Barzakh
 |
| Part of a series on |
| Eschatology |
|---|
Introduction
In Islamic eschatology, Barzakh (Arabic: برزخ) is the intermediate state in which the soul of the deceased is transferred across the boundaries of the mortal realm into a kind of "cold sleep" where the soul will rest until the Qiyamah (Judgement Day). Barzakh is an Arabic word, which is compounded of Barra and Zakhkha, which means that the manner of earning through action has ended and has fallen into a hidden state.[1]
Barzakh is a sequence that happens after death, in which the soul will separate from the body. Three main events make up Barzakh: [2]
- The separation of the soul and the body, in which the soul separates and hovers over the body.
- Self-review of one's actions and deeds in one's life.
- The soul rests in an interspace in which one will experience a manifestation of one's soul resulting in a cold sleep state, awaiting the Day of Judgement.
Significance of Body and Soul Separation
In Islam, the soul and the body are dependent upon one another. This is significant in Barzakh, because only a person's soul goes to Barzakh and not their physical bodies.[1] Since one's soul is divorced from their body in Barzakh, the belief is that no progress or improvements to one's past life can be made.[1] If a person experienced a life of sin and worldly pleasures, one cannot try to perform good deeds in order to reach Jannah. Whatever one does in his or her lifetime is final and cannot be changed or altered in Barzakh.
Different Views About Barzakh
Some Muslim scholars stress the importance of Barzakh, while others simply look past its existence.
- Modern Muslim thinkers deemphasize Barzakh, and focus instead on a person's individual life and the Day of Judgment. In this view, the state of Barzakh is simply looked past and skipped once a person dies.[3]
- Muslim scholars who do believe in Barzakh still have varying interpretations of this intermediate state based on different traditions. Some traditions suggest that a person's deeds in their life will have an impact on their experience in Barzakh. In these traditions, there are two states of Barzakh. In the state known as "Azhaalbul-Qabr," a person will be punished for his or her deeds in their past life.[4] In the other state known as "Tan'eemu Ahlit-Taa'ah Fil Qabr," a person will receive the blessings and bounties of Allah because of his or her faith and good deeds.[4] Other traditions suggest that people in Barzakh are given temporary bodies. In this view, a person is either given a bright body or a dark body. These bodies are believed to be prepared from either the light or darkness of their deeds.[1] If a person is given a bright body then this indicates that a person will go to heaven, while a dark body represents hell.[1] In these traditions, Muslim scholars believe that once a person is given their body in Barzakh, they will already know their fate for the Day of Judgment. It is worth noting that in these traditions where Muslim scholars believe in Barzakh, they are basically saying that a person will be familiar with his or her fate prior to the Day of Judgment. This is based on what a person experiences in this intermediate state.
- Al-Ghazālī states, "After the First Blast, all created beings shall abide for forty years in the Intermediate Realm [barzakh]. Then shall God quicken Seraphiel, and command him to deliver the Second Blast, as He has said (Exalted is He!): Then shall it be blown again, and lo! they stand, beholding : they shall be on their feet, watching the Resurrection." [5]
- Al-Zamakhshari explains Barzakh to mean hā'il, "an obstacle." His adaptation of the meaning of the word coincides with Barzakh meantionings in Qur'an literature: 25:53.
- Abdullah Yusuf Ali referred to a Barzakh state as a "quiescent state." The soul lies in a resting state until Yawm al-Qiyāmah.
Barzakh in the Qur'an
- "There will every soul prove (the fruits of) the deeds it sent before: they will be brought back to Allah their rightful lord, and their invented falsehoods will leave them in lurch." [6] An alterior state, Barzakh, is touched upon here. One being left in the lurch can either represent a garden of paradise, Jannah, or that of a nightmare. This all depends on one's deeds throughout a given life time.
- "In order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected. 'By no means! It is but a word she says.'- Before them is a partition till the day they are raised up." [7] Here is where the Godless plead to return to earth to perform good deeds they have left undone during their tangible lives. Yet, there is a Barzakh in front of them forbiding one's soul away.
- "And he it is Who has made two seas to flow freely, the one sweet that subdues thirst by its sweetness, and the other salt that burns by its saltness; and between the two He has made a barrier and inviolable obstruction." [8] Here a concrete meaning of Barzakh is referenced. There stands a Barzakh between one body of fresh water and another body of salt water. A Barzakh here prevents the two physical bodies of water from being mixed.
Barzakh and Martyrdom
An important aspect of Barzakh in the current time is how it relates to the concept of martyrdom. A martyr is someone who dies in the name of God or through servicing Islam. In Islamic traditon, a martyr is accorded several rewards in the afterlife. They are rendered free of sin and therefore do not need Muhammad’s intercession in order to get to Paradise. Another of these benefits is that martyrs are able to skip the stage of barzakh. Instead, they go straight to the highest level of Paradise to be with God. This level is called “the most beautiful abode” or “the dār al-shuhadā (abode of martyrs), which makes it apparent that this is a place where only those who have attained this high honor are allowed. [9]
Barzakh and Christian Purgatory
The idea of purgatory is that it is a place where people go after death that holds punishment and purification for those who are not fit to enter Paradise just yet. People who are in this place do not have enough sins to warrant their entrance into Hell, but they do not have enough good deeds to go to Paradise quite yet. This is a temporary place, similar to barzakh.[10] Because they have this in common, some believe that they are the same idea or concept.[11] Barzakh is actually closer to the idea of limbo, a place that is between life and the true afterlife.[11] In this place, people await their final judgment, much like in barzakh. The Quranic idea of aʿrāf or “heights” is closer to that of Christian purgatory. Aʿrāf is also thought of as a place where souls go whose good and bad deeds are too evenly matched to go directly to Paradise or the Fire. [10]
Interpretations
Sufism
In Sufism, the or Barzakh or Alam-e-Araf (Astral plane), is not only where human the human soul resides after death but can also be visited during sleep and mediation.
Major Scholar, Ibn 'Arabi, defines Barzakh as the intermediate realm or "isthmus". It is between the World of Corporeal Bodies and the World of Spirits, and is a means of contact between the two worlds. Without it, there would be no contact between the two and both would cease to exist. It is described as simple and luminous like the World of Spirits but also able to take on many forms like the World of Corporeal Bodies. In broader terms Barzkh “is anything that separates two things”. It has been described as the dream world which the dreamer is in both life and death.[12]
Barzakh can also refer to a person. Chronologically between Jesus and Mohammad, is the contested Prophet Khalid. Ibn 'Arabi considers this man to be a “Barzakh” or the Perfect Human Being. Chittick explains that the perfect Human acts as the Barzakh or "isthmus" between God and the world.[13] Ibn 'Arabi's story of Prophet Khalid is that of a case of the Perfect Human being.
Khalid's story is of a Prophet whose message never emerged because before he died, he told his sons to open his tomb forty days after his death to receive the message of Barzakh. The sons, however, feared they would be looked down upon for opening their dead father's tomb, therefore they decided not to exhume their father. Thus, his message was never shared. An Ottoman Scholar explained that for Khalid to give the knowledge of Barzakh he would have to travel through the different worlds and then return, but because he was not exhumed, his message was never heard. Ibn 'Arabi explains that because this mission ended in failure, it does not conflict with The Prophet Mohammed’s statement: “ am nearest of men to Jesus son of Mary, for there is no prophet between him and me.”[14]
Shi'ism
Contemporary Interpretations and Uses
See also
 | Abrahamic |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| American | |||
| East Asian | |||
| Indian | |||
| Near East | |||
| European | |||
| Others | |||
References
- ^ a b c d e Khan, Sir Muhammad (2011). "The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam- Part12". The Review of Religions.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ "Islam the Glorious Religion: "Aalam-E-Barzakh"". Islamic Academy. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ "Barzakh, al-". The Oxford Dictionary of Islam.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ a b Islam, Maulana. "Al Barzakh - The Realm After Death in Islam". IslamicInformation.net. Retrieved June 24, 2008.
- ^ Ghazali, Al- (1989). The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife. The Islamic Text Society. p. 176.
- ^ Ali, Yusuf. Qur'an. pp. 10:30.
- ^ Ali, Yusuf. Qur'an. pp. 23:100.
- ^ Ali, Yusuf. Qur'an. pp. 25:53.
- ^ Lawson, B. Todd. "Martyrdom". The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ a b Smith, Jane I. "Afterlife: An Overview". Encyclopedia of Religion. GaleGroup Online. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ a b Qader, Nasrin (2002). "Fictional Testimonies or Testimonial Fictions: Moussa Ould Ebnou's Barzakh". Research in African Literatures. 33 (3): 14–31. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Ibn Al-Arabi, Muhyiddin (2006). Angela Jaffray (ed.). The Universal Tree and The Four Birds. Anqa Publishing. pp. 29n, 50n, 59, 64–8, 73, 75–8, 82, 102.
- ^ Chittick, William C. (1979). "The Perfect Man as the Prototype of the Self in the Sufism of Jāmi". Studia Islamica (49). Maisonneuve & Larose: 135–157.
- ^ Ibn Al-Arabi, Muhyiddin (2006). Angela Jaffray (ed.). The Universal Tree and The Four Birds. Anqa Publishing. pp. 29n, 50n, 59, 64–8, 73, 75–8, 82, 102.