How should a believer´s view of death?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Death is not absence. It is a door to a more beautiful world. A seed under the earth seems as if it has died, decayed and disappeared, yet indeed, it starts a more beautiful life. It is transformed from the life of a seed into life of a tree.

Similarly, when someone is dead, it seems as if he has gone under the earth and decayed, yet indeed, he reaches a better life in the world of barzakh and grave.

Body and soul are like light bulb and electricity. When the light bulb is broken, electricity does not disappear; it continues to exist. Even though we do not see it, it still exists. Similarly, when one dies, the soul leaves the body yet it continues to exist. Allah the Glorious clothes it with an appropriate and more beautiful clothing and it continues its life in the world of grave.

For this reason, the Prophet said: “Grave is either a garden from the gardens of Heaven or a pit from the pits of Hell.” and informed us about the existence of life in grave and how it will be.

If a faithful person dies of an incurable disease, s/he is considered a martyr. Those martyrs are called spiritual martyrs. And martyrs wander freely in the world of grave. They are unaware that they are dead. They think they are still alive. They only know that they are living a better life. The Prophet said: “Martyrs do not feel the agony of death.” 

It is stated in the Quran that martyrs are not dead. That is to say that they are unaware that they have died. For instance, think of two men. They are in a very beautiful garden together in a dream. One of them knows that it is a dream. Yet the other one is unaware that it is a dream. Which one enjoys it the most? Of course, the one who does not know that it is a dream. The one who knows it is a dream thinks that if he wakes up, all the joy will be lost. However, the other one feels the joy truly and fully. 

Similarly, the ordinary dead do not feel the joy fully as they are aware that they are dead. Nevertheless, martyrs feel it fully as they are unaware that they are dead. 

Souls of those who die as believers and who are not subject to punishment in grave wander freely. For this reason, they can travel to many places. They can be in many places at the same time. It is possible for them to wander around and amongst us. What is more, Hazrat Hamza, the lord of the martyrs, helped a lot of people and still there are people whom he helps. 

Human beings, who come into the wombs of their mothers from the world of souls, are born into the world then. They meet here. Similarly, people in world are born into the other world through death and they wander there. Just as we bid farewell to people who go to the other world from this world, so too are there ones in the other world, who welcome the ones who leave this world for the other world. Insha’allah, our beloved ones, especially the Prophet, will welcome us there as long as we are true slaves to Allah here.

Just as we welcome a newborn child here, so too will our friends welcome us, insha’allah, when we go to the other world on condition that we believe in Allah and obey Him and His apostles and die as a believer.

Questions on Islam