After life: Joining the Creator
by Fazeel Chauhan posted Mar 3, 2021
I enjoyed the research done by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, on death and dying. In one of her books she listed the findings of her qualitative research with terminally ill people. As she witnessed the deaths of many people in a hospice, etc., she found a common theme:
1) When a person is about to die, they start seeing close friends and family who have already passed away.
2) The dying person sometimes began talking to those friends who had already died.
3) Kubler-Ross deduced from these findings that those close to us, come to get us at the time of death. It is them because they come to let us know that death is nothing to be afraid of.
4) You go to join the people you love after death.
That makes me feel more accepting of death. For Muslims, when a person passes away, they say, "He has joined the Creator", or "She has become Beloved to God", or "They have returned to God".
In Islam, the belief is that before birth, the souls were all together in one place. When a person is born, two angels are assigned. One writes all the good deeds and the other writes all the bad deeds, throughout the lifetime of the person. In the end, there is a judgement day like Judaism and Christianity. But before that, there are some steps. Judgement starts in the grave, based on good and bad deeds, the consequences begin there. Since humans have been predicting end of times or armageddon for a few centuries, it is also said that end of times or judgement day for any person is the day of their death.
In Islam, at the end, the earth is described as: everything gets destroyed. After all that, all human beings are resurrected. Each person will be held accountable for their small and big actions. The record of their deeds are presented and put on a balance. If the good deeds weigh more, the person goes to Heaven. If the bad deeds weigh more, then the person is sent to hell. Similar to the intercession of Jesus, some Muslims believe or hope that Prophet Muhammed will plead for the Creator's Mercy to ask God to Forgive his followers. Yet, there is no automatic forgiveness. Some deeds which a person considered small, might actually be weighed as big. While some big deeds, might get weighed as minor, depending on the intention of the person. So the jury is always out. There is also the idea that while alive, a person can repent, do atonement and make amends. But when they die, it's too late. Except, if the person had done some works or charity which continues to benefit people after his death, then those good deeds continue to be counted, even after the person dies. Also if their descendants pray for the Creator to Forgive the dead person, this is considered beneficial for the dead person, because the Creator can choose to accept any prayer at any time. For example, if daughter gets a water well setup on behalf of her dead father, so that free water is provided to poor people, in a desert area, then the father's good deeds continue, even after they are dead. Thus many people try to leave a positive legacy.
Muslims believe that the Judeo-Christian and other Prophets are not dead, that their spirits live on. Sufi Muslims take that further to say that also the Saints and Sages are alive. Thus Sufi people gather at the shrines of the saints every Thursday in the form of a celebration with music, which might also include dance. In Islam, the belief is that the world is an illusion, or a dream. The idea is that the saints and prophets are present, just behind a veil, in the world of the unseen. On the other hand, the Earth is the world of what can be seen. And when we die, we wake up from the dream. And the life of the hereafter is what's real. This also helps people in grieving. They often say, my mother went to the Creator, and we all will go to the same place.
