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9. Life after death

Al-Ākhirah

A faith in a life after death is the last of the basic principles of Islam. The word generally used in the Holy Quran to indicate this life is al-ākhirah, which signifies ‘that which comes after’, or ‘the future’, or ‘the last’. Al-yaum al-ākhir or ‘the last day’ is also used instead of al-ākhirah.1

Death, according to the Quran, is not the end of a human’s life; it only opens the door to another, a higher, form of life:

“We have ordained death among you and We are not to be overcome, that We may change your state and make you grow into what you do not know.” — 56:60–61

Just as from the small life-germ grows a human being, and he does not lose his individuality for all the changes which he undergoes, so from this human is made the higher man, his state being changed, and he himself being made to grow into what he cannot conceive at present. That this new life is a higher form of life is also made clear by the Quran. After speaking of “this transitory life” (17:18), it says:

“And certainly the Hereafter is greater in degrees and greater in excellence.” —17:21

Importance of faith in Future Life

The Holy Quran accords to faith in the Future Life an importance which is next only to faith in God. Very often all the doctrines of faith are summed up as amounting to belief in God and the Future Life:

“And there are some people who say, We believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they are not believers.” — 2:8 (see also 2:62, 2:126, 2:228, etc.)

The opening chapter of the Holy Quran plays the greatest part in creating a true Muslim mentality, for the Muslim must recite it in the five daily prayers. In this chapter God is spoken of as the “Master of the Day of Requital” (or Day of Recompense), and thus the idea that every deed must be requited is brought before the mind of the Muslim continually. It undoubtedly impresses on the mind the reality of a future life, when every deed shall find its full reward. The greater the faith in the good or bad consequences of a deed, the greater is the incentive which urges a person to, or withholds him from, that deed. Therefore this belief is both the greatest impetus towards good and noble deeds, and the greatest restraint upon evil or irresponsible deeds. But more than this, such a belief purifies the motives with which a deed is done. It makes a man work with the most selfless of motives, for he seeks no reward for what he does; his work is for higher and nobler ends relating to the life beyond the grave.

Connection between the two lives

The Holy Quran not only speaks of a life after death which opens out for us a new world of advancement, it also shows that the basis of that life is laid in this our life on earth. For the good, the heavenly life, and for the wicked, a life in hell, begin even here, though the limitations of this life do not allow most people to realize that other life:

“[O man] you were indeed heedless of this, but now We have removed from you your veil, so your sight is sharp this day.” — 50:22

This shows that the spiritual life which is hidden from the human eye by reason of material limitations, will become manifest in the Resurrection; because human perception will then be clearer, the veil of material limitations having been removed.

The Holy Quran clearly speaks of two paradises for the righteous and two punishments for the wicked, and as clearly of a heavenly and hellish life, each beginning here:

“And for him who fears to stand before his Lord are two Gardens.” — 55:46

“O soul who is at rest! Return to your Lord, well pleased [with Him], well pleasing [Him]. So enter among My ser­vants and enter My Garden!” — 89:27–30

“No indeed, if only you knew with a certain knowledge, you will certainly see hell.” — 102:5–6

“It is the fire kindled by Allah which rises over the hearts.” — 104:6–7

“And whoever is blind in this [life], he will be blind in the Hereafter…” — 17:72

“Such is the punishment. And certainly the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if only they knew!” — 68:33

State between death and Resurrection

The state between death and Resurrection is called barzakh which literally means ‘a thing that intervenes between two things’, or a barrier. As signifying the state between death and Resurrection, it occurs in the following verses:

“Un­til when death catches up with one of them, he says: My Lord, send me back, that I may do good in that which I have left. By no means! It is only a word that he speaks. And before them is a barrier (barzakh), until the day they are raised.” — 23:99–100

This intervening state is also known by the name of qabr, which, although meaning grave, has also been used in the wider sense of the state which follows death. The three states, namely, death, the grave and Resurrection, are spoken of as follows, where the grave undoubtedly stands for the state of barzakh:

“Then He causes him to die, then assigns to him a grave, then, when He will, He raises him to life again.” — 80: 21–22

The raising to life on the Day of Resurrection is spoken of as the raising of those who are in their graves, as in 100:9 and 22:7, where all people are meant, whether actually buried or not.

Second stage of the higher life

Since the Holy Quran speaks of the growth of a higher life even in the life of this world, the spiritual experience of man is the first stage of the higher life. Ordinarily, man is neglectful of this higher experience, and it is only persons of a very high spiritual deve­lop­ment that are in any way conscious of that higher life. Barzakh is really the second stage in the development of this higher life, and it appears that everyone has a certain consciousness of the higher life at this stage, though full development has not yet taken place.

In the Quran, even the development of the physi­cal life is mentioned as passing through three stages. The first stage of that life is the state of being in the earth; the second, that of being in the mother’s womb; and the third, that in which the child is born.2 Corresponding to these three stages in the physical development of man, the Quran speaks of three stages in his spiritual development.

The first is the growth of a spiritual life which begins in this very life, but it is a stage at which ordinarily there is no consciousness of this life, like the dust stage in the physical development of man. Then there comes death, and with it is entered the second stage of a higher or spiritual life, the barzakh or the qabr stage, corresponding to the embryo stage in the physical development of man. At this stage, life has taken a definite form, and a certain consciousness of that life has grown up, but it is not yet the full consciousness of the final development which takes place with the Resurrection, the third stage, which may therefore be com­pared to the actual birth of man, to his setting forth on the road to real advan­cement, to a full awakening of the great truth. The development of the higher life in barzakh is as necessary a stage in the spiritual world as is the development of physical life in the embryonic state. The two thus stand on a par.

That there is some kind of awakening to a new spiritual exp­erience im­mediately after death is abundantly evident from various Quranic state­ments. For example, the verses in which barzakh is spoken of,3 set forth the spiritual experience of the evil-doer, who immediately becomes cons­cious of the fact that, in his first life, he has been doing something which is now detrimental to the growth of the higher life in him, and hence desires to go back, so that he may do good deeds which may help the develop­ment of the higher life. On another occasion, we are told that evil-doers, the people of Pharaoh, are made to taste of the evil consequences of their deeds in this state of barzakh, the consciousness of the chastisement be­coming clear on the Resurrection Day.4 While in the Holy Quran the guilty are spoken of as receiving chastisement in the state of barzakh, in Hadith this punish­ment is spoken of as the punishment meted out in the grave. These two punishments are one and the same, and the “grave” and barzakh are identical.

Similarly, the righteous are spoken of as tasting the fruits of good deeds immediately after death:

“And do not think of those who are killed in Allah’s way as dead. Rather, they are alive, being provided sustenance from their Lord, rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace; and they rejoice for the sake of those who, being left behind them, have not yet joined them, that they have no fear nor shall they grieve.” — 3:169–170

These verses show that the departed ones are even conscious of what they have left behind, and this establishes some sort of connection between this world and the next.

Duration of barzakh

All questions connected with the life of the other world are of an intri­cate nature, inasmuch as they are not things that can be perceived by human senses; they are “secrets” that shall be made known only after death, according to the Holy Quran,5 and according to a saying of the Holy Prophet: “what no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and what the mind of man has not conceived”.6 As will be shown later on, the very ideas of time and space as relating to the next world are different from those here, and therefore we cannot conceive of the duration of barzakh in terms of this world. Moreover, the full awakening to the higher life will take place in the Resurrection, and the state of barzakh is there­fore a state, as it were, of semi-consciousness. Hence it is that it is some­times likened to a state of sleep as compared with the great awakening of the Resurrection, for the unbelievers are made to say:

“O woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping-place?” — 36:52

The state of barzakh, as regards those who have wasted their opportunities in this life, lasts till the Day of Resurrection according to the Holy Quran (see 23:100 above). As regards those in whom the life spiritual has been awakened during the life on earth, consciousness in the barzakh state will undoubtedly be more vivid, and there is a hadith which speaks of the righteous being exalted to a higher state after forty days, and thus making progress even in that state.

Various names of Resurrection

The Resurrection is spoken of under various names, the most frequent of which is yaum al-qiyāmah or ‘the Day of the Great Rising’, which occurs seventy times in the Quran. Next to it is al-sā‘ah which means ‘the Hour’, and occurs forty times; yaum al-ākhir or ‘the Last Day’ occurs twenty-six times, while al-ākhirah as meaning ‘the Future Life’ occurs over a hundred times. Next in importance is yaum al-dīn which means ‘the Day of Requital’. Other names, each prefixed by yaum or ‘Day’, are as follows: The Day of Decision, of Reckoning, of Judgment, of Meeting, of Gathering, of Abiding, of Coming Forth, of being Raised to Life, of Regret, of Calling Forth, of Manifestation of Losses, and the Day that draws near. Some other names are: The Striking Cala­mity, the Overwhelming Calamity, the Deafening Calamity, the Predominating Calamity, the Great Truth, and the Great Event.

A general destruction and a general awakening

It will be seen that most of these names refer either to a destruction or an awakening and rising to a new life; they relate to the sweep­ing off of an old order and the establishment of a new one. A few quotations descriptive of the Resurrection will make the point clearer:

“He [man] asks: When is the Day of Resurrection? So when the sight is confused, and the moon becomes dark, and the sun and the moon are brought together — man will say on that day: Where to flee? No! There is no refuge! With your Lord on that day is the place of rest. Man will that day be informed of what he sent on ahead and what he put off. … No, but you love the present life, and neglect the Hereafter. [Some] faces that day will be bright, looking to their Lord. And [other] faces that day will be gloomy, knowing that a great disaster will be made to befall them.” — 75:6–13, 20–25

“So when the stars are made to disappear, and when the heaven is torn apart, and when the mountains are carried away as dust”. — 77:8–10

“Surely the day of Decision is appointed  — the day when the trumpet is blown, so you come forth in companies, and the heaven is opened so it becomes as doors, and the mountains are moved off so that they remain a mere semblance.” — 78:17–20

“The day when the quaking one shall quake — the conse­quence will follow it. Hearts that day will palpitate, their eyes downcast. … It is only a single cry, when lo! they will be awakened.” — 79:6–9, 13–14

“When the earth is shaken with her shaking, and the earth brings forth her burdens… On that day people will come forth, in diverse bodies, that they may be shown their works.” — 99:1–2, 6

“The day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as if racing to a goal”. — 70:43

“So when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are borne away and crushed with one crash — on that day will the Event come to pass… On that day you will be exposed to view — no secret of yours will remain hidden.” — 69:13–15, 18

“On the day when the earth will be changed into a different earth, and the heavens [as well]…” — 14:48

Three Resurrections

The two words used most frequently regarding the Resurrection are al-qiyāmah and al-sā‘ah. The first of these refers, apparently, to the rising, which is its literal significance, the second to des­truc­tion, being the hour of doom. The word al-sā‘ah is used in a wider sense, and indicates, be­sides the Doomsday, sometimes the death of an individual and sometimes the passing of a generation. The Quran says:

“They are losers indeed who reject the meeting with Allah, until when the hour comes upon them suddenly…” — 6:31

Here “the hour” (al-sā‘ah) clearly stands for the death of the person who rejects.

As regards the use of al-sā‘ah in the sense of the end of a generation, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said about a boy: “If the life of this boy is lengthened, he will not die till the hour (al-sā‘ah) comes to pass”,7 and it is related that he was the last to die from among the Companions of the Prophet; “the hour” in this case signifying the passing away of the generation of the Companions. There are examples of similar use in the Holy Quran also:

“The hour (al-sā‘ah) drew near and the moon was split apart.” — 54:1

“The hour”, in this case, stands for the doom of the opponents of the Holy Prophet. And again:

“Or do they say: We are an army allied together to help each other? Soon shall the armies be routed and they will show their backs. Indeed, the hour (al-sā‘ah) is their pro­mised time, and the hour is most grievous and bitter.” — 54:44–46

When the Holy Prophet was faced with a most seri­ous situation on the day of the battle of Badr, the Muslims being in danger of utter annihilation at the hands of their powerful opponents, and was praying for their safety, he was reminded of this prophecy, and comfort­ed his Companions by reciting these verses aloud, showing that “the hour” here meant the hour of the enemy’s defeat.8

Spiritual resurrection and the greater resurrection

Just as the word al-sā‘ah is used in a wider sense, so do the words qiyāmah (rising) and ba‘th (raising the dead to life) sometimes occur in a wider sense. On many occasions when the Holy Quran speaks of the dead, it means those who are spiritually dead, and by giving life to them it means the bringing about of a spiritual awaken­ing in them, as for example:

“Is he who was dead, then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in darkness from which he cannot come forth?” — 6:122

Here, clearly, the dead one is he who is spiritually dead, and God’s raising him to life is giving him the life spiritual. On one occa­sion even, by “those in the graves” are meant those who are dead spiritu­ally, who cannot hear the Prophet’s call:

“Neither are the living and the dead alike. Surely Allah makes him whom He pleases hear, and you cannot make those hear who are in the graves. You are only a warner.” — 35:22–23

The context shows that by “those in the graves” are meant those whom death has overtaken spiritually, whom the Prophet would warn but they would not listen.

On another occasion, where those in the graves are mentioned, the words convey a double significance, referring to the spiritual awakening brought about by the Holy Prophet as well as to the new life in the Resurrec­tion:

“And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells and brings forth a beautiful growth of every kind. This is because Allah, He is the Truth, and He gives life to the dead and He is Powerful over all things, and the Hour is coming, there is no doubt about it; and Allah will raise up those who are in the graves.” — 22:5–7

The first part of this passage, describing the giving of life to dead soil by means of rain, shows that the second part refers to the giving of spiritual life by means of Divine revelation, a comparison be­t­ween rain and revelation being of frequent occurrence in the Quran. “The Hour” here, as in so many other places, refers to the doom of the opponents of the Holy Prophet, and “the dead” and “those in the graves” are evidently the spiritually dead. But, though speaking primarily of the spiritu­al resurrection, there is also a reference to the great Resurrection of the dead. In fact, not only here but in many other places in the Holy Quran, the spiritual resurrection, to be brought about by the Holy Prophet, and the great­er Resurrection of the dead are mentioned together, the one being as it were an evidence of the other, because an awakening to spiritual life shows the existence of a higher life, the development of which is the real aim of the greater resurrection.

This is the first great argument running through­out the pages of the Holy Quran as to the truth of the greater Resurrection. The spiri­tual resurrection brought about by the Holy Prophet, the awakening to a spiritual life, makes the higher life an experience of humanity, and thus clears the way for a development of that life in a higher sphere, above the limitations of this material world.

Life has an aim

That the whole of creation on this earth is for the service of humanity, and that human life has some great aim and purpose to fulfil, is yet another argument for Resurrection advanced by the Holy Quran:

“Does man think that he will be left aimless?” — 75:36

“Do you then think that We have created you in vain and that you will not be returned to Us?” — 23:115

Just as belief in God ennobles man’s life, and endows it with the purest and highest impulses, so does belief in the Re­surrection introduce a serious­ness into man’s life which cannot be otherwise attained. It will be taking too low a view of human nature to imagine that with all those vast capaci­ties for ruling nature and its won­derful forces, human life itself has no aim. If everything in nature is intended for the service of man, human life itself could not be without purpose. The Holy Quran refers to this argu­ment in the following verses:

“Certainly We have created man in the best make, then We render him the lowest of the low, except those who be­lieve and do good, so theirs is a reward never to be cut off.” — 95:4–6

The last words clearly refer to the higher life which is never to be cut off, and this argument is followed by the conclusion: “So who can belie you after this about the Judgment?” (95:7).

It cannot be that the whole of creation should serve a purpose and that man alone, who is lord of it and endowed with capabilities for ruling the universe, should have a purposeless existence. It is the Resur­rection alone that solves this difficulty. Man has a higher object to fulfill, he has a higher life to live beyond this world; which is the aim of human life in this world.

Good and evil must have their reward

Another argument adduced by the Holy Quran in support of the Resurrec­tion is that good and evil must have their reward. Of the whole living creation, man alone has the power to discriminate bet­ween good and evil. And so acute is his perception of good and evil that he strives with all his might to promote good and to era­di­­cate evil. He makes laws for this purpose, and uses the whole machinery of power at his disposal to en­force them. Yet what do we see in practical life? Good is often neglected and starves, while evil prospers. That is not as it should be.

“Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good.” — 11:115, 12:90, etc.

“We do not waste the reward of him who does a good work.” — 18:30

“I will not let the work of any worker among you to be lost, whether male or female, each of you is as the other.” — 3:195

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” — 99:7–8

Such are some of the plain declarations made by the Holy Quran. And when we look at nature around us, we find the same law at work. Every cause has its effect, and everything done must bear a fruit. Even that which man does in the physical world must bear a fruit. Why should man’s good or evil deeds be an exception to this general rule working in the whole universe? And if they are not an exception, as they should not be, the conclusion is evident that good and evil must bear their full fruit in another life, which indicates the continuity of the life of man in another world, when death has put an end to it in this.

Resurrection as a workable principle of life

It will be seen from the above that the Resurrection is not a dogma in which a person is required to believe for his salvation in another life; rather it is a principle of human life, a principle which makes that life more serious and more useful, while at the same time awakening in him the conscious­ness of a life that is higher. The one who sincerely believes in the Resur­rection will try his utmost to take advantage of every opportunity that is offered him to live his life to the best purpose; he will try hard to do any good that he possibly can to the creatures of God, and he will shun every evil deed as far as he can. Thus a belief in the Resurrection is needed in the first place to make this lower life worth living. Without such a be­lief, life loses not only its meaning, leaving man without any real or abiding aim, but also all incentive to do good and eschew evil.

Resurrection is quite consistent with present scientific knowledge

The idea of a life after death is so strange to the average mind that the Holy Quran has, again and again, to answer the question: How will it be? And the answer given in all cases is that the great Author of all existence, Who made this vast universe out of nothing, could also bring about a new cre­ation.

“And they say: ‘When we are bones and decayed particles, shall we then be raised up as a new creation?… Who will return us?’ Say: He Who created you at first.” — 17:49–51

“And they say: ‘When we are bones and decayed particles, shall we then be raised up into a new creation?’ Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them?” — 17:98–99

“Do you not see that Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth? If He please, He will take you away and bring a new creation. And that is not difficult for Allah. And they will all come forth to Allah…” — 14:19–21

The Quran reverts to this subject too often to enable all the verses bearing on it to be reproduced, but the one underlying idea running through them all is that this old creation, the earth and its heaven, and the rest of the universe, would give place to a new creation. The old order would be changed into an entirely new one. It shall be a day “when the earth will be changed into a different earth and the heavens as well” (14:48). Just as this universe has grown out of chaos and a nebulous mass into its present state of sys­tems of galaxies and stars and their families, it will, in its turn, give place to a higher order which will be evolved from it. The idea is quite consis­tent with the scientific knowledge of the universe to which man has at­tained at the present day — the idea of evolution, order out of chaos, a higher order out of a lower order, and with this order of the universe, a higher order of human life of which our present senses cannot conceive.

Will the Resurrection be corporeal?

There is nothing in the Holy Quran to show that the body which the soul left at death will be restored to it. On the other hand, there are statements to show that it will be a new creation altogether. If, as the quotations given above show, the very earth and heaven have changed at the Resurrection, how can the human body remain the same? And in fact the Quran has stated clearly that it shall be a new body altogether. In one place, the human beings at the Resurrection are called the likes of the present race:

“Do they not see that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them?” — 17:99

Here the Arabic words for “the like of them” are mithla-hum, the personal pronoun hum referring to people, not to heaven and earth. In another place, the statement that the bodies would be changed is even clearer. There, the question of the unbelievers is first mentioned:

“When we die and become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised?” — 56:47

And the reply is given

“Do you see that which you emit [i.e., the semen]? Is it you that create it or are We the Creator? We have ordained death among you and We are not to be overcome, that We may change your state and make you grow into what you do not know. And certainly you know the first growth, why do you not then be mindful?” — 56:58–62

After human beings have become dust and bones, they shall be raised up again but their “state” will be entirely “changed”, and the new growth will be one which “you do not know”, while “you know the first growth”. The human body at the Resurrection is therefore a new growth which, with our present senses, we cannot even know. And this is as true of the human body as of all things of the next life, of the blessings of Paradise as well as of the chastisement of Hell, that they are things which, according to a saying of the Holy Prophet, “no eye has seen, and no ear has heard”, and which “the mind of man has not conceived”.9 The body after re­surrection has there­fore nothing in common with the body of this world except the name or the form which preserves the individuality.

A body prepared from the good and evil deeds of man

To understand how, what may be called the spiritual body of the life after death, is prepared, one must turn again to the Holy Quran. There it is stated that angels have been appointed to record the good and evil deeds of man. Thus at the beginning of the 13th chapter, a denial of the Resurrection — “When we are dust, shall we then be in a new creation?” (13:5) — is followed by the answer:

“Alike [to Him] among you is he who conceals the word and he who speaks openly, and he who hides himself by night and who goes forth by day. For him are angels guarding the consequences10 [of his deeds], before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah’s command.” — 13:10–11

It is first stated that to God all are alike, those who conceal their words and those who speak them open­ly, and those that do a good or evil deed in the darkness of the night and those who do it in the light of the day; and it is then added that there are angels before and behind man that guard him. The guarding of the man and the guarding of his deeds are thus one and the same thing. In fact, this has been made clear in an earlier chapter — earlier in point of re­ve­la­tion:

“No, but you call the Judgment a lie, and surely there are keepers [or, guardians]11 over you, honourable recorders, they know what you do.” — 82:9–12

Here the angels that are called “keepers over you”, being un­doubtedly the guarding angels (13:11), are plainly described as the record­ing angels who know what man does. Thus both these verses show that an inner self of man is being developed, all along, through his deeds, and that is what is meant by guarding man in one case and guarding his deeds in the other. It is the inner self that assumes a shape after death and forms first the body in barzakh and is then developed into the body in Resurrection.

Elsewhere, a similar denial of the Resurrection — “When we die and become dust — that is a far return” (50:3) — is rebutted by saying:

“We know indeed what the earth diminishes of them and with Us is a book that preserves.” — 50:4

It is here admitted that the body does indeed become dust but there is with God a writing that preserves what is essential to growth in the next life. That preserving writing is the record of good and evil deeds kept by the guar­dian angels, so that, here again, we are told that while the outer garb of the soul, the body, becomes dust and goes back to the earth, the inner self is preserved and forms the basis of the higher life — life in the Resur­rection.

Spiritualities materialized

This materialization of spiritualities — not a materialization in the sense in which it is accepted in this life, but a materialization of the new world to be evolved from the present world — is spoken of frequently in the Holy Quran as well as in Hadith. For instance, those who are guided by the light of faith in this life shall have a light running before them and behind them on the Day of Resurrection:

“Is he who was dead, then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in darkness from which he cannot come forth?” — 6:122

“On that day you will see the believers, men and women, their light gleaming before them and on their right hand.” — 57:12

And the fruits of good deeds are spoken of as fruits of Paradise:

“And give good news to those who believe and do good deeds, that for them are gardens in which rivers flow. Whenever they are given a portion of the fruit of these [gardens], they will say: This is what was given to us before; and they are given the like of it.” — 2:25

Similarly, the fire which burns within the heart of man in this life, by reason of inordinate love of wealth, becomes the fire of Hell in the next life:

“It is the Fire kindled by Allah, which rises over the hearts.” — 104:6–7

And the spiritual blindness of this life turns into blindness in the next life:

“And whoever is blind in this [world], he will be blind in the Hereafter…” — 17:72

The seventy years of evil-doing — seventy being the average span of human life — are turned into a chain of “seventy lengths long” (69:32). The person who acts according to the Book of God, or takes it in his right hand here, shall be given his book in the right hand on the Day of Resurrection, and the one who will have none of it, and throws it behind his back, shall be given his book behind his back or in his left hand.12

Hadith also is full of examples of this. The spiritualities of this life take an actual shape in the Hereafter. This is the truth underlying all the blessings of Paradise and the torments of Hell.

The book of deeds

The guarding of the good and evil deeds of man, which form the basis of the higher life, is spoken of as writing them down; and a book of good and evil deeds is repeatedly mentioned, as for example:

“This is Our record (kitāb) that speaks against you with truth. Surely We wrote what you did.” — 45:29

“And the book (kitāb) is placed, and you see the guilty fearing for what is in it, and they say: O woe to us! what a book is this! It leaves out neither a small thing nor a great one, but num­bers them all.” — 18:49

“So whoever does good deeds and is a be­liever, there is no rejection of his effort, and We surely write it down for him.” — 21:94

Not only has every individual his book of deeds, but even nations are spoken of as having their books of deeds:

“Every nation will be called to its record (kitāb). This day you are recompensed for what you did.” — 45:28

It is not meant, of course, that there will be a physical book, a collection of pages written with pen and ink. The word kitāb does not always mean a book as such; sometimes it signifies the know­ledge of God. A study of the verses in which the recording of actions, or the books of deeds, is referred to, leads to the conclusion that it is the effect produced by those actions that is meant. For instance:

“And We have made every human being’s actions to cling to his neck, and We shall bring forth to him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will find wide open.” — 17:13

Making the actions cling to the doer’s neck is clearly to cause the effect of the actions to appear on the person concerned; in other words, all ac­tions, good or bad, have their impress on the man. This is in accor­dance with what has been already stated, namely that an inner self of man is being prepared in this life. That inner self is really his book of deeds, a book in which is noted down the effect of every deed done. It is to this that the concluding words of the verse allude where it is said that this book of deeds, the inner self, which here is hidden from the human eye, will become an open book on the Day of Resurrection. And, quite in con­sonance with this, the next verse goes on to say:

“Read your book. Your own soul is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day.” — 17:14

In other words, the effect of a one’s deeds becomes so manifest on the Day of Resur­rection that no outside reckoning is needed. It is the person himself who reads his own book, that is to say, sees all his actions in the impress left on him, and judges himself because the reckoning has already appeared in his own self.

In agreement with this are two other verses of an earlier chapter:

“No, surely the record (kitāb) of the wicked is in the prison.” — 83:7

“No, surely the record (kitāb) of the righteous is in the highest places.” — 83:18

As opposed to the righteous who are in the highest places, the wicked should have been spoken of as being in the lowest places, but in­stead of that they are stated to be in prison, which means that a bar is placed against their advancement; hence they are mentioned further on as being “debarred from their Lord” (83:15), while the righteous go on advancing to higher and higher places. The word “record” or “book” here plainly stands for the inner self of man; in any other sense, the placing of the book in a prison is meaningless. Thus it is clear from the various descriptions of the book, or record, of deeds that it is the effect of good or evil deeds accelerating or retarding a person’s spiritual progress, as the case may be, that is meant, and that the writing is nothing but the impress that is left on a person when he does a good or bad deed — an impress which no human eye can see, but whose reality cannot be doubted by any conscientious thinker.

Balance

A “balance” (mīzān) is also spoken of in connection with the good and evil deeds of man. It is true that the measure of material things is judged by a pair of scales or by some other imple­ment, but the deeds of man need no scales for their measurement. In connection with the deeds of human beings, it means the doing of justice in their reckoning.13 The following verses illustrates what is meant:

“And We will set up a just balance (mawāzīn, pl. of mīzān) on the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be wronged in the least.” — 21:47

The meaning is made clear by the addi­tion of the words “no soul will be wronged in the least”.

The mīzān or “measure” of human beings is clearly spoken of elsewhere as hav­ing been sent down by God:

“Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the measure (mīzān) that people may conduct themselves with equity.” — 57:25

Reve­lation, or the Book, is sent down by God to awaken the spiritual life in man, and therefore the measure, which is spoken of as having been sent down along with revelation, must also relate to the spiritual life of man. The book contains the directions in principle, to do good and shun evil, and the balance or measure is there to weigh the good and the evil, so that the spiritual life awakened in man takes a good or bad turn, a higher or lower form, according to the preponderance of good or evil. Thus not only do good and evil deeds leave their effect behind but also there is a balance which gives shape to that effect and makes the spiritual growth possible, or has a retarding effect on that growth if evil preponderates.

The “balance” of the Hereafter, therefore, differs not at all from the “balance” of this life, except that there it takes a more palpable form. The general principle is laid down in the following verses:

“And We will set up a just balance on the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be wronged in the least. And if there were the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it, and sufficient are We to take account.” — 21:47

“And the judging (wazn) on that day will be just, so as for those whose good deeds are heavy, they are the successful. And as for those whose good deeds are light, those are they who ruined their souls…” — 7:8–9

Jannah or Paradise

The life after death takes two forms: a life in Paradise for those in whom the good preponderates over the evil, and a life in Hell for those in whom the evil preponderates over the good. It is the word garden (jannah) or its plural (jannāt) that is generally used to indicate the abiding place of the righteous. This word is derived from a root which signifies the concealing of a thing so that it is not perceived by the senses, and jannah, in the ordinary usage, means ‘a garden’ because its ground is covered by trees. The use of this name for the abode of bliss has a deep­er significance, since of Paradise it is plainly stated that its blessings are such as cannot be perceived by the physical senses. The description of Paradise usually given is “gardens in which rivers flow”, corresponding to which the description of the righteous generally is “those who believe and do good”. These two descriptions, read in the light of what has gone be­fore as to the materialization in the next world of the spiri­tualities of this life, are an indication of the fact that faith, which is the water of spiritual life, is converted into rivers, and good deeds, which spring from faith, are the seeds from which grow the trees of the next life.

Blessings of Paradise

The description of Paradise as a garden, with rivers flowing in it, is clearly stated to be a parable or a likeness, not an actuality, in terms of this life:

“A parable of the Garden which is promised to those who keep their duty: In it flow rivers. Its fruits are perpetual and [so is] its plenty (ẓill).” — 13:35

“A parable of the Garden which the dutiful are promised: In it are rivers of water not altering for the worse…” — 47:15

And quite in keeping with this description is the statement made else­where, that the blessings of Paradise cannot be conceived of in this life, not being things of this world:

“So no soul knows what joy of the eyes is hidden for them: a reward for what they did.” — 32:17

An explanation of these words was given by the Holy Prophet himself when he said:

“Allah says: I have pre­pared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and what the mind of man has not conceived.” 14

A few examples may be added. Ẓill, which means a shadow, is spoken of, in some places, as one of the blessings of Paradise:

“The dutiful are amid shades and fountains”. — 77:41

Ẓill does not in any of these cases bear the significance of shade; the name is there but its im­port is quite different. In fact we are plainly told in the Holy Quran that there is no sun in Paradise:

“They will see therein neither sun nor intense cold.” — 76:13

Hence in the case of Paradise, it signifies protection or plenty, as being the idea underlying the word shade. Note that the same word has also been used in connection with the rigours of Hell:

“And shadow (ẓill) of black smoke, neither cool nor refreshing.” — 56:43–44

Ẓill is every covering whether good or bad; and hence it is also spoken of as one of the severities of Hell.15

Those in Paradise are spoken of as being given sustenance (rizq). But it cannot mean what sustains the body here. It is the sustenance that is needed for the inner self of man, and it is for this reason that prayer is also called sustenance in 20:131. The fruits of Paradise, whether mentioned un­der a particular name or generally, are not the fruits of this life, but of deeds done. The name is the same, but the significance is quite different. Thus we are told:

“Whenever they are given a portion of the fruit ­of these [gardens], they will say: This is what was given to us before.” — 2:25

Evident­ly the fruits of good deeds are meant here, and not the fruits that the earth grows, because the latter are not given to all the true believers here while the former are. Similar is the case with the rivers of water, milk and honey, all of which are plainly spoken of as a parable;16 the thrones, the cushions and carpets,17 the ornaments, the bracelets, the silk robes18 — all these are not things of this life, but are mentioned simply to show that whatever may serve to perfect the picture of the happiness of human beings, will be there. As for the exact form they will take, that cannot be made known to man, because his senses are incapable of perceiving it. All descriptions of the blessing of the next life are only a likeness or a parable (mathal) as is explained in the Holy Quran.19

Even our ideas of space and time are inapplicable to the next life. Paradise extends over the whole of the heavens and the earth, that is to say, the whole of this universe:

“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden, as wide as the heavens and the earth.” — 3:133, 57:21

And when the Holy Prophet was asked where was Hell, if Paradise ex­tended over the whole of the heavens and the earth, he replied: “Where is the night when the day comes?”20 This shows that Paradise and Hell are more like two conditions than two pla­ces. Again, despite the fact that the two are poles asunder, the one being the highest of the high and the other the lowest of the low, they are separated only by a wall:

“Then a wall, with a door in it, will be raised between them. Wi­thin it shall be mercy, and outside of it punish­ment.” — 57:13

And elsewhere, speaking of the inmates of Paradise and the inmates of Hell, it is said:

“And between them is a veil.” — 7:46

It is impossible, with our present ideas of space, to conceive of these two things at one and the same time. Again, a “vehement raging and roaring” of hell-fire is repeatedly mentioned,21 but those in Paradise shall “not hear its faintest sound”22 while they will hear the call of the inmates of that fire:

“And the companions of the Fire call out to the owners of the Garden: Pour on us some water or some of what Allah has provided for you. They say: Surely Allah has prohi­bi­ted them both to the disbelievers”. — 7:50

Thus those in Paradise shall hear the talk of those in Hell, but they shall not hear the roaring of the fire of Hell. This shows that the change that will come over man in the Resurrection will be so thorough that even his present senses will be changed into others, of which it is impossible for him to conceive in this life, senses which would hear the lowest tones of one kind, but not the most terrible sounds of another.

Women in Paradise

The things mentioned among the blessings of Paradise are, therefore, not the things of this world but things which we have neither seen nor heard of in this life; nor, with our present senses, can we even conceive of them. All descriptions given are simply to show that the life of the righteous will be perfect in the Resurrection. It is with the same end in view that mention is made of the company of men and women in that state, to which sensually minded people have attached a sensual sig­nificance. As sexual relationship, as under­stood in this life, is a requirement of nature to help the act of procreation, it is clear that the relationship of sexes or the com­pany of men and women in the Resurrec­tion has quite a different significance.

The mention of women in Paradise in the Holy Quran is, in the first place, to show that men and women are both equal in the sight of God, and that both will enjoy the higher life in the Resurrection. That women, in general, shall have access to Paradise, like men, is made clear in many places:

“So their Lord accepted their prayer [saying]: I will not let the work of any worker among you to be lost, whether male or female; each of you is as the other … I shall truly remove their evil and make them enter Gardens in which rivers flow — a reward from Allah.” — 3:195

“Allah has promised to the believers, men and women, Gardens, in which rivers flow, to abide in them, and good­­ly dwellings in Gardens of perpetual abode. And great­est of all is Allah’s goodly pleasure. That is the mighty achievement.” — 9:72

“…and whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer, these shall enter the Garden, to be given sustenance in it without measure.” — 40:40 (see also 4:124)

“On that day you will see the believers, men and women, their light gleaming before them and on their right hand. Good news for you this day! — Gardens in which rivers flow, to abide in them! That is the mighty achievement.” — 57:12

The wives of the righteous are mentioned particularly as accompany­ing their husbands in Paradise:

“Gardens of perpetuity, which they will enter along with those who do good from among their fathers and their wives and their offspring…” — 13:23

“They and their wives are in shades, reclin­ing on raised couches.” — 36:56

“Our Lord! make them enter the Gardens of perpetuity, which You have promised them and such of their fathers and their wives and their offspring as are good.” — 40:8

“Enter the garden, you and your wives, being made happy.” — 43:70

Ḥūr

Among the various descriptions of women in Paradise is the word ḥūr, which occurs four times in the Holy Quran, as in:

“The dutiful will be surely in Gardens and bliss… and We shall join them to pure (ḥūr), beautiful ones.” 23 — 52:17, 20

Purity is the prevailing idea in the root meaning of ḥūr; hence “pure ones” is its nearest rendering in English.24 The word ḥawārī, which is derived from the same root, means a pure and sincere friend, and has been particularly applied in the Quran to the chosen disciples of Je­sus.

Are ḥūr the women that go to Paradise, the wives of the righteous? A hint to this effect is given in a hadith. The last of the occasions on which the ḥūr are spoken of is 56:22, and in continuation of the subject there occur the words:

“Surely We have created them as a [new] creation, so We have made them virgins, loving, equals in age”. — 56:35–37

In connection with their being a new creation, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said that by this are meant women who have grown old here.25 The meaning, therefore, is that all good women will be in a new creation in the life of the Resurrection so that they shall all be virgins, equals in age. The Prophet’s explanation shows that the word ḥūr is used to describe the new growth into which women of the world will grow. An anecdote is also related that an old woman came to the Holy Prophet when he was sitting with his Companions, and asked him if she would go to Paradise. In a spi­rit of mirth, the Holy Prophet remarked that there would be no old woman in Paradise. She was about to turn away rather sorrowfully, when the Holy Prophet comforted her with the words that all women shall be made to grow into a new growth, so that there shall be no old woman in Paradise, and recited the verses quoted above.26

Even if the ḥūr are taken to be a blessing of Paradise, and not the women of this world, it is a blessing as well for men as for women. Just as the gardens, rivers, milk, honey, fruits, and num­erous other things of Paradise are both for men and women, even so are ḥūr. What these blessings actually are, no one knows, but the whole picture of Paradise drawn in the Holy Quran strongly condemns the association of any sensual idea with them. As to why these blessings are described in words which apply to women, the fact is that the reward spoken of here has special reference to the purity and beauty of character, and if there is an emblem of purity and beauty, it is womanhood, not manhood.

Children in Paradise

What is true of women is also true of children. The Holy Quran speaks, on one occasion, of the presence in Paradise of ghilmān, plural of ghulām meaning ‘a boy’, and on two occasions of wildān, plural of walad meaning ‘a son’ or ‘a child’:

“And round them go boys (ghilmān) of theirs as if they were hidden pearls.” — 52:24

“Round about them will go youths (wildān), never altering in age”. — 56:17, 76:19

In the first case, there is a double indication showing that these boys are the offspring of the faithful; they are called “their boys”, and it is clearly stated only three verses earlier that God will:

“unite with them [i.e., with the righteous] their offspring”. — 52:21

To the same effect, it is elsewhere said that the “offspring” of the faithful will be made to enter Paradise with them.27 Hence the “boys” and the “youth” are the young children who have died in childhood. There is, however, a pos­sibility that these boys are only a blessing of Paradise, as boyhood is, like womanhood, an emblem of purity and beauty.

Paradise is the abode of peace

The picture of Para­dise as portrayed in the Holy Quran has no imp­lication whatsoever of any sensual pleasure. Some of the ver­ses which reveal the true nature of Paradise are quoted below:

“Allah has promised to the believers, men and women, Gardens in which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwell­ings in Gardens of perpetual abode. And greatest of all is Allah’s goodly pleasure. That is the mighty achie­ve­ment.” — 9:72

“Those who believe and do good, their Lord guides them by their faith; rivers will flow beneath them in Gardens of bliss. Their cry therein will be, Glory be to You, O Allah! and their greeting, Peace! And the last of their cry will be: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!” — 10:9–10

“Surely those who keep their duty are in Gardens and fountains: Enter them in peace, secure. And We shall remove whatever of bitterness is in their hearts — as brothers, on raised couches, face to face. Toil does not afflict them there­in, nor will they be ejected from there.” — 15:45–48

“And they say: Praise be to Allah, Who has removed grief from us! Surely our Lord is Forgiving, Multiplier of reward, Who out of His grace has settled us in a house abiding forever; therein toil does not touch us nor does fatigue afflict us therein.” — 35:34–35

“In it they have fruits and they have whatever they desire. Peace! a word from the Merciful Lord.” — 36:57–58

“Enter it in peace. That is the day of abi­d­ing. They shall have in it all they wish, and with Us is yet more.” — 50:34

“They hear therein no idle or sinful talk, but only the saying, Peace! Peace!” — 56:25–26

Quite in accordance with this description of Paradise, one of the names by which Paradise is mentioned in the Quran is the abode of peace (dār al-salām).28

The meeting with God

The ultimate object of the life of man is described as liqā’ Allāh which means the meeting with God. In one of the earliest chapters of the Holy Quran we are told:

“O man! You must strive a hard striving [to attain] to your Lord until you meet Him.” — 84:6

But this object cannot be fully attained in this life; it is only in the life after death, the higher life, that a human being is able to reach this stage. Hence it is that those who deny the life after death are said to be deniers of the meeting with God:

“And they say: When we are lost in the earth, shall we then be in a new creation? Indeed, they are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord.” — 32:10

To be content with this life, and not to look forward to a higher goal and a higher life, is repeatedly condemned:

“Those who do not expect the meeting with Us, and are pleased with this world’s life and are satisfied with it, and those who are heedless of Our messages — these, their abode is the Fire because of what they earned… We leave those alone, who have no hope of meeting with Us, in their inordinacy, blindly wandering on.” — 10:7–8, 11. 29

Only those who are sure that they will meet their Lord work on patiently for this great object:

“And seek assistance through patience and prayer, and this is hard except for the humble ones, who know that they will meet their Lord and that to Him they will return.” — 2:45–46

The meeting with the Lord is the great goal to attain, for which all good deeds are done:

“So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and make no one a partner [with God] in the service of his Lord.” — 18:110

And what is Hell itself but being debarred from the Divine presence:

“No, rather, what they earned is rust upon their hearts. No, surely they are that day debarred from their Lord. Then they will surely enter the burning Fire.” — 83:14–16

Paradise is therefore the place of meeting with God, and life in Paradise is above all bodily conceptions.

Advancement in the higher life

That, however, is only the beginning of the higher life. The goal has been attained, but it only opens out wide fields for further advancement. If man has been granted such vast capabilities even in this physical life that his advancement knows no bounds, that advancement could not cease with the attainment of the higher life. In accordance with the idea of the Resurrection as the birth into a higher life, the Holy Quran speaks of an un­ending progress in that life, of the righteous ever rising to higher and higher stages:

“O you who believe, turn to Allah with sincere repentance. It may be your Lord will remove from you your evil and make you enter Gardens in which rivers flow, on the day on which Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their light will gleam before them and on their right hands — they will say: Our Lord, make perfect for us our light and grant us protection; surely You are powerful over all things.” — 66:8

It is clear from the first part of this verse that all evil is removed from those who enter into Paradise, and as clear from the concluding por­tion that the soul of the righteous shall still be animated by a desire for more and more light, which evidently indicates a desire to attain to higher and ever higher stages of spiritual life. And there shall be means of fulfil­ment of every desire in Paradise:

“In it they have fruits and they have whatever they desire.” — 36:57

So the desire to attain to higher and higher stages cannot remain unfulfilled:

“But those who keep their duty to their Lord, for them are high places, above which are yet higher places, built for them…” — 39:20

The new life granted to the righteous in Paradise is thus the starting-point for a new advancement, in which man shall con­tinue to rise to higher and higher places. The joys of Paradise are thus really the true joys of advancement.

Hell, a manifestation of spiritualities

In the Holy Quran, the most frequently occurring name of Hell is Jahannam, which is, as it were, a proper name for Hell. Its meaning signifies a great depth. Another name for Hell which bears a similar significance, but which occurs only once, is hāwiya,30 meaning an abyss or a deep place of which the bottom cannot be reached,31 hence indicating low desires.32 Four names of Hell are taken from the analogy of fire: jaḥīm, sa‘īr, saqar and laẓā. The seventh name of hell is ḥuṭamah, occurring only twice in the same context,33 whose root means the breaking of a thing, also making it infirm or weak with age, while ḥuṭamah means a vehement fire.34 The word ḥuṭām is used for dried up and broken down vege­tation.35

It will be seen from the above that the different names of Hell convey three different ideas: the idea of falling down to a great depth, the idea of burning and the idea of being broken down. Thus as the idea of rising higher and higher is connected with Paradise, that of falling down to abys­mal depth is essentially connected with Hell; and as the ideas of content­ment and happiness are associated with Paradise, the idea of burning is associated with Hell which is itself but the result of burning with passion in this life; and lastly, as the idea of a fruitful life is associated with Para­dise, life in Hell is represented as an unfruitful life. All this is the result of man’s own deeds. Because he follows his low desires and baser pas­sions, he makes himself fall into the depths; the burning caused by worldly desires and passions changes into a flaming fire after death; and since the only end in view is some sort of gain in this life, such deeds can bear no fruit after death. Just as the blessings of Paradise are a manifestation of the hidden realities of this life, so are the depths, the fire and unfruit­fulness of hell, and the Day of Resurrection is, according to the Quran, the day of the manifes­tation of hidden realities36 when the veil shall be removed from the eyes of man so that he shall see clearly the consequences of the deeds of which he took no heed in this life.37

In other words, the spiritual torments and mental pangs, that are generally felt almost imperceptibly in this life, as­sume a palpable shape in the life after death. The answer to the question, what is Hell, is unequivocally given as:

“It is the Fire kindled by Allah which rises over the hearts.” — 104:6–7

Now the fire which consumes the hearts is that caused by inordinate passions. Regret for the evil done is also spoken of as fire:

“Thus will Allah show them their deeds to be intense regret to them, and they will not escape from the fire.” — 2:167

The low desires of this life (ahwā’), that are so often a hindrance in man’s awakening to a higher life and nobler aims, become the abysmal depth (hāwiyah or ja­hannam), to which the evil-doer makes himself fall. Accordingly, in the Holy Quran we are told:

“So shun the filth of the idols and shun false words, being upright for Allah, not setting up partners with Him; and whoever sets up partners with Allah, it is as if he had fallen from on high…” — 22:30–31

And of the people whose exertions are all limited in this world’s life, it is said:

“Those whose effort is lost in this world’s life, and they think that they are making good manufactures. Those are they who dis­believe in the messages of their Lord and meet­ing with Him, so their deeds are fruitless.” — 18:104–105

Remedial nature of Hell

Hell, therefore, only represents the evil consequences of evil deeds, but still it is not a place merely for undergoing the consequences of what has been done; it is also a remedial plan. In other words, its chastisement is not for the purpose of torture but for puri­fi­cation; so that man, rid of the evil consequences which he has brought about with his own hands, may be made fit for spiri­tual advancement. The Holy Quran has clearly laid down the same law even for those punishments which are inflicted on man here on earth:

“And We did not send a prophet to a town but We seized its people with distress and affliction that they might humble them­selves.” — 7:94

It is clear from this that God brings down His punishment upon a sinning people in order that they may turn to Him, in other words, that they may be awakened to a higher life. The same must therefore be the object of punishment in Hell.

In fact, a little consideration would show that good is enjoined because it helps the progress of man, and evil is prohibited because it retards that progress. If a person does good, he himself gets the advantage of it; if he does evil, it is to his own detriment. It is a subject to which the Quran returns over and over again:

“Your striving is surely for diverse ends. Then as for him who gives [in charity] and keeps his duty, and accepts what is good — We facilitate for him [the way to] ease. And as for him who is miserly and considers himself self-sufficient, and rejects what is good — We facilitate for him [the way to] distress.” — 92:4–10

“If you do good, you do good for your own souls. And if you do evil, it is for them.” — 17:7

“Whoever does good, it is for the good of his own soul; and whoever does evil, it is to its detriment. And your Lord is not in the least unjust to the servants.” — 41:46

Purification being the great object, the man who has wasted his oppor­tunity here must undergo the ordeal of Hell in order to obtain it. Various other considerations lead to the same conclusion. In the first place, such great prominence is given in the Quran to the attribute of mercy in God that He is spoken of as having “ordained mercy on Himself”;38 the Divine mercy is described as encompassing all things,39 so that even those who have acted extrava­gantly, against their own souls, should not despair of the mercy of God;40 and finally it is laid down that for mercy did He create all human beings.41 Such a merciful Being could not chastise man unless for some great purpose, which is to set him again on the road to the higher life, after purifying him from evil. It is like a hospital where different operations are performed only to save life.

The ultimate object of the life of man is that he shall live in the service of God:

“And I have not created the jinn and the people except that they should serve Me.” — 51:56

The man who lives in sin is debarred from the Divine presence,42 but, being purified by fire, is again made fit for Divine service. Hence Hell is called, in one place, the “friend” (maulā) of the sinners, and their “mother” (umm) in another.43 Both descriptions are a clear indication that Hell is intended to raise up man by purifying him from the dross of evil, just as fire purifies gold of dross. The faithful are purified through their suffer­ing, in the way of God, in this life; and the evil-doers shall be purified by hell-fire. Hell is called a “friend” of sinners, because through suffer­ing it will fit them for spiritual progress, and it is called their “mother”, because in its bosom they will be brought up, so that they may be able to tread the path of a new life.

Punishment of Hell not everlasting

Another consideration which shows that this punishment is of a remedial nature is that, according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Sayings of the Holy Prophet, all those who are in Hell shall ultimately, when they are fit for a new life, be released from it. This is a point on which great misunderstanding prevails even among Muslim theologians. They make a distinction between the Muslim sinners and the non-Muslim sinners, holding that all Muslim sinners shall be ultimately taken out of Hell, but not the non-Muslim sinners. Neither the Quran nor the Hadith upholds this view. There are two words, khulūd and abad, used in connection with the abiding in Hell or Paradise, and both these words, while, no doubt, indicating eternity, also bear the significance of a long time. Not only do all authorities on Arabic lexicology agree on this, but the use of these words in the Quran also makes it quite clear.

The word khulūd has been freely used regarding the punishment in Hell of Muslim as well as of non-Muslim sinners. One example of its use for Muslim sin­ners is that after stating the law of inheritance, it is said:

“These are Allah’s limits. … And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and goes beyond His limits, He will make him enter fire, to abide (khālid-an) in it, and for him is a humiliating punishment.” — 4:13–14

Here clearly Mus­lim sinners are spoken of, and yet their abiding in Hell is called khulūd.

The other word abad occurs three times in the Holy Quran, in connection with the abiding of sinners in Hell. Ordinarily, it is taken as meaning forever or eternally, but that it sometimes signifies only a long time, is abundantly clear from the fact that both its dual and plural forms are in use. This significance of abad is fully recognized in Arabic lexicology.44 That in the case of those in Hell, it signifies a long time and not forever, is clear from the fact that the abiding in Hell of even the unbelievers is elsewhere stated to be for aḥqāb,45 which is the plural of ḥuqbah, meaning a year or many years.46 At all events it indicates a definite period of time, and hence serves as a clear indication that even abad, in the case of abiding in Hell, means a long time.

We now consider the statements in the Quran which are generally taken as meaning that those in Hell shall forever and ever suffer its endless tortures:

“…they will not es­cape from the fire.” — 2:167

“They would desire to come forth from the fire, and they will not come forth from it, and theirs is a lasting puni­shment.” — 5:37

“Whenever they desire to go out from it, from grief, they are turned back into it.” — 22:22

“Whenever they desire to go forth from it, they are brought back into it, and it is said to them: Taste the punishment of the fire, which you called a lie.” — 32:20

These verses are self-explanatory. Those in Hell shall desire to escape from it but shall not be able to do so. The evil consequences of sin cannot be avoided, howsoever one may desire, and even so is the fire of Hell. None can escape from it. But not a word is there in any of these verses to show that God will not take them out of it, or that the tortures of Hell are endless. They only show that every sinner must suffer the consequences of what he has done, and that he cannot escape them; but that he may be set free when he has undergone the necessary chastise­ment, or that God may, of His bound­less mercy, deliver the sinners when He pleases, is not denied here.

The following two verses clearly indicate the ultimate deli­verance of those in Hell:

“He will say: The Fire is your abode — you shall abide in it, except as Allah please. Surely your Lord is Wise, Knowing.” — 6:128

“Then as for those who are unhappy, they will be in the Fire; for them there will be in it sighing and groan­ing — abiding in it so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord please. Surely your Lord is Doer47 of what He intends.” — 11:106–107

Both these verses show that the abiding in Hell must come to an end. To make this conclusion clearer still, the Quran has used in the very next verse a similar ex­pression for those in Paradise but with quite a different ending:

“And as for those who are made happy, they will be in the Garden, abiding in it so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord please — a gift never to be cut off.” — 11:108

The two expressions are similar; those in Hell and those in Para­dise abide, each in his place, as long as the heavens and the earth endure, with an exception added in each case — “except as your Lord please” — showing that they may be taken out of that condition. But the concluding statements are different. In the case of Paradise, the idea that those in it may be taken out of it, if God pleases, is immediately followed by the statement that it is a gift that shall never be cut off, showing that they shall not be taken out of Paradise; while in the case of Hell, the idea that those in it will be taken out is con­firmed by the concluding statement, that God is the mighty Doer of what He intends.

This conclusion is corroborated by Hadith. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said:

“Then Allah will say: The angels have interceded and the prophets have interceded and the faithful have interceded and none re­mains but the most Merciful of all merciful ones. So He will take out a handful from the fire and bring out a people who have never done any good.” 48

Three kinds of intercession are spoken of in this hadith — of the faithful, of prophets and of the angels — and the interces­sion of each class is undoubtedly meant for people who have some sort of close relation with that class. The faithful will intercede for people who have come into contact with them personally; the prophets will intercede for their followers; the angels, who move people to do good, will intercede for people who are not followers of a prophet, but who have done some good. And the report adds that the most Merciful of all still remains, so He will bring out from the fire even people who have never done any good. It follows that, thereafter, none can remain in Hell, and in fact the handful of God cannot leave anything behind.

Other Hadith reports state even more explicitly that everyone shall be ultimately taken out of Hell: “Surely a day will come over Hell when there shall not be a single human being in it”. And a saying of Umar, the second Caliph, is recorded as follows: “Even if the dwellers in Hell may be numberless as the sands of the desert, a day will come when they will be taken out of it”. A similar saying is recorded from Ibn Masud: “Surely a time will come over Hell when its gates shall be blown by wind, there shall be none in it, and this shall be after they have remained there­in for many years”. Similar sayings are reported from many other Com­panions and also from the learned men of the next generation. And later Imams, such as Ibn Arabi, Ibn Taimiyah, Ibn Qayyim, and many others, have held similar views.49

Thus there can be but little doubt left that Hell is a temporary place for the sinner, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, and this also supports the view that the chastisement of Hell is not for torture but as a remedy, to heal the spiritual diseases which a person has incurred by his own negligence, and to enable him to start again on the road to the higher life. The truth of this has already been established from the Holy Quran, but a hadith also may be quoted here which express­ly speaks of inmates of the fire as being set on the road to the higher life:

“Then will Allah say, ‘Bring out [of the Fire] everyone in whose heart there is faith or goodness to the extent of a mustard seed,’ so they will be taken out having become quite black; then they will be thrown into the river of life and they will grow as grows a seed by the side of the river.”50

This report is conclusive as to the remedial nature of Hell and establishes beyond a doubt that all human beings will ultimately be set on the way to the higher life.

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Notes to Chapter 9

1. The Quran, 2:8, 2:62, etc.

2. The Quran, 53:32, 32:7–9, 23:12–14.

3. The Quran, 23:99–100.

4. The Quran, 40:45–46.

5. The Quran, 32:17.

6. Bukhari, book 59: ‘Beginning of Creation’, ch. 8, h. 3244.

7. Raghib’s Mufradāt. Editor’s Note: There are similar reports in Muslim, book 54: ‘Tribulations and Signs of the Last Hour’, ch. 27, h. 2952 to h. 2953 (DS: book 52, ch. 27, h. 7409–7412).

8. Bukhari, book 65: ‘Commentary on the Quran’, h. 4875 on Surah 54:45 and h. 4877 on Surah 54:45–46. See also Bukhari, book 56: ‘Jihād’, ch. 89, h. 2915.

9. Bukhari, book 59: ‘Beginning of Creation’, ch. 8, h. 3244.

10. Editor’s Note: The Arabic word here in 13:11 translated as “angels guar­d­ing the consequences” is mu‘aqqibāt.

11. Editor’s Note: The Arabic word here in 82:10 is ḥāfiẓīn, meaning “keepers” or “guardians”. This is the same word which is used as a verb in 13:11 to mean “who guard him” (yaḥfaẓūna-hū).

12. The Quran, 69:19, 69:25, 84:7, 84:10.

13. See Raghib’s Mufradāt under the word wazn.

14. Bukhari, book 59: ‘Beginning of Creation’, ch. 8, h. 3244.

15. Raghib’s Mufradāt.

16. The Quran, 47:15.

17. The Quran, 88:13–16.

18. The Quran, 18:31.

19. The Quran, 13:35, 47:15.

20. Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī, Commentary of the Quran, vol. 1, p. 670.

21. The Quran, 25:12, 67:7.

22. The Quran, 21:102.

23. The other three places are 44:54, 55:72 and 56:22.

24. Ḥūr is a plural of aḥwar, applied to a man, and of ḥaurā’, applied to a woman, signifying ‘one having eyes characterized by [the quality termed] ḥawar’ — Lane’s Lexicon.

Ḥawar means originally ‘whiteness’, which is a symbol of purity, and the word ḥaurā’ is applied to a woman who is of a white colour and whose white of the eye is intensely white and the black thereof intensely black — Lisān al-‘Arab.

Aḥwar, besides being applied to a man of a similar description, also signifies pure or clear intellect — Lane’s Lexicon.

25. Tirmidhi, book 47: ‘Commentary on the Quran’, hadith 3296 (DS: book 44, ch. 56).

26. Shama’il Tirmidhi, ch. ‘Joking of the Messenger of Allah’. See Shama’il Muhammadiyya at Sunnah.com, book 36, hadith 240.

27. The Quran, 40:8.

28. The Quran, 6:128, 10:25.

29. See also 29:23 and 30:7–8.

30. The Quran, 101:9.

31. Lisān al-‘Arab.

32. Raghib’s Mufradāt.

33. The Quran, 104:4–5.

34. Lane’s Lexicon.

35. In 57:20 and elsewhere.

36. The Quran, 86:9.

37. The Quran, 50:22.

38. The Quran, 6:12, 54.

39. The Quran, 6:147, 7:156, 40:7.

40. The Quran, 39:53.

41. The Quran, 11:119.

42. The Quran, 83:15.

43. The Quran, 57:15 and 101:9.

44. See Raghib’s Mufradāt.

45. The Quran, 78:23.

46. See Lisān al-‘Arab and Raghib’s Mufradāt.

47. The word translated here as “Doer” is fa‘‘āl, which is an intensive form of fā‘il, the latter word meaning doer. As a Divine attribute, the intensive form indicates that God does even those things which seem impossible to others. (From footnote to 11:107 in Maulana Muhammad Ali’s English Translation of the Holy Quran.)

48. Muslim, book 1: ‘Faith’, ch. 81, h. 183a (DS: h. 454).

Editor’s Note: See also Bukhari, book 97: ‘Oneness of God’, ch. 24: ‘Faces that day will be bright, looking to their Lord’, h. 7439, narrated by Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri. In this hadith, the very last people to be taken out of hell are called as “emancipated by the Beneficent” (‘utaqā’-ur-Raḥmān).

49. For all the references in this paragraph, see the commentary of the Quran entitled Fatḥ al-Bayān fī maqāṣid al-Qur’ān by Siddiq ibn Hasan ibn Ali al-Bukhari (d. 1890).

50. Bukhari, book 2: ‘Faith’, ch. 15, h 22.