What happens after death?

After death, one does not go straight to heaven or hell. They enter a state of barzakh, or the state of grave. There, a soul goes through a journey. This has been discussed in the book called ‘Journey of The Soul’ by Suhaib Hassan.[1] It is also described in great detail in the book called ‘Mysteries of The Soul’ by Abu Bilal al Kennedy.[2]

The soul is passed over to the angel of death and then to the angels of the next life. It is then taken up to the heavens. If it is a good soul, it will be allowed to enter and will be praised. The evil soul will be cast down to reunite with the body, to maintain its connection to the ‘elements’ of their body. I am using the word ‘elements’ because in some religions, bodies are burnt, or like the Zoroastrians, who allow the vultures to eat the dead, or also who have people die in the sea and eaten by sharks etc. Then the angels Munkar and Nakeer will come to the individual and question them, ‘Who is your Lord? What was your religion? Who was the messenger sent to you?’ One’s deeds will be shown in the form of either a beautiful looking individual or a hideous stinky person. Our deeds will be personified and presented to us. [3]

The person who is unable to answer the questions in the grave is not a true believer; rather he is a hypocrite, who just called himself a Muslim. Even if they know the answer, they will not be able to say it with their mouth. This is a part of the degradation that they will go through.

Once we step out of the worldly time zone, into the state of barzakh, time does not affect us as it affects us in this life. Those who have died 10,000 years ago will be going through the same process as a person who dies recently because of the absence of time. It is not that people will remain in the grave for thousands of years. They will all be judged and resurrected together. They do not go to paradise or hell immediately.[4]

Narrated Al-Bara' ibn Azib that the Prophet (ﷺ)  mentioned the death of the disbeliever, saying: ‘His spirit will be restored to his body, two angels will come to him, make him sit up and ask him: Who is your Lord? He will reply: Alas, alas! I do not know. They will ask him: What is your religion? He will reply: Alas, alas! I do not know. They will ask: Who was the man who was sent on a mission among you? He will reply: Alas, alas! I do not know. Then a crier will call from Heaven: He has lied, so spread a bed for him from Hell, clothe him from Hell, and open for him a door into Hell. Then some of its heat and pestilential wind will come to him, and his grave will be compressed, so that his ribs will be crushed together.’

As for the righteous, the angels will ask him, ‘Who is your Lord? He will reply: My Lord is Allah. They will ask him: What is your religion? He will reply: My religion is Islam. They will ask him: What is your opinion about the man who was sent on a mission among you? He will reply: He is the Messenger of Allah . Then a crier will call from Heaven: My servant has spoken the truth, so spread a bed for him from Paradise, clothe him from Paradise, and open a door for him into Paradise. So some of its air and perfume will come to him, and a space will be made for him as far as the eye can see.[5]

 References:

[1] Chapter 5: “Experiences of the soul after death”

[2] http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Abu_Bilal_Mustafa_al-Kanadi

[3] Abu Bilal M. Al Kanadi, Mysteries of the Soul, p 40-51

[4] M. Al Kanadi, Mysteries of the Soul, p 84-120

[5] Sunan Abi Dawud,  Book 41, Hadith 4735, Sahih (Al-Albani)