III. The Doctrine of
Judgment.
1. Death.
The quranic doctrine is simple in comparison with later
developments. Death is al yaqin Yaqæn, the Certainty
which will happen at the stated time: "and when their
time comes, they cannot put it off an hour, nor can they
bring it on." Souls are taken to Himself by allah Allåh
not only in death but also in sleep. They are taken in
charge by the angel of death. "allah Allåh holds back
those on whom He has decreed death" till the day of
resurrection; meanwhile the interval seems to them as
but a day. Only those are to be prayed for who have died
in the faith. The examining and recording angels and
other elaborations are of later date.
2. The Resurrection.
The commonest terms for this are bath Baÿth = Awakening
and qiyamah Qiyåmah = Upstanding. The latter term is
also applied to the Judgment as a standing before the
Judge of all. The revival of the dead with their bodies
was often derided by the pagans of Mecca, and as often
defended by the Prophet. allah Allåh who has brought men
to life by a strange and lowly process of nature is well
able to restore the body thus created. The resurrection
is the analogue of the birth process; it is a new
creation foreshadowed by the first creation. It is
prefigured by the springtime and the revival of the
parched earth after rain. It will follow on two blasts
of the trumpet and the shout which shall summon all to
come forth (cp. 1 Thess. 4 16).
3. The Judgment Day.
"It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this
cometh judgment" (Heb. 9 27) might well stand as the
motto of quranic teaching on this subject, and it is
under this head that the teaching of the quran QurŸån
approximates most to that of the New Testament. The
Resurrection is preceded and succeeded by other episodes
of the Judgment Day. This is known as the Day, the Hour,
the Event. It is the Day of Separation (fasl Faãl), of
Reckoning (hisab Øisåb), of Judgment (din Dæn), the
Encompassing Day (yaumul YaumuŸl Muhit). It is preceded
by an awful Blow which shakes and pulverises the
universe. Gog and Magog will break forth and a
mysterious Beast of the Earth will appear, not, as in
the Apocalypse, to corrupt the earth, but to rebuke
mankind for their unbelief. Terror will seize upon
mankind and all the bonds of human fellowship will be
dissolved. When the dead have come forth the actual
Judgment will begin. allah Allåh appears on His throne
borne by eight angels while the heavenly hosts hover
around Him. All nations are assembled on the face of the
earth, kneeling in awe and gazing on the Judge, each
summoned to its own Scripture which witnesses against
it. This is the Day of Judgment when no soul can help
another soul; each gives an account for himself before
allah Allåh, the most just of judges. False gods will be
invoked in vain; the light or heavy balance will decide.
All works will be manifested on the Day of Severance.
Before each man will be placed his book of deeds, and
the same before each people (ummat); the record of
sijjin Sijjæn for the wicked, that of illiyun ÿIlliyõn
for the good; the leaves of the Book will be opened and
the members of his body will witness against the sinner.
The blessed shall have their book in the right hand, the
damned in the left. The Day is sure to come though
muhammad Muøammad may not live to witness it; the Hour
is unknown save to Rabb: it will be one day as a
thousand years (cp. 2 Pet. 3 8). The infidels will be
distressed, for no ransom or intercession will avail for
them. Rabb is the only asylum on that day (cp. Isa. 25 4
f). He will then reward the prayerful and continent.
4. Paradise.
The abode of the blessed is designated most often as
Jannat = the Garden, sometimes as Firdaus, a Persian
word of the same meaning which has passed into the Greek
paradeisos. It is the Garden of Refuge, of Delight, of
Eternity, and the Garden of Eden or Pleasure. Entrance
into it is "the great felicity." There is some confusion
between the Garden of Eden as the abode of Adam and Eve
in their innocence and the Garden of the world to come;
the primeval Eden is conceived as being in the upper
world and Adam and Eve are cast down from it to earth.
The blessed are welcomed with greetings of peace and
dwell in gardens by cool flowing streams before the
Mighty King. They repose on luxurious couches, are clad
in the richest raiment, enjoy exquisite food, drink of
fountains in which are mingled camphor and other costly
essences, and quaff celestial wine at will. They enjoy
the society of ever virgin houris, dark-eyed damsels
with swelling breasts and shy, retiring glances; and
pure wives are provided for them. These visions of
delight are a reward for the godly who will abide in
Paradise while heaven and earth shall last. They praise
allah Allåh and behold the fiery torments of the damned
with whom they converse, and to whom they refuse water.
The inmates of Paradise are the prayerful and
charitable, who have refrained from unlawful lust,
righteous believers who were persecuted, fighters in the
way of allah Allåh. Paradise is a reward for Muslims and
their wives who have repented, prayed for pardon and
done good works.
5. Hell.
The commonest name for this is nar Når = the Fire. Its
seven other names have the same connotation except
hawiyah Håwiyah = the Pit. The most widely used of the
quranic names is Jahannam, a transliteration of the
Hebrew Ge Hinnom, which became in Greek Gehenna. Hell
has seven gates guarded by nineteen angels. It will be
in full view at the Judgment. The descriptions of it are
set out in pungent contrast to the joys of Paradise.
Instead of cool shade, it blazes with intolerable
flames. In place of repose and ease, the damned are
tortured with burning chains and beaten with iron clubs.
Instead of delicious foods, they are forced to partake
of loathsome fruits, purulent gore and boiling water. No
peace and kindly greetings, but wrangling with their
seducers. No release shall they have from these
torments; they are full of remorse, but their prayer to
return and amend on earth is refused, and the relief of
death is denied to them; they abide for ever in Hell.
All will go into Hell, but the God-fearing will be
delivered. Its inmates are the people of the left hand
who have been unbelieving, covetous and fraudulent, who
have neglected prayers and alms and worshipped the
servants and creatures of allah Allåh and opposed His
Prophet. No intercession will avail the inmates of Hell,
for their doom is decreed. "On that day we will say to
Hell: Art thou full? and it will say: Are there any
more?" (50 29). "True shall be the word which hath gone
forth from me-I will surely fill Hell with jinn and men
together" (32 13). "We have created for Hell many of the
jinn and of mankind"(7 178).
In the quranic doctrine of the life to come, as in other
parts of its teaching, there are stages of development,
notably in the much greater predominance of luscious or
lurid descriptions in the earlier surahs Sõrahs. In the
later and lengthier chapters muhammad Muøammad is
occupied with the vindication of his authority as
against the pagans of Mecca, and with the building up of
his community at Medina, and an occasional reference to
the Garden or the Fire is sufficient to recall the
attention of believers to the delights and terrors which
had burned themselves into their memory and were
recorded in writing as the words of allah Allåh.
6. The Decrees.
The quranic doctrine of Predestination is very explicit
though not very logical. For the purposes of exhortation
a power of choice is assumed, but the hearers are often
reminded that this power itself is in the hands of allah
Allåh. The determinism of the quran QurŸån is summed up
in the word qadar, i.e. measuring. The well-known word
qismat is not used in this sense in the quran QurŸån,
but its meaning is the same, viz., apportionment. Qadar
expresses the divine act or decree which determines the
apportionment of the lot of all things, animate or
inanimate. As for the future it fixes the weal or woe of
sentient beings in the life to come, so in the past it
determines the creation of all things, the actions of
men, belief and unbelief, obedience and disobedience,
and all the events of life as well as its limits, for
allah Allåh's behest is a fixed decree, even in
accidental matters such as that of the wife of Zaid (33
38). The fate of men and cities is written in their
book, on a clear register, containing all secret things.
Yet those who use this as an excuse for their unbelief
stand condemned; "The truth is from your Lord, so let
him who will believe; and let him who will disbelieve"
(18 28). And even to muhammad Muøammad, allah Allåh
says: "What befalls thee of good it is from allah Allåh,
and what befalls thee of bad it is from thyself" (4 81).
But a survey of the whole leaves the matter summed up in
the words: "allah Allåh do all beings in the heavens and
in the earth adore, whether they will or no" (13 16).
Had He pleased there would have been no idolatry. "allah
Allåh is the Creator of everything; He is the One, the
Dominant" (13 17).
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