Muslim Views On Life After Death

Question 1

What happens at funerals?

Answer 1

• Funerals should not be expensive
• Coffins should not be used, except to comply with local regulations for health reasons, the body should simply be buried in the earth and be carried to the cemetery.
• They are buried with their face facing the right (Makkah)
• It is therefore preferable if they have their own cemeteries so their graves may face the right direction.
• They say some words as the body is lowered and then a little more earth is thrown down as the quote the Qur’an
• Money shouldn’t be spent on elaborate tombstones or memorials
• Mourning should not last more than three days except for widows who can mourn for 4 months and ten days and they shouldn’t remarry in this period

Question 2

What do Muslims believe happens after death?

Answer 2

• They believe in a life after death for all believers
• They believe in a life after death because Allah promised glorious afterlife and Allah wouldn’t break his promises
• Islam teaches that human life is one eternal life made up of two parts: the life before death and after death
• Muslims believe that the spirit of life that Allah breathed into everyone is raised by Allah from death to the afterlife.
• It is believed that Allah will judge everyone according to how they led their lives
• Those who have led a good life will enter paradise and those who left a bad life will be punished.
• Death itself should never be feared. It is human nature to dread pain but Muslims should do their best to bear everything
• Death cannot be avoided and no one escapes it and it is a natural end to a human life
• they don’t fear death as they have been promised the afterlife, this will be joyous and rewarding for their efforts on earth.
• Islam also teaches that death is beyond human control, Allah alone can control their deaths.