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.
"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."
|
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.
"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.
|
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.
|