In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most compassionate
[ If you haven’t read the post before this, click here ]
Good morning dear readers, Now to continue on with the heaven & hell series, yes there’s going to be quite a few posts under this title until I reach the conclusion, so bare with me on this yea. I have compiled articles that I found online and will share my thoughts here and there, sorry for the cut n paste lately on my posts, it does look abit lazy but I hope it benefits us all…We shall go on this together… =)
Now let us start…
Remember that you are not immortal. We are all born with one guarantee…that we will one day die(it’s a fact that no one wants to think about, true?). That is what we tend to forget. To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. Without proper provisions (good deeds), when the angel of death comes knocking at your door, don’t say no one ever warned you because at that point in time, it would already be too late.
…From the way I see it…we will be going through four lives. You have to worry about your life in this world, your life in the grave, your life in akhirat(Day of judgement) and your life in either Heaven(ameen~) or Hell(Nau zu billah~) You will know where you are when you enter your grave, if you die without proper provisions(Good Deeds) than it will go downhill from there on my friend…
…think about it…
Then how will it be when We shall gather them together on a day about which there is no doubt, and every soul shall be fully paid what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly?
[Al-Imran, verse 25]
According to the Holy Quran, for each human being two angels are appointed to record good deeds and misdeeds, as the case may be. In this way the task of the angels is to organise the most intricate and profound system of recording. It does not mean that each has a book in his hand, jotting down in it whatever he observes. In fact, angels are responsible for a very complex system of registering the effect of man’s deeds on his soul and personality so that a good man develops a healthy soul and a bad man breeds an unhealthy one.
The soul as it is takes shape in every man till his death, needs a conscious organiser who transfers the effects of human thoughts, actions etc. to the soul. This is an intricate process not fully comprehended by man.
As for the journey of the soul after death, then this is not something that can be witnessed, nor can it be gauged through scientific enquiry. Even in a living body, the conscious, or soul, of a person cannot be subjected to empirical experimentation. It is simply beyond human control. In this regard, the concept of a Hereafter – a life beyond death, resurrection, and a Day of Reckoning; not to mention the existence of a Divine, Omnipotent Creator, His angels, destiny, and so on – comes under the subject of belief in the unseen. The only way in which man can come to know anything of the unseen world is through divine revelation.
“And with God are the keys of the unseen, none knows them but He. And He knows whatever there is in (or on) the earth and in the sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry, but is written in a Clear Record.”
[Chapter 6; verse 59]
So when a believer is about to depart this world, angels with white faces come down from the heavens and say:
“O peaceful soul, come out to forgiveness from God and His pleasure.”
(Hakim and others)
The believer will look forward to meeting his Creator, as the Prophet, may God praise him, explained:
“…when the time of the death of a believer approaches, he receives the good news of God’s pleasure with him and His blessings upon him, and so at that time nothing is dearer to him than what is in front of him. He therefore loves meeting God, and God loves meeting him.”
[Saheeh Al-Bukhari]
The soul peacefully passes out of the body like a drop of water which emerges from a water-skin, and the angels take hold of it. The angels gently extract it, saying:
“…Do not fear and do not grieve, but receive good tidings of the Paradise which you were promised. We were your allies in this worldly life and [are so] in the Hereafter, and you will have therein whatever your souls desire, and you will have therein whatever you request [or wish], as a hospitality from the Forgiving and Merciful.”
[Quran 41:30-32]
Once extracted from the body, the angels wrap the soul in a shroud smelling of musk and ascend up to the heavens. As the Gates of Heaven open for the soul, the angels greet it:
“A good soul has come from the earth, may God bless you and the body you used to dwell in.”
…introducing it with the best names it was called with in this life. God commands his “book” to be recorded, and the soul is returned back to earth.
The soul then remains in a place of limbo in its grave, the Barzakh, awaiting the Day of Judgment. Two fearsome, dread-inspiring angels called Munkar and Nakeer visit the soul to ask it about its religion, God, and prophet. The believing soul sits upright in its grave as God grants it the strength to answer the angels with full faith and certainty.
Munkar and Nakeer: “What is your religion?”
Believing soul: “Islam.”
Munkar and Nakeer: “Who is your Lord?”
Believing soul: “Allah.”
Munkar and Nakeer: “Who is your Prophet?” (or “What do you say about this man?”)
Believing soul: “Muhammad.”
Munkar and Nakeer: “How did you come to know these things?”
Believing soul: “I read the Book of Allah (i.e. the Quran) and I believed.”
Then, when the soul passes the test, a voice from the heavens will call out:
“My slave has spoken the truth, supply him with furnishings from Paradise, clothe him from Paradise, and open a gate for him to Paradise.”
The believer’s grave is made roomy and spacious and filled with light. He is shown what would have been his abode in Hell – had he been a wicked sinner – before a portal is opened for him every morning and evening showing him his actual home in Paradise.
*For the believer I also heard that a handsome, sweet smelling, well dressed man will accompany you in the grave where he is your good deeds.
Dizzy with excitement and full of joyful anticipation, the believer will keep asking:
‘When will the Hour (of Resurrection) come?! When will the Hour come?!’ until he is told to calm down.
As death approaches the wicked disbeliever, he is made to feel something of the heat of the Hellfire. This taste of what is to come causes him to plead for a second chance on earth to do the good he knew he should have done. Alas! His pleading will be in vain.
“Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: ‘O my Lord. Send me back to life (on earth) in order that I may do good deeds in the things that I neglected.’ By no means! It is only an utterance that he says. And before them is a barrier (preventing them from returning: the life of the grave) until the Day (of Resurrection) they are ressurected.”
[Quran 23:99-100]
Divine wrath and punishment is conveyed to the wicked soul by hideously ugly, dark angels who sit far away from it:
“Receive glad tidings of boiling water, wound discharge, and multiple, similar torments.”
[Ibn Majah, Ibn Katheer]
The disbelieving soul will not look forward to meeting its Lord God, as the Prophet explained:
“When the time of the death of a disbeliever approaches, he receives the evil news of God’s torment and His Requital, whereupon nothing is more hateful to him than what is before him. Therefore, he hates the meeting with God, and God too, hates the meeting with him.”
[Saheeh Al-Bukhari]
The Prophet(p.b.u.h) also said:
“Whoever loves to meet God, God loves to meet him, and whoever hates to meet God, God hates to meet him.”
[Saheeh Al-Bukhari]
The Angel of Death sits at the head of the disbeliever in his grave and says:
“Wicked soul, come out to the displeasure of Allah” as he snatches the soul out of the body. And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, saying, ‘Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of extreme humiliation for what you used to say against God other than the truth, and that you were, toward His verses, being arrogant.”
[Quran 6:93]
“And if you could not see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieved… striking their faces and their backs and saying, ‘Taste the punishment of the Blazing Fire.’”
[Quran 8:50]
The evil soul leaves the body with great difficulty, drawn out by the angels as a thronged skewer is dragged through wet wool. The Angel of Death then seizes the soul and puts it in a sack woven from hair which gives off a putrid stench, as foul and offensive as the most foul-smelling rotting corpse found on earth. The angels then take the soul up past another company of angels who inquire: “Who is this wicked soul?” to which they reply: “So and so, the son of so and so?” – using the very worst of names that he was ever called during his time on earth.
*An extra note on when your soul is being ripped from your body. The amount of pain that one feels when this happens is immense that we cant even imagine how painful it would be. Imagine it like your skin being torn off you and you can feel each and every ripped nerve from head to toe, but of course is much-much worse…
Then, when he is brought to the lowest heaven, a request is made that its gate be opened for him, but the request is denied. Whilst the Prophet was describing these events, when he reached this point, he recited:
“The gates of heaven will not be opened for them and they will not enter paradise until a camel can pass through the eye of a needle.”
[Quran 7:40]
God will say: “Record his book in Sijjeen in the lowest earth.”
*Sijjeen is derived from the word Sijn, which means a constricted place; hence the word sihn being used to denote a prison. The wording, “And what will make you know,” is used for the effect, to signify the enormity of the matter: Sijjeen is an eternal prison, a constricted place of severe torment. Ibn Katheer then mentioned various interpretations of Sijjeen (one of them is implied in the above-mentioned translation), after which he said, “The correct view is that Sijjeen is taken from the word Sijn, which denotes the meaning of constriction. The deeper created beings descend into it (i.e.into the Hellfire), the more constricted it will be for them..” And the Fujjaar (disbelievers, evildoers) are headed to Jahannam which is an abode for the lowest of the low.
…and his soul is cast down. At this juncture, the Prophet, may God praise him, recited:
“He who assigns partners to Allah is as if he had fallen down from heaven and been snatched up by the birds, or made to fall by the wind in a place far distant.”
[Quran 31:22]
The wicked soul is then restored to its body and the two fearsome, dread-inspiring angels, Munkar and Nakeer, come to it for its interrogation. After making him sit up, they ask:
Munkar and Nakeer: “Who is your Lord?”
Disbelieving soul: “Alas, alas, I do not know.”
Munkar and Nakeer: “What is your religion?”
Believing soul: “Alas, alas, I do not know.”
Munkar and Nakeer: “What do you say about this man (Muhammad) sent to you?”
Believing soul: “Alas, alas I do not know.”
Having failed his test, the disbeliever’s head will be struck with an iron hammer with a force so violent that it would crumble a mountain.
The cry will be heard from heaven:
“He has lied, so spread out carpets of Hell for him, and open for him a portal into Hell.”
The floor of his grave is thus set alight with some of Hell’s fierce fire, and his grave is made narrow and constricted to the extent that his ribs become intertwined as his body is crushed. Then, an incredibly ugly being, wearing ugly garments and giving off a foul and offensive odor comes to the disbelieving soul and says: “Be grieved with what displeases you, for this is your day which you have been promised.”
The disbeliever will ask: “Who are you, with your face so ugly and bringing evil?” The ugly one will reply: “l am your wicked deeds!” The disbeliever is then made to taste bitter remorse as he is shown what would have been his abode in Paradise – had he lived a righteous life – before a portal is opened for him every morning and evening showing him his actual home in Hell. Allah mentions in His Book how the wicked people of Pharaoh are, at this very moment, suffering from such an exposure to Hell from within their graves:
“The Fire: they are exposed to it, morning and afternoon, and on the Day when the Hour will be established (it will be said to the angels): ‘(Now) cause Pharaoh’s people to enter the severest torment!’”
[Quran 40:46]
Overcome with fear and loathing, anxiety and despair, the disbeliever in his grave will keep asking: “My Lord, do not bring the last hour. Do not bring the last hour.”
The Companion, Zaid b. Thabit, narrated how, when the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions were once passing some graves of polytheists, the Prophet’s horse bolted and almost unseated him. The Prophet, may God praise him, then said:
“These people are being tortured in their graves, and were it not that you would stop burying your dead, I would ask God to let you hear the punishment in the grave which I (and this horse) can hear.”
[Saheeh Muslim]
Answering questions of grave is another thing, When people say that one accepts Islam( submission to god) and declares that he/she is a muslim but does not practice ones religion and expects he/she can answer the questions in the grave is absurd.
How can one expect to answer the question of what our religion is when we don’t even know what Islam really means and what it asks us do?
How can one expect to answer the question of who our lord is if we do not even care and notice if He exists, nor accept and know His qualities, nor listen or read to what He has sent down from His infinite mercy alone to our beloved prophet Muhammad(Peace and blessing be upon him) for our own benefit?
How can one expect to answer the question of who our prophet is when we do not even know who he really was, what sacrifices he has made for this ummah, what he has given us, showed us, his history, we don’t even follow his sunnah and we expect to answer this simple question?
How can one expect to answer the questions of what book we read, where you might know what the Quran is but if you don’t read it and understand it how then can you say that u know the Quran?
All of us might know the answers to these questions now, it looks easy but what I have realized is that when you really think about it, these are the real questions that we need to ask ourselves before that time comes. How can we say that we know the answers when we don’t understand what it is that is being asked?
We all need to contemplate on what we know about our own religion including myself so we will be better prepared, not just for the grave but for the hereafter…
On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil) there were a long duration of time; and Allah makes you to be cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and Allah is Compassionate to the servants.
[Al-Imran, verse 30]
I shall end this here and will post a continuation on this topic at another time….insya-allah…
Assalamualaikum.
Sources:
Al-Islam
Elementary study of Islam
Islamic network
~May Allah forgive me for anything wrong I might have said and may we be granted the taufik and hidayat to implement what has been said in our daily lives
Ameen~
~)
