THE JOURNEY OF THE SOUL
What happens to the soul after death? and before birth? How many stages of development does the soul consist of? Many people probably ask these questions to understand how long it will take from the starting point to the final journey. Islamic scholars have their own opinions on this matter… according to the Quran, it is the original source of all scriptures that contain all past and future events, including the names of those who will be born. Allah created the souls before attaching them to the bodies, this is confirmed by the Sharia. Allah gathered them all before their bodies (nafs) were created and asked them: «Am I not your Lord?» – when asked, this spirit (created from Light) – answers to Allah Almighty. All Souls answered: «Yes, You are our Lord.» The second stage Life in the womb. The soul is sent to the body of the fetus developed in the mother’s womb, and the fetus becomes alive. A fish embryo resides in the amniotic fluid inside the uterus, just like a fish. Does not absorb air. It feeds on blood through the mother’s placenta. The third stage is life in this world. A baby is born between 36 and 40 weeks (pregnancy). The child takes its first breath and cries. A newborn baby is free from sin, grows, develops, learns and is brought up in a Muslim family or a non-Muslim family. After the baby’s soul joined the body and turned into the soul, it forgot about Allah and the fact that Allah is its Creator and Lord, and the promise (contract) given in heaven. however, religions, scriptures, invocations, signs serve as reminders of the unity and omnipotence of the spirit-given covenant. A person must fight for his future happiness and present success throughout his life. He is prevented from doing this by some people, the devil from among humans and jinns, who leads him astray from the right path. Despite his omnipotence, God gave man free will, good and bad, truth and falsehood. Every act of a person in this life is recorded. He goes through natural stages of development, goes through crises, strives to achieve goals and gains faith and understanding: about God, about other people. Learns the basics of communication in society and at home. How he lived, what he believed and what he did will determine his future destiny. Therefore, the third is a very important testing ground for a person. The Fourth Stage, which we all dislike, is Death.
In the Qur’an: «Every soul will taste death.» We will test you with good and bad to test you, and to Us you will be returned» (21:35). After leaving the body, the soul becomes the Spirit. Allah keeps it in the place called «alami barzakh». The soul of the good will be kept in a comfortable place, and the soul of the bad will be kept in a bad place until the Day of Judgment, when everything except God will be destroyed. After that, the Day of Judgment will come, and we will all be resurrected. The fifth stage is resurrection. Muslims do not believe in reincarnation and the human soul will not return to this world until the end of time. But they believe in the Day of Resurrection – the day when all souls will return from their graves. Obedient souls will go to heaven forever. The wicked and unbelievers will go to hell for punishment. Those who worship false gods other than Allah, the Creator in this world, those who ignore, reject or refuse to believe in Allah will go to hell in the next world (eternity). This day will be the day when people reveal their secrets, nothing will be hidden. This will be the day when people will report and pay off the debts they have accumulated due to their inability to fulfill their obligations to each other. The sixth stage is Heaven and Hell. Rebels and the wicked will enter hell. They burn, thirst, regret their deeds, and remain in pain and despair. Their bodies will be renewed and their torment will last as long as Allah Almighty has determined. Al-Bukhari (3260) and Muslim (617) narrated from Abu Huraira (RA) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him): «Hell complained to the Lord and said: «My Lord, I am eating myself.» Then he was allowed two breaths: one in winter and one in summer. It happens on the days when you feel the hottest and the coldest.» How is your tolerance to heat and cold in this life? Obedient and kind souls will enter paradise and all their wishes will be fulfilled. Rivers flow there, young companions, beautiful palaces. They get rid of worries and pains, and see there many things that their eyes have not seen, their ears have not heard, and they cannot imagine…» They do not grow old, do not get sick, do not experience discomfort. And they will stay there forever. As you can see, the present life is only one of the six stages of the soul. But it is this period that determines the eternal future ahead. May God grant you the pleasure of the creator and the path that leads to heaven. The seventh stage is the destruction of Hell. Muslims understand hell as a place where disbelievers and sinners will be among those whom God has not forgiven. Muslims get their sources of information about hell from the Quran and the words of the Prophet Muhammad. There are guards in hell – 19 fierce angels, and the main guard of hell is the mighty angel Malik. According to the words of our prophet, hell and paradise were created long ago, but people will enter them only after the apocalypse. In hell awaits the torment of fire many times more painful than the fire on earth, drinks made of boiling water and pus, as well as the fruits of the hellish tree of Zakkum. Infidels stay in Hell forever, but Muslims do not believe in all that they believe and repent, whereas the punishment of sinful Muslims in Hell is not eternal and ends after time, escapes from hellfire and enters paradise. There are many references to hell in the holy texts of the Qur’an, for example: «Their desire is to get out of the fire, but they will never get out of it, and for them there is an eternal torment.» Will not be put in another way, they will remain forever. «I will send him to the underworld. How do you know what the underworld is? He spares nothing and leaves nothing behind, burning a person. Above him are nineteen (guards).» (Quran 74:26:30) «They said: «O Malik! May your Lord destroy us!», they say: «You stay!», We have given you the truth, but most of you hate the truth.» «There is boiling water for those who do not believe, and punishment for those who do not believe.» As for the word ETERNAL, it is a word written by God under compulsion. If Allah is NOT ETERNAL, but TEMPORARY, the whole religion of Islam would have no meaning. Eternal hell here means a long time, but how long, God knows best. Indeed, Hell is the most effective and effective remedy for sin. In many verses of the Qur’an, the question of the eternity of heaven and hell is raised. The belief that believers will be in eternal bliss and sinners will be in eternal torment is from accepting Islam with insanity. If we accept it with science (rational), let’s pay attention to this verse: «They remain in them forever and do not want change for themselves» (Surah Ungir, verse 108). It is clear that there is a secret hidden here. The famous mystic Ibn Arabi wrote in his book «Fusus al-Hikam» that the nature of sinners changes after entering hell, it turns into fire, and then they enjoy being in the fire and the torment is sweet for them. At the same time, it is known that the famous heretic Jahm ibn Safwan, the founder of the Jahmite sect, spoke about the limitations of heaven and hell. Among the famous imams, there were those who recognized the eternity of heaven and believed that hell would disappear one day. Some attribute this opinion to Ibn Taymiyyah. moreover, Ibn al-Qayyim in his treatises «Hadi al-Arwah» and «Shifa al-Alil» gives priority to the opinion that hell will be destroyed. True, in his other two works – «al-Wabeel al-Saib» and «Tariq al-Hijratain» – on the contrary, it is said that Hell will last forever. It should be noted that Ibn al-Qayyim carefully studied this issue and collected several asar from the Companions and Tabis, from which we can draw a conclusion about the limit of hell. these legends led him to hold the same point of view at some points in his life, and then to change his point of view, in particular, ibn al-Qayyim in his book «Hadi al-Arwah» cites the narrations of Ibn Mas’ud, Abu Huraira, and Ibn Amr that the day will come when no one will be left in Hell after the sinners have been there for many centuries. Ibn al-Qayyim also quotes the following words of Omar Ibn al-Khattab: «… They will remain in the fire for centuries, and one day they will come out of it.» Ibn al-Qayyim writes that God’s all-encompassing mercy extends to those who are destined for Hell, as is repeatedly stated in the Qur’an. The Merciful Lord does not leave them to endless torment, and this, in his opinion, is reflected in three verses of the Qur’an. The first one is Allah’s saying: «They will stay there for many centuries» (Surah Khabar, verse 23). The second verse based on the opinion about the limit of Hell is in Surah «Mal». On the Day of Judgement, the unbelievers will say: «Our Lord, we have taken advantage of each other, and we have reached our appointed time.» They confess what they have done and repent of not only worshiping God, but also disobeying Him. But in response they hear: «Fire will be your abode. If God wills, you will stay there forever» (Surah Mal, verse 128). Excerpt from Surah Hud. It says: «The wretched will remain in the fire, they will sigh and groan. Unless your Lord wills, they will remain there forever as long as the heavens and the earth exist. Verily, your Lord does whatever He wills» (Surah Hud 11, verses 106—107). After many centuries, Allah will be able to remove their suffering because His mercy will subdue His wrath and spread over everything. Meanwhile, the vast majority of imams – this is reflected in many treatises on the creed – believed that just as the pleasures of heaven do not end, so do heaven and hell never end and the punishment of unbelievers never ends. And Allah knows best. Arguably, but logically, Abu Lahhab, Dajjal and lastly Iblis should come out if Hell is to be destroyed. With this, Hell will dissolve itself. Eternal life will continue in Paradise…