Belief in the Hereafter

The Trial of the Grave and Resurrection

The belief in the Last Day is a belief in all that the Prophet told of what will happen after death, belief in the grave trial, in the grave punishment and in the grave delight.

The Records of the People's Deeds

Al-Hawd (The Prophet's Pool)

In the Court of Judgment is the Prophet's Pool (Hawd) with its water whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, its drinking vessels as numerous as the stars, and its length a (travel for) a month and its width a (travel for) a month. Whoever drinks from it will never thirst.

As-Sirat (The Bridge Over Hell)

The Sirat is stretched over Hell. It is the bridge between Paradise and Hell. People cross it in accordance with their deeds. Some cross as quickly as the eye winks; Some cross as if a flash of lightening; Some cross as if wind; Some cross as a noble horse would; Some cross as a camel rider might; Some cross it running, some walking; Some cross it crawling; And some are snatched and thrown into Hell. The bridge has hooks to snatch the people according to their deeds. Whoever passes over it enters Paradise. If they cross the Sirat, they will be halted over a bridge between Paradise and Hell to settle accounts between themselves; If they are cleared and purified, they are permitted to enter Paradise.

Ash-Shafa'ah (The Prophets Intercession)

The first to knock at the gate of Paradise will be Muhammad ; And the first Ummah to enter Paradise will be his Ummah.

And he (Muhammad) has three intercessions to perform on the Day of Resurrection:

His first intercession will be on behalf of the people still held for judgment, after all Prophets, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, the son of Mary, have passed over intercession and it reaches him (Muhammad).

His second intercession will be on behalf of the people of Paradise in order that they may enter it. These two intercessions are unique to him.

His third intercession is to be on behalf of those who warrant Fire. This intercession is for him (Muhammad), for all prophets and saints and for others, so that they may intercede on behalf of those who deserve Fire, preventing them from entering it, and on behalf of those who have entered into the Fire, taking them from it. Allah, The Exalted, out of His Generosity and Mercy, sends some people out from the Fire without intercession. Space will be left unfilled in Paradise, so Allah will create more people for it, and bring them into it.

The Hereafter includes judgment, reward, punishment, Paradise and Hell. These are mentioned in detail in the Revealed Books from heavens, in the tradition of the prophets, and in the inherited knowledge from Muhammad what is sufficient and satisfactory (in this regard), and whoever wishes to seek it can find it.

Al-Qadar (Divine Decree)

The Saved Group-the people of the Sunnah and of the Community- believe in Qadar (Divine Decree) whether good or bad. Belief that fate has two parts, each part includes two things: The first part is belief that Allah ,The Exalted, knows what the creatures will do in accordance with His Ancient Knowledge, which He described as being of Eternity; He has known all their states of obedience and disobedience, all their sustenance and their life span.

Allah wrote in al-Lawh al-Mahfuz (the Preserved Tablet) the fate of creatures:

And He said:

This predestination which belongs to His Knowledge-may He be Glorified-is in some places summarized and in others detailed. He has written in the Pre- served Tablet whatever He has willed: When He creates the body of the fetus and before blowing the soul into it, He sends an angel to it and orders him to write four words, his livelihood, his life span, his deeds, and if he is happy or miserable and so forth. This kind of predestination was rejected by extremist Qadariyah of the past. But these days very few reject it.

The second step is the executed Will of Allah and His Inclusive Ability. The belief in that whatever Allah wills, will come to pass and whatever He does not will, will never occur, that whatever motion or silence is in heaven or earth is by the will of Allah, The Glorified. Nothing takes place in His dominion except what He wills, and He, The Glorified, The Exalted, is capable of all that exists and all that does not exist.

There is no creature on earth or in heaven except Allah The Glorified, is his Creator. There is no creator beside Him and there is no Lord other than Him.

With all that, He ordered the creatures to obey Him and His messengers, and He forbade them to disobey Him.

He, The Glorified, loves the pious, the doers of good and the just. He is pleased with those who believe and do good deeds; He does not like unbelievers; He is displeased with transgressors; He does not ordain immorality; He does not wish disbelief for His creatures; And He does not like corruption.

Creatures are the performers in reality, but Allah is the Creator of their deeds; The 'abd (human being) is the believer and the unbeliever, the righteous and the wicked, the praying and the fasting; The 'ibad (human beings) have power over their actions and they have their own will; But Allah is their Creator and the Creator of their power and their will, as He, The Exalted, has said:

This degree of predestination is rejected by most of the Qadariyah - those whom the Prophet called the Fire Worshipers (Majus) of this Ummah (Islam). Others who affirm this Attribute of Allah exaggerate it to the extent of stripping the human being of his power and his choice, taking the wisdom and advantage from Allah's acts and rules.

Iman (Faith)

Among the fundamentals of the people of the Sunnah is that religion and faith are utterance and action - the utterance of the heart and the tongue and the action of the heart, the tongue and the limbs - and that faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience.

In spite of this, Ahl al-Qiblah (Muslims) are not to be considered unbelievers as a result of their committing faults and sins (Ma'asi and Kaba'ir) as the khawarij consider them. Rather, brotherhood in faith remains firm despite faults, just as Allah, The Exalted, has said in the punishment Verse: