A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| Nadeem |
| 04/20/04 at 06:36:24 |
| [slm] Guys, the last few days I've been thinking a little about the Afterlife, and to a lesser extent about the beginning. Obviously its mostly unknown because no one has ever come back from the dead to tell us what actually happens, but lots of cultures and peoples have contemplated on life after death and come up with various theories. As Muslims, we are fortunate that have a message from Allah, al-Quran, and within that we have various indications as to what happens. I still have had some thoughts and questions and I wonder if anyone knows of references from the Quran or Sunnah, that may answer these questions, or if anyone has any theories on them: 1. I was thinking about Prophet Adam and Eve to begin with. They were the very first people created by Allah, right? We are also told they lived close to Allah in the Garden, and it wasn't until they disobeyed Allah's command that they were exiled to Earth. If they are the first people, and they were created by Allah from clay, from a clot of blood, does that mean that they had flesh and bones whilst they lived in the Garden? And if they did have flesh and bones, does that mean that the Garden is a place where human flesh and bones can dwell? The reason I ask is that I had always thought that when people die, the soul is taken from the body. I thought that is because the body is our form in THIS life, but in the afterlife we are in the form of our souls. But if Adam and Eve were the first people does that mean that they were in body form in the Garden, or were they in spiritual form and then were given bodily form on their exile to Earth? Also, Allah says he will raise us up on the Day (Allah protect us) from dead. Are we being raised up so that we can go to the next stage in bodily form? 2. Cavemen As Muslims we don't recognise the theory that Man evolved from monkeys. So this is not a question about Neanderthal man or the Missing Link or anything like that. Ok, Prophet Adam had intimate knowledge of Allah. So his descendants would have had knowledge about Allah, right? I'm curious at what point, did Man lose the knowledge that Allah is our Lord and Creator. I'm thinking of really primitive tribes, some of which still exist today in South American jungles and other places. Do you think it was because as people started exploring the Earth they began to forget the original Truth? 3. Okay this one may be a bit scary, so skip it if you're a bit squeamish... I have heard many stories about the tribulations of the grave. I thought the soul is taken at death, or am I getting it wrong? If the soul is taken at death, and we leave our body (the vehicle we travelled in, in this life) then what are these tribulations of the grave? How would we feel the tribulations? And what are these tribulations that we may have to endure? (May Allah protect us) I realise that some of these questions are a bit heavy, and also that much of the Unknown is.... unknown. If anyone can shed some light on these, or just has any thoughts on what I've said above, I'd like to hear. Jazakallah khair [wlm] |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| Maliha |
| 04/20/04 at 08:45:47 |
| [slm] most of these questions are from the unseen realm... From what I understand, Adam (AS) was created from clay, therefore he was in body right? I have never given thought of our actual existence in Jannah, we will be in our bodies? what kind of bodies? The Quran describes how we will be jewelled, wearing green garments and bracelets etc...so we must have some sort of form? In hell fire, Allah describes how the skins will melt off and more skin will be replaced... Also as far as ressurection, it is understood to be in body and soul...and people differ over what age will we be in, and specific details like that. I guess we have to wait and find out for ourselves :P About the cavemen, the whole point of succession of Prophets after Adam (AS) was that each generation forgot, and Allah brought another Prophet to remind them and bring them back to Allah. People would begin by worshipping Allah, then prop up idols to bring them "closer" to Allah, or after a generation or two mix superstitions, corrupt religious leaders and innovations to recreate their religions..or oppression takes place and Allah sends yet another Prophet to remind them again. The "primitive" people as you call them, not so primitive in my estimate, probably hold on to vestiges of a corrupt theology no different from Christianity, hinduism etc. May Allah grant us all hidaya (Amin). About the punishment of the Grave, there is a hadith that says the soul will be taken to Allah at death and goes on to explain what happens to the good soul and how the heaven doors open, and the Malaika greet it etc. then it is sent back to the "barzakh" (place in between life and hereafter) and same thing with the "bad" soul. Therefore the soul is taken and then returned for questioning, etc..and also to await ressurrection. Wa Allahu A'lam. Sorry I didn't provide specific references its just what i remembered off the top of my head. [wlm] |
| 04/20/04 at 08:46:30 |
| Maliha |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| al-ajnabia |
| 04/20/04 at 09:41:09 |
| About cavemen and "primitive" >:( tribes: I think there was a study somewhere in oceana where scientists thought they had discovered a real original tribe that had not been touched by civilization but they were later found to have wandered out into the jungle during a civil war a few generations earlier. What if something happened and everyone over the age of nine died of a plague? what kind of world and beleif system would the surviving children come up with? Imagine in mother goose became a religion to them :o some "primitive" >:( societies have one set of stories that they tell the children that sound like polytheism, but when they get older they tell them that the stories are metaphores, but this is after they pass adulthood initiation, what if no one passed initiation and all the intitiated adults died waiting to tell the real storeis to qualified individuals? This has been hapening among the american indians for about 500 years now and now people sell these childrens stories as great mysical spirituality, I heard the same thing happened among the hindus as well. |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| nida |
| 04/20/04 at 21:58:03 |
| [slm] didn't Adam and Hawwa (pbuh) EAT from the forbidden tree? So i think they were in body-form, if that makes sense. in aswer to question 3, i don't think the BODY of a person necessarily goes through the punishments of the grave. can't it be the soul? But then, some hadiths state that the person will be made to sit up in the grave and answer questions. Also, some of the punishments include the narrowing of the grave that cause the crushing of the ribs and being hit with a hammer. So...body or soul? sorry if i am confusing you, i just want to get some things cleared. sigh...i am confused myself! it would be helpful if someone can clarify these points. [wlm] :-) |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| jannah |
| 04/21/04 at 16:30:27 |
| [wlm] I believe in the book "The Soul's Journey After Death" which is a little summary of Kitab ar Ruh by ibn al Qayyim it describes the soul being returned to the body for the punishment of the grave. It's just another realm... like if you went to open up the grave, you wouldn't see fire or punishment right! Anyways here's an article on the whole afterlife thing check it out ;) http://jannah.org/articles/souljourn.html |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| gift |
| 04/22/04 at 03:31:52 |
| [slm] Weird, I just printed out your article Jannah for a friend whose father died recently :o There's also a good article from the Islamic Society of Greater Kansas City at [url]http://isgkc.org/grave.htm[/url] |
| Re: Afterlife: Questions and Thoughts |
|---|
| sal |
| 04/22/04 at 15:11:47 |
| [slm] Adam and hawa had the same shape we do have now.The only difference is they had very big size and it is the size all the people in heaven will have .This indicates that we will again be in the same form we are now The body we had on earth decays in the grave but we will be given another bigger size and more pretty . The matter of punishment i think makes no difference whether ther is flesh and bones to feel the pain to prove this just look when you have a night mare how you feel .your body is not feeling any pain but the soul is [wlm] |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |