The Actual Death And What Is Observed About Death

The Death of the Soul (The Actual Death)

Have you ever thought about how you will die, what death looks like and what will happen at the moment of death?

So far, nobody has appeared who died and was raised again and who could share his actual experiences and feelings about death. This being the case, it is, technically, impossible to gather information regarding what death is like and what one feels at the moment of death.

God, the One Who bestows life upon man and takes it back in due course, informs us in the Qur'an about how death actually occurs. Thus, the Qur'an is the only source from which we can learn about how death really occurs and what someone who dies actually experiences and feels.

Death, as referred in the Qur'an, is quite unlike the "medical death" people observe from outside.

Primarily, certain verses acquaint us with events as seen by the dying person himself, which can never be perceived by others. This is related in the Surat al-Waqi'ah:

Why then, when death reaches his throat and you are at that moment looking on- We are nearer him than you, but you cannot see. (Surat al-Waqi'ah: 83-85)

Unlike the disbelievers' death, that of the believers is blissful:

...the angels reclaim the souls of the just, saying: (to believers) 'Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden as a reward for your labours.' (Surat an-Nahl: 32)

These verses disclose a very important and unchanging fact about death: at the moment of death, what the dying person goes through and what those nearby observe are dissimilar experiences. For instance, a person who spent his entire life as an unyielding disbeliever may be perceived to experience a "peaceful death" from outside. However, the soul, in a totally different dimension now, tastes death in a very painful way. Alternatively, the soul of a believer, despite seemingly suffering great pain, leaves his body "in a virtuous state".

In brief, the "medical death of the body" and the death of the soul, which is referred to in the Qur'an, are totally different events.

Being unaware of this truth with which the Qur'an acquaints us, disbelievers, who assume death to be an eternal and peaceful sleep, also seek ways to make the moment of death painless and comfortable. The consequences of such a misconception are clearly to be seen in the examples of those who commit suicide by taking pills, inhaling natural gas or resorting to a painless form of death to escape a painful disease.

As mentioned earlier, the death "tasted" by disbelievers is a great source of torment for them, while it turns out to be bliss for believers. The Qur'an gives a detailed account of the difficulty the disbelievers undergo while their souls are taken away, because of the way angels deal with the soul of a disbeliever at the moment of death:

How will it be when the angels take them in death, beating their faces and their backs? That is because they followed what angers God and hated what is pleasing to Him. So He made their actions come to nothing. (Surah Muhammad: 27-28)

In the Qur'an there is also reference to the "throes of death," which are actually the result of the angels giving the news of eternal torment at the moment of death:

...If you could only see the wrongdoers in the throes of death when the angels are stretching out their hands, saying, 'Yield up your souls. Today you will be repaid with the punishment of humiliation for saying something other than the truth about God, and being arrogant about His Signs.' (Surat al-An'am: 93)

If only you could see when the angels take back those who were disbelievers when they died, beating their faces and their backs: 'Taste the punishment of the Burning! That is for what you did. God does not wrong His slaves.' (Surat al-Anfal: 50-51)

As the verses make it clear, just the death of a disbeliever is an entire period of agony in itself. While people surrounding him see a seemingly untroubled death in his bed, a great spiritual and physical torment begins for him. The angels of death take his soul, inflicting pain and humiliation on him. In the Qur'an, the angels who take the souls of disbelievers are described as: "those who pluck out harshly". (Surat an-Nazi'at: 1)

The last phase of how the soul is taken away is explained as follows:

No indeed! When it (the soul) reaches the gullet and he hears the words, 'Who can heal him now?' he knows it is indeed the final parting. (Surat al-Qiyamah: 26-28)

At this moment, the disbeliever faces the truth he denied all throughout his life. With death, he will start to suffer the consequences of his great guilt, his denial. Angels "beating their backs" and "plucking (the soul) out harshly" are only the beginning and a minor indication of the grief awaiting him.

On the contrary, death for the believer is the beginning of eternal happiness and bliss. Unlike that of the disbeliever who suffers bitterly, the soul of the believer is "drawn out gently" (Surat an-Nazi'at: 2) with the angels saying: "Peace be upon you! Enter the Garden as a reward for your labours." (Surat an-Nahl: 32) This is similar to the state of sleep. In sleep, the soul gently slips into another dimension, as the following verse indicates:

God takes back people's selves 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... (Surat az-Zumar: 42)

This is the ultimate truth about death. Externally, people witness only the medical death: a body gradually losing its corporeal functions. Those watching from the outside a person on the brink of death see neither his face and back being beaten, nor his soul reaching the gullet. Only the soul of the person concerned experiences these feelings and sees these images. However, the actual death is "tasted" in all of its aspects by the person dying in a dimension unfamiliar to those witnessing death from the outside. In other words, what is experienced during the course of death is a "change in dimension."

We can outline the facts revealed in the verses we have analysed so far as follows: be it a believer or a disbeliever, the death of a person is neither delayed nor hastened for even an hour. Wherever human beings may be, death overtakes them, if their time has come. In the process of experiencing death, they individually receive quite different treatments, although this is externally undiscernible.

The Death of the Believer

- Being aware that death is inevitable, the believer prepares himself for death all throughout his life and ultimately passes on.

- Angels of death greet him and give him the glad tidings of paradise.

- Angels take the soul of a believer gently.

- The believer feels the need to give the glad tidings to other believers in the world that God's promise is assured and that there is neither fear nor sorrow for believers. Yet, this is not allowed.

The Death of Disbeliever

- He meets the death he has always avoided all throughout his life.

- He suffers from intense fits of shaking during the course of death.

- Angels extend their hands to him and give him the tidings of the degrading punishment of the Burning.

- Angels take him in death, beating his face and back.

- The soul is taken with a great inner pain.

- The soul is taken as it reaches the gullet and at that moment there remains no one to heal him.

- The soul is taken with difficulty while he is indulging in denial.

- At the moment of death, no expression of his faith or repentance is allowed.

There are also lessons to be drawn from the "medical death" people witness from outside. The way medical death reduces the human body to insignificance makes one see certain very important facts. Therefore, the "medical death" and the grave, awaiting each one of us, also deserve mention and contemplation.

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