NOTICE: This article is a reproduction from Submitters Perspective No 62, February 1990.
وَبَشِّرِ الَّذينَ ءامَنوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُم جَنّٰتٍ تَجرى مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهٰرُ كُلَّما رُزِقوا مِنها مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِزقًا قالوا هٰذَا الَّذى رُزِقنا مِن قَبلُ وَأُتوا بِهِ مُتَشٰبِهًا وَلَهُم فيها أَزوٰجٌ مُطَهَّرَةٌ وَهُم فيها خٰلِدونَ
Give good news to those who believe and work righteousness that they will have gardens with flowing streams. When provided with provisions of fruits therein, they will say, “This is what was given to us in the past.” They will be given similar provisions, and they will have pure spouses therein. They abide therein forever. (2:25)
وَلا تَحسَبَنَّ الَّذينَ قُتِلوا فى سَبيلِ اللَّهِ أَموٰتًا بَل أَحياءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِم يُرزَقونَ
Do not think that those who are killed in the cause of God are dead; they are alive at their Lord, being provided for. (3:169)
وَلا تَقولوا لِمَن يُقتَلُ فى سَبيلِ اللَّهِ أَموٰتٌ بَل أَحياءٌ وَلٰكِن لا تَشعُرونَ
Do NOT say about those who are killed in the cause of God, “They are dead” For they are alive, but you do not perceive. (2:154)
يٰأَيُّهَا الَّذينَ ءامَنُوا استَجيبوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسولِ إِذا دَعاكُم لِما يُحييكُم وَاعلَموا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحولُ بَينَ المَرءِ وَقَلبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيهِ تُحشَرونَ
O you who believe, you shall respond to God and the messenger when he invites to what keeps you alive. (8:24)
وَالَّذينَ هاجَروا فى سَبيلِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ قُتِلوا أَو ماتوا لَيَرزُقَنَّهُمُ اللَّهُ رِزقًا حَسَنًا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُوَ خَيرُ الرّٰزِقينَ
Those who emigrate in the cause of God, then get killed or die, God will surely provide for them a good provision. (22:58)
لا يَذوقونَ فيهَا المَوتَ إِلَّا المَوتَةَ الأولىٰ وَوَقىٰهُم عَذابَ الجَحيمِ
They do not taste death, beyond the first death, and God spares them the retribution of Hell. (44:56)
قيلَ ادخُلِ الجَنَّةَ قالَ يٰلَيتَ قَومى يَعلَمونَ بِما غَفَرَ لى رَبّى وَجَعَلَنى مِنَ المُكرَمينَ
He was told, “Enter Paradise.” He said, “I wish my people (on earth) know, that my Lord has forgiven me and honored me.” (36:26–27)
The wages of sin is death. [Romans 6:23]
As stated in 3:81 and 46:9, God’s Messenger of the Covenant does not bring anything new; everything I receive and pass on to you is already in the Quran. However, the Quran is full of information that is kept by Almighty God for revelation at a specific time. Now is the time to look at the verses shown above and learn the great news: THE RIGHTEOUS DO NOT DIE; when their lives on this earth come to the predetermined end, the angel of death simply invites them to leave their earthly bodies and move on to Heaven, the same Paradise where Adam and Eve once lived. Heaven has been in existence since Adam and Eve. We learn from 89:27-30 that God invites the believers’ souls: “Enter My Paradise.”
MY OWN EXPERIENCE
When God’s covenant with the prophets was fulfilled in accordance with 3:81, I was taken to Heaven where the righteous live NOW (4:69). While my body was down here on earth, I was in the same Paradise of Adam & Eve.
THE DISBELIEVERS
As for the disbelievers, they know at the moment of death that they are destined for Hell. The angels beat them up on the faces and rear ends (8:50 & 47:27), order them to evict their souls (6:93), then “snatch their souls.” (79:1). The Quran teaches that the disbelievers go through 2 deaths (2:28 & 40:11). They will be put to death – a state of nothingness during which they see Hell day and night in a continuous nightmare that lasts until the Day of Judgment (40:46). Hell is not yet in existence. (40:46, 89:23).
Of Course, the Righteous Depart
As far as people on earth are concerned, the righteous “die.” People do not realize that the righteous simply leave their bodies, and move on to Paradise. The verses shown above are self explanatory. They tell us that the righteous die only once – the one death we have already experienced as a consequence of the great feud (38:69). In 36:26–27, we see the best evidence that the righteous go to Paradise, while their friends and relatives are still living on earth. Like going to Hawaii and waiting for us there.