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 According
to the tenets of the Muslim faith, death
is the complete end of physical life and
the beginning of a period of rest until
the day of resurrection when Allah judges
the living and the dead.
Many Muslims believe
that the righteous are able to see visions
of God after death and that the wicked see
visions of hell. Except for these possible
visions of heaven or hell, Muslims believe
the soul remains in a kind of "soul
sleep" until Judgment Day. When the
Day of Judgment arrives, everyone is judged
according to their deeds in life. Many Muslims
believe that non-Muslims can attain heaven
only after a period of purification in the
fires of purgatory.
1. Mebruke's
Near-Death Experience
Melvin Morse reported
the following Muslim near-death experience
in his book, Parting Visions:
Mebruke is a thirty-year-old
Saudi Arabian living in New York City. At
the age of twenty she was swimming in the
Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Italy
when she became tired. As she headed for
shore, she realized that she was too far
out to make it back. She began to struggle
and swallow water. Finally she slipped beneath
the waves.
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"I went
under for the fourth time, and my
body went limp and I wasn't aware
of it anymore. It was at this point
that I saw a beautiful white light.
It was so bright and yet it had
such a calming effect that the more
I looked at it, the calmer I felt.
To this day I can't really say what
that light was. In my religion (Muslim)
there are beings called angels who
are made out of pure white light.
Maybe that is what I saw.
"Anyway,
while I was underwater, I heard
a voice say, 'You are not to die
like this.' Suddenly I felt this
energy shoot through me from my
feet to my head, and at the same
time I seemed to be propelled out
of the water. It was as if someone
was physically bringing me out of
the water, but I can swear that
there was no physical being there.
"I was
moved through the water, I don't
know how else to describe it. Before
long a boat came, and a man reached
over the side and pulled me out.
When he did that, I started to laugh
because I was so glad to be out
of the water."
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2.
The Sufi Way of the Heart
In the eighth
century, a mystical sect of Islam began
which merged the mystical traditions
of the Greeks, Buddhists and Hindus
with traditional Islamic faith. Concepts
found in Sufism can be found in a great
many near-death experiences which have
been reported. The Sufi masters teach
that, after death, a person judges himself
thereby bringing about their own heaven
or hell. Sufism is known as "the
Way of the Heart" and the "Way
of the Pure." It is a means by
which one can move from the lower level
of self to ascend to the Divine Light
that penetrates the entire universe.
This light concept is common to many
other religions as well as the near-death
experience. According to Sufi tradition,
there are many ways to ascend, but the
essence of the path to God is to find
yourself. As the Sufi saying states, "Know
yourself, know your Lord."
3. The
Prophet Muhammad's Journey to Heaven
According
to the Islamic legend called "Miraj,"
the Prophet Muhammad had an experience
that is similar in many respects to
a near-death experience. Muhammad is
said to have ascended to heaven to visit
the seven heavens [and, in some accounts,
the fires of hell] in the company of
the archangel Gabriel. In the Koran,
Muhammad's enemies are quoted as saying
that they would not believe him unless
he ascends to heaven and brings down
a book (Sura 17:92-95).
In Islamic
legend, Muhammad is reported to have
gone on a mysterious night journey into
heaven. Islamic sources state this happened "in
the spirit," his body remaining
behind. In this legend, Muhammad is
prepared for his meeting with God by
the archangels Jibril and Mikail one
evening while he is asleep in the Ka'bah,
the sacred shrine of Mecca. They open
up his body and purify his heart by
removing all traces of error, doubt,
idolatry, and paganism and by filling
it with wisdom and belief. An animal
by the name of Buraq, apparently horse-like
and white, and with a human face, was
provided for a ride from the mosque
in Mecca to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem,
from where he ascended, supposedly on
a ladder of light to the seven heavens.
In the first heaven Muhammad meets Adam;
in the second, John the Baptist and
Jesus; in the third, Joseph; in the
fourth, Enoch; in the fifth, Aaron;
in the sixth, Moses; and in the seventh,
Abraham (who welcomed him as "Good
son and good prophet"). Fifty prayers
were ordained by Allah to be said by
all believers daily. On the journey
back, Moses, in the sixth heaven, encouraged
Muhammad to go back to the seventh heaven
and request a smaller quota, since this
large number would be rather impractical
to execute. Ten daily prayers were deducted.
Again Moses encouraged Muhammad to go
back and ask for still fewer prayers,
which was repeated three times, until
five daily were set for observance.
This Muhammad did not dare query.
The legend
also provides teachings on what to expect
at the time of death. According to legend,
Muhammad states that the ladder on which
he ascended to heaven was "that
to which the dying man looks when death
approaches." A similar concept
is described in medieval literature
where, at death, the soul is escorted
by angels through seven heavens to the
throne of God where it receives a preliminary
reckoning and is then returned to the
grave to await Judgment day.
The following
is the full account Muhammad's Journey
to Heaven from the "Siratu'l Rasul"
vs. 270-271.
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"After the Prophet took
this night journey from
Masjid al-Haram
to Masjid al-Aqsa,
he ascended to the
upper heavens.
When the Prophet and Jibril
arrived at the first
heaven, Jibril
requested the gate to be
opened. The angel assigned
to that gate asked Jibril,
'Who is with you?' Jibril
answered, 'It is Muhammad.'
The angel asked Jibril,
'Was he dispatched? Is it
time for him to ascend to
the heaven?' Jibril said,
'Yes.' So, the gate was
opened for him, and Prophet
Muhammad entered the first
heaven.
"There, Prophet Muhammad
saw Prophet Adam.
To Adam's right, the Prophet
saw some bodies, and to
Adam's left, other bodies.
If Adam would look to his
right he would laugh, and
if he would look to his
left he would cry. Adam
was seeing the souls of
his descendants. Those on
his right were his descendants
who would die as believers
and those on his left were
his descendants who would
die as non-believers.
"Then the Prophet ascended
to the second heaven.
In this second heaven was
where Prophet Muhammad saw
Prophets Jesus
and John the Baptist.
Jesus and John the Baptist
are cousins; their mothers
were sisters. They welcomed
the Prophet and made supplication
for him for good things.
The Prophet ascended to
the third heaven,
where he found Prophet
Joseph. Prophet
Joseph was extremely handsome.
Allah bestowed half
the beauty on Joseph. Joseph
received the Prophet with
a warm welcome and made
supplication for him for
good things.
"Then the Prophet ascended
to the fourth heaven,
where he found Prophet
Enoch. Enoch welcomed
the Prophet and made supplication
for him for good things.
In the fifth heaven,
the Prophet encountered
Aaron,
the brother of Prophet Moses.
In the sixth heaven,
he encountered Prophet
Moses. Each of
these Prophets received
Prophet Muhammad with a
warm welcome and made supplication
for him for good things.
"Then the Prophet ascended
to the seventh heaven,
and that is where our Messenger
saw Prophet Abraham.
The Prophet saw Prophet
Abraham with his back against
al-Bayt al-Ma^mur.
To the inhabitants of the
skies, al-Bayt al-Ma^mur
is like the Ka^bah
is to us, the inhabitants
of the Earth. Every day
70,000 angels go there;
then exit from it, and never
return. The next day another
70,000 angels go, come out,
and never return. This will
continue until the
Day of Judgment.
In this, there is an indication
as to the greatness of the
numbers of the angels -
their numbers are far more
than the numbers of the
humans and the devils together.
"In the seventh
heaven, Prophet
Muhammad saw Sidrat
al-Muntaha - a very
big tree of sidr. Each of
the fruits of this tree
is as large as a big jar.
The leaves of this tree
are similar to the ears
of the elephants. Sidrat
al-Muntaha is an extremely
beautiful tree. It is visited
by butterflies made of gold.
When these butterflies gather
on this tree, its beauty
is beyond description.
"Then the Prophet ascended
to what is beyond the
seven skies;
he entered Paradise.
He saw examples of the inhabitants
of Paradise and how their
situation would be. He saw
most of the inhabitants
of Paradise are the poor
people.
"The Prophet saw other things
on the night of his ascension.
He saw Malik, the
angel in charge of the
Hellfire.
Malik did not smile
at the Prophet when he saw
him, and the Prophet asked
why. In answer to the Prophet's
question, Jibril said, 'Malik
did not smile since the
day Allah created
him. Had he smiled for anyone,
he would have smiled for
you.'
"In Paradise,
the Prophet saw some of
the bounties Allah
prepared for the inhabitants
of Paradise. He saw the
Hur ul-^In: females
Allah created who
are not humans or devils.
They are in Paradise and
will be married to those
men Allah willed
them to marry.
"The Prophet saw the
wildan ul-mukhalladun:
creations of Allah
who are not human, devils,
or angels. They are a very
beautiful creation of
Allah whose appearance
is like laid-out pearls.
They are servants of the
inhabitants of Paradise.
The least in status of the
People of Paradise will
have 10,000 wildan ul-mukhalladun
to serve him. Each one of
them would carry a tray
of gold in one hand and
a tray of silver in the
other hand.
"The Prophet saw
the Throne, which
is the ceiling of
Paradise. The Throne
is the largest creation
of Allah in size;
Allah did not create
anything bigger in size
than it. The seven
heavens and the
Earth in
comparison to the Kursiyy
are like a ring thrown in
a desert, and the Kursiyy
in comparison to
the Throne is like
a ring thrown in a desert.
The seven heavens
and the Earth
in comparison to
the Throne are
like a seed of mustard compared
to the ocean. Allah
created the Throne
as a sign of his Power and
he did not create the Throne
to sit on it.
"Allah created
the Throne
to show his Power. It is
carried by four angels,
and on the Day of
Judgment, it will
be carried by eight. The
Prophet said he was permitted
to speak about one of these
angels who carry the Throne.
In describing this angel,
the Prophet told us the
distance between his ear
lobe and shoulder is the
distance a fast-flying bird
would cover in 700 years.
"Then the Prophet ascended
beyond Paradise.
He reached a place where
he heard the creaking of
the pens used by the angels
who are copying from the
Preserved Tablet.
It is at that location Prophet
was given the obligation
of the five Obligatory
Prayers.
"At first, Allah
obligated fifty
prayers. When Prophet
Muhammad encountered Moses,
Moses told him to make supplication
to his Lord to ease the
obligation of fifty prayers,
because his nation could
not handle that. Moses said,
'I have experience with
the people of Israel, and
I know your nation cannot
bear that.' So the Prophet
asked his Lord to lessen
these prayers for his people.
Five prayers were eliminated.
Once again, Moses told the
Prophet to ask Allah
to lessen the number of
prayers. Allah
did. Nine times the Prophet
made supplication to
Allah to lessen these
prayers - until these prayers
were lessened to five
Obligatory Prayers.
So Prophet Moses was a great
benefit to us. Had we been
obligated to pray fifty
prayers a day, this would
have been a difficult matter
for us.
"Also, Allah told
the Prophet a good deed
would be written for the
person who intends to do
a good deed, even if he
did not do it. Also, the
good deed performed would
be registered for he who
performs it as at least
ten good deeds - up to
700 good deeds.
For some people, Allah
would multiply the
reward of their deeds more
than that. Additionally,
if one performs a bad deed,
it is registered for him
as one bad deed; yet for
the one who inclines towards
committing a bad deed and
then refrains from committing
it, a good deed would be
registered for him. Here,
one should note the difference
between two matters. If
a thought crossed a person's
mind about doing something
sinful, and this person
wavered in this thinking,
i.e., considered whether
he should do it or not,
then he refrained from doing
this for the sake of
Allah, this is written
as a good deed. However,
if a person has the firm
intention in his heart that
he wants to commit a sin,
it would be written for
him as a sin, even if he
does not do it.
"Although
Muhammad's ascension, considered
strictly, was a unique privilege,
it became common for religious
writers to speak of devotional
practices (from ordinary
ritual prayer to the ecstatic
invocations and dances of
the Sufi brotherhoods)
as ways to accompany the
Prophet on his journey to
heaven. The Miraj
was a favorite theme of
Sufi poetry and art.
Jalaluddin Rumi,
the thirteenth-century Sufi
poet, declares that the
aim of spiritual life is
to "die before you die"
and, like Muhammad, to ascend
to that intimacy with God
which he has withheld from
angels and yet granted to
his servants and lovers.
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4.
Muslim Afterlife Beliefs
The notions
of resurrection, heaven, and hell
have been part of Islam since the
time of Mohammed. Both the Koran
(Islamic scriptures) and the Hadith
(the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed)
refer to the afterlife.
The human
being, created in God's image, is
composed of a body, the outer shell
of which originated in clay, and
spiritual breath, which can communicate
with God and which is located at
the center of the body. This is
the microcosmic reflection of the
Islamic macrocosm, which is viewed
as a globe of infinite realms whose
center is full of light, the purest
of God's creations. Its outer shell
is made of clay, which represents
darkness. The human soul resides
within the human being somewhere
between these two opposite principles
- light and darkness - and is a
mixture of the two, unique to each
individual, while the spirit that
resides at the center (being of
godlike nature) is the same for
everybody.
When human
beings die, they remain in a sort
of interworld (barzakh), a realm
located closer to the luminous cosmic
center, until the day of resurrection.
In this interworld, which somewhat
resembles dreaming, the soul of
the deceased, liberated from its
bodily layers, can awaken and become
aware of its true nature. The interworld
period is important in preparing
for the day of resurrection, which
occurs at the end of time, that
is, when human possibilities and
potential have been exhausted. The
day of resurrection (qiyama, the
return, or ba'th, awakening), which
constitutes one of the essential
beliefs of the Islamic faith, is
believed by some to last thousands
of years. On this day, the souls,
rejoined with their bodies, will
be assigned eternal life either
in paradise (literally, "garden")
or in hell (fire), depending on
their merits.
Although
the figure of the Madhi is more
central to Shiite Islam, it is a
popular belief among many Sunni
Muslims that a righteous leader
(a Madhi, or "rightly guided
one") will reign for a brief
period in the last days. He will
be followed by an impostor messiah
(a parallel to the Christian notion
of the Antichrist) who will attempt
to lead the world astray. Finally,
however, the prophet Jesus will
appear to usher in the final judgment.
On Judgment Day, the Earth will
quake and mountains will become
a heap of sand. As in the Judgment
Day scenarios of other Middle Eastern
religions, the dead are resurrected
and the dead are judged.
Paradise
(al-Jannah) is located at the macrocosmic
center of light and is composed
of eight levels (or, according to
some authorities, as many as the
number of souls inhabiting paradise).
It is thought to be a garden where
all kinds of delights are prepared
for the saved. On the far outer
part of the macrocosm lies hell
(an-nar), arranged in seven layers,
where the soul's punishment consists
of being far from God, which is
considered to be the worst chastisement.
More so
than Judeo-Christian scriptures,
the Koran contains vivid descriptions
of both paradise and hell. For instance,
in the chapter entitled "The
Terror," the Koran says: "They
are brought nigh the Throne, in
the Gardens of Delight upon close-wrought
couches reclining upon them, set
face to face, immortal youths going
round about them, with goblets,
and ewers, and a cup from a spring
and such fruits as they shall choose,
and such flesh of fowl as they desire,
and wide-eyed houris as the likeness
of hidden pearls, a recompense for
that they labored."
Equally
vivid descriptions of hell can be
found throughout the Koran, as in
the chapter "The Pilgrimage": "Garments
of fire shall be cut, and there
shall be poured over their heads
boiling water whereby whatsoever
is in their bellies and their skins
shall be melted; for them await
hooked iron rods; as often as they
desire in their anguish to come
forth from it, they shall be restored
into it, and taste the chastisement
of the burning."
Islamic
theologians, particularly those
of the Asharite school, believed
that if a believer entered hell,
God could forgive his sins or nonconformities
and remove him, either immediately
or after a certain period during
which imperfections had been "burned
away." The basis for this doctrine
is the Hadith: "He shall make
men come out of hell after they
have been burned and reduced to
cinders." In addition to this
purgatory of suffering, there is
another Muslim limbo - al-A'raf
(the "heights" or "ramparts"),
described in a chapter of the Koran
by that name - in which those souls
reside that do not merit damnation
yet are unable to enter paradise.
Beyond
certain commonalties, the views
of Shiites and Sunnis (the two principal
Muslim "denominations")
on the destiny of the body and the
soul differ greatly. Shiites hold
that the human being is a spirit,
the "ruh" (spiritual breath,
which is immortal by nature), which
uses the body as instrument. Upon
death, the spirit, liberated from
the body, can rediscover its true
nature. The souls of those who believed
in God live until the day of resurrection,
enjoying the vision of God. On the
day of resurrection, the bodies
of the righteous will join their
soul and will enter paradise forever,
whereas the unbelievers' souls will
suffer until the last day and, once
rejoined with their bodies, will
suffer eternal punishment.
Sunnis,
in contrast, consider the human
being a material compound of body
and soul. Upon death, both body
and spirit die and spend a certain
period in the grave where they undergo
a personal judgment by two angels
and a divine judge. This personal
judgment is followed by a second
death, which is abrogated, however,
for those who died in the name of
God. Souls are then believed to
vanish, and to appear again on Judgment
Day when they rejoin their original
bodies.
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