Part 1/2: Ever wondered what's in store after death?

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim - In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Assalamualaikum & Greetings to all,


I wish everyone's in the best of health and as for us Muslims, may we always be blessed and in our highest state of Imaan constantly, inshaAllah.


Oh on a side note, just so you know, I do always wish to be able to write more here but yeah, I guess time flies and swoosh by too fast especially this past couple of months. MashaAllah, I am amazed at how one third of 2012 has already gone by!! Wallahi, I'm just in awe.


Anyway, back to the runaway before any crashing takes place **haha, in aviation mood atm. Yup, random much.** Here's sort of a Q & A regarding the topic of what comes after death. *coughs* hmm, sounds pretty intense of a subject chosen to discuss about eh. Haha, oh well.. (Anyhow, the replies are very well written and organised as well as pretty straightforward and simple to comprehend, this is why I would like to share it with others so it can benefit others as well. I'd say it is definitely worth a read albeit it being a tad bit long of a post.)


Part 2

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Q: What happens after we die? So judgment day is the same for all, or so I've been told. Then what happens to those who die first? I guess they're waiting? And I heard that this waiting period is something called barzakh? And where are they waiting?


A: The soul is not something in the material world right, it has no spatial location. i.e. the grave, cemetery, crematorium, etc. Js like where r u when u r asleep? Your body is in the bed, but your soul, Allahua’lam, nobody knows.

Firstly I think, consider the fact that we know very little about the soul. Scientifically speaking we have no idea what the soul is, as it is not in the material world. Like we know neurons fire in certain are of the brain and cause you to desire something etc, but we can’t describe fully why we feel everything in its glory, or what is consciousness, or how to bring the dead to life. The soul is beyond us:

“And they ask you concerning the Rûh (the Spirit); Say: "The Rûh (the Spirit): it is one of the things, the knowledge of which is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little." (Qur'an 17:85).

So what we understand a little bit about the soul from revelation is that, after we die, the soul will depart from our physical body. It will be in another realm called barzakh, and hadiths on the description of this waiting time realm (barzakh) can be read here.

When judgement day come, every soul will be ‘raised up’ again or put into a ‘materialistic’ body (again we don’t know the nature of this  body or this new material world existence, it is not the same as our world/universe). Then we will be judged and will find our final abode:

“And because the hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and because Allah shall raise up those who are in the graves.”Qur'an 22:7

Note that ‘graves’ here is not to be understood literally your grave that you were buried upon, it is a metaphorical expression for putting the soul back into a ‘physical existence’. As another verse below that mentions raising up, but not from the literal grave:

“Till when there comes to one of them the death he says: "My Rabb (Lord), send me back. That I may work righteousness in the things I neglected." Never, it is but a word he says. And beyond them is a Barzakh  until the day when they (all) are raised up." Qur'an 23: 99-100.

“Even so is the quickening (raising the dead)” Qur'an 35:9

And we know scientifically that this universe will collapse and cease to exists someday. As there is big bang, the universe expands, then there will be big crunch where the universe will collapse back into singularity (non-existence, time and space cease to exists). So we know the end of time is inevitable, the universe is not infinite, nor will it exists forever, so whatever we understand in Islam about the end of time is in line with what we observe scientifically. Then judgement day starts, this new universe, reality, the afterlife.

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Q: "My Rabb (Lord), send me back. That I may work righteousness in the things I neglected."

Send me back? He's asking to be sent back into the world so he can rectify his mistakes and perform more goodness that he had used to neglect in life? huh? what?! this isnt referring to reborn right.. Islam doesnt have this concept, no?

A: Haha.. Well u got it spot on. What a silly thing to ask no? Basically that is what a person who lived a God-unconscious life in this world would ask God once he is dead. Bring me back so I can live a good life, pray, and everything. Of course permission denied.

What will happen is the remaining of the verse: “Never, it is but a word he says. And beyond them is a Barzakh until the day when they (all) are raised up." Which means nope, you’re going to wait in this barzakh and the judgement day.

Get it?

Lastly, bottom line is, the only thing we know is that in barzakh, if you lived a righteous life you will have an easy time, if not you will start tasting some punishments.

The Messenger of Allaah (SAW) said, "Verily the grave is the first stopping place for the Hereafter; so if he is saved therein, then what comes after is easier than it. And if he is not saved therefrom, then that which comes after is harder." [Tirmidhi]

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Q: This goes to say one starts to face punishments even in the days of Barzakh i.e. even before judgment day comes.. Yes? (I recall another friend of mine telling me this as well some time back.. hm)

A: Yeah, there are some punishments and some comfort for the righteous, as some of the hadiths in the link I’ve posted mentions. But we don’t know the details, and even some of the hadiths are weak hadiths (authenticity aren't verified). So I wouldn’t go into the details.

I think by now you know too that questions like how long you will be in barzakh, some people died long time ago, some ppl js died etc. are not very relevant. We don’t project our understanding of our nature of the universe to the unseen (including time). After all, just like a dream, or just like sleeping, the soul doesn’t get the same feeling of passage of time, so let alone the barzakh.

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Q: If during the barzakh dah mula (begins) punishments and kesenangan (ease/comfort) for the non-righteous and righteous respectively, does this indicate that they've sort of been "pre-judged" even before judgment day comes? If that's the case, during barzakh, this ppl has been determined as a believer/non-believer? Hm, and they still need to go through judgment day later?


A: TO BE CONTINUED...~ =) [jeng jeng jeng.. this is actually the most exciting and informative part of the read. Hmm, you know how good things don't always come easy? Well, same in this case. So yeah, please do wait for part 2 aite!!]

WAllahua'lam.