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Barzakh

Barzakh (Arabic:‫ ) َبرزَخ‬is a world between this world

and hereafter; it is also called the imaginal world or
the world of grave. Brazakh exists for both believers
and non-believers, though it is similar to the Heaven for
the former, and similar to the Hell for non-believers.

Shi'a Beliefs
Theology
Tawhid of Essence • Tawhid in
Tawhid
Attributes • Tawhid in Actions • Tawhid
(Monotheism)
in Worship

Other Beliefs Tawassul • Shafa'a • Tabarruk

Divine Justice
Bada' • Amr Bayn al-Amrayn
Prophethood
Infallibility • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Mu'jiza • Integrity of the
Holy Qur'an
Imamate
Infallibility • Wilaya • 'Ilm al-ghayb • Occultation of
Imam al-Mahdi (a) (Minor Occultation,Major
Occultation) • Reappearance of Imam al-Mahdi (a) •
Raj'a
Resurrection
End Time • Hereafter • Barzakh • Embodiment of
Actions •Bodily Resurrection • Al-Sirat • Tatayur al-
Kutub • Mizan • Hashr
Other Outstanding Beliefs
Ahl al-Bayt (a) • The Fourteen Infallibles • Taqiyya •
Marja'iyya • Tawalli • Tabarri
v e

Meaning

'Barzakh' in Arabic literally means an interval or a

barrier between two things,[1] and technically it means
an interval between the end of this-worldly life (death)
and the beginning of hereafter. The world is called
'Barzakh' because it is an interval between this world
and the hereafter.[citation needed] The world is also called
the world of grave and the imaginal world.[2]

In the Qur'an

The word 'Barzakh' has been mentioned three times in

the Qur'an.[3] but only in Qur'an 23:100 it has been
used in the meaning in question:

“ ‫ب‬ َ ‫َوْتُ َق‬,‫ا‬

! ‫ال َر‬
‫صالِحً ا ِفیمَ ا‬
ُ ‫ى إِ َذا جَ اء أَحَ َد‬9‫حَ ت‬
ْ ‫ه ُم‬
َ ‫( َل َع !لی أَعْمَ ُل‬٩٩) ‫ن‬ ِ ‫جعُو‬ ِ ‫ا ْر‬
‫ائ ُلهَا َو ِمن‬
ِ ‫هوَ َق‬
ُ ‫هَا َكلِمَ ٌة‬9‫ إِن‬Q9 ‫تَ َر ْكتُ َك‬
ِ ‫َو َر‬
َ ‫ائ ِهم بَ ْرزَخٌ إِ َلى یوْم ِ یبْ َعثُو‬
‫ن‬
"When death comes to one of them, he
says, 'My Lord! Take me back (99) that I
may act righteously in what I have left
behind.' 'By no means! These are mere
words that he says.' And ahead of them
is a Barzakh until the day they will be
resurrected."

”
— Qur'an, Qur'an 23:99-100

According to this verse of the Qur'an, the request of

some people at the time of their death to return to the
world in order to do the good deeds that they have not
done is not in place, and they face a barrier or an
interval—a Barzakh—until the Day of Judgment.[4] The
phrase "until the day they will be resurrected" indicates
that Barzakh is an interval between this world and the
hereafter, that anyone experiences after their death and
before the Day of Judgment.

Proof in the Qur'an

In addition to verse 100 of Qur'an 23 that explicitly

shows the existence of Barzakh, some verses prove
Barzakh without mentioning the word 'Barzakh'. These
verses concern the life of martyrs after their deaths:

And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as

dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided
sustenance from their lord. [5]

And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's

way as dead; nay, (they are) alive, but you do not
perceive.[6]

Moreover, according to Qur'anic verses, Barzakh is not

restricted to martyrs—a sinner like Pharaoh and his
friends also experience Barzakh:

In front of the fire will they be brought, morning and

evening: and (the sentence will be) on the day that
judgment will be established: 'cast ye the people of
pharaoh into the severest penalty! (Qur'an 23:46)[7]

The verse obviously points to a penalty for Pharaoh

and his people before the penalties of the Day of
Judgment, and that is the penalty in Barzakh.

In Hadiths

Definition

In some hadiths, the word 'Barzakh' is used to mean

an interval between this world and the hereafter. For
instance, according a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a), all
(true) Shiites will go to the Heaven in the hereafter, and,
the hadith goes on, 'I swear to God that I fear about
you in Barzakh'. A person asked him about Barzakh,
and Imam answered: '[it is] the grave, from one's death
to the Day of Judgment'.[8] This latter statement implies
that the world of grave is the world of Barzakh —
indeed, grave in this hadith does not mean a certain
hole in the earth; it is a metaphor for Barzakh.[9]

Barzakh's Heaven and Hell

Some hadiths state that the world of Barzakh has its

own heaven and hell in which people are rewarded or
punished for their deeds.[10] The Prophet (s) says: "the
grave is either a garden of heaven or a hole of hell".[11]

Question of the Grave

Main article: Questions in the grave

A number of hadiths show that once people enter the

world of Barzakh, they are questioned about their
beliefs and deeds.[12] This questioning is known as "the
question of the grave".

Barzakhi Body

Human soul attaches to an imaginal or Barzakhi body.

An imaginal body is one that is not of a material kind,
and yet enjoys some characteristics of material
objects, such as shape and size. In these respects, the
imaginal body is like a person's natural body. In order
to have a clear picture of an imaginal or Barzakhi body,
one might reflect on the forms or images that one
observes while dreaming. Such forms are undoubtedly
non-material; they do not occupy any space and they
do not have any mass, and yet they have a shape and
1. ↑ Rāghib
a size they have al-Mufradāt,
and al-Iṣfahānī, under the
forms like those word "Barzakh";
of material
Ibn Athīr, al-Nihāya fī gharīb al-ḥadīth,vol. 1, p. 118.
objects.
2. ↑ See: Qayṣarī, Sharḥ fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, p. 97-102.

See also
3. ↑ Qur'an 25:53; Qur'an 55:20; Qur'an 23:100.

4. ↑ Muḥsinī Dāykandī, Barzakh wa maʿād az dīdgāh-i Qurʾān

waResurrection
riwāyāt, p. 33. Unseen World

5. ↑ Qur'an 3:169.
Notes
6. ↑ Qur'an 2:154

7. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 14, p. 315.

8. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 242.

9. ↑ Subḥānī, Janb al-daḥīyāt, vol. 4, p. 238.

10. ↑ Muḥsinī Dāykandī, Barzakh wa maʿād az dīdgāh-i Qurʾān

wa riwāyāt, p. 298-314.

11. ↑ Daylamī, Irshād al-qulūb, vol. 1, p. 75.

12. ↑ Muḥsinī Dāykandī, Barzakh wa maʿād az dīdgāh-i Qurʾān

wa riwāyāt, p. 205.

References

Aṣgharīnizhād, Muḥammad. Shifāʿat dar barzakh. Faṣlnāma-

yi takhaṣṣuṣī-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾān wa ḥadīth. No 4, 1389 Sh.

ʿAlīzada Mūsawī, Sayyid Mahdī. Salafīgarī wa wahhābiyat.

[n.p]. Intishārāt-i Āwāyi Munjī, 1393 Sh.

Daylamī, Ḥasan b. Abī l-Ḥasan al-. Irshād al-qulūb. Qom: al-

Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1412 AH.

Ḥusaynī Tehrānī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Maʿādshināsī.

Intishārāt-i Nūr Malakūt Qurʾān, 1423 AH.

Ibn Athīr, Majd al-Dīn Mubārak. Al-Nihāya fī gharīb al-ḥadīth.

Qom: Ismāʿīlīyān, 1367 Sh.

Last edited 5 months ago by Kadeh

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