PART 2
Our traditional concept of life after death is very much similar to the
Jehovah’s Witnesses' concept of the other world. Jehovah’s Witnesses
believe that after death, the deceased has no consciousness until the
last day when he is risen from death and if found a believer, will inherit
the Earth and would live in a terrestrial Paradise forever. The Quran
explains life after death in a different way, which is a combination of
linear (direct) and cyclic (by rebirth). This is different from Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Christianity. However, this subject is still foggy because
our scholars have their personal ideas about the hereafter in the
background of our tradition which often contradicts what the Quran
teaches about life after death.
In the first part of this article we have discussed that Allah (SWT) will
revive every dead according to the conditions of the afterlife.
م ا ُوَل وما ََْنن ُماْل ا ن ت تو م ام
يب ذ عِب
َ َ ُ ََ ٰ َ ْ َ َ َ َْ إَّل
مگر ہامرا پہیل ابر اک مران اور ہمںی عذاب نہںی دای جائے گا
Except for our first death, and we will not be punished?" (37/59)
اُه اع اذ ااب الْ اج ِح ِي ون ِف اهيا الْ ام ْو ات ِا اَل الْ ام ْوتا اة ْ ُاْل ا ى
ْ ُ ول ۖ او اوقا اَل یا ُذوقُ ا
وہا ں پہیل موت ےک سوا اور موت اک مرہ نہ چکھںی ےگ
اورانہںی هللا دوزح ےک عذاب ےس چبا ےل گا
They will not taste death therein except the first death, and He will
have protected them from the punishment of Hellfire (44/56)
In the above verses, the Quran states that the righteous taste death only
once, they will not be punished and it will be a great success for them.
So, we can conclude that only those who will not be punished will die
once and bestowed with a new life in the higher dimension as a reward
of their great achievement. However, those who do not qualify to
progress into the further higher dimension (Heavenly life) Allah (SWT)
will cause them to die twice and He will revive them twice which is a
cycle of countless deaths and births. Therefore, more than one death
and revival which is mentioned in the following verse 40/11 is about the
people who will not progress because of their deeds which must be
somehow different to what we used to believe up until now.
قاالُوا ارب ا انا َآ امتا انا اثْ انتا ْ ِْي او َآ ْح ای ْیتا انا اثْ انتا ْ ِْي فاا ْع ا اَتفْ انا ب ُِذنُوِب انا فاها ْل ا ا ىل خ ُُرو ٍج ِ ِّمن اس ِب ٍیل
ِ
They will say: "Our Lord! You have made us die twice,
and given us life twice, so we acknowledge our sins. Is
there, then, any way to get out?" (40/11)
To give you a clearer picture I have deliberately deleted the writing in the
brackets and copied it here for your kind reference which is (We have
become fully convinced of the truth of all that You have informed us
of, and), (of unbelief), (I have committed sins as a nonbeliever) and
(so that we may believe and do good, righteous deeds)? The writing in
brackets is not a part of the original Arabic text and is purposely
fashioned to keep us stuck with our popular traditional belief in the
hereafter just to divert our attention from the actual fact that Allah (SWT)
wants to tell us.
First of all, in this verse (40/11) Allah (SWT) did not differentiate between
believers and non-believers and did not say what is written in the
brackets.
Likewise, ‘Hal’ َه ْل is a verb which contains the almost and certain
meaning of ‘DO’ and in some cases ‘WILL’. To apply the fourth tone to
At this point nobody can deny Allah’s kindness and attributes of mercy
which is referred throughout the Quran. Although the following verse is
not directly linked with our subject but I am quoting it in the contents of
His mercy.
ٌاو اما ُآ اب ِّ ِر ُئ نا َْ ِس ۖ ا ان النا َْ اس اْلَ ام اارةٌ ِابل ُّسو ِء ا اَل اما ار ِح ام ار ِ ِّب ۖ ا ان ار ِ ِّب غا َُ ٌور ار ِحي
ِ ِ ِ
"And I do not free myself from blame. Indeed the human self is
inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy; indeed my
Lord is Forgiving, Most Merciful." (12/53)
We can see the similar kindness and mercy of Allah (SWT) in Surah Al
Nisa (The Women) 4/97-99. When angels take the souls of those who
die in sin against their souls. Except those who are weak and oppressed
— Men, women and children who have no means in their power, Nor (a
guide post) to direct their way. For these, there is hope that Allah will
forgive: For Allah doth blot out (sins) and forgive again and again.
(Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an, Amana Corporation,
1989.)
Please do not get confused with the following verse (2.167) or similar
verses in the Quran because this is an entirely different topic which I will
explain in detail in my later articles. However, this verse speaks about
the condition of those who will be revived after their death according to
their deeds in their previous life and will be sent back to the world for a
further appointed time (age). They will not get out of the hell fire which
will be set up in their hearts until they remain in that life.
َ ال الا مذين اتاب عوا لَو أَ ان لَنا َكارًة فَنتب ارأَ ممْن هم َكما تَب ارءوا ممناا ۗ َك َذلم
َ ُ َ َ ْ ُ َََ َ ْ ُ َ َ َ ََوق
ي مم َن الناا مر ات عَلي مهم ۗ وما هم مِبا مرم ٍ اَّلل أَعما ََلم حسر
َ ج َ ُ َ َ ْ ْ َ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ ْ ُيُمري مه ُم ا
And those who followed shall say: Had there been for us a return,
then we would renounce them as they have renounced us. Thus
will Allah show them their deeds to be intense regret to them, and
they shall not come forth from the fire (2/167)
Allah (SWT) did not mention any oil refinery like large oil burning wells or
deep frying woks to roast the ‘people of left’ in them but "It (hell) is the
fire kindled by Allah which rises over the hearts." (104/6-7)
اجا ثََلثًَة
ً َوُكنتُ ْم أ َْزَوAnd ye shall be sorted out into three classes(56/7),
( َوال اسابمُقو َن ال اسابمُقون56/10) And those Foremost (in Faith) will be
Foremost (in the Hereafter)ن َ أُولَٰئمThey will be those brought
َ َ الْ ُم َقاربُو
Nearest (Right) to Allah(56/11) اات الناعمي م مِف جن مIn the Gardens of Delight
َ
(Paradise), صحاب الْميمنَةم ْ َ
أ ف
َ those on the right hand(56/8), ل ٍ وم
ظ
ََْ ُ َ ِّ َ
ٍ اَّمْدwill be in the long extended shades (56/30) , جزاء مِبا َكانُوا ي عملُو َن
ود ُ َ َْ َ ً ََ
(56/24)As the Reward for the deeds of their past (life)
وأَصحاب الْم ْشأَمةمAnd (then) those on the left hand(56/9) مِف ََس ٍوم
َ َ ُ َْ َ ُ
و َمThey will be in scorching wind and hot water (trouble)
َحي ٍم َ
Now, we study the following verse of the Quran (2/28) to understand and
determine the initial death and also to whom this verse is
addressed? Two classes from the above 1) Foremost in faith and 2)
Those on the right have already achieved their objective with a great
success and they have made supreme progress into the higher
dimension. So, they do not need any further death after their initial death
mentioned in the beginning of the following verse 2/28. However, there
is another class left to be sorted out who is in ‘hot water’ i.e. in severe
trouble. They are those on the left and could not progress further due to
what they were doing when they were alive but now they are ‘dead’ and
can do nothing except to rely on the Will and Mercy of the Kindest
Allah(SWT). Does it not make sense that they may be taken further to
the cycle of life after their initial death which is clearly mentioned in the
beginning of this verse (2/28)? Anybody can understand and conclude
that the following verse is only and purely addressing those unfortunate
and helpless souls who are left alone on the ‘left’. In fact this is the
actual stage where no intercession will come forward and it will be just
Allah’s Will that will be with them alone. If we understand this pure
Quranic concept of the ‘Hereafter’ I am sure the issues like ‘fate’,
‘intercession’ and ‘free will’ will be dismissed automatically without
delivering anymore lengthy lectures.
We need to see how ‘death’ is mentioned before ‘life’ in all verses of the
revival from death, especially in the above verse (2/28)? This is indeed
the ‘first’, ‘last’, and an ‘initial’ death after which the righteous do not die.
Instead of dying and reviving again they go straight to heaven when their
life on Earth comes to an end.
ْ ُ ُ اُث ُ ُْيی
ِیُك 2 Life
ُ اُث الا ْی ِه تُ ْر اج َُ ا
ون 3 Death
ِ
The last part of this verse starting from ُ اُث ‘then’ is not a summary of the
Possibility of rebirth is quite clear in this verse. The words "you were
dead" can only mean that they had lived before becoming dead. And the
words in the end “and again you will be returned to Him " could also
mean that having attainment of the required development of their self or
spirit to finally gain entry to the higher dimension of man’s inherited
place in the paradise. Those who disagree, however, contend that
"dead" is very commonly used for non-living things so we were dead
before we were given life.
Allah (SWT) informs that seeing us without life (dead) HE gave us life.
The only way one could have been dead is by being alive before, and
then succumbing to death. If there was no previous birth then how is it
possible for one to die? If one is not even born how does one die? One
has to be previously alive to be subsequently dead. By Allah (SWT)
giving them life HE clearly confirms previous births and ensuing deaths.
The same individual is brought to life again, and then caused to die
again, confirming yet another life or rebirth. Yet again, the same
individual is brought to life, confirming yet another life or rebirth.
In this verse the same soul went through three deaths and three rebirths
and there is no indication how many previous rebirths were there or
when this cycle will end. In fact the very words "and again you will be
returned to Him" strongly hints that the process will continue. There is no
acknowledgment of the Day of Judgement, an event that occurs during
Qiyamah. Every death brings humans back to Allah and those marked
for death (as they have sinned beyond redemption) are held back, but
the rest are sent back to continue the development and purification
process. This process of life, death, life, death, life, death continues
relentlessly until the character of the individual is built up to step him up
into the higher consciousness and he has made himself eligible for the
long-lasting life in Paradise. If this is not achieved then the process goes
on until the Day of Qiyamah when the world will end.
Those who are still adamant to drive the meaning of initial death
mentioned in the verse 2/28 as a ‘state of non-living’ material, they must
pay attention towards the following scientific discovery which has made
a clear difference between non-living and dead material. Some scholars
criticise that the current knowledge of science is not enough to
understand the Quran. I fully appreciate their views but in fact scientific
definition of ‘dead’ is much reliable than someone’s personal opinion
because science is known as an evidence based knowledge which
acknowledges and defines all laws of nature in the proven scientific
form.
Let’s consider a piece of dead dried out wood. It used to be alive, but
isn't any longer. Under a microscope, you would be able to see the dead
cells. They are dead, but they were cells which had a life at some point.
A piece of metal on the other hand contains no cells, which means that
the piece of metal never ever had a life.
Everything has cells, even dead things, however because cells are alive,
they themselves can die, (they can die at any time after the time of initial
death for the multi organismal corpse). Hence, dead were at one time
alive. Something that has no life cannot be seen as an organism,
therefore it would have been once alive in order to obtain such name. So
as a matter of fact non-living things can not die.
For instance, if we keep the disputed initial death aside and also reject
the science to accept the non-scientific philosophical opinion of those
who are obstinate to take the initial death in the meaning of the state of
non-living, we will again count two subsequent deaths and two lives in
this verse (2/28)
I would like to refer the verse 40/11 again which confirms the cycle of
‘twice death’ and ‘twice birth’.
قاالُوا ارباناا َآ امتاناا اثْناتا ْ ِْي او َآ ْحیا ْیتاناا اثْناتا ْ ِْي فااعْ ا اَتفْناا ب ُِذنُوِبناا فاها ْل ا ا ىل خ ُُرو ٍج ِ ِّمن اس ِب ٍیل
ِ
They will say: "Our Lord! You have put us to death twice,
and given us life twice, so we acknowledge our sins. Is
there, then, any way to get out?" (40/11)
The sequence of two deaths and two lives leads us towards proven
scientific theories of constructing a continuous cycle. These theories are
widely discussed in all disciplines of engineering, applied sciences,
diagnostic medical sciences and mathematics. The natural application of
this rule can be seen throughout the universe. It can be practically seen
in the current scientific revolution from the range of simple head and tail
rule to complex satellites control in the space, aircraft control, navigation
system, transmission, broadcasting, mobile phones, nanotechnology,
ultra sound, MRI scans, generation of electricity and many more. A
similar infinite loop is used in a sequence of programming instructions
which loops endlessly, either due to the loop having no terminating
condition, having one that can never be met, or one that causes the loop
to start over. Looping is repeating a set of instructions until a specific
condition is met. An infinite loop occurs when the condition will never be
met, due to some inherent characteristic of the loop.
You will be surprised to see the following verses of the Quran in which
Allah SWT uses the same scientific formula which is described in the
above verse 40/11 to show that action which is described twice is
actually an endless repeated cycle.
ون ۖ او ِم ْن َآ ُْ ِل الْ ام ِدی ان ِة ۖ ام ار ُدوا اع ایل النِِّ اَ ِاق او ِم ام ْن اح ْولا ُُك ِِّم ان ْ َاْلع اْر ِاب ُم انا ِف ُق ا
ُّون ا ا ىل اع اذ ٍاب اع ِِ ٍي اَل تا َْلا ُمهُ ْم ۖ ا َْن ُن نا َْلا ُمهُ ْم ۖ اس ُن اَ ِِّذُبُ ُم ام ارت ْ ِاْي ُ اُث ُي ارد ا
ِ
And from among those who are round about you of the
dwellers of the desert there are hypocrites, and from
among the people of Medina (also); they are stubborn in
hypocrisy; you do not know them; We know them; We
will punish them twice then shall they be turned back to
a grievous chastisement (9/101)
ارب ا انا آ ِ ِِت ْم ِض َْ اَ ْ ِْي ِم ان الْ اَ اذ ِاب اوالْ اَ ْْنُ ْم لا َْ انا اكب اِريا
"Our Lord! Give them double Penalty and curse them
with a very great Curse!"(33/68)
ْسائِی ال ِِف الْ ِكتا ِاب لاتُ َْ ِس ُد ان ِِف ْ َاْل ْر ِض ام ارت ْ ِاْي اولاتا َْلُ ان عُلُ ًّوا اك ِب اريا
اوقاضا ْی انا ا ا ىل با ِِن ا ْ ا
ِ ِ
And We gave (Clear) Warning to the Children of Israel in
the Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth
and be elated with mighty arrogance (and twice would
they be punished)!(17/4)
ِ اَّلل اَل تاتا ِخ ُذوا الا ىـه ْ ِاْي اثْنا ْ ِْي ۖ ان ا اما ُ اُو الا ىـ ٌه اوا ِح ٌد ۖ فاا اای ا فا ْار اُ ُب
ون ُ اوقا اال ا
ِ ِ ِ ِ
And Allah has said: Take not two gods, He is only one
Allah; so of Me alone should you be afraid. (16/51)
Have you seen the actions in the above verses of the Quran which are
described as ‘TWICE’ or double in the same style of 40/11 in which
Allah(SWT) describes death and life ‘TWICE’ ?
Is it just coincident or has Allah (SWT) actually used pure scientific terms
to briefly mention that this particular action will turn over again and again
to make depict the same action in the sense of countless, many more or
repeatedly?
Will they be given their rewards just two times as mentioned in 28/54 or
will there be a series of rewards?
Were they worshiping only two gods as mentioned in 16/51 or did they
worship so many gods out of which some are mentioned in the Quran
i.e. Lat, ‘Uzza, and Manat 53/19-20?
Before closing this article I would like to draw your kind attention
towards some more verses of the Quran which are very clear in respect
of the definite answer.
عميد EID.
Regards
Dr Kashif Khan