Death and Islamic Understanding of Afterlife - Overview, Death Of The Body, Individual Resurrection, Judgment, And Afterlife, Resurrection And Judgment Day
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Islamic views of death and the afterlife encompass two broad streams: the individual and the collective or cosmological. The existence of an afterlife for individuals and final judgment of all creation are both central tenets of the faith. The Koran provides the foundation for Muslim views of death, with eschatological imagery leaping out from nearly every page. The Koran is supplemented by hadith, reports of the words and deeds of the prophet Muhammad (c. 570–632), as well as by numerous commentaries and treatises. While the specific beliefs and practices surrounding death and the afterlife display significant sectarian and cultural variety, the following account will focus on the most widely shared views.
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Death is built into God's plan for his creation. God alone determines and knows the time and manner of each person's death and of Judgment Day. Tradition holds that an angel implants in the womb of each expectant mother a speck of soil from the place where that child is eventually fated to die. While God retains authority over death, he delegates oversight of individual deaths to an …
A tree is said to stand beneath God's heavenly throne, each leaf bearing the name of an individual, and forty days before death that person's leaf falls from the tree as a signal to the angel of death. As death nears, one should prepare by repenting from sin and reading generally from the Koran, especially sura 36, "Ya sin," and others considered notable for their refle…
After death each individual faces initial testing and preliminary judgment (except the martyr, one who dies "in the path of God," who goes straight to heaven [see Koran 2:154]). The Koran says relatively little regarding this time in the grave, called the barzakh (interval), but other genres give much, if not always consistent, detail. Most accounts treat the time in the grave as a f…
At a time known only to God, all creation will be undone and all people, living and dead, will face final judgment. The Koran vividly describes the apocalyptic physical and social chaos of the end time. As these frightening events unfold, al-Dajjal, the Antichrist, will emerge, promising riches, working miracles, and gathering followers. However, as one hadith relates, "he will have with hi…
Heaven, sometimes said to have seven levels, is generally described as a lush garden where the faithful reap the rewards of obedience and morality. Its inhabitants revel in "gardens underneath which rivers flow" (Koran 4:57, 22:23, etc.), peaceful serenity, cool shade and breezes, rivers of water, milk, and honey, luscious foods and drink (including nonintoxicating wine), luxurious f…
Arberry, Arthur J. The Koran Interpreted. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1955. Averroës. The Distinguished Jurist's Primer: A Translation of Bidayat al-Mujtahid. Translated by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee. 2 vols. Reading, U.K.: Garnet, 1994. A good English-language source for death-related ritual law. Denny, Frederick Mathewson. An Introduction to Islam. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 1993. Us…
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