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Eschatology: some Muslim and ChristiandataWillem A. Bijlefeld aa Reading , VT, USAPublished online: 14 Oct 2010.

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Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations,Vol. 15, No. 1, 35–54, January 2004

Eschatology: Some Muslim andChristian DataW. A.BijlefeldReading05062VTPO Box 265USAwablfld@sover.net

WILLEM A. BIJLEFELDReading, VT, USA

ABSTRACT The introduction discusses briefly the usage and the meaning(s) of the term ‘eschatol-ogy’, the affirmation of the finality of the revelation granted and the reality of the ‘not yet’, andthe recognition of the interrelatedness of eschatology and ethics. A short survey follows of someregularly recurring topics in Islamic eschatological literature, with a few cross-references toChristian data: barzakh, the coming reign of justice and peace, and the bliss of the Garden. Moresubstantial cross-references are found in the discussion of the relation between individual andcollective eschatology, of the anticipation of the ultimate realization of God’s intentions for thewhole universe, and of the question of how far both traditions postulate a ‘final exclusivism’. Theessay ends with some remarks on God’s justice and mercy, with brief comments on the notion oftheodicy and the testimony that ‘mercy prevails over wrath’.

Introduction

In the final chapter of his Redemptive Suffering in Islam, Mahmoud Ayoubwrites about one Shı�ı expression of ‘gloating pleasure at the punishment,torment and remorse which the enemies of the Holy family are to suffer in theworld to come’, notes as the closest parallel in the Christian scriptures ‘the goryimages presented by the writer of the Apocalypse of John’, and suggests that ‘acomparison between the traditions we are investigating and the Book ofRevelation would be highly instructive’.1 In contrast with almost unavoidablydisappointing attempts to compare in a single essay the extremely complexrealities of Muslim and Christian eschatology, a precisely defined andsignificantly more limited comparison such as suggested here would be veryimportant.2 But only a person equally versed in the tremendously rich fields ofShı�ı eschatological expectations and classical and contemporary studies of theBook of Revelation could undertake this task—and no such endeavor is thereforeenvisaged here. However, Ayoub’s suggestion did lead to the choice of ourtopic: a series of marginalia on selected issues in Muslim and Christianeschatology.

These notes do not lay claim to being ‘comparative’. For that purpose, the

0959-6410 Print/1469-9311 Online/04/010035-20 2004 CSIC and CMCU

DOI: 10.1080/09596410310001631803

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isolated Muslim and Christian affirmations referred to below would need to beplaced in their proper theological and historical settings and be interpretedcarefully from within that wider context. The intention here is a much moremodest one: to draw attention to a variety of data that lend themselves to sucha comparative study.

The Notion of Eschatology

‘Eschatological’: significantly more than ‘otherworldly’

The appropriateness of using the category ‘eschatology’ has been challengedfrequently, particularly with regard to the Old Testament.3 In this branch of studythe term has been described as ‘an example of theological babal’,4 and in 1972an Old Testament scholar argued that ‘the introduction into Old Testamenttheology and later in theology as a whole of the words eschatology andeschatological has caused much confusion and did much harm ... to theunderstanding of the Old Testament’.5 This particular criticism was based on theinterpretation of the notion of ‘eschatology’ as denoting exclusively ‘the knowl-edge of the end’.6 Most scholars in this field reject this narrow interpretation ofthe term and see it as applicable to statements regarding the world to come andthe last day(s) as well as to pronouncements regarding decisive turning points ata future date within the ongoing history of this world.7 Interpreted in this way,the applicability of the term to several parts of the Old Testament has beenaffirmed by many,8 even to the point of maintaining that ‘the true heart of bothOld Testament and New Testament is ... the eschatological perspective’.9 It is,therefore, an overstatement—resulting from his particular interpretation of whateschatology entails—when Messaoud remarks that going through the Old Testa-ment looking for what it says about eschatology, one is astonished to note thetotal absence of whatever reference to matters of the hereafter such as the lastjudgment, paradise, hell, and the vision of God, all of this, obviously, in sharpcontrast with the Qur’an.10 That in the Qur’an, and in general in Islam, theemphasis lies on individual or personal eschatology is undeniable.11 Writingabout ‘the personal and the universal senses into which eschatology divides’,Cragg observes ‘that, the Shı�ah apart, Islam has much more to say withassurance about the former than about the latter’.12 In Western translations ofArabic texts and in Western writings about Islamic eschatology, the term wasused most frequently to render Arabic expressions that refer to death andresurrection, to the promises and threats awaiting every human being, to thewhole subject of al-mawt wa-ma ba�dahu.13 One of the first examplesis a publication of 1872, Muhammedanische Eschatologie,14 containing theArabic text and a German translation of the Kitab ah�wal al-qiyama. No matterhow central the themes of the Garden and the Fire are, also with regard to Islam,the word ‘eschatological’ should not be used—as is done too often—as asynonym of ‘otherworldly’. The important topic of the signs of the Last Dayclearly concerns events in the final history of this world. Moreover, there arethemes that, while not strictly falling under eschatology, are certainly related toit.

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Eschatology: some Muslim and Christian data 37

The ‘Last Word’ and the ‘Not Yet’

In a sense ‘the end’ has already come: ‘the last Word’ has been spoken. BothMuslims and Christians affirm this, be it in distinctive ways. The words of Suratal-Ma’ida (Q. 5�3) about completeness and fulfillment come to mind: ‘Today Ihave brought your religion to completeness and fulfilled My grace to you. It isMy will and My good pleasure that Islam be your religion.’15 And the notionsof the Qur’an as the closing climax of prophetic revelations and of the ProphetMuhammad as ‘the seal of the prophets’ (Q. 33�40) definitely point to a decisivefinality.16 All of this is relevant to a discussion of eschatology. We ought ‘torealise how all else about finality within Islam flows from the Quranic convictionas to the finality of Muhammad. All the questions that eschatology sets for thebeliever belong here.’17 As far as the Christian side is concerned, it is notwithout interest to notice that the very word eschatos is used in the Greek textof a New Testament verse that deals with the event of God’s speaking in the pastthrough the prophets and now, ‘in these last days’ (literally: ‘in the last of thesedays’, ep’ eschatou ton hemeron touton), in and through Jesus Christ (Heb.1�1–2).

The final, decisive word has been spoken, God’s promise and grace have beenfulfilled—but there is also the still awaited ultimate fulfillment of God’sintentions. There is both ‘realized’ and ‘unrealized’ eschatology,18 as someonestated in one of the numerous studies about ‘realized eschatology’, a frequentlydiscussed topic in New Testament studies. In a 1968 article John Taylor‘experimented’ with the ‘applicability of the term “realized eschatology” to thespirituality of the s�ufıs’.19 The author deals with Islamic eschatology under thethree rubrics of ‘didactic eschatology, ... the symbolic descriptions of anapocalyptic eschatology, [and] the contemplative expectations and experiencesof a mystical eschatology’.20 It is in the discussion of this last aspect that theremark about the possible applicability of the term ‘realized eschatology’ occurs.After quoting the statement of C. H. Dodd concerning ‘the absolute entrance of... the eschaton in human experience’,21 Taylor ventures the analogy referred toabove, with the explanatory words of caution that for the S� ufı ‘this “entrance ofthe eschaton” is not primarily because of a divine intervention and initiative inhistory (analogous to Christ’s bringing in of the Kingdom); the s�ufı’s“realization” or “entrance” is the result of a personal experience, of a theophanyhe claims for himself’. Taylor’s observation is suggestive, but it seems that muchmore is at stake than only this mystical, ‘experiential’ dimension. There is notonly the assurance that God has ‘finally’ spoken in the past, but also therecognition that His intentions await a degree of fulfillment in the present: inresponse to God’s Word, communities of faith were born that are called to‘realize’ God’s will on earth.

Eschatology and Ethics

From numerous Muslim statements about the interconnectedness of eschatologyand ethics, a few will be quoted here.

So intense is the qur’anic concern for and insistence on the day to come when

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all will be held accountable for their faith and actions that the ethical teachingscontained in the Book must be understood in the light of this reality. Faith in theday of resurrection for the Muslim is his specific affirmation of God’s omnipo-tence, the recognition of human accountability as a commitment to the divineunicity.22

Muhammad Surty writes about ‘the effects of the concept of Paradise onhuman life’ and sought to show ‘how effectively it helps human beings toestablish socioeconomic justice in the world’.23 Abdel Haleem remarks thatafterlife is treated in the Qur’an not as a separate chapter, but ‘always in relationto life in this world’: al-ula and al-akhira, or al-dunya and al-akhira, arecommonly used in conjunction with each other.24 Chittick asserts ‘that theramifications of eschatological teaching are so broad that it is difficult to studyanything Islamic without touching upon them’, and describes some fields that ina sense are ‘branches’ of eschatology: ‘jurisprudence (fiqh) can be considered abranch of eschatology’; ‘in the domain of ...philosophy, ethics (akhlaq) describesthe human qualities that bring about the “practical”... perfections of the soul,while in Sufism lengthy discussions of the spiritual stations play a similar role’;and ‘even politics, which describes the ideal human society and the means toachieve it, can be considered a branch of eschatology’.25 Fazlur Rahmanobserves that falah� does not mean ‘salvation’ as the word is used in ecumenicalcircles: ‘The standard Qur’anic terms for the ultimate sequel [of human behaviorin this life] are not salvation and damnation so much as success (falah�) and loss(khusran), both for this life and the hereafter.’26 Or, as he stated earlier: ‘ForIslam there is no particular “salvation”; there is only “success” ... or “failure” ...in the task of building the type of world order we are describing.’27 And one ofthe ‘rational’ reasons in support of the belief in the resurrection and the hereafteroffered by the author of al-h�us�un al-h�amıdiyya is that the hope for resurrectionand eternal rewards promotes specifically the care for the poor, who, without thisextra incentive to the rich, would receive only very limited help.28

In a similar way, eschatology and ethics are seen as belonging intrinsicallytogether in Christian theology. Eschatology is often discussed under the threeheadings of the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ, the still awaited new earthon which righteousness shall dwell (2 Pet. 3�13), and an equally important thirddimension: the present realization of this promise of justice and righteousnessthrough people’s existential decisions and specific acts. Eschatology and ethicsbelong together; one without the other is meaningless, ‘futile’, one of the pioneeringscholars in the twentieth century’s discussion on eschatology once wrote. Referringto the words just quoted from 2 Peter, he emphasized that it is exactly thisexpectation that, far from leading to a passive acceptance of what is wrong inthis world, compels and encourages people to fight against every form ofinjustice.29

Some Common Themes in Islamic Eschatology and a Few Cross-Referencesto Christian Data

A wealth of literature exists on the topics traditionally dealt with in Muslimwritings about eschatology, and much of the material written in Arabic is

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Eschatology: some Muslim and Christian data 39

available in translation in European languages. Almost 100 years passedbetween the French and the English translation of al-Ghazalı’s Kitab al-durraal-fakhira fı kashf �ulum al-akhira,30 but in the last three decades a largenumber of Muslim texts devoted to eschatology or containing significantdiscussions of eschatological material have appeared in English translation,among them al-Baghawı’s Mishkat al-mas�abıh� , al-Samarqandı’s Kitab al-h�aqa’iq wa-al-daqa’iq and his Tanbıh al-ghafilın,31 al-Muh� asibı’s Kitab al-tawahhum,32 and �Abd al-Rah� ım ibn Ah�mad al-Qad� ı’s Daqa’iq al-akhbar fıdhikr al-janna wa-al-nar.33 Then, there is the often overlooked resource ofolder, unpublished theses and dissertations in this field, among them, e.g., a1933 translation of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s Kitab al-ruh� , a work of whichan abridged translation, with commentary, was published more than 50 yearslater.34 Finally, while it is more difficult to trace specific topics in translationsof H� adıth collections than in the Arabic originals to which Wensinck’sHandbook and Concordance give such easy access, for many the existingtranslations of al-Bukharı, Muslim, and Abu Dawud are another source ofimportant information.35

Barzakh

As many have pointed out, the subject most widely discussed in Muslimeschatological literature is that of the period between death and resurrection, thebarzakh.36 From the numerous topics that fall under this heading, I want to drawattention to the notion of a (momentary) punishment and reward shortly afterdeath, a foretaste, as it were, of what ultimately awaits every person.37 Gardetpointed out that whenever kalam texts speak about ‘judgment’, usually in thesection Kitab al-ma�ad, the reference is always to what in Christian theology iscalled ‘the general judgment’ and not to the ‘particular judgment’ of anindividual.38 Yet, he continues, from the oldest creeds onward, Fiqh akbar I,Was�iyyat abı h�anıfa, and Fiqh akbar II, as well as in al-Ash�arı’s Ibana, thepunishment in the grave is mentioned. From the many expressions of this belief(passed by in silence by some and challenged in some other circles), I mentionthe report, transmitted in various forms, that immediately after the interrogationby the angel(s), some people are allowed to see the place in hell that could havebeen theirs, if it were not for the mercy and guidance of God, and then the placereserved for them in the Garden, while others see both places in the oppositeorder.39 In connection with the idea of the angel’s removal of the nafs/ruh� fromthe body of the deceased, there is another affirmation, also with many variants,of the early disclosure of a person’s destiny.40 The soul of the believer will betaken through the seven layers of heaven and, having reached the highest one,it will learn that God has forgiven his sins and then be returned to the body. Thesoul of the unbeliever, on the other hand, will be refused entrance even to thelowest heaven and be thrown down to earth, where the zabaniya, the myrmidons,will take hold of it.41

One of the questions at stake in the Muslim discussion on the interim state iswhether the soul can live (or be revived) in the grave without the body, apossibility denied by those who are in line with classical kalam perspectives, and

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affirmed by the falasifa. Gardet briefly discusses these Islamic data, gives ahelpful summary of the historical development of Roman Catholic thought onthis point, and makes a critical footnote reference to Protestant thinking thatdeserves some amplification.42 The notion of an in-between state between deathand resurrection, generally accepted among Roman Catholics, is a controversialissue among Protestants in this century.43 Cullmann, for example, believes ‘withthe whole of primitive Christianity’, in the importance of ‘the intermediate stateof the dead’, the state of ‘those who sleep’.44 Many other Protestant theologiansare extremely hesitant to make any definite affirmations regarding it,45 and somefirmly deny it, among them van der Leeuw, who states explicitly that not onlythe body dies, but the human soul as well: ‘Only God is immortal (1 Tim. 6�16).To humans He gave the promise of the resurrection.’46 Even for many who inthe line of Cullmann affirm an intermediate state of sleep for the deceased, theemphasis on the resurrection is paired with a denial of the idea of immortalityas the inherent essence of the human soul, seeing it instead as grounded in thefaithfulness of God. What is affirmed is ‘immortality by the will of God’ ratherthan ‘immortality by nature’.47 The dominant Protestant perspective in thesecond part of the twentieth century, namely to see immortality and resurrectionas sharply contrasting ideas, has been challenged more than once. In the samevolume in which Cullmann’s lecture appeared, Harry Wolfson writes that oneshould recognize that at least ‘to the Fathers of the Church these two beliefswere inseparably connected with each other’.48 In recent years more voices havebeen heard that plead for a recognition of these two notions as being comple-mentary to each other,49 and generalizations about the Protestant position in thismatter are certainly no longer tenable—if they ever were.

The Coming Reign of Justice and Peace

A major section of Islamic eschatological thought deals with the signs of thecoming of the Hour.50 One of those signs is the appearance of the Dajjal,al-masıh� al-dajjal (the Messiah-deceiver, the Antichrist),51 who will be con-quered by �Isa on the latter’s descent to earth.52 �Isa is sometimes acknowledgedas the Mahdı,53 but the majority of Muslims deny the validity of the traditionquoted in support of this identification.54 They see him as the one who will workin conjunction with the Mahdı,55 and will acknowledge the latter’s authority byrefusing to lead the people in prayer and by praying himself behind the Mahdı.56

On �Isa’s descent, he will perform many ‘purifying’ actions,57 and his reappear-ance will usher in the new age. Descriptions of this reign of peace vary little insubstance. A frequently quoted example is a passage in al-T� abarı’s commentaryon Q. 3�55,58 where he cites a tradition going back to Abu H� urayra that speaksabout the descent of �Isa and ends with the words: ‘Security will then cover theearth, so that lions will graze with camels, tigers with cattle, and wolves withsheep. Youth will play with snakes, and these will not harm them. He shall dwellin the earth for forty years, then he will die and Muslims will pray over him andbury him.’59 Several ah� adıth describe it, with slight variations, as a time in whichall rancor, quarrels, mutual hatred, envy, and jealousy will disappear.60

In numerous traditions it is the Mahdı, rather than �Isa, who inaugurates this

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Eschatology: some Muslim and Christian data 41

harmonious period. A tradition related by Ibn H� anbal and others—and laterreinterpreted by Shı�ıs61—seems to indicate that �Isa would survive the Mahdı:‘The Messenger of Allah ... declared, “A nation which has me as its beginning,�Isa ibn Maryam as its end, and the Mahdı in between, will never be de-stroyed.” ’62 In many of the traditions the establishment of justice and equitystands central. ‘The Messenger of God said: “The earth will be filled withinjustice and crime, and there will come forth a man from my family. He willrule seven or nine, and the earth will be filled with justice and equity, as it hadbeen filled with injustice and crime.” ’63 It will be a time of great prosperity:‘The earth will bring forth its food and will not hoard any of it. There will bepiles of money.’64 ‘The Messenger of Allah ... said, “In those years mycommunity will enjoy a time of happiness such as they have never experiencedbefore. Heaven will send down rain upon them in torrents, the earth will notwithhold any of its plants, and wealth will be available to all.” ’65

References to sources for and studies about Shı�ı expectations of the Mahdı(al-Qa’im) are easily accessible in Madelung’s excellent summary of thehistorical development of these ideas,66 and in the fuller discussion of the Shı�ıMahdı concept by Sachedina.67 The last mentioned author emphasizes theimportance of this theme for the Twelvers: ‘In Imami Shi‘ism the belief in themessianic Imam becomes not only a basic tenet of the creed, but also thefoundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Imamite religion rests.’68

In the chapter of Mahmoud Ayoub’s Redemptive Suffering mentioned in theopening sentence of this essay, the last section is devoted to a discussion of ‘Al-Mahdı, the Final Avenger’.69 The return of the Mahdı, after a very long periodof ghayba (concealment), will be preceded by a time of degeneration and chaos,in human society as well as in nature. ‘The earth shall withhold its fruits and theheavens their rain; the sun will rise in the west and set in the east, and there willbe earthquakes in the east and in the west.’70 Ayoub writes about this expectationof ‘an era of absolute peace, prosperity and blessing’, inaugurated by the Mahdı:

The Mahdı shall purify the earth of all evil, wrongdoing and false-hood...There will be no unbeliever at that time who will not return to thetrue faith, nor will there be any corruption in men or things. All infirmitieswill be healed and all disease, poverty and privation will disappear forever.In his reign lions will be tamed, the earth will give forth its fruits inabundance and the heavens will pour down their blessings.71

While in some traditions the Mahdı seems to be regarded first and foremostas an avenger and only secondarily as the Messiah,72 the elements of revenge andretribution are most clearly present in accounts of the final punishments ofH� usayn’s enemies and murderers: ‘They will be killed and resuscitated untileach of the imams has killed them once.’73 It is at the conclusion of this accountthat the pronouncement of the sixth imam occurs: ‘Then will all anger beappeased and all sorrow forgotten.’74 In this perspective, the end to all anger andsorrow will come only after the annihilation of the arch-enemies. It is notsurprising that this scenario reminds some readers of the Book of Revelation,where, after a period of immense suffering, God vindicates His people anddestroys those who persecuted and oppressed them. This vision is conveyed in

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a great variety of symbols, among them a five-month torture ‘like the torture ofa scorpion’, the killing of a third of humankind by three plagues, the terror ofthe beasts and the dragon, the seven angels with the seven bowls of the wrathof God, the fall of Babylon, and the birds of mid-heaven, called to ‘eat the fleshof all, both free and slave, both small and great’.75 Only then comes the momentof the descent of ‘the new heaven and the new earth’ (Rev. 21�1). As indicatedabove, we cannot explore here the question of whether and, if so, how far theimages of the seer of Patmos and the accounts of the return of H� usayn and theother imams are really ‘comparable’ in their statements about multiple killingsand massive destruction. The answer depends to a great extent on one’s view ofthe symbolic nature of all apocalyptic language.

The Bliss of the Garden

In the assessment of Islamic descriptions of physical rewards and punishmentsof heaven and hell, many Westerners have undoubtedly been guilty of thetendency ‘to confuse the sensuous with the sensual’, as Marilyn Waldmanwrites,76 and there are disturbing examples of condescending criticism or evenundisguised disdain. On the other hand, the significance of the ‘allegorical’interpretations of these data by Muslim philosophers and by S� ufıs has often beenhighlighted in Western literature. As early as 1925, an (at other points ratherquestionable) article dealt with the spiritualization, the ‘dematerialization’, of thenotion of the h� urıs by Ibn al-�Arabı, Najm al-Dın al-Kubra, Nas�ir al-Dın T� usı,and others, providing the Arabic texts and translations of several relevantpassages, including three narratives from �Afıf al-Dın al-Yafi�ı’s Rawd� al-rayah� ın.77 Soubhi El-Saleh’s careful survey of the traditionalist, rationalist,mystical, and modern interpretations of the qur’anic eschatological data is stillone of the most helpful surveys of the rich diversity of Muslim perspectives.78

Ten years after its publication, El-Saleh’s study was complemented by thedetailed study of The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection by JaneSmith and Yvonne Haddad, who, particularly in their chapters on modern Islam,provide a wealth of new material.79 A few titles of post-1980 publications inWestern languages dealing with Muslim perceptions of paradise can be added tothose referred to earlier. Some of them have a very specific focus, as, e.g., JaneMcAuliffe’s study about ‘the wines of earth and paradise’,80 and Franz Rosen-thal’s essay on love in paradise,81 in which one of the issues raised is that of therelation between h� urıs and human wives in the Garden.82 Perhaps a ratherunexpected corrective to much misunderstanding of Muslim descriptions ofparadise is offered in the plates and the text of Images of Paradise in IslamicArt.83 In his essay in this volume, Walter B. Denny writes:

Of all the images and symbols associated with Paradise in Islamic culture,none is more complex and more open to misunderstanding than that of thehouri…Islamic theologians are unanimous in emphasizing that Paradise,while a reward for earthly virtue, is not to be construed as a place ofsensual or licentious pleasures, but of divine bliss, whose beauty andtranquility are emphasized in the sensual imagery of the Koran.84

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In his consideration of Muslim paradise narratives,85 Aziz al-Azmeh maintainsthat ‘Paradise is a realm of accentuation, and the discourse upon it a logothesisof rhetorical figures whose very improbability appears to be the measure of theirdesirability and, indeed, of their inevitability.’86 He deals with the sexualpleasures of paradise,87 as well as with the Beatific Vision, ‘the most pleasurableof all paradisical delights’.88 In his final quote from al-Ghazalı’s Mah�abba,reference is made to the ultimate bliss of the majority of the faithful and that ofthose closer to God: ‘The Faithful thus enjoy orchards and delights in gardenswith the huris and the boys, whereas those closer to God are ever present in Hispresence, ever gazing at His presence, holding in contempt the bliss of thegardens.’89 There are ‘the blessed Gardens of inexhaustible delight; and, greaterstill, the rid�wan of Allah—this is the supreme triumph’ (Q. 9�72).90 In numerousWestern treatments of the ru’yat allah, ample references to classical and modernIslamic sources are available.91 Several authors have commented on what theysaw as an important distinction between the Islamic ru’yat allah and theChristian notion of the visio beatifica.92 The case is made most emphatically byRobert Caspar, who points to the many similarities between Muslim andChristian eschatology and then deals with the essential differences in a paragraphabout these two distinct understandings of the visio Dei.93

To conclude this section, we mention Angelika Neuwirth’s study of theliterary form of Surat al-Rah�man (Q. 55), with a focus on verses 46 ff.,especially the dual jannatan.94 The conclusion reached is that the dual form isnot simply used here (as Noldeke had suggested) because of the rhyme, butserves to express ‘a festive sense of the unlimited perspectives of paradise’.95

Indeed, ‘in many of the descriptions of the joys and blessings of paradise, thecrucial point seems to be the celebration of “what eye has not seen, nor any earhas heard, nor has entered the heart of any man,” that which, as this hadıthstates, God has prepared for His righteous servants.’96

Individual and Collective Eschatology

Some authors have argued that the term ‘eschatology’ should not even be usedfor expectations of eternal life for individuals.97 But with regard to Islamic andChristian data it seems meaningless not to consider these ideas as falling underthe rubric ‘individual eschatology’, which, for Islamic material, covers both theexpectations regarding the barzakh and the notion of personal resurrection. Theissue to be addressed in this section is the relation between individual andcollective eschatology. The centrality of the first for many Muslims issufficiently attested by the wealth of publications on death and what follows it.Many Christians are not less preoccupied with these questions than Muslims,even though this is not reflected to the same extent in a special genre ofliterature. In Muslim circles the danger of an overemphasis on the destiny of theindividual is, in a sense, balanced by the emphasis on the great significance thatindividual eschatology has for life on earth, including the well-being of society.Some Christian authors state emphatically that individual eschatology and thethinking about the ultimate consummation of world and society are intercon-nected: ‘No one is set free if all are not set free. For the Christian faith, the

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individual person, mankind, and the whole of society constitute an indivisibleunity. Thus the expectation of their renewal is also indivisible.’98 ‘There is aconsummation for society and a consummation also for the individual; and yetthe two consummations are not two but one ... There can be no completeconsummation for the individual until there is consummation also for society.’99

And as a final example of this emphasis, Cullmann remarks ‘that we do notbegin from our personal desires but place our resurrection within the frameworkof a cosmic redemption and of a new creation of the universe’.100 In this line ofthought, the three aspects of eschatology often distinguished, namely individual,collective and cosmic (or cosmological) eschatology,101 overlap in a meaningfulmanner.

The Cosmic Dimension

Several suras speak about world-shaking events on the Last Day, among themSurat al-takwır (Q. 81), Surat al-intifar (Q. 82), Surat al-zalzala (Q. 99), andSurat al-�adiyat (Q. 101). A very similar language is used in some parts of theBible: ‘Now the Lord is about to lay waste the earth and make it desolate, andhe will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants’; ‘the earth dries up andwithers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish together with theearth’; ‘then the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed’ (Is. 24�1, 4, 23);‘for the stars of the heaven and their constellations will not give their light; thesun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light’ (Is. 13:10);‘all the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll’ (Is.34�4); ‘the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining’(Joel 3�15). While many Christians throughout the centuries have understoodthese texts as referring to the end of time, they were apparently originallyintended as announcements of crucially important developments in history. Inline with his earlier quoted interpretation of ‘apocalyptic’ (see n. 6), Wrightargues that ‘“apocalyptic” ... uses “cosmic” or “other-worldly” language todescribe (what we think of as) “this-worldly” realities, and to invest them with(what we think of as) their “theological” or “spiritual” significance’. He sees,therefore, the words just quoted from Is. 13�10 and 34�4 (cited in Mk 13�24 ff.)as referring ‘not to the collapse of the space–time world, but to startling and“cosmically” significant events, such as the fall of great empires, within thespace–time world’.102 It is this ‘double’ meaning that may help to see that inmuch eschatological discourse the crucial contrast between ‘now’ and ‘then’ isat best inadequately indicated by juxtapositions such as ‘time and eternity’, andthat it should rather be articulated by pointing to God’s decisive rectification ofhuman life and societal structures. The manifest realization of God’s intentionsfor His creation is the distinctive feature of the anticipated future.

A Final Exclusivism?

In both traditions the Day of Judgment is often described as the moment of theultimate sifting, the separation between those who are allowed to ‘enter’ andthose who are ‘thrown into the outer darkness’. There has been in recent times

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a growing reluctance to say anything about God’s criteria for the verdict. Theonly point in the ongoing discussion, on which a few notes seem appropriatehere, is the question of how far religious identities are seen as decisive factors.The long history of Christian ‘eschatological exclusivism’ is well-known. Inmany Muslim traditions dealing with the end-time one finds equally explicitstatements about the final fate of Christians even before the Last Day. A Shı�ıtradition relates that H� usayn on his return will make Jews and Christians choosebetween Islam and the sword.103 And a well-known theme in the H� adıth, and inclassical tafsır references to the coming down of �Isa, is that he will ‘demolishoratories and churches and kill Christians except those who believe in him’ and,as mentioned earlier (n. 57), will abolish the jizya because all alive will haveaccepted Islam.104 The ‘great universal drama (of suffering, revenge and redemp-tion) which began before creation with Husayn as its chief character will endwith him’, Ayoub wrote, and then continued with the sentence: ‘What followson the Day of Resurrection will be simply a foregone conclusion of his finaljudgment.’105 In view of the above quoted statements about the exclusiveposition of Islam in the end-time and, on the Christian side, the pronouncementsof those Christians who seemed to make exclusive claims on a place in heaven,the title of a 1991 essay articulated a question asked by many: ‘Do Muslims goto heaven? Are there Christians in Paradise?’106 Khoury’s short overview of thediscussions on both issues provides a helpful introduction and a first orientationin the existing literature. Of the Islamic material particular attention should bepaid to the section on Q. 2�62 in Muhammad �Abduh—Rashıd Rid� a’s Tafsıral-manar, available in a French translation by Robert Caspar,107 who publishedalso a translation, with commentary, of a passage in al-Ghazalı’s Fays�alal-tafriqa that deals with the same topic.108

From the numerous Christian authors who have dealt with the subject of‘people of other faiths’ in the past half-century,109 we mention only theinfluential and admittedly very controversial theologian John Hick. In a studydevoted to the question of death and eternal life, he discusses the apparenttension between the notion of God’s loving purpose to save all human beings onthe one hand and the crucial reality of human freedom on the other, and argues:

Since man has been created by God for God, and is basically orientedtowards him, there is no final opposition between God’s saving will andour human nature acting in freedom...

The faith that God has made us for fellowship with himself, and that heso works in his creative power as to enable us to reach that fulfillment,carries with it the faith that in the end all human life will, in traditionaltheological language, be ‘saved’. We must thus affirm the ultimate sal-vation of all mankind.110

Concluding Reflections: God’s justice and mercy

That theodicies (including eschatological theodicies) have been developed invarious traditions is as understandable as the fact that many have vehementlyobjected to any such endeavor. Efforts to defend God’s justice and power in the

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face of suffering, especially the suffering of children and the righteous,111

attempts to vindicate the justice and goodness of a God who allows the ravageof moral evil and physical disasters in this world, ‘the defence of the justice andrighteousness of God in face of the fact of evil’112—no matter how one describeswhat a theodicy is, is not any attempt to justify and defend God and His doing(or not-doing) to be rejected as human arrogance and blatant blasphemy?Whereas important differences of opinion exist on this point also within each ofour communities of faith, it is undeniable that there are dominant trends andpatterns distinct for each tradition. In a 1983 article Cragg remarks that ‘in theChristian mind eschatology is inseparable from theodicy’ and then goes on toreason why Islam, for the most part, has no place for it. The exception, he writes,is ‘the Shı�ah experience [which], in its own fragmented and often frustratedforms, is to be seen as a search for a theodicy’.113 The question arises, however,of whether one should not recognize that there are distinctly Islamic forms oftheodicy, unmistakably different from the ones elaborated on the Christianside.114 It has been suggested, for example, that the notions of accountability andrecompense constitute ‘an implicit theodicy’.115 Ormsby goes much further, inhis study Theodicy in Islamic Thought, in which he defends the thesis that thesalient features of Ghazalian theodicy are compatible with traditional Ash�aritetheology; and, in fact, that they represent a natural outgrowth of this theology:

The Islamic version of theodicy which al-Ghazalı and his followerselaborated may be seen as the extreme development of the pious maxim:‘What He wills, is; what He does not will, is not.’ The perfect rightness ofthe actual is the inevitable expression of that will.116

More recently Hans Zirker published an essay on theodicy and the resistanceagainst any such endeavor in Islam, taking as his qur’anic starting point Q.21�23.117 He shows that the la yus’alu of this text is in a sense confirmed by theten instances in which a ‘challenging’ question is addressed to God,118 and paysspecial attention to the narrative of Moses and his servant, Q. 18�65–82, oncedescribed as a ‘theodicy legend’.119 While Zirker refers only in a short paragraphto the kalam discussion on the question of whether God does what is best for Hiscreatures and whether He would be free to do something better (as�lah�) than Hehas actually done,120 Ormsby devotes a full chapter to ‘The problem of theoptimum’, with a helpful discussion of Mu�tazilite affinities and parallels.121

In discussions on the Last Day, the issue of the justice of God is frequentlylinked with that of God’s mercy. With regard to the notion of the ‘weighing’ ofevery human’s acts (the mızan, the scale), Fazlur Rahman writes that themessage of God’s infinite mercy seriously modifies any quid pro quo theory ofretribution.122 ‘The Qur’an rejects the idea of an intercession and allows nothingto help a person in that state of helplessness except God’s own mercy, which,the Qur’an repeats, is absolutely unlimited.’123 Reflecting on God’s justice andHis mercy, many have quoted the famous h�adıth qudsı that God’s mercy prevailsover His wrath.124 Commenting on these words, rendered by him as ‘My Mercyprecedes My Wrath,’ Chittick refers to �Abd al-Karım al-Jılı’s statement: ‘Godsaid, “My mercy embraces all things” (Quran VII, 156), but He did not say, “My

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wrath embraces all things,” for He created all things as a mercy from Him... Thesecret is that Mercy is the Attribute of His essence, but Wrath is not.’125 CharlesLe Gai Eaton writes:

The damned may see no end to their suffering, but God sees an end to it.Moreover, His mercy ‘takes precedence over His wrath’, and to suggestthat it could be entirely absent from hell would be to suggest that hell hasan independent and self-sufficient existence, beyond the reach of Hisall-pervading mercy, and this is unacceptable to the Muslim.126

The question asked and answered in Q. 33�63 continues to be raised: ‘Peopleask you about the Hour. Say: “Knowledge about it rests only with God.” ’127 Inthe words of Mt. 24�36: ‘But about that hour no one knows, neither the angelsof heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’128 More important than the endlessdisputes and meaningless speculations about the moment of the hour’s arrival arethe cries of those who, for whatever reason, suffer under the burden of the ‘notyet’.129 A New Testament passage places the ‘delay’ in the light of God’spatience: ‘The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness,but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance’(2 Pet. 3�9). God is al-S�abur, the Very Patient One, slow to punish, who alwaysacts in due time.130 Especially in an eschatological context, the notions of God’spatience, justice and mercy are often seen as being interrelated. While someassociate God’s patience primarily with justice and ‘timeliness’, and others thinkof it in terms of God being ‘merciful and gracious, slow to anger and aboundingin steadfast love’ (Ps. 103�8), a common affirmation in both traditions is that,indeed, ‘mercy prevails over wrath’.

Notes

1. M. Ayoub (1978) Redemptive Suffering in Islam (The Hague: Mouton), p. 208.2. A. Y. Collins (1989) Persecution and vengeance in the Book of Revelation, in: D. Hellholm (Ed.)

Apocalypticism in the Mediterranean World and the Near East, 2nd edn, pp. 729–749 (Tubingen: J. C.B. Mohr) addresses explicitly the impression that the Book of Revelation reflects most of all a desire forrevenge and that especially chapters 12–22 are simply an expression of the anger, hatred, and envy ofthe weak against the strong. A famous example of a ‘comparative eschatology’ (as Massignon labeledthis study) is Palacios, A. (1926) Islam and the Divine Comedy (London: Frank Cass) (first published inItalian, 1919); that it led to such a controversy shows the problems involved in any comparative study.

3. The wording chosen reflects the fact that we deal here with Christian interpretations. Reflections on thesame data in the Hebrew scriptures from within the Judaic tradition constitute a topic that regrettably hadto be left out of consideration in this essay.

4. G. Wanke (1978) ‘Eschatologie’: ein Beispiel theologischer Sprachverwirrung, in: H. D. Preuss (Ed.)Eschatologie im Alten Testament, pp. 342–360 (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft). Thisvolume contains a large collection of essays and a fifteen-page bibliography, pp. 481–495.

5. J. P. M. van der Ploeg, (1992) Eschatology in the Old Testament, Oudtestamentische Studien, 17, p. 99.6. But even this author, who argued that ‘true and explicit eschatology belongs to the apocalyptic literature’,

recognized therefore the presence of eschatological thought in the Old Testament book of Daniel; ibid.,p. 92. As is the case with ‘eschatology’, so the term ‘apocalyptic’ can be used in a much broader sensethan here implied. See, e.g., Wright’s statement that ‘there is no justification for seeing “apocalyptic” asnecessarily speaking of the “end of the world” in a literally cosmic sense’ (N. T. Wright (1992) The NewTestament and the People of God (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press), pp. 298–299); he points out thatin the Old Testament ‘the age to come’ is the period in history which would see ‘the renewal of the

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created world’, a time in which God’s will and intentions are once again realized on earth. For furtherbibliographical data and a discussion of various aspects of apocalypticism, see, in addition to the volumementioned in n. 2, J. J. Collins (1987) Apocalypse: an overview, in: M. Eliade (Ed.) The Encyclopediaof Religion, 1, pp. 334–336 (New York: Macmillan), and several entries under the heading ‘Apocalypsesand apocalypticism’, in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1, pp. 279–292 (1992) (New York: Doubleday)(including P. D. Hanson, ‘The genre’ and ‘Introductory overview’, J. J. Collins, ‘Early Jewishapocalypticism’, and D. E. Aune, ‘Early Christian eschatology’).

7. E.g., T. C. Vriezen (1953) Prophecy and eschatology, Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, 1, p. 202(Leiden: Brill); the article is reprinted in Preuss, Eschatologie, pp. 88–128.

8. For the extensive literature on eschatology and the Old Testament see the bibliography mentioned in n.4; from later titles we mention only J.-M. van Cangh, (1994) Temps et eschatologie dans l’AncienTestament, in: J.-L. Leuba (Ed.) Temps et eschatologie, donnees bibliques et problematiques contempo-raines, pp. 17–38 (Paris: Cerf); Petersen, D. L. (1992) Eschatology (Old Testament), The Anchor BibleDictionary, 2, pp. 575–579 (New York: Doubleday); and the essays by W. H. Schmidt and Magne Sœbømentioned below in nn. 29 and 97.

9. Cf. Th. C. Vriezen (1970) An Outline of Old Testament Theology, 2nd edn (Newton, MA/Oxford:Branford/Blackwell), p. 123; his section on eschatology and the Old Testament, ‘The Kingdom of Godin the expectation of the future’, pp. 439–461, contains extensive additional bibliographical information.

10. Boudjenoun Messaoud (c. 1987) L’Eschatologie de l’Islam d’apres le Coran et la Tradition (Algiers: nopublisher), p. 89; his remarks about eschatology in the New Testament are equally questionable.

11. Also on the Christian side, the term ‘eschatology’, coined in the early nineteenth century, referredinitially only to beliefs concerning death, the afterlife, judgment, and the resurrection ((i.e. individualeschatology), while it ‘is now used more broadly to refer to the whole constellation of beliefs andconceptions about the end of history and the transformation of the world (i.e. cosmic eschatology’); D.E. Aune, Early Christian eschatology, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2, p. 594.

12. K. Cragg (1983) Finality in Islam, Studia Missionalia, 32, p. 219.13. Al-Ghazalı’s Kitab dhikr al-mawt wa-ma ba�dahu, Book 40 of the Ih�ya’, was translated (1989), with an

introduction and notes, by T. J. Winter (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society). Almost 25 years earlier, thesame text had also been translated in full and annotated by Cobb, M. V. (1965) in her MA dissertation,Muslim eschatology in al-Ghazali’s Dhikr al-mawt wa-ma ba�dahu, Hartford Seminary.

14. Leipzig, 1872. The editor and translator was M. Wolff. Two centuries earlier, in 1655, Pocock hadpublished his Porta Mosis, to which he added an important collection of ‘miscellaneous notes’, amongthem a substantial section on Islamic eschatology, based primarily on an anonymous text, kanz al-asrar.This section was published 50 years later as a separate book by Reineccius. See also n. 50, Ruling.

15. As rendered by K. Cragg (1988) Readings in the Qur’an (London: Collins), p. 275.16. The notion ‘finality’ can be used legitimately for the Qur’an in the sense of its being unsurpassable, the

final criterion of God’s message revealed to humankind, al-S�uyut�ı argued. Understood in this way, it doesnot conflict with the expectation that �Isa at his return will receive a ‘real revelation (wah�y)’, anaffirmation that cannot be denied on the basis of the H� adıth ‘no prophet (comes) after me’; see Y. M.Hendi (1993) The descent of Jesus son of Mary at the end of time; a translation of al-S�uyut�ı’s Nuzul �Isaibn Miryam akhir al-zaman, with explanatory notes, MA dissertation, Hartford Seminary, p. 31; see alsopp. 28–30 (translation), p. 81 (n. 43), and Arabic text, p. 20.

17. Cragg, ‘Finality’, 221.18. R. F. Berkey (1963) Engizein, phthanein and Realized Eschatology, Journal of Biblical Literature, 82,

p. 187.19. J. B. Taylor (1968) Some aspects of Islamic eschatology, Religious Studies, 4, p. 74.20. ibid., pp. 59 ff.21. C. H. Dodd (1951) The Apostolic Preaching, new edn, 7th imprint (London: Hodder & Stoughton), p. 93.

‘Human experience’ stands here for ‘history’ in general.22. J. I. Smith & Y. Y. Haddad (1981) The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection (Albany, NY:

State University of New York Press), p. 2; see also their index under ‘responsibility’ (accountability).‘One must always keep in view the larger ethical and monotheistic context that surrounds the Qur’an’sinsistence on physical resurrection and consignment’, Marilyn Robinson Waldman wrote in her entry‘Islamic eschatology’, The Encyclopedia of Religion, 5, p. 152. Andrew Rippin addressed the question of‘the effect that eschatology has on worldly life’ in an article of 1996, and phrased the argument of hisessay in the words: ‘The impact of the eschatological symbolism resounds within a vocabulary of worldly

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life’; A. Rippin (1996) The commerce of eschatology, in: S. Wild (Ed.) The Qur’an as Text, p. 126(Leiden: Brill).

23. M. I. H. I. Surty (1986) Reflections on the qur’anic concept of paradise, Islamic Quarterly, 30, p. 183.24. M. A. Haleem (1995) Life and beyond in the Qur’an, in: D. Cohn-Sherbok & C. Lewis (Eds) Beyond

Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Life after Death, p. 66 (New York: St Martin’sPress).

25. W. C. Chittick (1987) Eschatology, in: S. H. Nasr (Ed.) Islamic Spirituality: Foundations, pp. 378–379(New York: Crossroad).

26. F. Rahman (1980) Major Themes of the Qur‘an (Minneapolis, MN: Bibliotheca Islamica), p. 108.27. ibid., p. 63.28. H� usayn al-Jisr (1323) Al-h�us�un al-h�amıdiyya li-muh� afaz�at al-�aqa’id al-islamiyya (Cairo), pp. 165–169,

one of his four arguments, as rendered by Stieglecker, H. (1959–62) Die Glaubenslehren des Islam(Munich: F. Schoningh), pp. 755–757. On al-Jisr (1845–1909) and his method see the essay by R. Peters(1994) Resurrection, revelation and reason: Husayn al-Jisr (d. 1909) and Islamic eschatology, in: J. M.Bremer, Th. P. J. van den Hout & R. Peters (Eds) Hidden Futures, pp. 221–231 (Amsterdam: AmsterdamUniversity Press).

29. P. Althaus, Eschatologie, Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3rd edn, 2, p. 687. In a similar way,Wiel Logister pointed to the interrelatedness of the calling to change our present life and our presentworld, and the hope for God’s final victory over all evil and the ultimate vindication of all who have diedbecause of their faith and/or as victims of cruel injustice: ‘Hij zal komen in macht en majesteit’ (He willcome with power and majesty), W. Logister (1995) Tijdschrift voor Theologie, 35, p. 375. See also thesection ‘Eschatology and human behavior’, in W. H. Schmidt (1993) Aspekte der Eschatologie im AltenTestament, Der Messias. Jahrbuch fur Biblische Theologie, 8 (Neukirchen), pp. 20–22; and Aune’sremarks about eschatology and ethics in the writings of Paul, ‘Early Christian eschatology’, The AnchorBible Dictionary, 2, p. 603.

30. Lucion Gautier published a critical text edition with a French translation in 1878; the English translationdates from 1979: J. I. Smith (1979) The Precious Pearl (Missoula, MO: Scholars Press).

31. After the first (unsatisfactory) attempt at an English translation by A. N. Matthews in 1809–10, theMishkat was translated, with explanatory notes, by J. Robson (1981) (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf);Book 26, Fitan, deals with the last days. For al-Samarqandı’s Kitab al-h�aqa’iq see John Macdonald’sarticles in Islamic Studies: J. Macdonald (1964) The creation of man and angels in eschatologicalliterature, Islamic Studies, 3, pp. 285–308; J. Macdonald (1964) The angel of death in late Islamictradition, Islamic Studies, 3, pp. 485–519; J. Macdonald (1965) The twilight of the dead, Islamic Studies,4, pp. 55–102; J. Macdonald (1965) The preliminaries to the resurrection and judgment, Islamic Studies,4, pp. 137–179; J. Macdonald (1966) The day of resurrection, Islamic Studies, 5, pp. 129–197; J.Macdonald (1966) Paradise, Islamic Studies, 5, pp. 331–383. The section ‘On death and resurrection’ ofthe Tanbıh can be found in A. Jeffery (1962) A Reader on Islam (S. Gravenhage: Mouton), pp. 197–248.

32. Arabic text and French translation published by A. Roman (1978) Une vision humaine des fins dernieres(Paris: Klincksieck), which describes this as ‘the first independent Muslim eschatological work knownto us’.

33. The Islamic Book of the Dead (c. 1977) (Norwich: Diwan Press). Jane Smith mentions, Precious Pearl,3, that it is almost identical with the Kitab ah�wal al-qiyama mentioned above.

34. F. T. Cooke (1934) Ibn al-Qaiyim’s Kitab al-ruh� . Translation, with introduction and annotations, PhDdissertation, Hartford Seminary Foundation. The 1987 title: The Soul’s Journey after Death: anAbridgement of Kitab ar-Ruh� , with commentary by Layla Mabrouk, translated by Aisha AbdurrahmanBewley (London: Dar at-Taqwa).

35. Sahih al-Boukhari, rendered to English by Mahmoud Matraji, 9 vols (1993) (Beyrouth: Dar El Aker); thetranslation by Muhammad Muhsin Khan (3rd rev. edn 1976, 6th rev. edn 1983, both by Kazi (Chicago,IL)) was republished in 1996 (Alexandria, VA: al-Saadawi). Sahih Muslim, rendered into English byAbdul Hamid Siddiqi (1971–73) (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf). Sunan Abu Dawud, English transla-tion with explanatory notes by Ahmad Hasan, 3 vols (1984) (Lahore: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf).

36. Among others: Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 31–61 and 99–126; R. Eklund (1941) Life between Deathand Resurrection According to Islam (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells); L. Gardet (1967) Dieu et ladestinee de l’homme, pp. 237–257 (Paris: J. Vrin).

37. God ‘revives’ the dead in the grave for a short moment, and then they die their second death; see Gardet,Destinee, pp. 247–248 (cf. p. 239). The ‘second death’ issue is raised frequently in commentaries on Q.

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40�11 and 45–46; Q. 9�101; and Q. 52�47. Other qur’anic verses often interpreted as related to this pointare Q. 6�93; 8�50; 14�27; 25�19; 35�22; 47�27; and 71�25. See Eklund, Life, pp. 73–78. On those whoescape the torment of the grave, Q. 3�169–170, see Ayoub, M. M. (1992) The Qur’an and itsInterpreters, 2 pp. 372–373 (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press).

38. Gardet, Destinee, p. 237; cf. p. 250: ‘in a sense’ one can speak here about a. ‘particular judgment’.39. Eklund, Life, pp. 5–8, particularly p. 7.40. On the nafs/ruh� discussion see Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 17–21, 36–37; Eklund, Life, pp. 12–16,

93–96. At death, ‘the spirit takes its leave from the soul’ (al-Samarqandı in Macdonald, J. (1964) Angelof death, Islamic Studies, 3, p. 498; cf. p. 505). On the departure of souls at death and during sleep seeespecially Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 19–20 (cf. pp. 49, 111–112, 119): ‘the rational soul, which directsthe activities of the body, perishes at physical death, while the life-infusing soul or spirit continues andawaits the coming of the Hour’. On sleep and death see also A. T. Welch (1977) Death and dying in theQur’an, in: F. E. Reynolds & E. H. Waugh (Eds) Religious Encounters with Death, pp. 187–189(University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press) (the article also contains a brief discussionof the topic of the ‘second death’ and events in the grave). On the interaction between the souls of thedead and those of persons asleep, see J. I. Smith (1980) Concourse between the living and the dead inIslamic eschatological literature, History of Religions, 19, pp. 224–236. L. Kinberg (1986) Interactionbetween this world and the afterworld in early Islamic tradition, Oriens, 29–30, pp. 285–308 deals withthe communication in dreams as well as with other instances of interaction.

41. Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 39–41; Stieglecker, Glaubenslehren, p. 732 (apparently based on Al-h�usun,pp. 148 ff.). On the location/destiny of the souls after the interrogation see Smith & Haddad, Death,pp. 56–59 (cf. their index under ‘soul’); Eklund, Life, pp. 40–44, 96–110; Gardet, Destinee, pp. 254–257.

42. Gardet, Destinee, pp. 250–253.43. For centuries the teaching of the reformed churches was that the soul of the believer, separated from the

body by death, would immediately be taken up into heaven, while the soul of the unbeliever wouldimmediately go to hell.

44. O. Cullmann, O. (1965) Immortality of the soul or resurrection of the dead?, in: K. Stendahl (Ed.)Immortality and Resurrection, pp. 36–45 (New York: Macmillan) (section IV, ‘Those who sleep. TheHoly Spirit and the intermediate state of the dead’); cf. p. 52. For the notion of the intermediate state,see also F. W. Beare (1959) A Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians (New York: Harper & Row;reprinted (1987) Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), pp. 64–65, in his commentary on Phil. 1:21, 23.

45. One reference suffices, H. Berkhof (1986) Christian Faith p. 530, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans).46. G. van der Leeuw (1947) Onsterfelijkheid of Opstanding? [Immortality or Resurrection?], 4th edn p. 32

(Assen: van Gorcum).47. H. A. Wolfson (1965) Immortality and resurrection in the philosophy of the Church Fathers, in: Stendahl

(Ed.) Immortality (pp. 54–96), p. 95.48. ibid., p. 55.49. The story of the creation of the human being in Gen. 2�7 frequently serves as one of the proof texts for

the rejection of the idea of the immortality of the soul. But see now J. Barr (1993) The Garden of Edenand the Hope of Immortality (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press), with a rhetorical question as the title ofhis concluding chapter: ‘Immortality and resurrection: conflict or complementarity?’

50. Most earlier mentioned treatises on Islamic eschatology have a section on this subject. In a nineteenth-century work, J. B. Ruling (1895) Beitrage zur Eschatologie des Islam (Leipzig: Harrassowitz), seven(out of 74) pages are devoted to it, pp. 11, 44–49. See the following notes for particular topics in thisfield, and Isma�il Abu�l-Fadl Umar Ibn Kathir (1992) The Signs before the Day of Judgement, 2nd edn,translated and slightly edited by Huda Khattab (London: Dar al-Taqwa). The first Western doctoraldissertation entirely devoted to this subject is D. S. Attema (1942) De Mohammedaansche opvattingenomtrent het tijdstip van den jongsten dag en zijn voorteekenen, Noord-Hollandse Uitg. Maatschappij,Amsterdam; the author surveys in three chapters the relevant material from the Qur’an, H� adıth data, andlater developments. The main features of the interpretation of ‘The last days in Judaism, Christianity andIslam’ are discussed by V. Danner (1991) in A. Sharma (Ed.) Fragments of Infinity, pp. 63–86 (Bridport:Prism).

51. Sections on the Dajjal in, among others, Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 67–70, 128; Hendi, ‘The descentof Jesus’, pp. 63–68; Stieglecker, Glaubenslehren, pp. 740–741; �Arif, M. ibn �I. M. (1997) Al-Mahdi andthe End of Time, translated by Aisha Bewley (London: Dar al-Taqwa), pp. 31–37.

52. An excellent overview is offered by �Abd al-Qadir �Ata (1989) Al-masıh� �Isa, nuzuluhu akhir al-zaman

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wa-qitaluhu li-al-dajjal: min �alamat al-qiyama al-kubra (Cairo: Maktabat al-Turath al-Islamı); see H.Busse, Messianismus und Eschatologie im Islam, in Der Messias, p. 276. To the most helpful discussionsof this topic in English belong Hendi’s translation and comments on al-S�uyut�ı’s Nuzul �Isa, ‘The descentof Jesus’, and N. Robinson (1991) Christ in Islam and Christianity (Albany, NY: State University of NewYork Press), chapters 9 and 10, both dealing with Muslim views of Jesus’ return, chapter 10 (pp. 90–105)particularly in the context of Islamic eschatology. In his Der Christus der Muslime, 2nd rev. edn (1988)(Cologne: Bohlau), pp. 108–110, Olaf H. Schumann discussed Mahmud Shaltut’s fatwa ‘Raf� �Isa’(declaring that it was not obligatory for a Muslim to believe in �Isa’s being taken to heaven nor in hisreturn in the last days) and the refutation by �Abd Allah Muhammad al-S� iddıq al-Ghumarı (n.d.) Kitabiqamat al-burhan �ala nuzul �Isa fı akhir al-zaman (Cairo: Mat�ba�at al-Ikhwan al-Muslimın).

53. Ibn Maja (1313 AH) Sunan (Cairo), 36, p. 24, trad. 5; see Attema, Voorteekenen, p. 113; M. Hayek (1959)Le Christ de l’Islam (Paris: Editions du Seuil), pp. 250–251; Busse, Messianismus, pp. 275–276.

54. Ibn Khaldun (1967) The Muqaddimah, translated by Franz Rosenthal, 2nd edn, 3 vols (Princeton, NJ:Princeton University Press), 2, pp. 184–186; W. Madelung, al-Mahdi, EI2, 5, p. 1234; Muh�ammad ibn�Izzat, Al-Mahdi, pp. 14–15 (‘the h�adıth “there is no Mahdı except �Isa” is forged’); Smith & Haddad,Death, pp. 68–70.

55. In addition to Madelung’s article mentioned in the preceding note, see for an overview of the Mahdınotion especially D. S. Crow, Islamic messianism, Encyclopedia of Religion, 9, pp. 477–481. Probablythe best known critical survey of H� adıth references to the coming of the Mahdı is that of Ibn Khaldun,who concluded that ‘very few are above criticism’. Muqaddimah, 2, pp. 156–186, the conclusion onp. 184. A recent defense of the ‘reality of the Mahdı’ can be found in Ibn �Izzat’s Al-Mahdı. The qur’anicevidence the author provides is limited to reports of some commentators ‘that the Mahdı is alluded to’in Q. 2�114, the evidence from the Sunna is summarized in three pages, and his major point, pp. 12–14,is an appeal to the opinion of various well-known scholars, among them Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn Kathır andal-S�uyut�ı.

56. A frequently emphasized point; see, e.g., the section ‘The certainty of �Isa’s S�alah behind al- Mahdı’ inal-S�uyut�ı’s Nuzul �Isa, Hendi, ‘The descent of Jesus’, Arabic text pp. 23–24, translated English sectionpp. 35–37. For different interpretations (of Ibn al-�Arabı and others) see Attema, Voorteekenen, pp. 167–169.

57. Besides the slaying of al-Dajjal and the destruction of Yajuj and Majuj (Gog and Magog), mention ismade of breaking the crosses and killing the swine; the jizya will be abandoned because all people leftwill be Muslim. See, e.g., al-Tirmidhı, Jami�, kitab al-fitan p. 45, quoted in K. Cragg & M. Speight(1980) Islam from Within (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth), p. 98.

58. Other qur’anic verses that have led many commentators to deal with the issue of �Isa’s descent includeQ. 3�46, 4�159 and 43�61.

59. Al-T� abarı, Jami� al-bayan �an ta’wıl ay al-qur’an (30 vols) (Cairo: al-H� alabı), 3, p. 291. This section istranslated in full by, among others, Ayoub, The Qur’an, 2, p. 171; Robinson, Christ in Islam, p. 81. Avery similar wording is found in al-Baydawı’s commentary on Q. 4�159 (Fleischer edn (v. 157) 1, p. 241,lines 6–7). The passage as incorporated in al-Tha�labı’s Qis�as� al-anbiya’ is available in translation inJeffery, Reader, pp. 596–597.

60. Ayoub, The Qur’an, 2, pp. 174–175, from Qurt�ubı. References to al-Bukharı, Ibn H� anbal, al-T� ayalisı andothers can be found in Hayek, Le Christ de l’Islam, pp. 247–248, 255.

61. Madelung, al-Mahdı, EI2, 5, p. 1237.62. Ibn �Izzat, al Mahdi, p. 8 (mentioning Ibn H� anbal, Abu Nu�aym and al-Nasa’ı). Attema, Voorteekenen,

p. 113 (cf. pp. 168–169) refers for this statement to Hasan al-�Adawı al-Hamzawı (1328 AH) Mashariqal-anwar (Cairo), pp. 119, 126. Al-Tha�labı gives it as a tradition going back to Ibn �Abbas; Jeffery,Reader, p. 597. The idea is widely accepted that, after the Mahdı had reigned alone for some time (sevento 40 years), the Mahdı and �Isa would rule simultaneously for several years, till the death of the Mahdı.

63. Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 2, p. 170; the ‘justice’ reference as well in ibid., pp. 166, 179, 182, 184.Madelung, EI2, 5, pp. 1233–1234.

64. Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, 2, pp. 168, 181; cf. pp. 169, 179. See Madelung, EI2, 5, p. 1232.65. Ibn �Izzat, al Mahdi, 9.66. EI2,5, pp. 1235–1238.67. A. A. Sachedina (1981) Islamic Messianism: the Idea of Mahdı in Twelver Shı‘ism (Albany, NY: State

University of New York Press).

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68. ibid., p. 9.69. Redemptive Suffering, pp. 216–229.70. ibid., p. 223.71. ibid., p. 227.72. ibid., pp. 224–225.73. ibid., pp. 215–216. On �Alı as both an intercessor and a harsh judge, see p. 208.74. Ayoub quotes it twice, ibid., pp. 216 and 228.75. The specific references are to Rev. 9�18; 13; 16�1; 18; 19�17–18.76. M. Waldman, Eschatology, The Encyclopedia of Religion, 5, p. 152.77. E. Berthels (1925) Die paradiesischen Jungfrauen (Hurıs) im Islam, Islamica, 1, pp. 263–287.78. Soubhi El-Saleh (1971) La vie future selon le Coran (Paris: J. Vrin).79. First mentioned in n. 22 above and referred to several times thereafter.80. J. D. McAuliffe (1984) The wines of earth and paradise: qur’anic proscriptions and promises, in: R. M.

Savory & D. A. Agius (Eds) Logos Islamikos, pp. 159–174 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of MediaevalStudies).

81. F. Rosenthal (1987) Reflections on love in paradise, in: J. H. Marks & R. M. Good (Eds) Love and Deathin the Ancient Near East, pp. 247–254 (Guilford, CT: Four Quarters Publication Company).

82. Cf. Smith & Haddad, Death, pp. 164–167.83. S. S. Blair & J. M. Bloom (Eds) (1991) Images of Paradise in Islamic Art (Dartmouth: Hood Museum

of Art).84. ‘Reflections of paradise in Islamic art’, pp. 33–43; quotation, p. 39.85. Aziz al-Azmeh (1995) Rhetoric for the senses: a consideration of Muslim paradise narratives, Journal of

Arabic Literature, 26, pp. 215–231.86. ibid., p. 220.87. ibid., pp. 217–218. ‘The sensuality of Paradise in Muslim tradition is by no means entirely car-

nal, … although genital carnality is a pronounced element. Overall, the textual volume occupied bygenital desire in the repertoire of Muslim traditions on paradise does not justify exaggeration, althoughthe prurient curiosity of countless generations of Muslims and Europeans has rendered to it a centralitywhich is not entirely deserved.’

88. ibid., p. 228 (the reference is to Muslim (138 AH) al-Jami� al-S�ah� ıh� (Cairo), 1, p. 112).89. ibid., pp. 230–231. See also Chittick, ‘Eschatology’, pp. 404–405.90. C. L. G. Eaton (1985) Islam and the Destiny of Man, p. 241 (Albany, NY: State University of New York

Press (published in association with the Islamic Text Society)).91. See, e.g., Stieglecker, Glaubenslehren, pp. 774–795 (with data about the discussion concerning Q. 7�143;

75�22–23; and 83�15 as well as the Mu�tazilite appeal to Q. 6�103; 42�51; 7�143; 25�21; 2�55; and4�153); Gardet, Destinee, 338–346; El-Saleh, Vie future, pp. 18, 42–43, 76–79, 129; Smith & Haddad,Death, pp. 95–96, 144–145.

92. Just one example: C. S. Bustros, Eschatologie chretienne et eschatologie islamique, in: Temps eteschatologie (n. 8 above), p. 341.

93. R. Caspar (1983) L’eschatologie Musulmane, Studia Missionalia, 32, pp. 217–218.94. A. Neuwirth (1985) Symmetrie und Paarbildung in der Koranischen Eschatologie. Philologisches zu

Surat ar-Rah}man, in: W. Rollig (Ed.) XXII. Deutscher Orientalistentag (vom 21. bis 25. Marz 1983 inTubingen) Ausgewahlte Vortrage, pp. 173–182 (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner).

95. ibid., p. 181.96. Often quoted in commentaries on Q. 32:17. Chittick, ‘Eschatology’, p. 405; M. Surty (1986) Reflections,

Islamic Quarterly, 30, p. 181, who mentions as his sources al-Bukharı, Tafsır Q. 32 and Ibn Maja, Zuhd,p. 39. A wording similar to that of this H� adıth is found in 1 Cor. 2.9, ‘What no eye has seen, nor earheard, nor the human heart conceived, what God prepared for those who love Him.’

97. In Old Testament studies, Hugo Gressmann opted for this position in his famous work of 1905, DerUrsprung der israelitisch–judischen Eschatologie, discussed in M. Sœbø, Zum Verhaltnis von Messian-ismus und Eschatologie im Alten Testament, in: Der Messias, pp. 36–37. In his study of Egyptianeschatological material, Jan Assman argued the same point in Konigsdogma und Heilserwartung.Politische und kultische Chaosbeschreibungen in agyptischen Texten, Apocalypticism, p. 345, n. 1:Jenseitsvorstellungen ought to be recognized as constituting a category of their own.

98. Berkhof, Christian Faith, p. 529; cf. p. 489, where the author speaks about shifting emphases in our timeon either the individual dimension or the future of society.

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99. J. Baillie (1933) And the Life Everlasting (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons), pp. 298–299.100. Cullmann in Immortality, p. 51.101. An example is found in Hubert Cancik’s article about Roman eschatological material, Libri fatales,

Romische Offenbarungs-literatur und Geschichtstheologie, in: Apocalypticism, p. 555. See also C. M.Edsman, Eschatologie. I Religionsgeschichtlich, Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (3rd edn), 2,p. 651 and R. J. Z. Weblowsky, Eschatology: an overview, The Encyclopedia of Religion, 5, pp. 149–151.

102. N. T. Wright (1996) Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press), p. 513.103. Ayoub, Redemptive Suffering, p. 228.104. For references see Robinson, Christ in Islam, pp. 92, 97 ff; Busse, ‘Messianismus’, pp. 282–283.105. Redemptive Suffering, p. 229.106. A. T. Khoury (1991) Kommen Muslime in den Himmel? Gelangen Christen ins Paradies? Einige

Anmerkungen, in: U. Tworuschka (Ed.) Gottes ist der Orient—Gottes ist der Okzident, Festschrift furAbdoljavad Falaturi, pp. 486–498 (Cologne: Bohlau).

107. R. Caspar (1997) Le salut des non Musulmans d’apres le ‘commentaire coranique du Manar’, Islam-ochristiana, 3, pp. 50–57.

108. R. Caspar (1977) Le salut des non Musulmans d’apres Abu H� amid Muh�ammad al-Ghazalı, Islamochris-tiana, 3, pp. 47–49.

109. See the selective bibliography of seventeen pages in my ‘Theology of religions: a review of develop-ments, trends and issues’ (1998), in: R. E. Miller & H. A. O. Mwakabana (Eds) Christian–MuslimDialogue: Theological and Practical Issues, pp. 45–100 (Geneva: Lutheran World Federation).

110. J. H. Hick (1976) Death and Eternal Life (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row), pp. 254, 259. Similarly,J. Hick (1966) Evil and the God of Love (New York: Harper & Row), pp. 377–381, ‘Theodicy versusHell’.

111. R. M. Green Theodicy, in: Eliade (Ed.) The Encyclopedia of Religion, 14, pp. 430–441.112. Hick, Evil, p. 6; see the whole section ‘Is theodicy permissible?’, pp. 6–11.113. Cragg, ‘Finality’, pp. 226–229. Cf. his The House of Islam, 2nd edn (1975), p. 16 (Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth).114. See, e.g., the personal reflections of R. Hassan (1985) Messianism and Islam, Journal of Ecumenical

Studies, 22, pp. 285–287.115. Green, Theodicy, Encyclopedia of Religion, 14, p. 441.116. E. L. Ormsby (1984) Theodicy in Islamic Thought: the Dispute over al-Ghazali’s ‘Best of all Possible

Worlds’ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press), p. 261.117. H. Zirker, ‘Er wird nicht befragt...’ (Sure 21, 23). Theodizee und Theodizeeabwehr in Koran und

Umgebung, in: Gottes ist der Orient, pp. 409–424.118. ibid., pp. 413–414. The texts referred to are Q. 2�30; 3�40, 47; 4�77; 19�8–9; 17�61–63; 20�125–126,

134; 28�47; 40�11–12.119. ibid., pp. 414–417. The ‘theodicy legend’ designation is from H. Schwarzbaum (1959–60) The Jewish

and Moslem versions of some theodicy legends, Fabula, 3, pp. 119–169.120. Zirker, ‘Theodizee’, pp. 418–419; see also p. 423, n. 28, with references to, among others, Stieglecker,

Glaubenslehren, pp. 35–37, ‘Die Theodizee des al Gahiz [Abu �Uthman �Amr ibn Bah�r al-Jah� iz�]’.121. Ormsby, Theodicy, pp. 219–232.122. Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes, 109.123. ibid., p. 108. Cf. p. 29: ‘The God of the Qur’an has unbounded mercy.’124. In a personal letter, Dr Marston Speight suggested the rendering ‘prevailing over’ for the two verbs used

in the numerous occurrences of this H� adıth, namely sabaqa and ghalaba.125. Chittick, ‘Eschatology’, p. 393.126. Eaton, Islam, pp. 236–237 (cf. p. 67). Data from the tradition and the qur’anic imagery of ‘scouring’ and

‘melting’ point to a process of purification, Eaton continues, and ‘all this suggests, in Christian terms,Purgatory rather than a hell in which all hope is to be abandoned’. In his discussion of God as judge,Tilman Nagel (1983) expressed a very different view: ‘Die Vorstellung vom gerechten Richter ist imKoran so beherrschend, dass sich der Gedanke, er konne einmal Gnade vor Recht ergehen lassen, indiesem Zusammenhang nicht entfalten kann’ (Der Koran. Einfuhrung, Texte, Erlauterungen, p. 198(Munich: C. H. Beck)).

127. The rendering of T. B. Irving (1985) The Qur’an, p. 235 (Brattleboro, VT: Amana Books). See also Q.7�187; 31�34; 41�47; 43�85; 46�23; and 67�26. Suliman Bashear pointed out that of all of these texts

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only Q. 31�34 figures in H� adıth literature: Muslim apocalypses and the hour: a case-study in traditionalreinterpretation, Israel Oriental Studies, 13, p. 97.

128. In various parables Jesus warned his disciples: ‘Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day northe hour’ (Mt. 24:42; 25�13). One of these parables is that of the ten bridesmaids (Mt. 25�1–13), asection once ‘compared’ by Paret with Q. 57�12–13. R. Paret, (1967) Sura 57, 12 f. und das Gleichnisvon den klugen und den torichten Jungfrauen, in: Festschrift fur Wilhelm Eilers, pp. 387–390, (Wies-baden: Harrassowitz), reprinted in R. Paret (Ed.) (1975) Der Koran, pp. 192–196 (Darmstadt: Wis-senschaftliche Buchgesellschaft).

129. Q. 42�18 end, ‘Are not the people who dispute about the Hour in grave error?’130. Louis Gardet, ‘Asma’ al-h�usna’, EI2 1, 117. In Robert Stade’s (1970) translation of a major section of

al-Ghazalı’s Kitab al-maqs�id al-asna sharh� asma’ Allah al-h�usna, the meaning of al-S�abur is defined as‘He Who Times All Things Perfectly’; Ninety-nine Names of God, p. 128 (Ibadan: Daystar Press). Therendering of al-S�abur as ‘the Long-suffering’ (e.g. Jeffery, Reader, p. 555, as suggested by his Musliminformant) carries connotations that are absent from most Muslims’ understanding of this name.

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