The ineffable feeling of crossing the boundary between this world and the next cannot be described in words, nor imagined in the mind, but can be understood only through divine revelation and inspiration.Death is inevitable. It is the one thing that we can be certain about in life. We are born to die. Every soul shall have a taste of death no matter who they are. Death is merely movement from one world to another. It can be described as a journey through a wormhole to a separate dimension of existence.
We begin this journey in our mother’s wombs.We have no choice in who our parents are, our race, color or nationality.Allah knows all of this before our birth even, but we still continue our journey to fulfill our destiny. The next part of our trip begins after we are born. This is the life of this world, in which we now reside and are familiar with. We may stay at this station for a few seconds or as long as 100 years or more. Here we grow up and acquire the means to happiness or misery. We are given the ability to make choices after the age of puberty and we will later be punished or rewarded based upon them. Allah gives each of us the natural Fitrah, knowledge of good and bad as well as right and wrong. The rest is up to us.In this life, the soul and the body are together except during sleep when the soul may leave the body and come back in the morning or Allah may take the soul at that time.
This part of our journey ends as our death begins.When someone begins to die the Angel of Death or Izraeel comes to take the soul out of the body and puts it in a place called the Barzakh.This life in the grave or Interspace is the next part of our journey. An ‘interspace’ is something that separates two things: heaven and earth, this world and the Next World or the period between death and resurrection. The bliss or punishment of the Interspace is not the same as that of the Hereafter, but rather something that happens between the two worlds.During this life in the grave part of our journey the souls are divided into two groups: one group is punished and the other group is in bliss. The liberated souls of those who are in bliss visit each other and discuss what happened in the world they have left and the people of that world.As the hadiths narrate, if the soul was a believing one, a door onto the fire is opened and the soul is shown it’s place in the Fire had they disobeyed Allah. Then that door is locked and another door onto the Garden is opened and they are shown their place there. This door will remain open until the Day of Rising.If however the soul was a disbelieving one, a door to the Garden is opened for the unbeliever and they are told to look at what their place would have been in the Garden had they obeyed Allah. Then it is locked and another door is opened and they are told to look at their place in the fire. It stays open and the blast of hot air from it continues to reach them until the Day of Rising.
This part of our journey in our graves is still mostly unknown territory. Outwardly the grave is stillness and quiet while inwardly it contains secrets and terrors which an ordinary person cannot perceive. It is a strange fact that animals are able to hear the punishment in the grave while human beings as a general rule cannot. The prophet (saw) said, “They are punished and the animals hear it.” Various forms of punishment rain down on a person in the grave according to the type of wrong actions they committed. The Grave is an embrace from which neither believer or unbeliever can escape. Our souls stay in the Barzakh and visit the grave regularly for rewards or punishments. Afterwards, our journey continues and the believer is relieved of its pressure while the unbeliever remains in punishment.
The next part of our journey includes the rebirth from what is left of our bodies, the seed and its embryo, called Ajaf of the sacrum. This method of rebirth of human beings is as simple as the rebirth ofa plant from its own seeds. Allah instructs Angel Israfeel to blow the horn twice. The first is to ready every seed for germination. Water of Life is then poured upon these seeds in their graves. The soul comes back from the barzakh to join its biological entity at this time. The second blow of the trumpet helps those seeds to germinate and produce every person back to normal. They come out of their graves in a state of shock, naked without any clothes or shoes. Each person shall then be grouped behind his or her leader, prophet, messenger, mentor, celebrity, etc. All will be put in lines waiting for the Court of Allah to take place and our journey to continue.
Judgment Day will be our next stop. This is the day when Allah personally will judge everyone directly with absolute justice. Abu Hurayrah related that the prophet (saw) said: “Every servant of Allah will remain standing before Allah on the Day of Judgement until he has answered five questions about five things: His life–how he spent it; his knowledge–how much he acted upon it; his wealth–how he acquired it and how he spent it; and his body (and health)–how he used it.” [Muslim] Each person will then receive their book that contains each and every thing they have done from the time of birth till death. Then he who is given his Record in his right hand, soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning, and he will turn to his people, rejoicing!” (84:7-9) “And he that will be given his Record in his left hand will say: “Ah! Would that my record had not been given to me!” (69:25) Their faces will be in gloom and they will be distressed with fear and anxiety. They will wish and beg to start their life all over again on the earth. This is where we near the end of our journey. We shall enter the everlasting domain, which comprises of the Garden and the Fire. There is no trip after it for it is the Domain of Eternity. Others who are not qualified to enter Paradise or Hell may be taken to a waiting station called Al- A’raf, to wait until forgiveness is given to them through the Mercy of Allah.
This Life After is called the Real and the True Life. The Quran explicitly refers to the Life After as the True Life while the life in this world is a superficial one. “What is the life of this world but amusement and play? But verily the Home of the Hereafter β that is Life indeed, if they but knew.” (29:64) After completing this journey vicariously here, we should rethink our lives and our deeds as we do them today. We can hide from each other, and ourselves but we cannot hide from Allah. It won’t be long before we are pushed along to the next part of our journey. Time passes quickly and is precious. Everything we do now affects our journey at a later stage. Everything is recorded; our deeds, appearances, and even hidden intentions. As travelers, we can prepare and change to make our journey, and especially our final stop a better one. Perhaps even one small deed or choice we make can save us if we keep conscious.
Allah, help us to live and die as Muslims and help us to understand the true object of this life. O Allah, grant us good in this life and good in the life to come and save us from the torment of the Hellfire.
“We hear and we obey. Forgive us, our Lord! To You is the journey’s end.” (2:285) Ameen.
