المحيى والمميت
Allah is the Giver of life and death. The Attribute Al-Muhyee can be compared with Al-Mubdee and Al-Mu’eed as it means the One Who gives life / originates creation and after death restores it i.e. gives it life again. All of these are the works of the Only ONE Creator and that is Allah Ta’ala.
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As for as life is concerned, we human beings are familiar with it. But death is usually unexplained. Let us see what the Holy Quraan says on this topic.
Surah Al-Mulk verse 2, its translation is:
2.He is the One Who has created death and life that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving,
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We see that in this verse 2 of the Surah Al-Mulk Allah has said that Allah created death and life. It means that death is something created by Allah, moreover death is created before the creation of life! What does it mean?? In fact Allah and only Allah knows best but what we can understand from the verses and commentary of the Holy Quraan is that:
In a human being there are two things, one is the soul and the other is the earthen body. Soul is related with life as at the time of death the soul separates /goes out and only the body is left which then soon starts decomposing and finally becomes dust. But the soul alone is also not given the name of a living human being rather death has happened. From this it appears that before the joining of the two the person is dead whether it is soul or body and Allah knows best. There are some verses which indicate this point. Only the translation of the verses is given here:
Surah Al-Baqarah verse 28:
28. How can you disbelieve in Allah? Seeing that you were dead and He gave you life. Then He will give you death, then again will bring you to life (on the Day of Resurrection) and then unto Him you will return.
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According to this verse every human being gets two deaths and two lives. First is the death when he/she is merely soul. Therefore, in surah Al-Mulk verse 2 (given above) death is mentioned first. In the verse 28 of surah Al-Baqarah all of the stages of human existence are shortly mentioned and these are said to be six. The six stages of the human existence are:
Death (only soul), life in this world (body + soul), death (body buried in grave), life (resurrection when we will stand up with body and soul), returning to Allah (for judgement in Allah’s Court), then final stage is to live in Paradise (the righteous believers) or in Hell (unbelievers, sinners). May Allah protect us all from Hell, aameen.
It is proved from the verse 172 of the Surah Al-Aa’raf that Allah had created all souls of mankind, all those that will be born until the end of this world. That had happened at the time of the creation of Adam alaihi salaam. Allah had taken promise from us all that only Allah is our GOD and LORD. The effect of that promise of the Tawheed of Allah is present in the subconscious of every human being. After that we all came to this world to pass our first life. Here we have freedom of choice to choose what we want but we are informed about the result of our choice. We are clearly informed that following the Messenger/Prophet (Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him) will result in success in the Here-After while unbelief/disobedience to Him will take the person to Hell.
After passing the life given in this world, The Al-Mumeet shall give us second death when the soul shall go to Heaven or to Hell underground and the body will become decay and get mixed up in the soil. For death in this world Allah has appointed special angels, the head being Izra-eel alaihi salaam. Although death comes on its ordained time and is caused by the Malikul- Mowt who takes out the soul from the body of the dying person but there is always a worldly cause for it like an illness or an accident etc. So the people always remember the cause of death and say that such and such person died due to such and such disease. But they never say that the angel of death killed him/her!!!
It is important to note that the death given by the AL-Mumeet Allah in this world is the final death. Once Resurrection happens and the Al-Muhyee /Al-Mu’eed gives to the servants 2nd life, then we shall all return to Allah’s Court for the Final Judgment. After that the Believers with righteous deeds shall be admitted to Paradise while the disbelievers and disobedient servants shall be admitted to Hell. Then death shall be brought in the form of a sheep and slaughtered between Hell and Paradise in front of all of the dwellers of both places!! So the people of Paradise shall become very happy while the people of Hell shall become extremely grieved!!! They shall say:
11. They will say: “Our Lord! You have made us to die twice (i.e. we were dead in the loins of our fathers and dead after our deaths in this world), and You have given us life twice (i.e. life when we were born and life when we are Resurrected)! Now we confess our sins, then is there any way to get out (of the Fire)?”
[Surah Ghaafir (Al-Mu’min), verse 11. Translation only]
The answer will be:
12. (It is said unto them): This is (your plight) because, when Allah only was invoked, ye disbelieved, but when some partner was ascribed to Him ye believed. So the judgement is only with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great!”
[Surah Ghaafir(Al-Mu’min), verse 12 translation only.]
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An Other excellent quality of the Al-Muhyee wa Al –Mumeet is that HE produces dead from the living thing and living from the dead. So Allah said in the verse 19 of the surah Al-Roum (Ar-Roum), (Its English translation is):
19. It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living, and Who gives life to the earth after it is dead: and thus shall ye be brought out (from the dead).
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Its example is the egg (dead) given by a hen or a bird (alive), a seed (dead), produced by a plant (alive) etc. Again a living chick /bird (alive) is produced from an egg (dead) and so on. There are many such examples on this earth. A grape vine becomes completely dry and dead in winter so people can enjoy sun easily. Then in spring it becomes living with green leaves and fruit. Then people can eat its fruit and enjoy cool shade under it, Allaho Akbar!!! All these works are that of the Powerful Creator Who is The Wise and Kind (Al-Hakeem and Ar-Rahmaan). We should never forget the point of admonition in all of these signs of the Greatness of Allah.
May Allah guide us on the straight path of Islam so that we may be protected from Hell, aameen.
