The Intermediate World.Part2

The intermediate world is the realm where the spirit feels the “breath” of the bliss of Paradise or the punishment of Hell. 

Those who led virtuous lives will be met by their good deeds (e.g., prayers, recitations, charity, etc.) in the form of amiable companions. Windows will be opened so that they can see heavenly scenes. And, as stated in a hadith, the grave will be like one of Paradise’s gardens. However, even these people will suffer some punishment if they have some unforgiven sins, for such punishment will purify them of all sins and make them worthy of Paradise after the Resurrection.

Unbelievers will be met by their If unbelief and evil deeds, which will assume the forms of bad companions and such vermin as scorpions and snakes. They will be shown scenes of Hell and will experience the grave as one of Hell’s pits.

Q:Do some bodily parts or cells remain alive after death?

While we live in this world, it is our spirits that suffers pain and feel joy and happiness. 

The spirit seems to feel pain through the nervous system, and uses this system to communicate with all bodily parts. Just how it does this remains a mystery to science, as does the type of interaction going on between the spirit and the body, especially the brain. Any bodily failure that results in death terminates the functioning of the nervous system. However, scientists have established that certain cells brain continue to live for a while after death. Scientists have studied the post-death signals received from the brain. If they can decipher such signals, such fields as criminology will benefit greatly when it comes to solving “unsolvable” crimes.

The following verses, which tell us how God revived a dead purson during the time of Moses, suggests this:

When Moses said to his people: “God commands you to sacrifice a cow” … they sacrificed her, a thing they had scarcely done. And when you killed a living soul, and disputed thereon, God disclosed what you were hiding so We said: “Smite him with part of it.” Even so He brings to life the dead, and He shows you His signs, that haply you may have understanding. (2:67, 72–73)

• Torments of the grave and Hell. 

Given the above understanding of the spirit, and the fact that it will remain in contact with the body’s essentials particles while in the intermediate world, it is meaningless to discuss whether the spirit, the body, or both will suffer in the grave. However, as pointed out above, God will rebuild people on the Day of the Resurrection from or with those essential bodily particles, and they will be resurrected on the “morning” of the eternal life.

Since the spirit lives the worldly life together with the body and shares all its joys and griefs, God will resurrect people both bodily and spiritually. The Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama’a agree that the spirit and the body will go to either Paradise or Hell together. God will build bodies in forms peculiar to the Hereafter, where everything will be alive:

This life of the world is but a pastime and a game. Lo! the home of the Hereafter, that is life if they but knew. (29:64)

Q:What gifts we can send to the spirit after death?

The spirits in the intermediate world will see and hear us, provided God allows this. He may even permit some saintly people to see, hear, and communicate with them.

After we die, our record of deeds is not closed. If we leave behind good, virtuous children, books, or institutions from which people continue to benefit, or if we have brought up people beneficial to humanity or contributed to their upbringing, our reward will continue to increase. If, we leave behind only evil things, our sins will continue to increase as long as they harm others.

So, if we want to benefit our loved ones who have gone to the other world, we should be good heirs. We should help the poor, take part in Islamic services, and lead a good and virtuous life, and spend what they left us to promote Islam and help those who need some help, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. All of these activities will cause their reward to increase.