The Seven Stages In The Life Of A Muslim
Abu Saeed Khudri (RA) narrates that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked, “Who is superior in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection? He said, “The men and women who remember Allah greatly.”
Islam = submission to the Will of Allah (GOD).
Islam has a beginning and an end. Those who embrace Islam are called Muslims. The word Muslim is derived from the word Peace. The traditional muslim greeting is peace be unto you.
Who is Allah? Allah is the One and the Only God who created the worlds, Angels (created by light), Jinn (created by Fire), Satan (devil) is an outcast Jinn, man (created from sounding clay), animals, and the contents of the universes. Allah is One, there is no God other than Him, without any partners. He is eternal without a beginning and enduring without end, Absolute, Self-Sufficient, Self-Existing, never dies, not borne nor gives birth, has no companion, and nothing is comparable to Him. He never sleeps nor slumbers. All-Knowing, All-Hearing, All-Seeing. Nothing happens except what He wills. He gives life and death. He is The Most Gracious and The Most Merciful. He is intensely and continuously merciful to his creatures, even though Non Muslims do not believe in him. He is far above any created being. He is the Creator of everything in the universe, heaven, and earth, and its content. He will never perish or come to an end. When Allah wants anything to happen, he says “Be” and it is. Muslims do not believe that Allah assumed Human form and came down to this earth. The human body form has animal properties, and animal characteristics are created by Allah. Allah is high above all the creations.
Creation of Mankind
The first Man’s (Adam ) body was created from sounding clay. His companion woman, “Hava,” was created from Adam’s rib. All his descendants’ bodies are created by the sperm of men and the ovum of women. Jesus (Prophet ISA), son of Mariam (Mary), was created by Allah’s word (Be and it is) like Adam, but in Mariam’s womb. Jesus was a human prophet and not the Son of God. He was not crucified but taken up alive (Holy Quran).
Allah breathed into the body of man part of His spirit called (Ruh) Soul. When the soul enters the body, it becomes alive. When this soul is withdrawn from the body, it dies, and the body decays, putrefies, and is eaten by microorganisms. Every day, man experiences temporary death at night when he sleeps and resurrects when he wakes up. Allah keeps his soul in a safe place during his sleep. Allah has appointed angels as guardians to the right and left side and allowed satan to disturb humans. All these facts are described in the Holy Quran.
Stage 1. Life in Lau Ho Mahfuz.
Allah created all the souls of the descendants of Adam and Eve who were predestined to come to this earth. Everything about the universes and our soul before and after creations are documented and recorded in the tablet (book) board in heaven(Lau Ho Mahfuz).
Allah once asked all the created souls, “Who is your Lord?”. All the souls said, “You are our Creator, our Lord”. But souls forget the covenant when they descend to the earth. Some have a faint or vague memory of Allah (God) in the inner core of the heart. At times of life-threatening danger man will automatically shout “Oh God !”. But who is that God? If no one tells him, he will not know. At that time, they usually do not address false gods. They usually point up to the heaven and say Almighty God, meaning ALLAH.. If they say that many times, they will forget false gods. That is the inner instinct of Humans.
Stage 2. Life in the mother’s womb.
The soul is sent down to this earth into the body of a fetus developed in the mother’s womb, and the fetus becomes alive. The fetus was swimming in the amniotic fluid inside the uterus like a fish. It does not breathe air. The fetus was fed by the blood through the placenta of the mother and supplied to the body of the fetus by means of the umbilical cord. In pregnant women, there is no menstruation until the baby is born. Do we remember how we lived 9 months inside the mother’s womb?
Stage 3. Life in this world.
At the fetal age of 36 to 40 weeks (pregnancy), the baby is born. The baby breathes for the first time and cries. Whereas the nurses, friends, parents, and relatives laugh, are happy, and praise the baby. When the same baby becomes old and dies, the relatives and friends cry. Some practice infanticide (kill babies) if the baby is female. Islam does not allow infanticide and abortion. The newly born baby is clean, innocent, free from sins, grows, develops, learns, and is brought up in muslim families or non-muslim families. The soul in the baby forgot Allah and the promise (covenant) given in heaven that Allah is his Creator and Lord.
The babies brought up in muslim families will be taught the Quran and reminded about Allah and Islam to worship only the One Allah. To avoid worshipping false gods. False gods are either made by man from wood or stone, or the creation of Allah (such as sun, moon, tree, fire, water, animals, spirits, the content of the universe). Muslims only worship one creator (Allah) but not the creations. Muslims do not associate anything with Allah. Allah has sent 124,000 Prophets from the time of Adam to the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the last Prophet, to remind all mankind to worship one God, Allah. There were divine revelations (books) sent down through Prophets, including Abraham, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (Pbuh).
Muslims believe in all the Prophets and their books (Psalms, Torah, Bible, and Quran). Quran is the latest divine revelation (words of Allah) revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) 1400 years ago and is preserved without any flaws and amendments done by humans up to date. Whereas all the other Holy books were altered or corrected by humans, and the original statements were corrupted and became doubtful. Allah said in the Quran He will preserve the Holy Quran until the end of the world, so no man can alter it. The Quran is preserved in the hearts of Hafizs (Those who have memorized the whole book Holy Quran by heart). There are millions of Hafizs in this world. Burning all the copies of the Quran will not make the miraculous Quran disappear from this world. The Quran is revealed in the Arabic language, whereas the Bible was revealed in the Hebrew language. Quran updates all the previous holy books and teaches mankind about universal laws, moral concepts, and narratives. The Quran’s timeless text remains a miracle, an inspiration, and a guide to all humanity.
Muslims believe in the Quran and follow the Prophet’s sayings and example of his way of life. Those who believe in one Allah, his prophets, his books, his angels, the last day of judgment, the next life, good or bad come from predestined decree of Allah, the existence of hell and heaven, reward for good people and punishment of bad people are called Muslims. All souls are provided with limited free will to choose. There is no compulsion in Islam. All souls have to taste death. When the soul leaves the body, relatives and friends cry. The soul of man will be extracted by the angel of death, either gently or roughly, when the time is ripe. When a soul is pulled out from the body, man must remember his faith in Allah (that Allah is his Creator) otherwise, he will be sent to hell.
Satan, the devil, is proud and cast out by Allah because he is jealous of Adam, disobeyed Allah, and became an avowed enemy of Mankind. He has the power to disturb man from the front, behind, by the sides, and can enter the body, whisper evil in Man’s heart as approved by Allah. Satan, the devil’s job is to mislead man to hell. It is easy for Satan to mislead non-muslims to worship other than Allah, but not true Muslims. Satan will destroy Muslims by using many tactics, but especially by 1. Jealousy and 2. Greediness. Satan was punished because of jealousy, and Adam was punished because of greed. Satan certainly will try to persuade muslims at the time of death, when a person is in semi semi-conscious state, to say that there are other gods than Allah. If Satan succeeds, the soul of a Muslim or non Muslim will go out from the body at the time of death without faith, and that soul will enter hell.
Muslims therefore practice and profess “there is no God except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah” (in Arabic “La ilaaha illallah Muhammadur Rasullulah”) it must be said by mouth and believed in the heart all the time and practiced all the time to make it habitual during sleep or while awake or in shock or distress. Allah has provided a way for mankind to drive away Satan by uttering the divine revelation ‘A-‘oo thu bil-laa-hi mi-nash-shai-¬taa-nir ra-jeem. Bis-mil-laa-hir- Rah-maa-nir Ra-heem.” meaning “I seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast, In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful”. Whenever a Muslim starts to do anything, e.g., eat, drink, sleep, travel, switch on the computer, open the book to read or write, enter bath bathroom, twilight, travel, enter into vehicle, sleep with his wife, get up from sleep, he recites this verse to drive away Satan.
Muslims always say in good or bad status Alhamdulillah (All praises and thanks be to Allah), that is submission to the Will of Allah. Muslims will say to Allah, “Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek. Please show us the right way.” Muslims must understand that we are tourists travelling and not permanent in this world. We must love Allah more than our lives. Family and other worldly things come next. Allah says in the Holy Quran, “Man and Jinn are created for nothing except to worship (serve) Allah”. So our first priority is to serve Him and to please Him with good intentions. Allah will not accept the worship or service if performed without good intention e.g., To Pay charity or pray to show off will not be accepted. The intention of doing any good must be to please Allah. Muslims are Vicegerents (representatives) of Allah. Muslims always say Insha Allah (God willing) before they plan to do things. Masha Allah (will of God) to appreciate things.
To die as a Muslim with faith, one must also practice the virtues of Islam (good practice) such as the 5 pillars of Islam.
- Faith (“Laa ilaha illallah Muhamadur Rasullulah”) “there is no God except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”, it must be believed in the heart and said by mouth repeatedly to become habitual and not forget at the time of accident or sleep or distress, or death. This is the most important faith. This is the visa to enter paradise. Without faith, one may not enter paradise. The biggest tug of war inside our soul is faith. A muslim will not bow his head to anything living or nonliving to worship except Allah.
- Pray five times a day (dawn, afternoon, evening, sunset, and night).
- Pay Zakat (poor man’s money Alms)
- Fasting for one month in Ramadan
- Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) once in a life time.
The first two are compulsory and a must for all muslims. The other three depend upon one’s health and wealth. The above practice with good intention will make a muslim the best person on earth and remember Allah at the time of death. At the time of death, if a muslim or a non-muslim remembers Allah and utters “La ilaaha illallah Muhamadur Rasullulah” (“there is no God except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”), he will be taken to paradise and otherwise to hell. So non-muslims may remember The Creator just before death and enter paradise because Allah has kept open His door of forgiveness and mercy until before their death.
Therefore, this stage 3 is a very important testing ground for human beings. It is the duty of muslims to remind each other and their non-muslim friends about Allah, death, the next life (resurrection), reward and punishment, hell and paradise. Muslims are like living in jail in this temporary world. Muslims must obey the laws stated in the Quran, avoid adultery, alcohol, gambling, cheating, observe Halal (lawful) and Haram (unlawful) food and Halal and Haram money and usury, etc. Muslims must undergo many tests and practice Islam. Muslims must be patient constantly, must bear and accept that good and bad are preordained and decreed by Allah, and say Alhamdullilah (All praise and thank be to Allah) all the time in order to enjoy the reward in the Hereafter, which is everlasting. Muslims must work hard in this third stage temporary world with fear, repentance, ask forgiveness for wrongdoings doing mistakes with hope and mercy from God to prevent hellfire and enjoy the reward in the next life. Muslims will say, “Our prayers, our good deeds, our life and death are for Allah our Lord, Creator of the Worlds.” Allah created evil, but He does not like it. Allah created good, and He likes it. He encourages us and guides us to do good. He will guide and protect the obedient servants. But those who refuse to accept Allah’s revelation sent to prophets, and follow Satan, Allah will not guide them anymore. They will go astray. Allah will forgive all kinds of sins except Polytheism.
Stage 4. Death.
After the soul is drawn from the body, Allah keeps it in a place called Alam Barzaak. Good people’s souls are kept in a good place and bad people’s souls in a bad place until Kiyamat (Judgment Day) arrives, when everything is destroyed except Allah. There will be a resurrection of all Mankind
Stage 5. Resurrection on Judgment Day.
All souls will get up from the graves. Obedient souls will go to paradise forever. Disobedient souls will go to hell for punishment. Those who ignore or reject or refuse to believe Allah and who worship false gods rather than Allah, the Creator, in this world, will go to Hell forever in the next world. Muslims do not believe in Incarnation (reborn again) to this world.
Stage 6. The end stage for a disobedient soul is to enter Hellfire.
Stage 7. The end stage for an obedient soul is peaceful to enter paradise in the form of a new creation with different forms. Allah said that it is easy for Him to do so (Holy Quran). In paradise, they will be free from sickness, illness, and will at all times be healthy, clean, peaceful, and satisfied with provisions, with beautiful young companions and of no ageing, to dwell in forever. This is because Allah is satisfied with the soul who is obedient to His Divine laws, and the soul is also satisfied with Allah.
by Prof Mohd Ebrahim Sulaiman