JOURNEY OF THE UNSEEN WORLD

All Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Master of this world and of the Day of Judgement.

Peace and blessings be on the Prophet of Islam and on his Progeny who warned us that love of this world is a dangerous affliction and that it is the root cause of all diseases afflicting the human race. All other diseases are really branches stemming from this main root. And the cure of this affliction is to keep reminding oneself constantly of Death.

I begin now, by saying that in 1307 (H) I had written my memories about my schooling and had called it Travel Eastwards and now in 1312 when I am writing about the Barzakh, I intend to call it Westward Travel and I hope that it will serve as a souvenir from me and will prove a source of guidance and advice fro the general public.

The fact is that our present material and elemental body, by virtue of its very nature, is in a dark and impenetrable veil, not allowing man to see into any other world. Death, in fact, is the name of emerging from this curtain and once this curtain is removed, man is able to see that which was hidden to his eyes before, and he becomes aware of facts which he was unaware of, until then.

'Certainly, you were heedless of this (Day), now we have removed your veil from you, so now your right is sharp'(soora Qaf Verse 22)

That is to say, in this world you were ignorant of facts. Now after death we have removed from your eyes the material curtain so that you may clearly see the Hereafter.

Hence, I died. Then I saw myself standing, relieved of my illness, feeling fit and healthy, but around my corpse my relatives were busy mourning. I was saddened by their crying and told them that I was cured and not Dead but nobody heard me.

It was as if they neither saw nor heard me. (1) I realized that these people had now become distant from me and so I tured my complete attention towards my corpse. I became especially attentive towards the face and the side which was uncovered. Afterwards, my body was bathed and shrouded. Then, when the people had taken care of their other pending work, they took my body towards the graveyard. I was also present in the funeral procession. In this procession (1) (Kitab-e-Manazil-e-Akhirat by Mohaddise Qummi) I saw many wild beasts and animals, which frightened me, but the other people present were neither afraid or even troubled, as if those beasts were their tame and beloved pets. In this way, we reached the graveyard. I stood in the grave, and saw how my body was lowered into it, head first. The moment the body was laid inside, the grave became full of animals emerging from everywhere.

My fear knew no bounds especially when the animals stared attacking my body. But the man who was lowering my body was not in the least fearful, it was as if he did not even see them.

The man laid the body in the grave and then came out. But my primary interest was in my body so I stayed inside the grave. I tried to shy away from the animals but they were too many for me to handle and they overcame me. One reason was, that I was so overcome with fear that my very existence was trembling. I called out to the people standing above my grave for help but nobody came forward to help. On the contrary they remainded busy in their work, as if they just could not see the commotion that was going on inside the grave. Suddenly certain people entered the grave from somewhere and came to my help, as the animals ran away when they saw they saw these people. So I thanked them and asked them who they were that they helped me in such a difficult time. They smiled and replied that they were my good deeds that I had done and that the beasts had been my evil deeds. They asked me if I had not heard the verse "Verify the good deeds clear away the bad deeds". Then these people disappeared.

As soon as the commotion was over, I regained my senses. I saw that the men outside had closed the grave and had left me alone in the dark and narrow place. I could see the people going back to their houses, even my close friends relatives and family membershad deserted me and left me alone. These were the very people for whose comfort and well being I had provided and worked for day and night. Their desertion and unfaithfulness on the one hand and my dark and narrow prison on the other, extremely saddened my and I was close to bursting with sorrow.

I had never before fell such fear and bewilderment and I sat down dejected at the head of the corpse, losing all hopes of receiving any help from anybody except God. I was wondering what would happen next when suddenly the grave started trembling and dust came falling down off its walls and root. It was expecially violent near the foot of the grave as if some huge beast was trying to split open the grave to enter. Finally the grave did split and two huge men with fearful faces entered.(1)

The two men were strong and hefty like giants. Smoke and fire bellowed from their mouths and nostrils. In their hands were iron rods (1) (The punishment in the grave, the questioning of Munkir & Nakeer and the presence of snakes and scorpions in the grave is mentioned in numbous traditions. The details can be had from the books on Beliefs e.g. Sheikh Sudooq and Allama Majlisi my be reffered to.) so read not that it seemed as if flames were leaping up from them. Suddenly they thundered in voices so sharp that the heavens and earth trembled, "Who is your Lord?"

I was so afraid that I could not control my senses, I lost the power to speak and my courage gave way. I thought that my dead body would not be able to answer their questions and I became certain that they would give the body a good beating with their iron rods and the grave would be engulfed with fire. I saw that as it were their fear had made me lose control over my senses, if fire engulfed the grave it would become much worse. So I decided to asnwer their questions myself. I beseeched God for help: "O helper of the Helpless and Rescuer of the Troubled and Afflicted, come to my help." In my heart I also seeked the intercession of Imam Ali because I knew him well and I was aware of his strength, and of his positions in the eyes of God and that he could come to one's help at any place and at all times. I believed him to be the dispenser of difficulties. My heart had been full of love for him throughout my life adn even in death. I knew that this intercessor was God's blessing and that in the most difficult of times when man is near to losing his senses, this gift of God comes to his rescue.

The Qur'an says, "And you see men in stupor, adn they are not in stupor, but God's chastisement is severe"(Sura Hajj Verse 2). But even in such times, the Imam comes to help. Hence as soons as I seeked his intercession, inspite of the gravity of the situation, strength returned to me and I felt capable of answering.(1)

But my lengthy silence had angered them all the more. Their flaming eyes and faces became harsher. They raised their arms as if about to strike me with their iron rods and in voices sharper than before they repeated, "Who is you Lord?"

But I was no longer afraid and so I replied softly that Allah, the One, Only and Unique was my Lord. "He is Allah; there is no God but he, the knower of the unseen and the seen, He is the Beneficent and Ever Merciful. He is Allah, there is no God but He, the King, the Holy, the Peaceloving, the Bestower of Conviction, the Guardian, the Ever-prevalent, the supreme, the great absolute. For too exalted is Allah from what they associate (with him). (Sura Hashr verse 22, 23)

I remebered this particular verse because I had been in the habit of reciting it daily after my morining prayers.(2)

(1)(According to traditions, the light of the Friendship of the Imams will help their friends in the difficult moments after death, as love strengthens heart and resolve.)

(2)(This presence of mind and the ready and appropriate reply befits the author who led a file of piousness, benevolence, lofty morals, in service of humanity, adn in quest of knowledge about God. Those who lead such lives will enjoy similar conditions. But the ignorant, worldly, cruel and evil will be in difficulties. Therefore man should pay heed, repent and start doing good from now.)

I felt it necessary to recite it in front of them in order to convince them of my position adn qualities, so that they may not think that the human race was bereft of lofty qualities. They had objected to the creation of Adam the very first day, saying that he would prove to be nothing but a sorce of mischeif adn bloodshed on earth. However, I saw that as soon as I recited these verses, their anger seemed to melt away. Their faces softened somewhat and one of them told the other that it seemed as if I belonged to the group of scholars of Islam and therefore they should continue with their questioning in a gentler manner.

But the other one replied that God had appointed them to question me and so they should continure in the some manner regardless of who I was, because their attitude towards me should depend only upon my being able to answer correctly all the questions and it was not yet known whether I would be able to do so.

After conversing thus, they resumed their questioning, "Who is your Prophet?"

But now I felt sufficiently courageous and even my voice was strong. Without hesitation I replied, "The Messager adn the Prophet of Allah towards all men, Muhammad, the son of Abullah, May Peace be Upon Him and his Progeny. He is the seal of the Messagers and the head of the Prophets." The moment I replied, their anger vanished completely and their faces brightened and became happy. Then they questioned me about my Book, Temple, and the Imams and the Successors of the Holy Prophet. I replied, "My book is the Holy Qur'an, which was revealed by the Benevolent Lord unto the sagacious Prophet (S.A.). And my temple is the Kaaba and the Masjid-ul-Haraam 'wherever you maybe, turn your faces towards it' and 'I have turned my face towards the Creator of the heavens and the earth completely and submissively and I am not from the polytheists'. And My Imams and the successors of the Holy Prophet are the Twelve Imams, the first of them Ali, adn the last Imam Mehdi, who is the Imam and the ruler of our time. Obedience unto them is obligatory and they are infallible. They are witness on the earth and in the Hereafter they are the intercessors." Then I named each Imam with his parentage and other details