[Sūrah xvi. 63]: “If God were to punish men for their wrong-doing, He would not leave on the earth a single living creature; but He respites them until a stated time; and when their time comes they cannot delay it an hour, nor can they hasten it.”
[Sūrah iii. 182]: “Every soul must taste death, and ye shall only be paid your hire on the day of resurrection.”
[Sūrah l. 17]: “The agony of death shall come in truth, that is what thou didst shun.”
In the Traditions, Muḥammad has taught that it is sinful to wish for death: “Wish not for death, not even if thou art a doer of good works, for peradventure thou mayest increase them with an increase of life. Nor even if thou art a sinner, for with increase of life thou mayest obtain God’s pardon.”
One day the Prophet said: “Whosoever loves to meet God, God will love to meet him, and whoever dislikes to meet God, God will dislike to meet him.” Then ʿĀyishah said, “Truly we all dislike death and consider it a great affliction.” The Prophet replied, “Thou dost not understand me. When death comes near a believer, then God gives him a spirit of resignation, and so it is that there is nothing which a believer likes so much as death.”
Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀẕib, one of the Companions, says:—
“I came out with the Prophet at the funeral of one of the assistants, and we arrived just at the grave, before they had interred the body, and the Prophet sat down, and we sat around him with our heads down, and were so silent, that you might say that birds were sitting upon our heads. And there was a stick in the Prophet’s hand with which he kept striking the ground. Then he raised his head and said twice or thrice to his companions, ‘Seek the protection of God from the punishments of the grave.’ After that he said: ‘Verily, when a Muslim separateth from the world and bringeth his soul to futurity, angels descend to him from the celestial regions, whose faces are white. You might say their faces are the sun, and they have a shroud of the shrouds of paradise, and perfumes therefrom. So they sit apart from the deceased, as far as the eyes can see. After which the Angel of Death (Malaku ʾl-Maut) comes to the deceased and sits at his head, and says, “O pure soul, come forth to God’s pardon and pleasure.” Then the soul comes out, issuing like water from a bag, and the Angel of Death takes it; and when he takes it, the angels do not allow it to remain in his hands for the twinkling of an eye. But when the Angel of Death has taken the soul of a servant of God, he resigns it to his assistants, in whose hands is a shroud, and they put it into the shroud and with the perfumes, when a fragrance issues from the soul like the smell of the best musk that is to be found on the face of the earth. Then the angels carry it upwards, and they do not pass by any concourse of angels who do not say, “What is this pure soul, and who is owner of it?” And they say, “Such a one, the son of such a one,” calling him by the best names by which he was known in the world, till they reach the lowest region of heaven with him. And the angels ask the door to be opened for him, which is done. Then angels follow it through each heaven, the angel of one region to those of the next, and so on till it reaches the seventh heaven, when God says, “Write the name of My servant in ʿIllīyūn, and return him towards the earth, that is, to his body which is buried in the earth, because I have created man from earth and return him to it, and will bring him out from it again as I brought him out at first.” Then the souls are returned into their bodies, when two angels [[MUNKAR] and [NAKIR]] come to the dead man and cause him to sit up, and say to him, “Who is thy Lord?” He replies, “My Lord is God.” Then they say, “What is thy religion?” He says, “Islām.” Then they say, “What is this man who is sent to you?” (i.e. the Prophet). He says, “He is the Prophet of God.” Then they say, “What is your proof of his mission?” He says, “I read the book of God, and believed in it, and I proved it to be true.” Then a voice calls out from the celestial regions, “My servant hath spoken true, therefore throw for him a bed from Paradise, and dress him in clothes from Paradise, and open a door for him towards Paradise.” Then peace and perfumes come for him from Paradise, and his grave is enlarged for him as far as the eye can see. Then a man with a beautiful face comes to him, elegantly dressed, and perfumed, and he says, “Be joyful in that which hath made thee so, this is the day which was promised thee.” Then the dead person says to him, “Who art thou, for thy face is perfectly beautiful?” And the man replies, “I am thy good deeds.” Then the dead person cries out, “O Lord, hasten the resurrection for my sake!” ’
“ ‘But,’ continued the Prophet, ‘when an infidel dies, and is about to pass from the world and bring his soul to futurity, black-faced angels come down to him and with them sackcloths. Then they sit from the dead as far as the eye can see, after which the Angel of Death comes in order to sit at his head, and says, “O impure soul! come forth to the wrath of God.” Then the soul is disturbed in the infidel’s body. Then the Angel of Death draws it out as a hot spit is drawn out of wet wool.
“ ‘Then the Angel of Death takes the soul of the infidel, and having taken it, the angels do not allow it to remain with him the twinkling of an eye, but they take it in the sackcloth, and a disagreeable smell issues from the soul, like that of the most fetid carcass that can be met with upon the face of the earth. Then the angels carry it upwards and do not pass by any assembly of angels who do not ask whose filthy soul is this. They answer such an one, the son of such an one, and they mention him by the worst names that he bore in the world, till they arrive with it at the lowest heaven, and call the door to be opened, but it cannot be done.’ Then the Prophet repeated this verse: ‘The doors of the celestial regions shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter into paradise till a camel passes through the eye of a needle.’ Then God says, ‘Write his history in Sijjīn,’ which is the lowest earth; then his soul is thrown down with violence. Afterwards the Prophet repeated this verse: ‘Unite no partner with God, for whoever uniteth gods with God is like that which falleth from high, and the birds snatch it away, or the wind wafteth it to a distant place.’ Then his soul is replaced in his body, and two angels [[MUNKAR] and [NAKIR]] come to him and set him up, and say, ‘Who is thy Lord?’ He says, ‘Alas! alas! I do not know.’ Then they say, ‘What is thy religion?’ He says, ‘Alas! alas! I do not know.’ And they say to him, ‘What is the condition of the man who is sent down to you?’ He says, ‘Alas! alas! I do not know.’ Then a voice comes from above, saying, ‘He lieth; therefore spread a bed of fire for him and open a door for him towards hell.’ Then the heat and hot winds of hell come to him, and his grave is made tight upon him, so as to squeeze his ribs. And a man with a hideous countenance comes to him shockingly dressed, of a vile smell, and he says, ‘Be joyful in that which maketh thee miserable; this is the day that was promised thee.’ Then the dead man says, ‘Who art thou? Thy face is hideous, and brings wickedness.’ He says, ‘I am thy impure actions.’ Then the dead person says, ‘O Lord, delay the resurrection on my account!’ ”
The ceremonies attending the death of a Muslim are described as follows by Jāfir Shārīf in Herklots’ Qānūn-i-Islām, as follows:—