Bad people who have committed atrocities will go the Jahannam (Hell). Muslims regard this as a place of pain and intense fires.
The Qur’an also gives a description of Hell. “I warn you of flaming fire. None shall be cast into it but the most wretched, who calls the truth a lie and turned his back.”
The Qur’an has clear description of the image of heaven and hell and uses effective word to describe these images.
If one dies before judgement day then the soul is remained in a place call Al Barzakh which literally means 'barrier'. In the Qur'an, it has been used for the period between death and the Day of Resurrection. (i.e. the day when all human beings will be brought back to life). During Barzakh, one's correct belief and good deeds alone will assist him in having a peaceful time.
"And behind them is the Barzakh (barrier) till the Day they will be Resurrected." Holy Qur'an (23:100)
Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (A) has said:
“We will intercede (ask for forgiveness) on your behalf on Day of Judgement, but, by Allah I am worried about you for the period when you would be in Barzakh”
The soul is kept in a waiting period till the day of judgement. The definition of soul is a creation (Makhlooq) of Allah. It remains in contact with the body throughout the worldly life and causes the body to have life. Death occurs when the soul departs. Allah says in the Qur’an: ‘They ask you concerning the soul. Say that the soul is from Allah and you have not been given knowledge of it except a little.’ (3)
The soul now exist in its short life of the world, according to Islam, human beings (and jinn) will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment. In between the death and the Day of Judgment, the soul remains in Al Barzakh.
The soul and the body of the Barzakh are given a taste of what it has to look forward to in the next life. If the person has followed the instruction of God’s in his short life, then the soul along the body receives pleasure, but if by all means the person denied the true purpose of life and disobeyed God has earned their due as well – torment and punishment in the grave. It appears from many traditions that the soul maintains some emotional attachment with the body even after death - at least till the body is buried. That is why it is forbidden to roughly handle the dead-body "because it pains the Soul."
At the end of the state of Barzakh comes Resurrection (Yawm al-Hisab, the ‘day of Reckoning’) and then al-Akhirah. A Muslim is constantly reminded in the Qur’an that the Day of Resurrection will undoubtedly come. In Surah 3:9 and 25, for example the Day is described as Undoubtedly predictable. Allah says the He has not created man without purpose (Qur’an 75:36). He says that the aim of human earthly life is do Hiss Will vice-regent on earth, to serve and to worship him.
All Muslims believe in the last day (Youm ul Qiyamah), which literally means the day of judgement. Allah will raise up the souls of people and recreate them again, and then we all will appear for our judgement.
On the Day of Judgement, every man, woman, boy and girl will be for him/herself, standing in front of God The Qur’an says that the dead and the living will be raised and brought to the plain of Arafat, where they will stand naked before Allah. Nobody's love and commitments, in the earthly life, will save another person by giving away their good deeds. Nobody, on that day will remember their once beloved family, friends and relatives, during their earthly lives. The only person every individual will be thinking of during the Day of Judgement is him/herself.
Allah has revealed this message in the Holy Qur’an: "One burdened soul shall not bear the burden of another. And even if the heavy-laden (soul) should cry out for its burden (to be carried) not one bit of it shall be carried, not even by the next of kin." (35:18). And: "It is the Day when one soul shall be powerless to plead for another." (82:19). Further: "To God belongs the mystery of the Heavens and the Earth. The Decision of the Hour (of Judgement) (will be swift as) the twinkling of an eye, or even quicker: for God has the power over all things." (16:77)
After each person is judged, one would be rewarded or punished, according to their good /bad deeds. As we know that life after death is eternal, therefore the reward or the punishment will be eternal. This shows that the test of life is very important; it cannot be explained in words.
Everyone will be allocated into groups based on a variety of factors, the main one is by belief, and then they will come forward on a level, standing behind those who they followed in the world.
Below are two key references in the Qur’an which mention Day of Judgement are: “When the earth quakes with her (last) mighty quaking, and when the earth yields up her might burdens and man cries out, ‘What happened to her?…. On the Day will all men come forward, cut off form one another, to be shown their past deeds. And so, he who shall have done an atom’s weight of good, shall behold it; (Al-Zalalah 99:1-8)
“And so, when the piercing call of resurrection is heard, On a Day when everyone will flee from his brother, and from his mother and father, and from his spouse and his children, “On that day, to everyone of them will his own state be of sufficient concern. “Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness, laughing, rejoicing at glad tidings, “And some faces will on that Day with dust be covered, with darkness over-spread. “These, these will be the ones who denied the truth and were immersed in iniquity.” (Abasa 80: 33-42)
After the Judgement, those who have been the true believers during their lives on earth will go to Paradise, where they will find everlasting peace and happiness. Those who have gone astray during their lives on earth will be punished severely in Hell permanently.
The Arabic word al-Jennah means ‘garden’ and Paradise, the abode of those whose good deeds are greater than their bad ones. It is also sometimes called al-Firdaws in the Qur’an.
Muslim believe in paradise and hell. Paradise is a place of enjoyment which Allah, the Exalted prepared for the righteous. Muslim believe it is a place in where there is no pain, or worry, a place which is always pleasant and where no one grows old or dies. It is a place where all desires are fulfilled. Surah 556(Al-Waqui’a) contains many vivid images, which include Heaven; “In the Garden of bliss”…. “Upon beds interwoven with gold”… and Hell; “Then you, erring ones and denounces, “Shall eat from the tree of Bitterness, “Filling your bellies therefrom, “And drinking on top of it boiling water, “Lapping it like thirsty camels.”
Muslims describe heaven as a wonderful place of paradise full of gardens of delight. The people there will be waited on by beautiful maidens. Heaven is a peace; no evil will exist on it. As Allah Almighty has said in the Qur’an, Heaven will be the Home of Peace. Not even an atom of evil will exist. “For them will be Home Of Peace in the presence of their Lord; He will be Their friend, because they practiced (righteousness). (The Nobel Qur’an, 6:127)”
“But Allah doth call To the home of Peace: He doth guide whom He pleaseth to a Way that is straight. (The Nobel Qur’an, 10:25)”
According to the Verses above, Heaven is the Home of Peace where the winners of Paradise will live in peace and harmony with each other’s and with Allah Almighty. He will remove all evil from their hearts and purify them.
Heaven and hell are not actual places somewhere in the universe, but really our inner conditions or the condition of the spirit resulting from our deeds. Heaven and hell begin in this life within a person's heart. The feelings of bliss and contentment at doing good are the heaven in one's heart. And the guilt, shame and greed felt by an evil doer is the hell of the heart. After death, the heaven or hell that developed in the heart is unfolded before us and becomes the world in which we live, and we live in it not with the physical body of this life but the 'spiritual' body made from our deeds
The Holy Qur’an mentions many blessings and comforts in paradise and many punishments in hell.
The exact nature of heaven and hell cannot be known in this world, because they are entirely different world, but to describe them to us, physical terms have to be used such as “gardens and rivers” in paradise, and the “fire” of hell, to give and idea of what they fell like. However, all these things of the next world actually begin in one’s heart in this world. For instance, the “fruits” of paradise are really the fruits of good deeds that a person starts tasting in his heart in this life, and the “fire” of hell is the same of low desires and greed that burns in a person’s heart hear. In the next world, all these are unfolded and manifest themselves as comforts of paradise or miseries of hell.
In Islam it is believed that the personal identity lies within individuals soul. Islam believes that the soul survives death and the body (physical) resurrected during the resurrection period as stated in the Qur’an. The reason why Islam believes that the soul survives death because the soul appears to be invisible the soul has to survive death because the soul is known to carry the deeds and everything which makes a person what they are. The soul is what makes you; you therefore the soul has to survive death.
Islam believes that when one dies the soul never dies, it is immortal but the body dies, and the body is recreated on the Day of Judgement to be judged. The body and soul survives death, the body decayed when buried but is recreated by God to be judged. The soul is encountered for what he/she has done on their life on earth. Islam believes that the soul and body survive death. The soul has to live on to survive death; the body can decay but is resurrected. Therefore Islam is dualism because it is the mind that determines our personality and the body is an outer shell for our real self. The soul is immortal which means that it will never die and will continue after death, whereas the body is contingent and will die and decay, but God will resurrect the body.
In Arabic, two words have been used to describe the soul. They are ‘rooh’ and ‘nafs’. These two terms essentially refer to one and the same thing. However the term nafs is used to describe the soul when it is connected to and occupying the body. The word rooh is used to describe the soul when it is apart or disconnected from the body. Islamically the soul is considered to be created entity- it is not part of extracted from God and is not connected to God in any physical or non Physical manner.
According to Islam the soul of the individual exists the body on two occasions; during sleep, after which the soul is returned to the body upon awakening. The second occasion is at the time of death upon which the soul is not returned. The angels remove the soul from the organic body. This is explained in the Qur’an:
‘It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest from a term appointed. Verily in this are signs for people who think deeply’’. Az-Zumar, (39): 42
According to Islam the soul is an outer shell and the soul is within the body which makes a person, the soul is what makes you, you. The body is a physical material where the soul is a more like a spiritual. When one dies the body is buried, and after some time the body is decomposed. The soul does not die with the body; the soul is kept in a waiting stage, which is known as the Barzakh. The soul is waiting till the Day of Judgement The body will be resurrected and will be encountered for his her action on earth. Therefore the soul and the body survive death.
