Heaven and Hell

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Aarif
Posts: 1426
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:01 am

Heaven and Hell

#1

Unread post by Aarif » Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:28 pm

All religions talk about heaven and hell. The common belief is that if you do good deeds and you follow your religion you will go to heaven and if you do bad deeds and do not follow your religion you will go to Hell. My question is, is this criteria good enough to figure out who will go to heaven and who will go to hell? I mean on one hand, I may have done some good deeds and followed my religion to the best of my ability throughout my life. On the other hand there are people who have done great deeds as compared to ordinary people like me but have not followed any religion. So whom will Allah choose for heaven? Them or me and why??

Also, since, no two persons can be the same in terms of goodness and badness, are their different levels in heaven and hell? I mean an average person who has lived an average good life will go to a different level in heaven as compared to a great person who has done great things for this world.

Also, it is said that on the day of judgement or day of Qayamat Allah will decide who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Till than what happens to the dead? What about people who died thousands of years ago? I mean what happened to their souls? Are they waiting somewhere? When will they acheive salvation? And what happens to them while they are waiting? Why is it that Allah will wait till the day of qayamat to decide upon fate of entire mankind till date? what is the philisophy behind this belief?

Please provide your valuable inputs on this.

BURHANUDDIN ALI
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Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:44 pm

Re: Heaven and Hell

#2

Unread post by BURHANUDDIN ALI » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:53 pm

MY BROTHER IT IS FIRST THE RELIGION THAT IS TRUST ON ALLAH,THEN YOUR GOOD DEEDS THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO JANNAT,WHATEVER MIGHT ME YOUR DEEDS THEY R ALL IN VAIN!!.THAT ALLAH IS AWAITING THOSE ARE DEAD THOUSAND YEARS AGO TO GO TO HEAVEN, MIGHT BE TIME IS NOTHING FOR ALLAH,IT IS FOR US!!!!!.

feelgud
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Re: Heaven and Hell

#3

Unread post by feelgud » Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:14 am

Muslim means one who has submitted to the Will of God. How can he who has not submitted to His Will expect to earn reward from him? However a Muslim is neither by birth nor anyone who is registered as a Muslim in a Government census. Whoever has Iman (Belief in Oneness of Allah, the Last Day and accountability and all His Prophets) and does good work can expect his reward. A spy of the enemy nation, if caught, can not expect pardon on the basis of his good social behaviour. The loyalty to the Government is a pre-requisite for good works to be recognized. Iman is loyalty to the lone Sovereign of the universe. Good deeds and works are the manifestation and proof of loyalty. Qur’an is very explicit about it that both are necessary.

An essential clarification is also required here. Iman or the Faith cannot be ascertained by declaration alone. It is inside the hearts and Allah knows all. Only he is a person of Faith whose Faith is accepted by Allah as genuine. It has been made clear in Qur’an that all those who declare themselves to be Muslims are not necessarily Faithful. See the following verse.

“Those who are distant from the center of knowledge claim that they believe. Tell them: ‘You do not believe; rather you can say that you profess Islam’. Iman has not yet found its way into your hearts” (49:14)

On the other hand Allah can accept the Faith of those who had Iman in their hearts but could not openly declare for circumstances known to themselves and Allah knew the genuineness of their concealment. The examples of such people are mentioned in Qur’an 40:28-45 and 48:25.

There is no claim on Allah of anyone on the basis of their birth in a particular family. Paradise is for those who truly believe in the eyes of Allah and do good works also. Qur’an has repeatedly warned those who call themselves Muslims that paradise is not their right by birth. These sort of claims, Qur’an clarifies, were made by those who were corrupted believers. Those who are called Jews once truly believed in Moses (pbuh) and followed his teaching but later when their Faith and deeds were corrupted they started claiming that they would enter paradise on the basis of their Faith and if the punishment for some deeds had to be inflicted upon them it will be temporary after which they will be entered into the eternal paradise. Qur’an warns Muslims not to be in the footsteps of Jews who make such claims:

“And they say: “The fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days”; Say: “Have ye taken promise from Allah for He never breaks His promise? Or is it that ye say of Allah what ye do not know?

Nay, those who seek gain in Evil and are girt round by their sins they are Companions of the Fire therein shall they abide. But those who have faith and work righteousness they are Companions of the Garden therein shall they abide.” (2:80-82)


[Islamic voice]

feelgud
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Re: Heaven and Hell

#4

Unread post by feelgud » Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:30 am

The life between the worldly life and the Hereafter is called the life of Barzakh in Qur’an. Barzakh means ‘a veil’, ‘a curtain’. The actual state of that life is unknown, otherwise it won’t be a Barzakh. There always remain confusions without understanding that all descriptions concerning the life of Barzakh are allegorical. Qab’r or grave referred to in those Hadiths is not the actual pit in which the deceased was buried. It is Barzakh, an unknown life behind curtain. The angels do not give life to the deceased. He is already alive. The soul never dies. Barzakh is not limited to the graveyard. It may be that the departed ones move around over this earth also. There is nothing to suggest that they remain idle and do not act. Only their actions will not be judged. That lease of worldly life in which a person had a chance to do good or bad to add to his account expires after the transfer from this world. There are indications in Hadiths that the soul maintains some sort of contact with the place where the last remains of a person were disposed of. The questioning of the angels may not be inside the material pits known as graves. A number of dead bodies are buried in the same grave. Here the visits of the angels to the earthly graves, the expansion or contraction of a grave for a person, described allegorically in Hadith, affect the others buried in the same grave?

The state of Barzakh is like the state of sleep. The body of the sleeping person remains on bed while his self (Naf’s) experiences joys and sorrows in some other world. At times the body of the sleeping person is also affected and bears signs of experiences of his actual self. It shows that the self (Naf’s) always maintains some kind of contact with its material counterpart.

We cannot understand the actual state of Barzakh. There is no need either. What we know is that the lease of actions to be judged expires after the death. Some people in Barzakh are happy and enjoying the time while the others are inflicted with pain in some way. The Anfus (actual personages, not their bodies) all along maintain some kind of contact with their last remains. The Barzakh period can be compared to the time before the actual trial. Allah knows who were pious and who were evil. Their last judgment will be delivered after full justice, that is after their conduct is proved to all in an open court. But knowing their fate, they are kept with honour or disgrace according to their conduct.

http://www.islamicvoice.com/february.20 ... ue.htm#LIF

Aarif
Posts: 1426
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:01 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#5

Unread post by Aarif » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:29 pm

Thank you for the replies Br. Feelgud and BURHANUDDIN ALI.

Br. Feelgud,

Your posts answer most of the questions I raised. However, one doubt remains. I would like to know out of healthy curiosity that what happens to those who do not follow any religion but lead a clean life, never harm anyone, always help the needy i.e. those who give more importance to good deeds than religion? Will they go to heaven as well?

feelgud
Posts: 725
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:01 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#6

Unread post by feelgud » Sat Mar 27, 2010 6:27 am

dear Arif,
this question is already answered in first paragaraph of the first post.
Again if you insist,better ask a person who is not following any religion that whether he needs heaven in his afterlife? .
If he wants then ask him to be a follower otherwise just keep on praying for his best.

Thai
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 4:01 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#7

Unread post by Thai » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:01 am

feelgud---Thanks for an informative post
do you or anyone have opinions about this------Surah 15, verses 43-44

43. And surely hell is the promised abode for them all
44. To it are 7 gates: for each of those gates is a (special) class (of sinners) assigned

(apparently, the word "seven" can also mean "several" in Arabic?)

Thai
Posts: 182
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2005 4:01 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#8

Unread post by Thai » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:33 am

Heaven/Paradise
See surah 55 (in particular verses 46 and 62)

Question 1---How many Paradise are there?
Question 2---Do humans share Paradise with Jinn as they share Hell with Jinn?

ghulam muhammed
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Joined: Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:34 pm

Re: Heaven and Hell

#9

Unread post by ghulam muhammed » Sun Mar 28, 2010 5:16 pm

The alims of today lure the muslims by saying ... Do this, do that so that you may go to jannat and in jannat "Tumhe kayi Hoor-e di jayegi". Now what about the female muslims ? What will they get ? :D :D

feelgud
Posts: 725
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 5:01 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#10

Unread post by feelgud » Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:33 am

Thai,
they are endless in numbers as stated about heaven 'there are two more gardens' and repeated again the same words in the same surah.
Just for the human understanding as I suppose.

Chapter 37. THE RANKS explain the details about the talks going on in between wrong doers.have a look.
24 and stop them there for questioning:
25 “But what is the matter with you that you cannot help one another?”’—

BURHANUDDIN ALI
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 22, 2010 12:44 pm

Re: Heaven and Hell

#11

Unread post by BURHANUDDIN ALI » Tue Mar 30, 2010 9:56 pm

Aarif wrote:Thank you for the replies Br. Feelgud and BURHANUDDIN ALI.

Br. Feelgud,

Your posts answer most of the questions I raised. However, one doubt remains. I would like to know out of healthy curiosity that what happens to those who do not follow any religion but lead a clean life, never harm anyone, always help the needy i.e. those who give more importance to good deeds than religion? Will they go to heaven as well?

THOSE PEOPLE HAS THIER HOMES IN HELL BECAUSE WE R IN THIS WORLD TO PROVE THAT NONE OTHER THAN ALLAH WE OBEY!!!!!!!!

Human
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 8:24 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#12

Unread post by Human » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:28 am

^
Burhanuddin Ali, I disagree with what you say. Would you mean Mother Teresa has ended up in hell?

I raised the same question in another thread where we were discussing about a viral email that mentioned the criteria to go to jannat were namaaz, quran and all the islamic principles.

Human
Posts: 382
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 8:24 am

Re: Heaven and Hell

#13

Unread post by Human » Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:31 am

Here's the thread I was referring to: http://dawoodi-bohras.com/forum/viewtop ... f=2&t=4976