of the believers. Those who hold that there will be a balance for prayer, another for fasting and so on, adduce the use of the plural form, balances (muwázín) in proof of their statement. There is also a difference of opinion as to whether the "works" themselves, or the books (sahá,íf) will be weighed. The latter opinion is supported by a Tradition recorded by Tirmízí. "The Prophet said: 'Ninety-nine registers will be distributed. Each register will extend as far as the eye can reach. God will say: 'What! dost thou deny this, or have the recording angels treated thee unjustly?' Each will say: 'No! O Lord.' 'Hast thou then any excuse?' 'No! O Lord.' Then God will display a cloth on which the Kalima is written. This will be put into one scale, and God will say: 'To thee will be no evil if thou hast a register in this scale, and this cloth in the other, for the first scale will be light.'" This is considered conclusive testimony with regard to the weighing of the Sahá,íf. The Mutazilites objected to statements such as these, for said they: "actions are accidents, and the qualities of lightness and heaviness cannot be attributed to accidents." They explained the verses of the Qurán and the statements of the Traditions on this point, as being a figurative way of saying that perfect justice will be done to all in the Day of Judgment.
(4). The Bridge (Sirát). The meaning of the word Sirát is a road, a way. It is so used in the Qurán. In connection with the Day of Judgment it is said: "If we pleased we would surely put out their eyes: yet even then would they speed on with rivalry in their path (Sirát)." (Súra xxxvi. 66). "Gather together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts (demons), and the gods whom they have adored beside God; and guide them to the road (Sirát) for hell." (Súra xxxvii. 23). It is nowhere in the Qurán called a bridge, but Tradition is very clear on this point. The Prophet said: "There will be a bridge sharper than the edge of a sword, finer than a hair, suspended over
hell. Iron spikes on it will pierce those whom God wills. Some will pass over it in the twinkling of an eye, some like a flash of lightning, others with the speed of a swift horse. The angels will call out, 'O Lord! save and protect.' Some Muslims will be saved, some will fall headlong into hell." Bukhárí relates a similar Tradition. The infidels will all fall into hell and there remain for ever. Muslims will be released after a while.
The Mutazilites deny the existence of such a bridge. "If we admit it," say they, "it would be a trouble for the believers, and such there is not for them in the Day of Judgment." To this the orthodox reply that the believers pass over it to show how they are saved from fire, and that thus they may be delighted with Paradise, and also that the infidels may feel chagrin at those who were with them on the bridge being now safe for ever.
Al A'ráf is situated between heaven and hell. It is described thus: "On (the wall) Al A'ráf shall be men who know all, by their tokens,[[160]] and they shall cry to the inhabitants of Paradise, 'Peace be on you!' but they shall not yet enter it, although they long to do so. And when their eyes are turned towards the inmates of the fire, they shall say, 'O our Lord! place us not with offending people &c.'" (Súra vii. 44, 45). Sale's summary of the opinions regarding Al A'ráf in his Preliminary Discourse is exceedingly good. It is as follows:—
"They call it Al Orf, and more frequently in the plural, Al Aráf, a word derived from the verb Arafa, which signifies to distinguish between things, or to part them; though some commentators give another reason for the imposition of this name, because, say they, those who stand on this partition will know and distinguish the blessed from the damned, by their respective marks or characteristics: and others way the word properly intends anything that is high raised or elevated, as such a wall of separation must be supposed to be. Some imagine it to be a sort of limbo for the patriarchs and prophets, or for the martyrs and those who have been most eminent for sanctity. Others place here such whose good and evil works are so equal that they exactly counterpoise each other, and therefore deserve neither reward nor punishment; and these, say they, will on the last day be admitted into Paradise, after they shall have performed an act of adoration, which will be imputed to them as a merit, and will make the scale of their good works to overbalance. Others suppose this intermediate space will be a receptacle for those who have gone to war, without their parents' leave, and therein suffered martyrdom; being excluded from Paradise for their disobedience, and escaping hell because they are martyrs."
There is also an interval, between the death of the body in this world and the Last Day, called Al-Barzakh. "Behind them shall be a barrier (barzakh), until the day when they shall be raised again." (Súra xxiii. 102). When death takes place, the soul is separated from the body by the Angel of death; in the case of the good with ease, in that of the wicked with violence. It then enters into Al-Barzakh.[[161]]
It is a doctrine founded on Ijmá', that God will not pardon Shirk, that is, the ascribing plurality to the Divine Being. The Mushrik, one who does so, will remain in hell for ever, for as Kufr, infidelity, is an eternal crime, its punishment must also be eternal. "The unbelievers among the people of the Book, and among the Polytheists shall go into the fire of Gehenna to abide therein for aye. Of all creatures are they the worst?" (Súra xcviii. 5). "Cast into Hell every infidel, every hardened one, the hinderer of the good, the transgressor, the doubter who set up other Gods with God. Cast ye him into the fierce torment." (Súra 1. 23-25.)
Muslims who commit great (Kabíra) sins, though they die unrepentant, will not remain in hell for ever, for, "whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall
behold it." (Súra xcix. 7). It is asserted that the fact of believing in Islám is a good work and merits a reward: this cannot be given before the man enters hell to be punished for his sins, and therefore he must be, after a while, released from punishment. "Perfect faith (Imán-i-Kámil) consists in believing with sincerity of heart and acting in accordance thereto, but the actions are not the faith itself. Great sins, therefore, prevent a man from having "perfect faith," but do not destroy faith (Imán), nor make the Muslim an infidel, but only a sinner."[[162]] The Mutazilites teach that the Muslim who enters hell will remain there for ever. They maintain that the person who, having committed great sins, dies unrepentant, though not an infidel, ceases to be a believer and hence suffers as the infidels do.