· What incorrect ideas do some people hold about paradise
andhell being experienced in this world?
· Where are Paradiseand hell?
· What happens when a person dies?
Allah reveals the existence of angels, satan, Paradise and Hell in the
Qur'an. Whether out of ignorance or weakness of faith, some people
misinterpret these facts and the manifest existence of Allah (surely
Allah is beyond that). In these people's superstitious eyes, Paradise
and Hell exist in this world alone. There is even a widespread belief
among such people that everything takes place inthis world, and that
one can be restored to life in this world, even though this has no
place in the Qur'an. The fact is, however, that our Lord has
definitively pronounced that the life of this world ends once a person
dies and that they will be recreated in the Hereafter. In this verse
Allah refers to that recreation:
" We have created them a (new) creation."(Surat al-Waqi'a, 35)
Allah Has Created Many Dimensions, and the Life of This World Is Only
One of Them
As revealed in the Qur'anin the verse, " All praise belongs to Allah,
the Lord of the heavens and the Lord of the earth, Lord of all the
worlds " (Surat al-Jathiyah, 36), Allah has created many worlds in
many differentdimensions. The world we are now living in is but one of
these worlds and dimensions. The people living on Earth are in the
third dimension. Angels, spiritual beings and the Prophet Jesus (pbuh)
arein the fourth dimension. But these dimensions are all
interconnected. For that reason, by the will of Allah, angels and the
Prophet Jesus (pbuh)can come down to a lower dimension, in other
words, this world. This may be compared toa person reading a bookor
watching television because the paper or television are just like a
lower dimension for a person looking from the outside. A person looks
at these things from a higher dimension. Angels and other spiritual
entities watch us from a higher dimension. But since all dimensions
are interconnected, angels and spiritual beings can momentarily become
visible by descending from the fourth dimension to a lower one.
Angels come to this world when Allah so wishes to do things that He
wishes, and this shows that it is possible, by our Lord's leave, to
cross from one dimension to another. It is revealed in the Qur'an that
angels come down to Earth, by Allah's leave, to transmit His
revelation to people, to assist and support believers and do other
things of which Allah approves:
" In it the angels and the spirit descend by their Lord's authority
with every ordinance ." (Suratal-Qadr, 4)
The fact that by Allah's leave angels descend to Earth at various
times and return back into the presence of Allah does not, of course,
mean thatthey cease to exist according to our conceptions. They merely
cross from one dimension to another, and continue living outside our
understanding. In the same way, when people who die pass beyond our
understanding, or cross to the dimension of the hereafter, in
otherwords, they also continue their lives either in Paradise or Hell.
Allah Has Also Created Various Dimensions for Human Beings
- Our Dreams: The finest evidence of Allah's creation of various
dimensions for human beings is dreams. When a person goes to sleep he
enters a different dimension and environment. That new environment is
not the world he knows and is familiar with. But it is as real as the
phenomena and objects in the world he inhabits. The fact thatthis
world is in fact a dream, and that people wake up in the Hereafter, is
revealed in another verse:
" They will say, 'Alas for us! Who has raised us from our
resting-place? This is what the All-Merciful promised us. The
Messengers were telling the truth'." (SurahYa Sin, 52)
As in the verse Allah notes, the passage from this world to the
Hereafter takes place as quickly as that from dreaming to waking, and
people are unawareof that transition.
- Trance states: Waking out of a dream is not theonly way that people
change dimensions. One can pass from the third dimension to another
dimension in a state of trance. A trance, bestowed by Allah on rare
occasions on peoplesuch as messengers, religious scholars and guides,
resembles neither sleep nor wakefulness. Our Prophet (saas) spoke to
Gabriel (puuh) while in astate of trance. One can meet with Hazrat
Khidhir(pbuh) in that state. A trance is an extraordinary
dimensionthat Bediüzzaman Said Nursi often entered.
- The Rank of Martyrdom: Another verse indicatingthe existence of
other states of being outside the one people are familiar with
concerns the ranks and position of martyrs. One such verse reads:
" Do not say that those who are killed in the Way of Allah are dead.
On the contrary, they arealive but you are not aware of it." (Surat
al-Baqara, 154)
Allah has revealed that although martyrs appearto have died in our
terms, we must not referto them as dead. The verse reveals that
martyrs are alive, not dead, but that people cannot fully conceive how
this is. The words " ... but you are not awareof it.. ." indicate that
we cannot know and understand this situation under the conditions of
this world. (Allah alone knows the truth.) Other verses referring to
the situationof martyrs reveal that Allah gives them life in a very
different dimensionin which there is no timeand space:
" Do not suppose that those killed in the Way of Allah are dead. No
indeed! They are alive and well provided for in the very presence of
their Lord , delighting in the favor Allah has bestowed on them,
rejoicing over those theyleft behind who have not yet joined them,
feeling no fear and knowing no sorrow, rejoicing in blessings and
favor from Allah andthat Allah does not let the wage of the believers
go to waste." (Surat al-'Imran, 169-171)
As we have seen, martyrslive in a dimension unknown to other people.
In that dimension they are fed, feel joy and wish to sendnews of
themselves to those who come after them.
The fact that our Lord has created various dimensions and that it is
possible to pass betweenthem is revealed in another verse:
" You will mount up stage by stage!" (Surat al-Inshiqaq, 19)
Everything Is Over and Done in a Single Momentwith in the Sight of Allah
At the moment of death, a person passes from thedimension of this
world to a higher dimension, the Hereafter. Allah reveals in another
verse that one's perception is sharpened at the moment of death and
that one then passes on to the Hereafter, which is unending and far
more real than the life ofthis world:
" You were heedless of this so We have stripped you of your covering
and today your sight is sharp." (Surah Qaf, 22)
Another fact revealed by Allah in the Qur'an is the relative nature of
time. That relativity is highly variable. A period of time lasting
billions of years for us may last onlyone second in another dimension.
Indeed, such a long span of time as from the beginning of the universe
to the end may be just a single "moment" in another dimension. Allah
reveals this as follows in the Qur'an:
" A day with your Lord is equivalent to a thousandyears in the way you
count." (Surat al-Hajj, 47)
Here lies the essence of the reality of the location of Paradise and
Hell that most people failto completely grasp, andthat materialists
and people whose faith is weak deny out of that lack of comprehension.
"Things that have not happened" have not happened for us but Allah is
not fettered by time and space. Indeed, it is He Who created them. For
Allah, past, present and future are all one, and are all over and done
with. For that reason, Paradise, Hell and this world all exist atthis
moment in the sight of Allah, and eternal life has already begun. It
is clear from verses that Paradise, Hell and the Day of Reckoning are
already in existence from the way they are described as already being
over and done with:
" The Trumpet will be blown and those in the heavens and those in
theearth will all lose consciousness,except those Allah wills. Then it
will be blown a second time and at once they will be standing
upright,looking on." (Surat az-Zumar, 68)
" Those who are unbelievers will be driven to Hell in companies..."
(Surat az-Zumar, 71)
" And those who have piety of their Lord will be driven to the Garden
in companies..." (Surat az-Zumar, 73)
"... and will reward themfor their steadfastness with a Garden and
with silk. Reclining in it on couches, they will experience there
neitherburning sun nor bitter cold." (Surat al-Insan, 12-13)
Death Is Not the End for Man
In the Sight of Allah, the birth, life and death of a man takes place
and finishes simultaneously. The same reasoning applies to all human
beings. All human beingsare coming into existence and dying right at
this moment. All are being resurrected and being sent to Paradise or
Hell. Thus, noone dies and nobody is reduced to insignificance; all
individuals are alive for all eternity. Within eternity, man spends
only a portion of his time in the world, and during this period where
he is doomed to go—either Paradise or Hell—is known. Just at this
moment, some of the people currently living in this world are in
Paradise while others are in Hell. This fact is stressed in the
Qur'an; inmany verses relating to Paradise and Hell, the life in the
Hereafter is referred to in the simple present or past tense, which
draws one's attention to the fact thatall these incidents are taking
place at a single moment:
The Companions of the Garden are busy enjoying themselves today, they
and their wives reclining on couches in the shade. (Surah Ya Sin:
55-56)
Past, Present and Future;They are All the Same
In human life, another important mystery prevails. While mourning for
someone who has died, people donot consider that they, themselves,
have also died and even been resurrected. The birth and death of a
person occurs simultaneously. Even trivial details aboutall people's
lives, deaths, resurrections and eternal lives are retainedin the
Sight of Allah. In other words, everything is taking place right at
this moment. Death and resurrection are truly not incidents occurring
at distinct times. People are born in timelessness.Likewise, they die
in timelessness, they are resurrected in timelessness and, as a matter
of fact, just at thismoment, they are alive. At the moment Allah
creates man, he becomesan eternal being. To put it another way, he
starts his endless life, becoming alive for all eternity. Meanwhile,
he also witnesses his own death as a single square.Just as he sees
himself alive all through his life, he witnesses his death, but only
on one occasion.
In the Qur'an, Allah informs us that sleep is also created as a form
of death. Thus, every night one witnesses his death when he goes to
sleep and witnesses his resurrection when he wakes up in the morning.
This fact is manifested in the following verse:
Allah takes back people'sselves when their death arrives and those who
have not yet died, while they are asleep. He keeps hold of those whose
death has been decreed and sends the others back for a specified term.
There arecertainly Signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat
az-Zumar: 42)
Hence, man unceasingly witnesses his death and resurrection all
throughout his life. Similarly, he will also seehis real death.
Consequently, his birth, death and resurrection as well as his eternal
abode are all known, and man is forever alive in the Sight of Allah.
All these incidents have taken place and are finished in the Sight of
Allah.
Allah shows us that He has created a variety of dimensions. People
enter a new world and dimension through sleep. This world is another
dimension and form of life. The state of trance, a dimension lying
between sleep and this world that spiritual guides, religious scholars
and messengersenter from time to time, the dimension inhabitedby
martyrs, the dimension inhabited by angels, jinn and other spiritual
entities, and paradise and hell all exist at this very moment.
In the Sight of Allah, all events, which have occurred on earth so
far,take place at a single moment. For example, what our Prophet
(saas) went through has never been lost and will remain in the Sight
of Allah forever. These events are presented to our perception as if
theyhappened 1400 years ago. However, the truth is, right at this
moment, our Prophet Muhammad (saas) is ascending to heaven, right now,
he is taking refuge in the cave with his friend. Again, this is the
moment our Prophet (saas) is communicating the message of Allah to
disbelievers. Actually these are not events which occurred in the
past. On the contrary, they are incidents destined to exist for all
eternity. The reason whywe do not see, witness or experience these
events is simply because they are not present in our memory.
What we call "time" is in fact a method by which one moment is
compared to another. For example, when a person taps an object, he
hears a particular sound. If he taps the same object again five
minutes later, he hears another sound. Thinkingthere is an interval
between the two sounds, he calls this interval "time." Yet when he
hears the second sound, the first one he heard is no more than a
memory in his mind, merely a bit of information in his imagination. A
person formulates his perception of time by comparing the moment in
which he lives with what he holds in memory. If he doesn't make this
comparison, he can have no perception of time either.And this shows
that time is not an absolute reality, but merely a form of perception.
'' Our Lord ! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire '' [Ameen]
-
{in Arab} :->
Rabbanaa aatinaa fid-dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqinaa 'athaaban-naar/-
(Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 201)
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