Taking the Soul
The Angel of Death
The Angel of Death is an archangel whose responsibility it is to take the soul from the body of the dead person and give it to either the Angels of Mercy (in the case of the believers), or the Angels of Torment (in the case of the disbelievers).
"Say: The Angel of Death put in charge of you, will (duly) take your souls, then you shall be brought back to your Lord"
(Qur'an 32:11)
The process of taking the soul, like most of what happens to a person after they die, depends on whether the person believed in Allah or not before their death and on the deeds they did during their lifetime.
For the pious believers.....
With regard to those who believed in Allah before death came upon them, it says in the Qur'an:
"When the angels take the lives of the righteous, the angels say to them: 'Assalamu 'alaykum (peace be unto you), enter paradise, because of the good deeds that you used to do (during your life)' "
(Qur'an 6:32)
and
"Verily, those who say: 'Our Lord is Allah (Alone)', and then they stand firm, on them the angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): 'Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!'"
(Qur'an 41:30)
In addition to this, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also gave a detailed account of what happens to the souls of the believers after death:
"When a believer is about to leave this world, angels (the 'Angels of Mercy') with bright faces like the sun come down to him from heaven with a shroud (burial cloth) from the shrouds of paradise and some of the perfume of paradise and sit away from him as far as the eye can see.
Then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head and says: 'O good soul, come out to forgiveness and acceptance from Allah'. The soul then comes out gently as a drop flows from the mouth of a waterskin and he seizes it, and all the angels between the skies and earth supplicate for Allah's blessing upon him.
The doors of the heavens are opened for him and the keepers of these doors (i.e. the angels) all plead with Allah that this soul might pass in front of them as it is being carried upward.
The Angel of Death barely receives the soul in his hands before the other angels quickly take the soul and shroud it with the shroud from paradise and perfume it with the perfume of paradise; its fragrance will be like that of the sweetest musk found on the face of the earth.
(This is what is meant by Allah's saying: "Our messengers (i.e. the angels) seize his soul and they do not fall short of their duty" (Qur'an 6:61))
They then take the sweet-smelling soul up, and whenever they pass by a group of angels, it is asked: 'Who is this good (wonderful) soul?' The angels, accompanying the soul, reply using the best of his names that people used to call him by during his life: 'So and so, the son of so and so.' When they reach the first heaven they request permission to enter, and the gates will open to them.
The same is done in the following heavens until they reach the seventh heaven, and Allah says: 'Record the book of my slave in the highest place (a place called 'illiyyoon) and take him back to earth, for I created mankind from it, into it they shall return, and from it he shall be brought another time.'"
(Hadith)
The soul is then returned to the body for questioning in the grave (see
next section). It should also be mentioned that whilst the above hadith uses
the phrases "he" and "him" and so on and refers to the death of a male,
undoubtedly this is just an example and the same process occurs for a
female.
For the disbelievers.....
Whilst the extraction and journey of the soul of the believer is truly beautiful and an unimaginably wonderful experience, that of the soul of the person who does not believe in Allah before death (or the hypocrite or disobedient Muslim) is far from it.
"If you only could see when the transgressors are going through the agonies of death, and the angels stretching forth their hands saying 'Deliver your souls; this day you shall be recompensed the torment of degradation because of what you use to utter against Allah other than the truth, and you used to reject Allah's signs with disrespect' "
(Qur'an 6:93)
and
"If only you could see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieved, striking their faces and their backs, and saying: 'Taste the punishment of the fire. That is for what your own hands have put forth (of evil deeds)' "
(Qur'an 8:50-51)
With regard to the person who disbelieved in Allah, Prophet Muhammad gave a similarly detailed account of the taking of the soul from the body:
"When a disbelieving person is about to leave this world, powerful and severe angels with black, ugly faces (the 'Angels of Torment') come down to him from the heavens with strips of hard and rough cloth from Hell, and sit away from him as far as the eye can see.
Then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head and says: 'O wicked soul, come out to anger and displeasure from Allah.' The soul of the disbeliever is overcome by a terrible fear (and does not want to deliver itself up).
The Angel of Death draws it out violently like yanking out a multi-pronged skewer from wet wool - tearing with it the arteries and nerves. Upon this the soul is cursed by every angel between the earth and the heavens, and by those inside the heavens. Then the doors of the heavens are closed to him and every single guard (i.e. angel) at these doors begs Allah that this soul not be carried up in front of him.
Then the Angel of Death receives the soul in his hands, whereupon the other angels grasp the soul and put it in that coarse cloth which emits a very offensive bad stench, like the worst smell found on the face of the earth.
They then take the foul-smelling soul up, and whenever they pass by a group of Angels, they ask: 'Who is this wicked (ugly) soul?' The angels, accompanying the soul, reply using the worst of his names that people used to call him by during his life: 'So and so, the son of so and so'. When they reach the first heaven they request permission to enter and the gates will not open to them.
(Then the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recited this verse from the Qur'an : "The gates of the heaven will not be opened to them, nor will they enter the Garden of Paradise until a camel goes through the eye of a needle (i.e. never)" (Qur'an 7:40). Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) continued saying: )
Allah then says: 'Record his book in the lowest place (known as sijjeen). Return My servant to the earth for verily I have promised mankind that having created them from the earth, I will return them to it. And I will make them come out of it, yet another time.' Upon this command the disbeliever's soul is thrown down from the sky until it lands in its body.
(Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) then recited another verse from the Qur'an: 'He who assigns partners with Allah is as if he had fallen down from heaven and been snatched up by birds, or made to fall by the wind in a place far distant.' (Qur'an 22:31))" .
(Hadith)
The soul is then returned to the body for questioning in the grave and the torment of the grave.
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