Question:
Assalamu Aleykum WaRahmatullahi WaBarakatuhu of staff and Shuyukh of this wonderful website. May Allah bless your efforts – Ameen
Can you advise from an Islamic perspective please what western society calls NDEs or Near Death Experiences? Some souls leave their bodies and allegedly have the option to return to continue to the hereafter or return to dunya. The common feeling is the majority of the people who experience this feel an overwhelming feeling of peace once their soul leaves the body.
Thank you for your time and effort in responding to this and all other questions. Jazakamullah Khair
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
it is not true that one can have the “option” to die or to go back to life, since Allah Most High said of creatures {He defers them for a specified term and when their term has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they advance it} (16:61). It is possible that the feeling of peace stems not just from the soul roaming (which it also does during sleep) but from a deliberate surrender to the consciousness of death; and it is the surrender itself that is beneficial and required of us. Allah knows best. May He grant you and us spiritual clarity in life and at the time of death as well as in the grave and upon resurrection.
Hajj Gibril
