Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

 

One of our brothers has asked this question:

I have a few questions on this subject. We know about Qayamat or day of judgement where everyone will stand trial in the court of Allah, the almighty. 1. Is it right to say that all the people who have died from the begining of time are still asleep and will wake up on the day of judgement or they exist as some kind of spirit or they fate is determined as soon as they die ? 2. Does the holy Quran say anything on the subject of spirits, possession or any form of witchcraft as some people in this world claim to have the respective abilities ? 3. Regarding your article on the lunar calendar, since we have the technology to calculate accurately the lunar cycles for the year then is it a crime to follow a fixed calendar for the year i.e our misri calendar?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Day of Judgement, magic and Jinn

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,  no person,  no grave, no prophet,  no imam,  no dai,  nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

Your statement: Is it right to say that all the people who have died from the beginning of time are still asleep and will wake up on the day of Judgement or they exist as some kind of spirit or they fate is determined as soon as they die.

In light of the Quran and the established teachings of the Messenger of Allah (saws), when a person dies,  his soul is taken to a place called ‘barzakh’.    There is absolutely no contact from the ones in barzakh to the ones who are alive in this world and vice versa!

 

It is beyond our comprehension to understand the exact nature of the life of Barzakh,  as it is a life completely different from our worldly lives of flesh and blood.    Indeed, the soul is something completely different from the body.  After separation from their bodies, souls do experience and feel far more pleasure and pain than they experienced when they were joined together.  They are subject to confinement, pain, punishment, sickness, and grief as they are to various states of joy, rest, bliss, and freedom.  There are four abodes of the soul, and each abode is bigger and greater than the previous one.

 

The soul's first abode is the womb of the mother, where there is confinement, compression, seclusion, and three layers of darkness.  The second abode is its earthly habitat where it grows, does good and evil, and accumulates deeds for its ultimate success or failure.  Its third abode is the abode of barzakh, which is more spacious and immense than the abode of this world.  The fourth abode is the abode of eternity, either Paradise or Hell. There is no other abode after this.  Allah causes the soul to pass through these abodes in stages, until it reaches the abode most suitable for it, an abode that  it deserves, and for which it is uniquely suitable, because this abode was created for it, and the soul was given the ability to perform the deeds that lead precisely to this abode.

 

Regarding the fate of the person, the full accounting and the full rewards and punishments to that person will only be done by Allah Subhanah on the Day of Judgment.   But between the time one dies, and the Day of Judgment, there is a full life of the soul called the life of ‘barzakh’ or the life in the grave.  

 

It is reported in an authentic narration that the Prophet (saws) said:  “When a believer is buried in the grave two angels will come to him (Munkar and Nakir, both have dark faces and blue eyes),  make him sit up,  and ask :  ‘Who is your Lord?’  He will reply:  ‘My Lord is Allah.’   They will ask him:  ‘What is your religion?’   He will reply:  ‘My religion is Islam.’  They will ask him:  ‘What is your opinion about the man who was sent on a mission among you?’  He will reply:  ‘He is the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).’   They will ask: ‘ Who made you aware of this?’   He will reply:  ‘I read Allah's Book, believed in it, and considered it true.’  Then a crier will call from Heaven:  ‘My servant has spoken the truth.    So spread a bed for him from Paradise,  clothe him from Paradise,  and open a door for him into Paradise.’  Then  some of its air and perfume will come to him, and a space will be made for him as far as the eye can see.   At the death of the unbeliever   his soul will be restored to his body in the grave.  Then two angels will come to him. They will make him sit up and ask him:  ‘Who is your Lord?’  He will reply:  ‘Alas, alas! I do not know.’   They will ask him:  ‘What is your religion?’   He will reply:  ‘Alas, alas! I do not know.’   They will ask:  ‘Who was the man who was sent on a mission among you?’    He will reply:  ‘Alas, alas! I do not know.’   Then a crier will call from Heaven: ‘He has lied, so spread a bed for him from Hell, clothe him from Hell,  and open for him a door into Hell. Then some of its heat and burning hot wind will come to him,  and his grave will be compressed, such that his ribs will be crushed together.   An angel who is blind and dumb will then be placed in charge of him, having a sledge-hammer, such that, if a mountain were struck with it, it would become dust.  He will give him a blow with it,  which will be heard by everything between the east and the west except by men and jinn, and he will become dust.  Then his soul will be restored to him (again and the punishment repeated until the Day of Judgement).

 

Your question: Does the holy Quran say anything on the subject of spirits, possession or any form of witchcraft as some people in this world claim to have the respective abilities ?

Most of the people who claim to have these abilities of control of Jinns (spirits), or witchcraft, etc. are liars and frauds; whose only intention is to dupe people out of their money.  

 

The Quran does talk about the Jinns in many places and that they roam the world… but we must understand that their life and duties are completely different from man, and they do not have any power to possess the human being,  or come into him and make man do his bidding.    The commonly held belief among some people,  that some souls of human beings wander and come back to earth in some form after their death,  is unconditionally false and have absolutely no basis from the Quran or Sunnah of the Messenger (saws).  No soul who has lived and died has the power or ability to make his way back to this world under any circumstances.

 

The Quran does mention magic, but not witchcraft…. By witchcraft, we assume you mean a process whereby man and jinn connive to harm someone.   Although, logically and in light of the Quran and Sunnah, it is not an impossible act for some miscreants to do… it is regarded as a grave sin in Islam to do so.   Besides, as a believer, we should always remember that no matter if all the men and the Jinns of the world got together to harm one of us; they would not be able to do so without the permission of Allah Subhanah!    Everything, absolutely everything is in the control of our Lord, and unless He Wills it, no combination of men and jinn can harm or benefit us in the least!  

 

Allah has termed the people who practice magic as doing ‘kufr’ in the Holy Quran, and has cursed them by saying that they will have no share in the Hereafter.     Performing or trying to do magic is an evil deed and considered one of the grave sins in Islam.

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 102:Although it was obvious that they could not do any harm to anyone by means of this magic without Allah’s permission,  yet they learnt the art (of magic) which could not be profitable even for them,  but was actually harmful.   Moreover, they knew it fully well that, anyone, who purchased that art (of magic) would have no share in the Hereafter.   What a vile commodity it was for which they sold off their souls, if they had but known it!

 

Brother, the thing we,  as believers,  must understand that  those who claim to do magic or witchcraft do not have the power to hurt or benefit anyone,  without the permission of Allah Subhanah.   No harm and no benefit can happen to the believer without the Will of Allah Subhanah.   If Allah does not will it, all the magicians and doers of witchcraft of the world can get together and try their magic on someone, they cannot harm him in the least!  

All Power and All Strength is with Allah Subhanah Alone.

 

Most of the people who claim to do magic are frauds.  In parts of Africa,  South America,  and especially in India and Pakistan,  some unscrupulous ‘holy’ people have opened ‘shops’ claiming to have control of spirits,  and perform witchcraft and/or magic.   These people invent all types of satanic rituals and chants and spread fantastic stories of their past successful operations to impress their ‘customer’.    And then other supposedly ‘holy’ people have opened ‘shops’ to remove this magic and witchcraft from the frightened and helpless ‘customer’!    Thus, basically between the ‘holy’ people supposedly doing the magic, and the supposedly ‘holy’ people removing the magic; the common man is being conned!    And the way these ‘holy’ thieves operate,   the common person is told so many stories and threats of this will happen to him and that will happen to his family, etc.,  that the person just does and gives whatever they ask in a state of fear and desperation to remove this ‘magic’ from him and his family!

 

The believers must understand well that no harm,  no magic,  no Jinn,  no witchcraft,  no spell,  no charm,  no nothing;  can harm or benefit us,  without the permission of Allah Subhanah.  Thus a believer must put his full trust in Allah Subhanah Alone!    He is more than enough as our Helper and Protector.

 

Your question:  Regarding your article on the lunar calendar, since we have the technology to calculate accurately the lunar cycles for the year then is it a crime to follow a fixed calendar for the year i.e our misri calendar?

There is absolutely no harm to use technology, if indeed there is technology available today to accurately determine the advent and cycle of the moon and use it to determine the number of days in a lunar month.    But brother, the misri calendar is not made from using this technology,  but rather it is created by using estimation and pre-determining the number of days of each particular month,  and its usage is obviously wrong.   

 

It is a scientific fact that the new moon comes out after either every 29 days or 30 days…. And there is absolutely no harm if one uses the most modern technological methods to determine the advent of the new moon to start the period of the Islamic month.     But pre-guessing, and pre-fixing the number of days to a month, and allocating 29 days to a particular month every year, and 30 days to a particular month every year (as is done in the misri calendar) is obviously incorrect; and thus a sin because that would result in fasting/Eid on the wrong days and/or performing the pilgrimage of Hajj on the day when it might not be the Day of Arafah! 

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

 

Your brother and well wisher in islam,

 

 

Burhan