The Soul’s Journey After Death

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The grave is a mysterious territory, silent from the outside but chaotic or blissful from inside depending upon the purity and impurity of departed soul. The punishment of impure soul starts as soon as it is taken out of body. The humans don’t possess the ability to see and hear what is happening inside the grave but the animals can hear and understand the misery of a dead person. Till the day of resurrection, souls stay in interspace either these are punished or in bliss. On the Night Journey, the messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw many types of punishment in the interspace. Some of these are described here. He saw that those who didn’t pay zakat are forced to eat herbage, a bitter fruit Zaqqum and are then driven on the hot stones of Jahannam. He also saw that the people who consumed the property of orphans, were screaming with their mouths wide open while they gulp hot coals which come out of their anuses. Some people were cutting their fleshes and eating and these were the people who used to slander in the community. The backbiters were scratching their faces and chests with brass nails because they used to malign people’s honor and prestige. Those people who turned away from prayer were cracking their heads open with stones. Then their heads returned to normal and they crack it open again and this continued. For the sinners, there are two punishments, the punishment of interspace and the punishment of the Day of Rising.

A man can save himself from the punishment by doing good deeds and avoiding the wrong doings. An intelligent man knows that his stay in this world is temporary and that he has to leave this world sooner or later. That is why, he prepares himself for the eternal world by doing good deeds. Good deeds spare men and women from the wrath of Allah and transform their punishment into bliss. The messenger of Allah saw a dream that the good deeds of suffering men saved them and eased their punishments. Once a girl died and her father saw in his dream. He asked her about the next world, and she said that we know but we can’t act, whereas you don’t know but still you have a chance to act.

It is often believed that Earth is the mother of mankind as people are created from it and they return to it after their death. Grave embraces both the believer and non-believer but in a different way. For the believer, the grave acts like the mother of a child who has just returned from long journey. Whoever, obeys Allah is embraced with love, compassion and care. For the non-believer, the grave becomes harsh since the earth is angry as he has disobeyed Allah the Mighty and Majestic. So, the good actions and good deeds are guarantee that after death the soul will reside in the interspace and all the blessings and bounties will be showered upon it by the Creator of Universe.

Once a companion of Abdul Aziz b. Sulayman al-Abid saw him in dream, he asked him about the death and how are things after death. Abdul Aziz replied that death accompanied griefs and sorrows but Allah’s mercy has concealed our sins and showered us with His bounties and blessings. According to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden the earth to consume the bodies of the Prophets. The Prophet of Allah has taught the community to seek mercy, forgiveness and well-being for the dead and also for themselves when they visit people’s grave.

When someone very close to us dies, there are two options, either to forget the dead and continue the living or remember him with grief and sorrow and live a life of agony and anguish. Both are extremes and doesn’t do any good for the dead one as well as for those who are alive. Is there any possibility that alive people can help the dead ones and support them in their severe trial? Yes, it is possible and if the living person performs any action on the behalf of dead, he can derive benefits and his severe punishment could be alleviated. The messenger of Allah, May Allah bless him and grant him with peace attested this phenomenon. He said that when a man dies, all his actions are ceased but three things continue and these are the Sadqa, the knowledge that he imparted in the world and the prayer for him by his righteous son.

The living can rescue the dead people from the wrath of Allah through a number of ways. They can pray for them, ask forgiveness for them, keep fast on their behalf and perform hajj. The dead can benefit from these things provided that Allah’s permission is there. It is the responsibility of the alive relatives to pay the financial as well spiritual debt of the dead and ask people to forgive him if he has done anything wrong to them. Basher b. Ghalib said that he used to make supplications for Rabia. Once she met him in a dream and told him that his supplications are brought on plates of light, that are covered in silken clothes and this is how the prayers and supplications of alive are presented to dead ones.

When someone prays for his dead brother, the angels take the supplication to him in the grave and tell him that you have received gift from your brother who remembers you with compassion despite the fact that you are stranger in the grave. The messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught his followers to do make sincere supplications for dead people. As narrated by Abu Hurayra, a man asked the prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, if I make charity on behalf of my dead father, would he be rewarded? The messenger of Allah replied him, “Yes”.

When asked about doing Hajj on behalf of dead, the messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that it is permissible as it is akin to repayment of debt that is owed to Allah. The messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, told people to recite Surah Yasin at the death of their loved ones. When Surah Yasin is recited to a person who is near to death, he benefits from tawhid that will take him to the gardens of heavens. Recitation of Quran for dead one would help to alleviate the severity of his punishment. All the worships that are performed on the behalf of dead are accepted if and only if Allah intercedes. If the intentions are pure, then there is more chance of acceptance of worships that are performed on the behalf of dead. In a gathering of people who are reciting holy Quran for the dead, there might be his son or grandson and this would be an extension of his actions and an outcome of his efforts that he has left righteous and pious descendants.

To conclude, the discussion about the soul, death and the life hereafter is incessant because we only know what Allah, the mighty and majestic has let us know. None of the human being can claim that he has complete knowledge of soul, and if someone does,