LIFE AFTER DEATH (AKHIRAT)

Also known as the doctrine of eschatology.

Everybody in this world will experience
death.
-Refer to 55:26
-According to hadith Bukhari, Ibn Ummar
reported that the Prophet held me by the
shoulder and said, when morning comes on
you, do not keep on waiting for evening; take
from your wealth, make best use of it. Prepare
for your sickness and prepare from your life
for your death.
A Muslim is continuously reminded of his
limited and temporary period of existence in
 We have been clearly reminded that after the
death all bodies would be resurrected and
judged by God.
Two judgments will be taken place:
i) Through and after the questioning of the
grave.
ii) The ultimate judgment to be passed on the
Day of Resurrection.
Life after death is one of the pillars of iman.
Refer to 101: 1-11.
Several terms synonymous to the life after
death:
a) yaum al qiyamah ( the day of resurrection)
b) yaum al bath (the day of raising the death)
c) yaum al hisab (the day of reckoning)
d) yaum al akhirah ( the last day).
 There are some verses and hadith which
indicate to conditions and circumstances which
will sign close to the coming of al qiyamah.
- Refer to 5:1- indicates about the hour of
judgment is at night and the moon was cleft
asunder.
- The Prophets saying,
The knowledge of qiyamah is with God alone.
Nobody knows except Allah. It is He who sends
down rain, and He who knows what is in the
wombs. No body knows in what land he is to
die.
When we died, we will be resurrected again.
So, death is the beginning or the first stage of a
new life. This stage is known as barzakh.
 Barzakh means the interregnum/ interval
between death and resurrection.
When a man dies, his soul does not perish with
him. It only migrates from this material world
to the world in the hereafter. Refer to 2:28.
In Islamic perspective, barzakh is the period
which intervenes between this world and the
life hereafter commencing immediately after
the death of a man and ending on the Day of
Resurrection.
In the alam barzakh, man will be questioned
by the two malaikat, munkar and nakir about
his spiritual state.
 After our death for the first time, we are
going to be resurrected so that all of our
deeds here in this world be judged and
counted by God. Refer to 51: 1-6.
According to the Quran, both body and the
soul are going to be resurrected and judged.
The people will be called account for four
things:
- how did you spend your worldly life?
- how did you use your body?
- what is the objective of your deeds?
- from where did you earn your wealth and
where did you spend it?
 After being judged the people will have to go through a bridge
(sirat).
Sirat is a bridge in the hereafter which will be laid out by Allah
on the hell surface. It starts from manaqif (at mahsyar) and
ends at the door of paradise.
The division of people, when crossing the sirat, is according to
the measurement by the scales which is held in the mahsyar.
The people can be divided into three categories:

1) Those who the good deeds exceed the evils will succeed.
2) Those who practice evil things. This can be divided into two
categories:
i) If the person has faith in God, he will be later admitted to
the paradise after finishing his punishments and clean himself
from the wrong doings.
ii) If he has no faith in God (kafir), he will be in Hell forever.
3) Those who the good deeds and wrong doings are the
same.This group of people will fall to the place between
paradise and Hell. There is a gap between the two called al
araf. Refer to 7: 46.
 Some logical proofs from rational as well as from
the quranic verses on the belief in day of
resurrection/judgment.
1) Man is being created by God as a moral/
purposive being. He is created to be tested and
judged and the ultimate judgment takes place in
the hereafter.
2) If there is no other world, there is no meaning
for creation. Refer to 23: 115.
3) The treatment given by God would be different
between muslims and non-muslims. Refer to 68:
35.
4) Argumentations mentioned in several verses in
chapter 56 (surah al waqiah):
-56: 57
-56: 58- 61
-56: 62-67, 68-70, 71-73.