing of His everlasting satisfaction with the inhabitants of Heaven. The physical is for the delight of the body such as eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse.

What is Hell? It is an abode of enduring torture. Hell contains all types of unimaginable suffering. Hell includes physical torture and spiritual torture.

Muslims believe that bliss and torture are never-ending in Heaven and Hell, their inhabitants will remain in them forever, and that they both exist right now.

 

[1]  Literally “The Path.”

Divine Decree

Muslims believe that God has knowledge of all that will happen, and everything happens according to His divine plan. While God’s knowledge is absolute, humans have free will to make choices…

Prophets

Muslims believe in a long line of prophets and messengers sent by Allah to guide humanity, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (may God’s peace and blessings be upon all of them). Each prophet conveyed God’s message in a way that was appropriate for their time.

Scripture

A core belief of Islam is that God (exalted is He) has books that He revealed to His prophets wherein He clarified His command, prohibition, promise, and threat as well as informing of past, present, and future incidents.

Angels

Angels are ethereal bodies created from light, meaning that they are normally invisible to human beings. They can, however, be seen if they take on a corporeal form. They have no free will and carry out Allah’s commands in total obedience and without error.

Hajj

The last of the core pillars of Islam is the obligation to perform pilgrimage to Mecca, known as hajj, once in a lifetime if one is financially and physically able to do so. The Quran says, “To Allah is an obligation on people to perform pilgrimage to the House, whoever is able to find a way to do so.”

Fasting Ramadan

One of the core pillars of Islam is the obligation to fast during the month of Ramadan based on the Quranic injunction: “You who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.”

Zakah

The third of the five core pillars of Islam is to pay an amount of one’s wealth to charitable causes, known as zakah in Arabic. The Quran commands Muslims to pay the zakah in several places in the Quran and praises those who “give out from what they have been provided with”

Salah

One of the five core pillars of Islam is to establish five daily prayers, known as salah in Arabic. God instructs Muslims to establish salah 16 times directly and highlights its importance several other times throughout the Quran.

Shahadah

The shahadah means “testification” or “witnessing” in Arabic. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Islam is based on five things: Testification that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, establishing the prayer, giving zakah, fasting Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the House”

Zakah for Reconciling Hearts

Zakah is an obligatory financial act of worship and one of the five pillars or foundations of Islam. The eight categories who are eligible recipients of zakat are restricted and defined by canonical religious texts. In this article, we will discuss the limitations and restrictions around distributing zakat to converts under the purview of the category of “reconciling hearts”…

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