Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterDeath and Resurrection
Question
Even though I am a Muslim (thank Allah) I want to know about death and resurrection and so on because I like to read about those things. Can you send it to my email whenever you have new things or topics to do with that?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Death means taking away the souls (of people, …) and transformation from the present life to the world of Al-Barzakh (the interval between one's death and resurrection).
Allah, The Exalted, has ordained that all souls (everyone) shall die. He, The Great and Almighty, Says (what means): {Every soul will taste death.} [Quran 21: 35]
Allah has assigned the Angel of Death and his helping Angels to take the souls. Allah Says (what means):
• {Say, "The angel of death will take you who has been entrusted with you. Then to your Lord you will be returned."} [Quran 32: 11]
• {… until, when death comes to one of you, Our messengers take him, and they do not fail [in their duties].} [Quran 6: 61]
As for the way the souls are taken away, it is reported in a Hadeeth by Al-Baraa’ Ibn 'Aazib 
that the Prophet said: “When a believing slave comes close to the Hereafter and nearer to the end of the present life (i.e. at a state of last breath), angels descend to him; their faces are shining as if the sun is on them; they have a shroud from the shrouds of Paradise and scent for embalmment from the scents of Paradise. They sit far from him at the distance that they can see him. Then the Angel of Death comes nearer to him till he sits near his head and addresses him: ‘O good soul! Come out to Divine pardon and consent.’ The Prophet added: The soul of the believer comes out flowing as a drop of water runs out from the mouth of a water skin. When the disbelieving slave comes close to the end of the present life and nearer to the Hereafter (i.e. at a state of last breath), the angels descend to him from the heaven; whose faces are black. They have Al-Musuh (a kind of harsh clothes); they sit far from him at the distance that they can see him. Then, the Angel of Death comes nearer to him till he sits near his head and addresses him: Come out, O wicked soul! Come out to Divine discontent and wrath. The soul goes in a different direction from his body. Then the Angel plucks it out as a skewer is extracted from wet wool." [Ahmad and Abu Daawood]
As for resurrection, it means the rising of all the dead from their graves. Believing in resurrection is one of pillars of the Islamic creed.
The Quran presents such a pillar of Imaan (faith) in many ways to establish its truthfulness due to some people's denial of it. Among these methods are: (1) clear direct presentation of its coming, (2) reminding people of their creation the first time, (3) drawing attention to bringing land rebirth by plants, (4) Quranic stories; e.g. the people of the cave, and (5) other methods.
The resurrection starts with the blowing of the trumpet and the blowing for the raising from the graves (resurrection).
Allah Says (what means): {And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on.} [Quran 39: 68]
'Abdullah Ibn 'Amr narrated that the Prophet said: “Then the trumpet would be blown and no one would hear that but he would bend his neck to one side and raise it from the other side and the first one to hear that trumpet would be the person who would be busy in setting right the tank meant for providing water to the camels. He would swoon and the other people would also swoon, then Allah would send, or He would cause to send rain which would be like dew and there would grow out of it the bodies of the people. Then the trumpet would be blown again, and they would stand up and begin to look (around).” [Muslim]
For more benefit, please refer to Al-Yaum Al-Aakhir, by Dr. ‘Umar al-Ashqar, and the book of At-Tathkirah fi Ahwaal Al-Mawta, by Imam Al-Qurtubi.
Also, for more benefit on life in Al-Barzakh (the interval period between death and resurrection), please refer to Fataawa 10565, 83719, 16778, 17286, 48844, and 84517.
Allah knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
