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Sin death and beyond

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SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN<br />

C<br />

Islam, the other semitic religion of Abrahamic origin holds a very linear view. Death is the end<br />

of the Physical life when those who die will remain in a state of "soul sleep" until the time of<br />

final Judgment day. The dead will have a continued <strong>and</strong> conscious existence in the grave.<br />

Here are the stages of <strong>death</strong>, according to some scholars’ underst<strong>and</strong>ings of verses from the<br />

Quran <strong>and</strong> from the words of Prophet Muhammad. “Every soul shall have a taste of <strong>death</strong>: <strong>and</strong><br />

only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far<br />

from the Fire <strong>and</strong> admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of life): for the life of this<br />

world is but goods <strong>and</strong> chattels of deception.” [Al-Qur’an 3:185]<br />

1. The stupors of <strong>death</strong>: The angel of <strong>death</strong> either extracts the soul painfully from the<br />

wrongdoers or gently from the pious ones, <strong>and</strong> then transfers the soul into a ghostlike<br />

body.<br />

2. Misguiding of the devil: The last temptation of the devil is to deceive a dying person with<br />

his trickery. The good ones will not fall into temptation.<br />

3. Entering the grave: When the body is buried, the soul stays beside the body <strong>and</strong> sees<br />

the horrifying unseen world.<br />

4. Squeezing or pressure of the grave: When people leave the gravesite, angels come to<br />

squeeze the soul fiercely, making it scream loudly. Few souls are exempted from this<br />

punishment.<br />

5. Munkar <strong>and</strong> Nakeer: These two angels come after the squeezing <strong>and</strong> question the soul<br />

about the beliefs of his faith. If the soul does not answer properly <strong>and</strong> was a wrongdoer<br />

in life, then he will be punished in the hellfire of the unseen world until the Day of<br />

Judgment or until his sins are purged. If the person was a pious true believer, then he<br />

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