Resurrection after Death (part 30)

Author: Abu Ayesha

Resurrection after Death (part 30)

Reincarnation According to the Nusayris

Belief in reincarnation is one of the most important doctrines of the Nusayris. The reason for their adherence to this belief is that they do not believe in the Day of Judgment, accountability, or punishment in the Hereafter.

Al-Nawbakhti described the belief of those who affirm reincarnation as follows: “These people believe in cyclical existence within this world, deny the Day of Resurrection, resurrection after death, and accountability, and maintain that there is no world other than this one. According to them, resurrection simply means that the soul leaves one body and enters another. If the deceased was among the righteous, good will come to him, and if he was among the wicked, evil will befall him.” [1]

Reincarnation in Judaism

A group among the Jews also believes in the transmigration of souls. They claim to have found evidence for this belief in the Book of Daniel, asserting that Allah transformed Nebuchadnezzar into seven different forms of animals and beasts.

Considering the distortions that have affected the scriptures of religions other than Islam and its divine book, the Noble Qur’an, there is no doubt that people may insert into those books ideas that conform to their own beliefs and then attribute them to Allah’s Prophets and Messengers. [2]

Other Sects That Believe in Reincarnation

The sixteenth sect is among the proponents of reincarnation. This sect belongs to the Hululiyyah and believes that Allah is a light present upon bodies and places. They claim that souls originated from the Eternal God and that the body is merely a garment lacking a soul; therefore, it neither feels pain nor experiences pleasure.

According to them, if a person performs good deeds and then dies, his soul is transformed into a gentle and pleasant animal such as a horse, a bird, or a cow, and it lives in comfort and prosperity. After a period of time, it returns to a human body. [3]

If, however, a person is wicked and evil, his soul enters the body of a worn-out donkey or a mangy dog and remains there in torment for a duration corresponding to the days of his sins and disobedience. Thereafter, it returns to a human body. They believe that the world has always functioned in this way and will continue forever.

The twelfth sect also believes in reincarnation. They were a group of philosophers who lived before Islam, among whom Socrates was counted. Within Muslim lands, there were likewise two categories of reincarnationists: a group among the Qadariyyah and a group among the extremist Rawafid.

Mani, the dualist, also affirmed reincarnation in some of his writings. He explicitly stated that the souls of righteous people, after leaving their bodies, become connected to the “pillar of dawn” until they reach the light above the heavens, where they remain in perpetual happiness and joy. In contrast, the souls of misguided people enter the bodies of animals and continue to pass from one animal to another until they are purified from darkness, after which they ascend to the light above the heavens.

It is not only Hindus, Rawafid, and other sects who denied resurrection and life after death. Some Arabs in ancient times also held similar beliefs. They maintained that when a person died or was killed, the blood of his brain or parts of his body would gather together and transform into a bird, which would return to the grave every hundred years. Islam rejected this belief, and the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) condemned it.

The Ruling on Those Who Believe in Reincarnation

Ibn Hazm (RA) said: “Whoever claims that souls are transferred into other bodies is among the people of reincarnation, and those who believe in reincarnation are regarded by all Muslims as disbelievers.”

False reincarnation is the belief held by the enemies of the Prophets (AS), including atheists and others. They deny resurrection after death and claim that after separating from their bodies, souls are transformed into animals, insects, and birds corresponding to their nature and characteristics. In other words, souls enter the bodies of such creatures and consequently experience either reward or punishment.

Thereafter, they leave those bodies and enter other bodies corresponding to their deeds and moral qualities. Thus, according to these people, there is no true resurrection of souls, nor any genuine reward or punishment in the Hereafter. They reject any resurrection other than this.

This false doctrine of reincarnation contradicts the unanimous teaching of all the Prophets (AS) from the beginning to the end of history. It constitutes disbelief in Allah Almighty and in the Day of Judgment. The adherents of this belief maintain that the final abode of souls after leaving their bodies is within the bodies of animals corresponding to their nature—a claim that is both false and reprehensible. [4]

Even worse, according to the author, is the view of those who claim that souls are completely annihilated at death and cease to exist altogether, with no soul remaining to experience either reward or punishment. They maintain that reward and punishment are experienced only by bodily components or parts of the physical body. [6]

Note

The proponents of reincarnation have attempted to support their belief with various arguments. Muslim scholars have refuted these beliefs and responded to their evidence. In the next section, Allah willing, we will present their arguments and examine them in the light of the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), the statements of scholars, and rational and logical proofs. [7]

It should be noted that one of the strengths of Islam is that whenever it declares a belief or doctrine invalid, it also provides clear, convincing, and decisive evidence against it, leaving no room for doubt, uncertainty, or ambiguity.

To be continued…

Previous Part

References:

1. Firaq Muʿāṣirah (Contemporary Sects), vol. 2, n.d., n.p., p. 66.
2. Al-Isfarāyinī, Imām al-Kabīr Abū al-Muẓaffar, Al-Tabṣīr fī al-Dīn, edited by Kamāl Yūsuf al-Ḥūt, 1403 AH / 1983 CE, p. 136.
3. Al-ʿAsqalānī, Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, Al-Tanbīh wa al-Radd ʿalā Ahl al-Ahwāʾ wa al-Bidaʿ, edited by Muḥammad Zāhid ibn al-Ḥasan al-Kawtharī, n.d., p. 22.
4. Al-Isfarāyinī, Imām al-Kabīr Abū al-Muẓaffar, Al-Tabṣīr fī al-Dīn, edited by Kamāl Yūsuf al-Ḥūt, 1403 AH / 1983 CE, p. 136.
5. Al-Shahrastānī, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm, Al-Milal wa al-Niḥal, edited and verified by Aḥmad Fahmī Muḥammad, 1413 AH / 1992 CE, vol. 3, pp. 654–655.
6. ʿAbd al-Laṭīf, Dr. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad, Nawāqiḍ al-Īmān al-Qawliyyah wa al-ʿAmaliyyah, 1427 AH, p. 226.
7. Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, Kitāb al-Rūḥ, edited by Muḥammad Ajmal Ayyūb al-Iṣlāḥī, vol. 1, pp. 280–281; according to another edition, vol. 1, p. 114.