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CONGRUITIES AND INCONGRUITIES BETWEEN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR'AN |
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Death, Beyond Grave, Doomsday, Hell, Paradise
DEATH
« Nor can a soul die except by Allah.s leave, the term being fixed as by writing… »(Surah 3/145) S« ad incidents like death, accident, famine, poverty are facts of providence. . No kind of calamity can occur, except by the leave of Allah.» (Surah 64/11)
« Our appointed hour of death is decided upon by God only…. Nor is a man long-lived granted length of days, nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Decree (ordained)…. »(Surah 35/11)
« Man is created to serve his Creator. I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. »(Surah 51/56)
« He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed» (Surah 67/2)
« Every soul shall have a taste of death: and We test you by evil and by good by way of trial. to Us must ye return. »(Surah 21/35)
Severance of body and soul
Death is the outcome of the visit of the Angel of death who severs man's soul from his body. The flesh decomposes and vanishes in the grave. Man's immortal soul departs. Death is not the extinction of a perfect entity but a process of metamorphosis.
Beyond the Grave
Intermediate state of the soul after death and before the final judgment.
After death the soul returns to God.
« The Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls: then shall ye be brought back to your Lord.» (Surah 32/11)
« The Death from which ye flee will truly overtake you: then will ye be sent back to the Knower of things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that ye did!» (Surah 62/8) Body has vanished but the soul survives.
« Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that ye would not be brought back to Us (for account)?"» (Surah 23/115)
« In Falsehood will they be) Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "O my Lord! send me back (to life),- "In order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected." - "By no means! It is but a word he says."- Before them is a Partition till the Day they are raised up». (Surah 23/99-100)
We shall chastise those who perpetrated cruelty
« Whoever doth wrong, him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before).» (Surah 18/87)
Beyond the grave, man will be rewarded and punished according to his acts in this world.
« … In front of the Fire will they be brought, morning and evening: And (the sentence will be) on the Day that Judgment will be established: "Cast ye the People of Pharaoh into the severest Penalty»(Surah 40/46)
The fire may not be the fire that we know of, but an energy, something like radiation or microwave, etc.
Come back to thy Lord
« (To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! Come back thou to thy Lord,-well pleased thyself and well pleasing unto Him. Enter thou then among my devotees! Yea enter thou my heaven!» (Surah 89/27-30)
The soul that has been favored by God had now returned to his Lord. It has attained the state of eternal bliss and its life in the intermediate place starts, pending its acceptance to the paradise. There are no details about this intermediate state in the Qur'an. The new body that the soul will assume in the paradise shall continue for ever. « But verily, it will be but a single (Compelling) Cry, But verily, it will be but a single (Compelling) Cry»(Surah 79/13-14)
The state beyond the grave is a sort of sleep. The dreams to be dreamt there are of a different sort. The development of the soul will continue there. This intermediate stage is not a passive waiting phase. It is a transitional step to further maturity. The souls will remain there under the supervision of God till Doomsday. They cannot return to this world although spiritualists think otherwise.
As there will be no concept of time, the space of time top elapse till the Day of Judgment will be extremely brief.« "It will be on a Day when He will call you, and ye will answer (His call) with (words of) His praise, and ye will think that ye tarried but a little while!" »(Surah 17/52).
« And verily the Hour will come: there can be no doubt about it, or about (the fact) that Allah will raise up all who are in the graves.» (Surah 22/7)
QIYAMAH (DOOMSDAY)
The Day of Resurrection, the Arabic word Qýyamah means to stand up. The day when the celestial sphere will shatter to give birth to a new formation wherein all the creatures endowed with intelligence will stand trial. « "Travel through the earth and see how Allah did originate creation; so will Allah produce a later creation:» (Surah 29/20)
It appears that there will be a new life; this new life will be even more beautiful than the present one. « What is the life of this world but amusement and play but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew.» (Surah 29/64)
The evolution and praise of God will continue. « Praise be to Allah, to Whom belong all things in the heavens and on earth: to Him be Praise in the Hereafter: and He is Full of Wisdom, acquainted with all things. »(Surah 34/01)
The Arabic word hamd means giving praise and glory to God and expressing gratitude and thanks.
QIYAMAH
« One day the earth will be changed to a different earth, and so will be the heavens, and (men) will be marshalled forth, before Allah, the One, the Irresistible; »(Surah 14/48)
On that day not only the world, but the whole stellar system will undergo transformation. In the different surahs of the Qur'an there are descriptions of the Qýyamah (Surahs 81, 82,84) The sun will extinguish and the stars will disperse. « When the Sky is cleft asunder; When the Stars are scattered; When the Oceans are suffered to burst forth; »(Surah 82/1,3)« When the Event inevitable cometh to pass, Then will no (soul) entertain falsehood concerning its coming. (Many) will it bring low; (many) will it exalt; When the earth shall be shaken to its depths, And the mountains shall be crumbled to atoms, Becoming dust scattered abroad, » (Surah 56/1-6)« At length, when there -Comes the Deafening Noise- »(Surah 80/33) .« Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone)…» (Surah 31/34)
The daily Sabah dated 22.10.1997 printed a photograph showing the clash of stars observed by the Hubble telescope, which had occurred 63 billion light years ago from the world with the caption 'Doomsday'. The said clash had taken place millions of years before, although its image has just reached us. This may give us an idea of our future.
Galaxies that clashed and the stars forming part of them disperse by a clang into infinite numbers of atoms which generate new stars and a galaxy and clouds of hydrogen that spread in the space miles and miles. Astronomers who claim to have detected clues as to the formation of the universe state that billions of years must elapse before the new stars are formed. The galaxy of which we are part will in due time clash with another galaxy forming thus one single new galaxy. This is what the scientists say; what will actually happen only God knows.
Resurrection
« When the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like); »(Surah 8/7)
The re-creation of man will be like his first creation. As one can see from the verse every creature will be created by the split of a single bipolar unit who will pair to give birth to the plurality of sexes.
« O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;-…» (Surah 4/1)
« They swear their strongest oaths by Allah, that Allah will not raise up those who die: Nay, but it is a promise (binding) on Him in truth: but most among mankind realise it not. »(Surah 16/38)
(See, this book Woman, Creation of Woman)
The Arabic word hashr means God's causing the dead to arise and assemble for judgment. « One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them. »(Surah 18/47)
The souls interrogated beyond the grave are gathered in their new garb. On that Judgment Day millions of human beings shall come together, beings who had been created out of nothing and to whom infinite number of worldly gifts had been given and shall account for their action in the presence of the Almighty. « Then are men returned unto Allah, their protector, the (only) reality: Is not His the command? and He is the swiftest in taking account. »(Surah 6/62)
This is the reckoning day. « Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.» (Surah 99/7-8)
After the reckoning people will go either to hell or to paradise.« Nor shall We delay it but for a term appointed. The day it arrives, no soul shall speak except by His leave: of those (gathered) some will be wretched and some will be blessed. Those who are wretched shall be in the Fire: There will be for them therein (nothing but) the heaving of sighs and sobs: They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth: for thy Lord is the (sure) accomplisher of what He planneth. And those who are blessed shall be in the Garden: They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth: a gift without break. »(Surah 11/105,108)
HELL
Hell is a place or state of the dead or of the damned.
Inmates of Hell
Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. But We shall save those who guarded against evil, and We shall leave the wrong-doers therein, (humbled) to their knees. (Surah 19/71)
The future inmates of hell are indicated in the Qur'an. . « So, by thy Lord, without doubt, We shall gather them together, and (also) the Evil Ones (with them); then shall We bring them forth on their knees round about Hell; Then shall We certainly drag out from every sect all those who were worst in obstinate rebellion against (Allah) Most Gracious. And certainly We know best those who are most worthy of being burned therein. »
The expression Not one of you but will pass over it: has two meanings according to the scholars of Islam; namely
1) Whether it be a believer, a devil, a sinner or an infidel he shall be brought to the brink of hell. The believers shall be saved, the unbelievers will be thrown into hell. 2) As Abraham who had been cast into fire,
but the fire did not burn him, so the believers shall not be touched by fire.
Enduring punishment
« Allah hath promised the Hypocrites men and women, and the rejecters, of Faith, the fire of Hell: Therein shall they dwell: Sufficient is it for them: for them is the curse of Allah, and an enduring punishment,-» (Surah 9/68)
Here is how the Qur'an depicts the inmates of hell.
« The Hypocrites, men and women, (have an understanding) with each other: They enjoin evil, and forbid what is just, and are close with their hands. They have forgotten Allah. so He hath forgotten them. Verily the Hypocrites are rebellious and perverse. »(Surah 9/67)
« As in the case of those before you: they were mightier than you in power, and more flourishing in wealth and children. They had their enjoyment of their portion: and ye have of yours, as did those before you; and ye indulge in idle talk as they did. They!- their work are fruitless in this world and in the Hereafter, and they will lose (all spiritual good). »(Surah 9/69)
The sort of suffering that the inmates of hell shall be subjected to has not been explicitly defined; the Qur'an speaks of it as an excruciating pain and dejection. The offenders who have failed to discipline their souls in the world will be subjected to the taming by suffering. The punishment will serve to tame the individual. God's infinite mercy also extends to hell. Those who have served their term, shall, according to certain traditions, be received to the paradise. However, only god knows, whether they will be received or not.
PARADISE
Paradise is a place or state in which the souls of the righteous after death shall enjoy eternal bliss .
Believing men and women shall enter the paradise.
« Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah. that is the supreme felicity. »(Surah 9/72)
« The merits of men and women to enter the paradise are explained as follows: The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger. On them will Allah pour His mercy: for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise. »(Surah 9/71)
Gardens beneath which rivers flow and beautiful houses to live in are promised among other things: « Nay,-whoever submits His whole self to Allah and is a doer of good,- He will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. »(Surah 2/112). The relatives who are eligible for entering the paradise shall also enter the paradise. « Gardens of perpetual bliss: they shall enter there, as well as the righteous among their fathers, their spouses, and their offspring: and angels shall enter unto them from every gate (with the salutation):» (Surah 13/23)
Men and women eligible to enter the Paradise will be re-fashioned, beautified and refreshed; the couples that have deserved a blissful life. Certain traditions say that the age will vary between 32-35. Among the inmates there will be no old people.« We have created (their Companions) of special creation. And made them virgin - pure (and undefiled), - . Beloved (by nature), equal in age,- For the Companions of the Right Hand.» (Surah 56/35-38)
The inmate shall pursue his trade also in the paradise. « Verily the Companions of the Garden shall that Day have joy in all that they do;» (Surah 36/55)
« … there will be there all that the souls could desire, all that their ayes could delight in: and ye shall abide therein.» (Surah 43/71)
« They will not there hear any vain discourse, but only salutations of Peace: And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and evening. »(Surah 19/62)
« And those who are blessed shall be in the Garden: They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord willeth: a gift without break». (Surah 11/10)
SUMMARY