From Qutu’l-Qulub

Abu Talib al-Makki (Quddisa Sirruhu)

These eight subjects form the essence of belief in the Hereafter:

1. The servant should believe in the questioning by the angels named Munkar and Nakir. They will seat the servant properly. Then, the servant will be subjected to their questions. They will ask him questions about tawhid (oneness of Allah as the Creator) and the prophethood of Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). This is the final trial that believers will face. These two angels are the ones who will carry out the duty of questioning in the grave. There are narrations related to this from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

The following ayah concerns the questioning that will take place in the grave. “Allah keeps the believers firm with the stable word in the worldly life and in the Hereafter…” The situation declared in the ayah occurs in Munkar and Nakir’s questioning. The ayah ends as follows: “…Allah lets the unjust go astray, and Allah does what He wills” (Ibrahim, 27).

2. Torment in the grave is real. It is a matter of divine wisdom and justice; soul, nafs, and body all together taste the punishment because they aided and abetted the sinner in disobeying Allah's orders. On the contrary, if a servant is favored in the grave with blessings, the soul, nafs, and body taste these blessings together because they were associated with each other in obeying and worshipping Allah during mortal life. These are matters of the Hereafter, which come into existence only by the power of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and cannot be explained by worldly logical principles and the way of reasoning that holds true in mortal life. Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) gives suffering or blessings to the soul and body simultaneously, even though they are separated. The separation between them cannot impede this. In comparison to Allah’s infinite power, distance, sequence, and time are insignificant.

3. A servant should believe in Mizan (the scales of divine justice), which has two pans and weighs the sins and good deeds with them. Mizan is a matter of divine wisdom and righteousness and Allah’s blessing to His servants. One of the narrations from Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) states that Mizan is big enough to hold the sky and the ground. Deeds will be weighed with it by the power of Allah the Almighty. On that day, justice will prevail, and every deed, even those that measure no more than an atom, will be brought for reckoning. Those who come to the Hereafter with sins from their mortal lives will face a bitter loss.

4. Believers should also believe that the “sirat” bridge is real, as told in the hadiths. The sirat is thinner than a strand of hair and sharper than a sword. It is a path that people will try to cross; if they fail to do so, their feet will slip, sending them tumbling down to their doom. This depends on whether the person crossing the bridge deserves a place in Heaven or Hell. Allah will make believers’ feet firm on the bridge of sirat, allowing them safe passage across to His Paradise with His blessing. On the other hand, the hypocrite will step onto the bridge with a precarious foothold, eventually slipping on it and, as a matter of Allah’s wisdom, they will fall into the Fire; this is because sirat is a bridge that spans across a tremendous length above Hellfire. Those who can pass it will avoid the unimaginable suffering dropping into such a dreaded place will bring. Those who stumble, slip, and fall into it will find themselves engulfed by an infernal existence that defies all attempts to describe it accurately.

5. Believers should further believe in the reckoning and that it will be in different ways. Some people’s reckoning will be easy, but it will be absolutely grueling for others. Some people will enter Heaven, also known as Jannah, without having any questions directed to them. These are the Muqarrabun (i.e., awliya who are given a special rank that places them close to Allah the Most High). Others will enter Hell, also known as Jahannam, without a single question. These are the disbelievers/blasphemers.

6. Additionally, believers should believe in the Prophet's (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) hawd (i.e., river, pond). Believers will drink from it right before entering Paradise, after crossing the bridge of sirat. He who drinks from it once will never feel thirst again. Its width takes a month's journey to be able to cross. Its color is whiter than milk, and it tastes sweeter than honey.

7. Believers should also believe in seeing Allah (jalla jalaluhu) in Paradise. In a way Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) wishes, He will remove the veils that He placed between Himself and His creation, after which believers will be able to see Him. The following ayah signifies this: “For those who do good, there is the best, and something more…” (Yunus, 26). The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) explains that what is meant by “there” in the ayah is Paradise, and the implication of the word “more” is seeing Allah the Exalted. (Suyuti, ad-Durru’l-Mansur, IV, 358; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, IV, 1747)

8. Believers should have faith that those who affirmed the oneness of Allah and were punished in Hell because of their transgressions in mortal life will be brought out of the Fire. With the mercy and blessing of Allah, none of the people of tawhid will stay in Jahannam forever. Moreover, prophets and siddiqs (the steadfast affirmers of truth, the truthful) will intercede on behalf of people for the absolution of their sins. By Allah’s leave, every believer who deserves Jannah has the ability to mediate for others. Every single one of the prophets, scholars, truthful servants, martyrs, and good, pious servants will intercede on behalf of others according to their ranks in the sight of Allah.

There is ijma (consensus)on the hadiths about shafa'ah (intercession) and that he who affirmed the oneness of Allah will be freed from Hellfire eventually and will not abide therein in eternal suffering. These are the people that are known as deserving of a temporary penalty in Hell, and they are those who will be in the highest rank among the dwellers of Jahannam. The following ayah points out their situation: “On many occasions, the disbelievers will wish that they were Muslims.” (Al-Hijr, 2). The Scholars declared in tafsir of this ayah: “Disbelievers who are in Jahannam say this when they see people who affirmed the Oneness of Allah in life are getting out of the Fire.”

Allah the Exalted brings out of Jahannam, with his supreme Mercy and Blessing, those who haven’t been able to find intercession for themselves from anyone.

That is the meaning of the hadith narrated from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). These subjects are the essence of the aqaid (belief) determined by the Prophet’s sunnah and scholars of Islam. The believers are in concurrence about these.

Miracles of the Awliya Are Real

We have faith in Allah’s power, in the ayahs and hadiths that are His indisputable evidence in His dominion, and in al-ghayb (that which is known only by Allah and hidden from the creation) that is declared in hadiths. We also believe in the miraculous acts known as karamah, which are endowed by Allah the Exalted to His awliya, and in that Allah answers the awliya’s supplication and shows His supreme power by materializing extraordinary events through His truthful servants. All of these are granted to them to increase their iman and elevate their honor.

In these miracles that manifest in and through awliya, there is nothing causing suspicion against the evidence of the prophethood of the prophets. This is because awliya do not claim that these miracles show up as a result of their will and power, and they don’t act against the prophets’ orders. They also don’t call people to profess faith in their persons. Neither do they establish their superiority against others by using these acts of kashf and karamah or use these miraculous occurrences for their personal gain. Miracles are secrets from the realm known as “Malakut” that Allah endows upon his close servants as He wills. Allah the Most Glorious bestows miracles on them whenever He wills and however He wills it. This is a special blessing to them. With this, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) wants to show His servants the closeness of His awliya to His divine personage.

Those of the awliya who are given karamah are the people who are steadfast followers of the prophets and their path. Allah the Exalted has given them karamah for the sake of the prophets and for their commendable adherence to their path. However, just as the awliya are not prophets, they are neither similar nor comparable to them. There are many narrations about karamah at the tawatur (narrated by too large a number of people with too great consistency to be refutable) level from the sahabah and Tabiin.

Ali Kaya