Human Life
A Solitary Journey
"The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all are only as a single person. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." (Surah Luqman, 31:28)
Life and death belong to the absolute Domain of AllahSWT; no created entity can give life nor cause death:
"Have you not looked at him who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him the kingdom? When Ibrahim said (to him): "My Lord (Allah) is He Who gives life and causes death." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:258)
What is Life:
Life is an invisible abstract entity. It is a mystery, because the nature of it is beyond human knowledge, and beyond the absolute defining ability of science. Science expresses the meaning of the term "Life" by resorting to certain biological attributes like instincts to survive, protect and procreate.
The Arabic equivalent of the word "Life" is "Hayath", that, by its physical attribute, defines the difference between the state of living and the state of being inert. Hayath or life, comes to the intended created things, with the Command "Be" from the Creator, AllahSWT:
"Verily! Our Word unto a thing, when We intend it, is only that We say unto it: "Be"—and it is." (Surah An-Nahl, 16:40)
"Verily, His Command, when intends a thing, is only that He says to it, "Be"—and it is." (Surah Ya-Sin, 36:82)
What is Death:
The opposite of Hayath is Death or Mauth. Like Hayath, it is an abstract entity, beyond the defining ability of science. All creations that come to existence must come to die, as defined by the state of death, which is defined by cessation of all activities of a living person.
The period of time that connects the beginning and end of life, is called longevity, which can be expressed as the "timeline" or the "lifeline". Human life in terms of longevity, is a journey on this timeline. It is indeed a solitary journey!
The segments of life:
Life has two segments. The material/worldly segment of human life begins with conception, and if born, ends in death, while its spiritual segment continues, even after death, and becomes the unending Eternal life. These two segments of life are interfaced by a quiescent phase, referred to as the state of life in Barzakh (the segment after death and before Resurrection).
Our ancestral Journey:
Mankind, as a race started this sojourn with the creation of the lone person, AdamAS, the father of mankind. AdamAS was created in Paradise, therefore Adam, started his journey in Paradise:
"And, We said: "O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimun (wrong-doers)." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:35).
While still in heaven, Adam was very lonely. One day when he fell asleep, Allah created Hawwa (Eve) from one of his ribs on the left side. And when he woke up, he found Hawwa next to him; he felt inclined to her. They lived a short period together in heaven, and then sent to the earth, where they started their journey, had a long conjugal life and blessed with many children:
"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his Wife [Hawwa (Eve)], and from them both, He created many men and women." (Surah An-Nisa, 4:1)
We, their progeny, start our individual journey alone as a Zygote, the product of conception, lodged in the wombs of our mothers. Womb is a dark but safe place, where we are nourished by the mothers, as we pass through many stages of development till we are born; the miracle happens:
"He created you (all) from a single person (Adam); then made from him his wife (Hawwa, Eve)…He created you in the wombs of you mothers: creation after creation in three veils of darkness. Such is Allah, your Lord…" (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:6).
Thus, we are conceived alone, nourished alone, born alone, live our life alone, die alone and buried alone, and will be resurrected alone; no one, regardless of how close, can share the solitary nature of that journey:
"(Allah) has not created you, nor (shall) He raise you except as single person. Surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." (Qur'an 31:28)
Adam's Journey:
Adam was created from a mold of clay, fashioned and perfected by AllahSWT. The mold came to life with the Command "Be": "Verily, the likeness of Isa (Jesus) before Allah is the likeness of Adam. He created him (Adam) from dust, then He said to him: "Be!"—and he was." (Surah Al-Imran, 3:59).
After Adam came to life, AllahSWT blew Ruh into him, created for him. Life at this stage gave him the basic instincts of urge to survive, to protect and procreate, and the Ruh gave him the spiritual abilities of perceptions and interpretations of sensory impulses received by eyes, ears and the heart. Now Adam is not only a biological entity, but he was also a spiritual entity capable of meeting the biological as well as spiritual needs. With these virtues, Adam was deserving of honor and respect of all creations, including angels and jinn:
"(Remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Truly I am going to create man (Bashar) from clay. So, when I have fashioned him and breathed into him Ruh, from Me, created for him, then you fall down prostrate to him." (Surah Sad, 38:71)
This was Adam, the "Bashar", with both biological and spiritual attributes, that AllahSWT had declared to the angels to be His Khalifa:
"And (remember) when you Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generation after generation (Khalifah) on earth." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:30)
After a short, but intensive trial and preparedness in Paradise, Adam and Hawwa were sent down to the earth to carry out their mission: Adam to practice and preach Monotheism (2:21, 51:56), to propagate and inherit the earth (35:39), and to do the right and rule the earth with justice (16:90)", and Hawwa to support Adam and give him love and tranquility:
"And among His Signs is that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection ang mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for people to reflect." (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:21)
Legacy of Adam and Hawwa:
The worldly/material life of Adam and Hawwa came to an end with their deaths, but their biological attributes, transmitted through DNA in their progenitor cells, continued to survive in their children and the subsequent generations:
"Who made everything He has created good and began the creation of man (Adam) from clay. Then He made his offspring from extract (sulalah) of despised water (male and female sexual discharge)." (Surah As-Sajdah, 32:7-8)
Mankind, the Khalqan Akhar:
The children of Adam, in their mother's womb, concomitant to the physical development, acquire the latent qualities of spirituality, when the angel blows the Ruh into them:
The Holy ProphetSAW said: "Every one of you is put together in your mother's womb for first forty days, then becomes a Alaqah (clot) for another forty days, and then a piece of Mudhghah (chewed meat) for another forty days. Then Allah sends an angel to write four words: He writes his deeds, time of death, means of his livelihood, and whether he will be wretched or blessed (in religion). Then the Ruh is blown into his body…" [Hadith #549 vol. IV page 346, and Hadith #430, vol. IV page290]
Acquisition of "potential spirituality" gives the human embryo a special status, addressed in the Holy Qur'an as "Khalqan Akhar", meaning a creation different than all other creations. The difference is not only because he is created in the best physical mold, but also because he has the best of spiritual mold of the Bashar:
"Then We made the Nuthfa (Zygote) into a clot, then We made the clot a lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, then We brought it forth as another creation. So, blessed is Allah, the best of creators!" (Surah Al-Mu'minun. 23:14)
Human Nature:
The spiritual qualities that form the nature (Fitrah) of a human being are Monotheism, justice, compassion, liking for goodness, and disliking for indecency, evil, and transgression. He also acquires (from Allah) a free will, a spiritual heart (Qalb), and a Nafs (Soul):
"Then set your face upright for religion in the right state—on the nature of which He has created man; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know…" (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:30)
"Surely Allah has enjoined the doing of justice and the doing of good, and the giving to the kindreds, and He forbids indecency, and evil and rebellion; He admonishes you so that you can be mindful." (Surah An-Nahl, 16:90)
Nafs (Soul):
Nafs comes into existence following the entry of Ruh in human body. AllahSWT inspires the Nafs with the knowledge to distinguish between right and wrong for him. Nafs has two basic characteristics: the biological characteristic is the driving force behind the material life, and the spiritual characteristic, the source of spiritual inclination to recognize the Creator. Nafs can be influenced by external forces, and it can also be trained to be better. Training can elevate the status from an Ammara soul to Muthmainnah soul:
"By the soul and the perfectness given to it (through proportion and order), and the inspiration (given to it) to understand what is right and wrong for it; he will indeed be successful who purifies it, and he will indeed fail who corrupts it." (Surah As-Shams, 91:7-10)
Although, without the driving force of the Nafs, material life will come to a stop, the excess of such force for the illusions of the world can harm the spiritual life. When the greed for material world continues relentless, it subdues the light of Faith in the heart, and any warning about the Hereafter falls in deaf ears, leading to disbelief:
"Verily, those who disbelieve, it is the same to them, whether you warn them or you do not warn them, they will not believe." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:6)
The cycles of life:
Human life has two cycles of two identical states: each cycle beginning in a state of lifelessness ("mauthan") followed by a state of living ("hayathan"); the first cycle is the worldly life and the second is the life after death:
"How can you disbelieve in Allah? Seeing that you were dead (lifeless dirt), He gave you life. Then He will give you death (making lifeless), then again bring you to life (on the Day of Resurrection), and then unto Him, you will return." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:28)
The first cycle of the worldly life, is very short, compared to the second cycle, which is the unending Eternal life. In the first cycle, with every step we take and every second we pass, we are imperceptibly approaching the end of this ephemeral life that ends in death, and in death we start the second cycle of spiritual life:
"O man! You are approaching your Lord with every step to meet Him" (Qur'an 84:6)
Death being unpredictable, because nobody knows when it will come, and inflexible, because no one can hasten or delay its coming. Death is also inevitable, because very creation must die, and at the end must return to the Creator:
"All that is on earth will perish" (Surah Ar-Rahman, 55:26).
"Every person must taste death…then will be returned to Him." (Surah Al-Ambiya, 21:35)
Death, the Turnstile:
Death is like a gate that opens only one way, through which everyone has to leave this temporary lodge to enter the spiritual world: leaving the world alone and being buried alone, waiting in Barzakh alone, and experiencing the glimpses of eternal life alone. In death the soul (Nafs) is snatched away by the angels and wrapped in cloths, and returned to the Source where it came from, while its actions are stored in either in "Sijjin" (bad deeds), or in "'Illiyun" (good deeds) (Surah Al-Mutaffifin, 83:7, 18), and the physical body returns to the dirt, where it came from:
"Thereof (the earth) We have created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again." (Surah Ta-Ha, 20:55)
Most of us are heedless of death, despite knowing that it is inevitable. We hear about it and sometimes sees a dying person: the experience may affect us, but in most cases the effect is temporary. Unfortunately, this does not help us spiritually, because we still remain distracted by the physical world. In fact, death is supposed to remind us about the life in Hereafter.
Because of its inevitability, unpredictability, and inflexibility, the fear of death should be perceived as a warning, and made a regulatory factor in our everyday life. The warning came from the Holy ProphetSAW who reminded us that the Angel of death visits a person at least five times a day to warn him about death:
The Holy Prophet Muhammad SAAW said: "There is not a house that exists except that the Angel of Death visits is five times a day." (Zhuri from Anas bin Malek, Sahih Muslim)
Sleep is like death:
The warning of death has been made even more conspicuous as it has been integrated in our daily life in the form of sleep: in sleep the soul leaves the body just the way it leaves the body in death. But it returns to the body of those who do not die in sleep. Thus, sleep should be perceived as a minor sign of death, and waking up in the morning as a sign of resurrection:
"Allah takes souls at the time of death, and of those who do not die in their sleep; He keeps the soul of those who die in sleep and return the rest back (to those who wake up) for a certain period of time…" (Surah Al-Zumar, 39:42)
"It is He Who has provided for you the night as a cover, and the sleep to rest, and He has made the day to rise up again." (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:47)
Life, a test:
The worldly life is very short: a day or a part of a day; compared to the eternal life, but it is an extremely important segment of life cycle, because it allows us to know the Creator from His Signs, and gives us an opportunity to acquire deeds for eternal salvation:
"The wealth and the children are the decoration of this worldly life, but the ever-abiding, the good works, are better to your Lord in reward and better in expectation." (Surah Al- Kahf, 18:46)
Life and death are created to test mankind: in life, we have the freedom to make decision and implement it in actions, thus becoming responsible, and in death we face the test of accountability and receive remunerations from the Supreme Court of Justice:
"It is He Who created death and life to test which one of you do better in action…" (Surah Al-Mulk. 67:2)
"Surely We have made everything on earth to beautify it, to test you which one of you do better." (Surah Al-Kahf. 18:7)
Life and Free Will:
The test of life is basically a test of our Free Will. The principle of "responsibility and accountability" calls for freedom of action, meaning "no freedom, no responsibility". Human free will allows him to act freely within certain limits, set by the Qadha of AllahSWT on one hand, and the doctrine of "Permissibility and Prohibition" on the other hand. Transgression of Limits set by AllahSWT is an act of disobedience:
"These are the limits ordained by Allah, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses the limits ordained by Allah, then such are the Zalimun (wrong-doers)." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:229)
The range allows man to explore his inner potentials and reach the truth about his own nature through error and trial, on his own accord. This self-discovery allows him to be certain about himself and takes him out of any doubt about himself, his Creator, and the creations. At the end of the test, he voluntarily comes to peace with himself, and his Creator. There is no force in the court of Justice, particularly in the matter of Faith:
"There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:256)
On the Day of Resurrection, man will be revived as single person, bare and necked, just the way he was created and born; standing among multitudes, worrying about what is going to happen. He will find his Book of Deeds hanging from his neck:
"Thus, We have brought you back all alone the way We created you to begin with and left behind the things which We gave you…" (Surah Al-An'am, 6:94)
"Every man's fate We have fastened on his own neck: on the Day of Judgment, We shall bring him out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. (It will be said to him)"Read your own record; sufficient is your soul this Day to make out an account against you." (Surah Al-Isra, 17:13-14)
At length he will be called to stand before the Seat of Judgment. He will be judged with absolute Justice: He will bear the burden of justice all by himself: if the burden becomes heavy, he will find no helper to help, even if they are next of kin, whom he loved and cared for:
"Nor can a bearer can bear the burden of another person; if one heavily loaded should call another to (bear) his load, not the least portion of it can be carried (by the other) even though he be nearly related." (Surah Fatir, 35:18)
In conclusion, as man of understanding, one must take lessons from life and death: the purpose and temporary nature, of life, illusive nature of the material world created for the purpose of test, the inevitability of death, and the final count of accountability. We should be aware that the responsibility of actions, accountability of outcome, and the rewards are personal; no one can bear the burden of other and no one can enjoy or suffer the consequences of other's actions.
Life on earth is a precious gift: we should take advantage of it to prepare ourselves to earn the Pleasure and Mercy of AllahSWT, to enjoy the Eternal Bliss at the end of this lonely journey. This world should be used for what we need temporarily till we reach the next station: The Holy ProphetSAW said:
"Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler." (Mujahid from Abdullah bin Umar, Sahih Al-Bukhari, 6416, Book 81, Hadith 5)
HeSAW put a lot of emphasis on utilizing time properly because we can never go back on time, neither the time will ever wait for us. He said: "Take advantage of five before five: life before death, health before illness, wealth before poverty, youth before old age, leisure before becoming busy." (Abdullah bin 'Umar, Bukhari, Hadith 40, Hadith An-Nawawi)
Our worldly journey ends with death, which is only a physical transformation, the life of the soul continues, till we are resurrected to join our soul, and begin the Eternal life.
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