Islam and soul sleep before the resurrection of the dead?

[Hatikvah]

Soul sleep is a Christian term that refers to the belief that when you die, your soul is annihilated until you are resurrected (both soul and body). It is held by some groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others.

I’m confused as to what happens immediately after death in Islam. Yes, Heaven and Hell are the standard beliefs in Islam, but what happens immediately after death and before the resurrection? As in Christianity, do the dead go to Heaven or Hell automatically?

I couldn’t find anything on this directly, and thanks for your replies.

 

[GEddie]

Soul sleep is a Christian term that refers to the belief that when you die, your soul is annihilated until you are resurrected (both soul and body). It is held by some groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others.

I’m confused as to what happens immediately after death in Islam. Yes, Heaven and Hell are the standard beliefs in Islam, but what happens immediately after death and before the resurrection? As in Christianity, do the dead go to Heaven or Hell automatically?

I couldn’t find anything on this directly, and thanks for your replies.

Good question.

I am not Muslim, however, I have heard somewhere that in Islamic eschatology, the dead are conscious of being in the grave (!!!) which if nothing else, would negate a teaching of soul-sleep: if they are conscious, by definition they cannot be sleeping!

Interested to hear a Muslim take on the matter.

ICXC NIKA.

 

[drac16]

This topic is not exactly my expertise, but I will try my best.

In surah 18:9-26 of the Qur’an, a story about a group of youths is told, they are known as “the companions of the cave”. The companions of the cave were being persecuted, so they fled to a nearby cave. A miracle takes place in which they fell asleep and stayed sleeping for three hundred years. When they woke up, they had no idea they had been sleeping for so long until they went back to their city and noticed how different it was. They thought they had only been sleeping for a day, but they were in for quite a surprise when they woke up and found their city in such a different state than what they were accustomed to.

Allah appeals to this story as a sign of the Day of Judgment (see surah 18:21). In other words, when we wake up on Judgment Day, it won’t feel as though years had passed-- it will feel like their had been only a day or part of a day since our respective deaths.

What happens after death is quite simple. We muslims believe that a dying person, at the moment of death, will be held in a state that’s neither in Hell or Paradise; it’s known as “the grave”. In the grave, you won’t have a physical body, but you will still be able to think and talk. When someone dies, two angels will come to him/her. They will ask three questions: “Who is your Lord?”, “what was your religion/lifestyle?” and “Who was your prophet?”.

A person will only be able to say what is truly within their heart, so you won’t be able to lie. If a person passes the test and answers “Allah”, “Islam” and “Muhammad”, they will get to see a glimpse of Paradise and will get to smell its beautiful fragrances. They’ll have to wait for Judgment Day, though. Their souls will go back to sleep until Judgment Day. If a person doesn’t answer those three questions perfectly, they’ll be shown what Hell looks like, but will have to wait until Judgment Day to finally be sentenced to its punishments.

As I said before, when your soul is asleep, it won’t feel as though years have passed. Judgment Day may not be until millions of years from now, so you won’t have to be conscious and wait until then. When you wake up on Judgment Day, it will feel as though you had died only moments ago.

I don’t believe it’s fair to compare this doctrine to annihilationism as is taught in SDA or JW teachings. They believe that a person is annihilated forever and will not face conscious torment. We believe Hell consists of conscious torment; some of which is physical and some is mental. According to surah 4:56, some people [in Hell] will have the entirety of their skin burnt, recreated and then burnt again. This will go on for eternity. There are tons of graphic images in the Qur’an about the nature of Hell.

 

[Reuben_J]

Soul sleep is a Christian term that refers to the belief that when you die, your soul is annihilated until you are resurrected (both soul and body). It is held by some groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others.

Soul sleep is not a Catholic belief though. The soul is immortal and unlike the body, cannot be destroyed once created.

Here an explanation from EWTN:

Based upon Sacred Scripture and the teaching of the Church, we can say the following about death and what follows.

At the moment of death, the soul is separated from the body and no longer sustains order within the natural body; as a result, the body begins to corrupt and left to its own will decompose.

The soul, however, is immortal and never ceases to exist, once created.

Immediately upon death, the soul of each person is judged by the Lord, either to eternal life or the damnation of hell. For those damned to hell, such a soul immediately experiences hell thereafter. For a soul judged to heaven, if the soul is truly holy then it may immediately experience the fullness of heaven. We call such souls “the saints.”

For those who are judged to eternal life yet still have some attachment to sin or there is some temporal punishment due for sin, such a soul experiences purgatory in the manner that God determines. Purgatory is really a blessing, for not only does the soul know that it is destined for heaven but purgatory purges anything from the soul which would limit the vision and enjoyment of God in heaven.

Eventually, when the end of the world comes about, there will be a resurrection of the bodies of all the dead and final judgment of all souls and the angels in which we will all see the justice and mercy of God.

Our bodies will be resurrected and body and soul will be rejoined, for to be a human person means to have both body and soul. This is true both for the saved and the damned, and both will experience either eternal happiness or eternal suffering in both body and soul.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

This topic is not exactly my expertise, but I will try my best.

In surah 18:9-26 of the Qur’an, a story about a group of youths is told, they are known as “the companions of the cave”. The companions of the cave were being persecuted, so they fled to a nearby cave. A miracle takes place in which they fell asleep and stayed sleeping for three hundred years. When they woke up, they had no idea they had been sleeping for so long until they went back to their city and noticed how different it was. They thought they had only been sleeping for a day, but they were in for quite a surprise when they woke up and found their city in such a different state than what they were accustomed to.

Allah appeals to this story as a sign of the Day of Judgment (see surah 18:21). In other words, when we wake up on Judgment Day, it won’t feel as though years had passed-- it will feel like their had been only a day or part of a day since our respective deaths.

What happens after death is quite simple. We muslims believe that a dying person, at the moment of death, will be held in a state that’s neither in Hell or Paradise; it’s known as “the grave”. In the grave, you won’t have a physical body, but you will still be able to think and talk. When someone dies, two angels will come to him/her. They will ask three questions: “Who is your Lord?”, “what was your religion/lifestyle?” and “Who was your prophet?”.

A person will only be able to say what is truly within their heart, so you won’t be able to lie. If a person passes the test and answers “Allah”, “Islam” and “Muhammad”, they will get to see a glimpse of Paradise and will get to smell its beautiful fragrances. They’ll have to wait for Judgment Day, though. Their souls will go back to sleep until Judgment Day. If a person doesn’t answer those three questions perfectly, they’ll be shown what Hell looks like, but will have to wait until Judgment Day to finally be sentenced to its punishments.

As I said before, when your soul is asleep, it won’t feel as though years have passed. Judgment Day may not be until millions of years from now, so you won’t have to be conscious and wait until then. When you wake up on Judgment Day, it will feel as though you had died only moments ago.

I don’t believe it’s fair to compare this doctrine to annihilationism as is taught in SDA or JW teachings. They believe that a person is annihilated forever and will not face conscious torment. We believe Hell consists of conscious torment; some of which is physical and some is mental. According to surah 4:56, some people [in Hell] will have the entirety of their skin burnt, recreated and then burnt again. This will go on for eternity. There are tons of graphic images in the Qur’an about the nature of Hell.

Sounds a lot like She’ol. The abode of the dead where everyone goes regardless of his or her status.