INTRODUCTION

khirah or Akhirat (Arabic:

) is an Islamic term referring to the after life.[1] It is repeatedly

referenced in chapters of the Qur'an concerning Yaum al Qiyamah, the Islamic Day of Judgment, an important part of Islamic eschatology. Life is temporary on the earth. Traditionally, it is considered to be one of the six main beliefs of Muslims, the others including: Belief in One God, Belief in God's Angels, Belief in the Revealed Books (The Suhuf of Ibrahim, Torah, PsalmsGospel, Qur'an), Belief in the Prophets of God, and Belief in Predestination/Decree. Much like many other monotheistic religions, Muslims have the similar belief of the threetiered cosmos. This is the belief that there are three cosmos, being heaven and hell, with Earth or humanity in between. According to the Islamic beliefs, Allah will play the role of the qadi, weighing the deeds of each individual. It is believed that these good deeds can be increased by reciting the holy Quran and Allah's name as "SubhannAllah" which means "glory is to God". He will decide whether that person's khirah lies in Jahannam (hell) or Jannah (heaven) on the basis of the weight of either good or bad deeds in comparison with one another. The judgment doesn't depend upon the amount of deeds as much as it does on the will behind the deed , deeds are judged on the basis of the will behind it. Heaven and Hell both have various levels. There will be no judgment for those who have sacrificed their lives for Islam. Jannah or Heaven and Jahannam or Hell both have various levels. The placement of a person may depend upon the extent of his or her good deeds. It is also said that God may forgive a sin against himself but not against another human. No religion except Islam shall be accepted even though Bible, Gospel, Psalms and some other previous religious texts are said to be from God in Islam, but they are believed to edited to a great extent over time by people according to their own will. God has promised to keep the Quran safe from any such changes. This belief has been previously referred to as the Islamic Day of Judgment.

THE MEANING OF AL AKHIRAH

Al-Akhirah in Islamic belief system , specifically refers to the Hereafter . Al-Akhirah is the day where this world comes to an end .The world will be in such devastating situation where no one will survive. Then, people from the dead will be revived and judged for what they have done during their time in the dunya. Humans move from one alam to another and they will live eternally in the hereafter. If they die with iman in their hearts , theyll surely get into heaven. Those who are being syirik to Allah S.W.T, they will be forever in hell. Surah Al-Ala verse 17, stated in akhirat is the better and everlasting. On that very day of the end,humans will be in such condition where they will do the unthinkable. In surah Al Haj verse 1-2,it is said that On the Day when you witness it, the suckling woman shall utterly neglect the infant she suckles,2 and every pregnant woman shall cast her burden, and you will see people as though they are drunk, when they are not drunk; but dreadful shall be Allah's chastisement. Also ,during yaumul qiamah, one will run away from his relatives, his mother ,his father and children . On that day ,humans are so busy with themselves . This situation is stated in surahAbasa verse 34-37.In surah Al-Qariah also stated that it is The day wherein men will be as scattered moths, And the mountains will be as carded wool.When Angel Israfil ordered to blow the Trumpet by Allah,the sound produced will be incredibly loud and high-pitched. On that moment , everything in this world will be fully destroyed . All the planets will crash with one another ,the sun,the stars will clash against each other. Thus,the day of destruction happened as stated in surah Az-Zumar verse 7.After everything has been destructed , Allah will order angel Israfil to blow the second Trumpet . People from the dead will come back to life . As for the 3rd blow,everyone will assemble in the mahsyar to be judged and trialed in front of Allah S.W.T. as said in surah Al-Muttafafifin verse 6. Every deeds of humans in the dunya will be counted and if they follow the truth,they will escape hellfire and enter paradise. Unfortunately for the sinners , they will be thrown into hell. The Mizan ul haqq or balance of truth will be used to measure all good and bad things did by humans.

THE NAMES OF AL AKHIRAH

Al Akhirah has few name that scattered in Quran . Al Akhirah also known as Yawm al qiyamah (day of resurrection) . It means all the dead neither muslim nor non muslim will be brought back to life to be judged according to their deed and their ibadah on earth . The other meaning of al akhirah is Yawm al Jam . Yawm al Jam means the day of assembly . On this day , all the dead bodies that have been brought back will be assembled in one place that is Mahsyar . Al Akhirah also known as Yawm Ad Din which is mean the day of judgement . Every dead bodies will face Allah to hear their trial . Yawm Al Hisab is another name of akhirah which means the day of reckoning . This day every person will be called to account for their actions during life before a judgement is passed to wether they enter heaven, hell or limbo.

THE REALITY OF AL AKHIRAH Akhirah. Akhirah. Akhirah. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'la insistently repeats and reminds us of it on almost every page of the Qur'an. So does Muhammad, the last Messenger of Allah (swt) for mankind, with every word he speaks and everything he does. They tell us that the Akhirah is more real than the ground under our feet. Real success or failure is success or failure in the Akhirah for which Allah (swt) will be the sole Judge. Nothing in this world has any value if it does not benefit man on the Day of Judgment. Thus, there is no Islam without the Akhirah, and no sensible Muslim can remain forgetful of it lest he become a loser on that Momentous Day.

Still, it is very easy to lose sight of the Akhirah, even for us believers, or to fail to be fully conscious of this most important reality. It is easy to forget that we will harvest in the Akhirah what we sow in this world, and that - for good or for bad - we are all engaged in sowing, each moment of our present life. There are various reasons for this loss of sight and forgetfulness.

One, we do not see the Akhirah before our eyes as we do other things. Two, we have no experience of it. And thirdly, of course, we have our many distractions. The vivid and variety-filled world that we see before our eyes absorbs our attention, time and energy. This world seems solid and permanent, while death seems remote and the Akhirah merely an abstract proposition of no immediate relevance.

In fact it was not meant to be easy for us to keep the Akhirah in mind. It is on the question of the Akhirah that our iman is sorely tested. Our attitude to the Akhirah depends solely on the strength and vitality of our iman.

To keep our iman healthy and strong and ensure its continuous growth we have to nourish and nurture it. This can only be done through our passionate engagement with Allah's (swt) Book of Guidance for us and His Noble Messenger Muhammad (saws). Now, what remains for us to do is to keep our vision of the Akhirah real, vivid and fresh, and work to prepare ourselves while we are in this world for that inevitable and overwhelming eventuality. It is on our vision of the Akhirah that our response to life, its conditions and all that befalls us, depends.

As always, we have the example of our most beneficent friend Muhammad (saws). How real, immediate, acute and vivid the Reality of the Akhirah was to him can be seen from this Hadith: "They (his Companions) said: 'Oh, Messenger of Allah, we saw you reach out to something, while you were standing here, then we saw you restrain yourself.' He said, 'I saw Paradise and reached out to a bunch of its grapes, and had I taken it you would have eaten of it as long as the world endured. I saw Hell also'" (Sahih Muslim, Book 004, Hadith 1982). There are numerous other ahadith that convey the feeling that Muhammad (saws) is already there and is talking to his companions from there.

When we say we accept him as our Prophet (saws), we commit ourselves to molding our lives after him in every way. Let us try to keep our vision of the Akhirah clear and vivid, as Muhammad (saws) did, and to ready ourselves for it as he taught us to do.

THE BENEFITS OF BELIEF IN AL-AKHIRAH

Belief in al-akhirah provides benefit to an individual. It gives hope to elderly as they move closer to the grave and it also helps children endure the death of loved ones. Children who believe that they will be reunited with their deceased loved ones in a far better world find true consolation in the AlAkhirah . How can you compensate the elderly for their past years,their childhood and youth that they have been left behind?Only convincing them that the grave ,which sees to them like an openmouthed dragon just waiting to eat them,is really a door to another and much better world,or simply a lovely waiting room opening onto that world,can compensate and console them for such losses.

Al akhirah gives a man a unique and valuable advantage with a greater choice that has eternal implication. Anyone who is concerned with his eternal welfare will immediately feel the burden of disobedience awaiting him once he allows himself to succumb to passion and ignorance towards the precipice of sin and rebellion against divine command.whenever he commits a sin by mistake,he immediately repents.his behavior is therefore shaped by truthfulness and sincerity .Alakhirah also prevents man from fearing the passing difficulties of life,makes him accept them with equanimity and even transforms those difficulties into means of development and ascent toward the lofty goals of life.

The world is a mixture of good and evil,right and wrong,beauty and ugliness,oppressors and oppressed. Many instances of wrong (appear to) go unnoticed , and numerous wronged people cannot recover their rights.Only belief in being resurrected in another world of absolute justice consoles the wronged and oppressed, and dissuades them from seeking revenge. Belief in the resurrection prevents young people from wasting their lives in transitory and trivial things.alakhirah preserves social security and prents the spread of corruption,crime and violation of law.it will strengthen the moral fibre of society by inculcating the sense of responsibility in individuals of which it is composed.Social stability and maintenance of ties relationship are among the highest priorities in the Islamic scale of values. It is also one of the conditions of faith that one should not harm ones neighbor or guest.

Abu Hurayrah reported that the messenger of Allah observed: Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should treat his neighbor with kindness and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should show hospitality to his guest.

For the rise and growth of civilization ,there must the optimum utilization of physical ,cultural ,spiritual and human resources. Belief in al-Akhirah when everyone will be accountable for his deeds and misdeeds will imbue one with the sense of responsibility ,which is a condition of sustainable development .

Belief in al-Akhirah should be seen as a source of strength and not of weakness ,for any responsible individuals ,societies and civilizations .Human beings are expected to exhaust their potentialities and invest them in long-term rewards : greater efforts for greater rewards .Man is not created to live miserably and act as they like. There are rules to be followed and it will determine human civilization .God-given resources abound , and they have been made subservient for man to enjoy. It is expected that man should use these resources as a means towards attaining lofty goal and should not worship or use them as goals in themselves .

THE CONCEPT OF AL AKHIRAH

Man is not an irresponsible creation but he is accountable to his Creator/Sustainer . Every human mankind is given duty by god to be accomplished . For an example , a muslim must fulfill his / her obligations that has been assigned by Allah such as praying and fasting in ramadhan .

The System is not eternal. One day it would come to an end and man will face his Creator and Sustainer with all his Amal . All the things that will happened had already written in Luh Mahfuz including the day of resurrection . So , man should be ready with good deed as we do not know when will it happen.

There will be another world where the entire human beings will be resurrected & assembled Those who were obedient to Allah will be rewarded with Jannah and those who disobeyed Him will be punished with Hellfire . THE UNBELIEVERS AND AL AKHIRAH

"They say: Our Lord! Twice hast Thou made us die, and twice hast Thou made us live. Now we confess our sins. Is there any way to go out? (40:11) (PICKTHALL)

They will say: "Our Lord! twice hast Thou made us without life, and twice hast Thou given us Life!

Now have we recognised our sins: Is there any way out (of this)?" (40:11) (YUSUF ALI)

This verse is speaking of the unbelievers. It says that they will say they have died twice....

What I thought this to mean was that we where dead ie death is the non existence of life before Allah (SWT) created us? Then he will cause us to be without life again (ie in the state of death) after we die in this world. This makes two deaths, this is how Yusuf Ali explained it in his commentry. And it was the case for both Believers and the Kaffirs.

However reading on I came across this verse speaking of the believers:

"Nor will they there taste Death, except the first death; and He will preserve them from the Penalty of the Blazing Fire,-" (44:56)

STAGES OF AL AKHIRAH

What have we achieved from performing regular Salaat, which is the Me'raj of a Mu'min? Where is the fear of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala which is the outcome of true knowledge? Allah forbid, if we are called to depart from this Dunya right now in our present state, are we sufficiently secured by assuming that we will not encounter any lasting disappointments and that there will be no remorse in store for us? If obliviousness of the Akhirah caused by endless hope is something on account of which the greatest man who ever walked on the face of this earth was concerned about, he was justified; for he knew about the perilous journey awaiting all of us. He taught us not to be complacent and to remember that:

"The Qabar is the first stage of the many stages of the Akhirah."

At all times, we should be busy in gathering all our provisions for that ultimate trip because this is the only chance we have. As Muslims, we must never ever separate our lives from AlmightyAllah's Deen nor from our beliefs, our social, our political and our commercial activities because they all

form an integral part of the Muslim way of life. A wonderful example of what this means is given to us in verse 201 of Surah Al-Baqara which we recite every day after every prayer:

"O Allah! Give us good in this world and good in the Aghirah, and save us from the torments of Jahannum."

The earthly life of a true Muhmin is built on the premise that we were created and then brought into this Doonya for the Pleasure (Radha) of Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala. This means that we live and we die for the Pleasure of our Glorious Creator and we yearn for our "Liqa Allah" meeting with Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala. Out of His Great Muhabbat for humanity, Almighty Allah tells us in verse 208 of Surah Al-Baqara:

"O you who believe! Enter whole-heartedly into Islam, and follow not the footsteps of Shaythaan for he is to you and avowed enemy."

It is only through Imaan and Taqwa that will enable us to abide by the principles and codes of the Holy Sharia'h and the Sunnah of Almighty Allah's Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam. Only then will we be able to retain our purity of mind and body in order to keep ourselves free of Shathaan's contamination in preparing for our journey to the Akhirah. This has been made crystal clear to us in verse 6 of Surah Al-Inshiqaq:

"O man! Thou must strive a hard striving (to attain) to Thy Lord, until thou meet Him."

The fact that we may think that we keep ourselves pure in mind and body in our preparations for the Akhirah does not mean that we have attained Jannah or that we have a path leading directly to Almighty Allah. To assume such a thing would be like building sand castles in the air and following a pipe dream. We will all have to make the journey to our meeting with Almighty Allah 'stage by stage' just as did all the Ambiya Alayhim Salatu Wasallam as confirmed to us in verse 19 of Surah Al-Inshiqaq:

"That you shall certainly ascend to one stage after another."

To fully understand what is meant by the verse "that you shall certainly ascend to one stage after another", we must refer to the Meraj of our Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam and his experiences on that most holy and auspicious journey. On his return from the Meraj our Nabee Sallaqllahoo Alayhi Wasallam relates that he met our father - Nabee Adam Alayhis Salaam on third heaven, Nabee Esa Alayhis Salaam on the fourth heaven, Nabee Moosa Alayhis Salaam on the fifth heaven and Nabee Ebrahim Alayhis Salaam on the 6th heaven.

The 'stage by stage' progress referred to by our Beloved Prophet also shows us that prophet Adam who had passed away many thousands of years before the Meraj had reached only the third stage. Prophet Isa who had ascended without any physical death some six hundred years before the birth of our Beloved Prophet had reached only the fourth stage. Prophet Musa who had died one thousand five hundred years before the birth of our Beloved Muhammad had reached the fifth stage. Prophet Ibrahim - the Patriarch had passed away some two thousand five hundred years before the birth of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad and had reached the sixth stage. We should ponder upon this fact and remember that if it took this long for these great Prophets Alayhim Salaam to reach their various stages, then how much longer will our journey take?

"This Dunya is the farmland of the Akhirah."

That is, if we do not sow the seeds of righteous deeds in the few days of our life here on this Dunya, the opportunity will be lost forever. When we reach the threshold of the other world and death seizes us, deeds come to an end and all hopes are extinguished. If, Allah forbid, we continue to remain in the slavery of lusts and the captivity of various carnal desires until the Angel of Death arrives, it is possible that Shaythaan may achieve his ultimate objective of wresting away our faith. Let us clear our hearts and turn our attention to the focal point of absolute perfection and try to ponder on verse 17 of Surah Sajda where Almighty Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala's promise has been made very clear:

"I have prepared a reward for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what the mind of man has not conceived."

Could we really ask for and achieve any greater reward than to enjoy the Pleasure and the Company of our Glorious Creator and Sustainer Who created us - to be enveloped in the Light of His Majestic Glory, and dwelling in the warmth and security of His Muhabbat, His Rahma'h and His Eternal Abode? Can we deny ourselves what Almighty Allah Azza Wajjal offers us? Our eyes for the brilliance of His Glory, our ears for the words of His Welcome, and our hearts for the contentment of His Divine Company?

If Almighty Allah gave us free and easy access to Janna'h we would not appreciate it as we had not fully earned it or done very little to deserve it. But if through all our trials and tribulations we can Insha'Allah earn the Pleasure and the Company of Rahmathul Liel Ala'meen and become worthy and fit for our final and ultimate journey for our reunion with Him, then Alhumdoelillah, our lives have not been in vain because Almighty Allah reminds us in verse 156 of Surah Al-Baqara:

"......Surely we are Allah's, and to Him shall we return."

"O Allah! condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; pardon us and do not require us to suffer the consequences of our wrongdoings, as those before us had to do. O Ya Rabbal Ala'meen! Creator of the heavens and the earth - lay not on us a greater burden than we have strength to bear. Expiate our sins, grant us Thy forgiveness, and have mercy upon the Ummah of Your Beloved Nabee Sallallahoo Alayhi Wasallam. Thou art surely our Protector. O Rahmathul Liel Ala'meen! grant us victory over the infidels and unbelievers." Ameen!

THE PROVISION OF AL AKHIRAH

The path of Dawah and Movement is full of or replete with obstacles and hindrances. The dayiah should equip himself/herself with the necessary provisions to suffice him/her on this path in order to attain the supreme success, namely, Allahs pleasure.

To illustrate the necessity of such a provision for the dayiah, let us look at the example of the car. It cannot run without oil [gas]. If the car does not have oil [gas], it will never render any good to its owner. Similarly, a dayiah without spiritual provisions is like a lifeless corpse. Allah (SWT) emphasized this fact saying in [Surah Al-Anam: 122]: Is he who was dead and We have raised him unto life, and set for him a light wherein he walks among men, as him whose similitude is in utter darkness whence cannot emerge? Thus is their conduct made fair-seeming for the disbelievers. The main springs of spiritual provision in Islam are to be found in the Quran and Sunnah. While we have a plethora of writings about the spiritual provision the Quran gives, the Sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S) as a potential source for spiritual guidance has not been given the attention it deserves. Even though the collection of Bukhari, Muslim and the rest of the authentic collections of Hadith are at our disposal and Alhamdulillah, have been translated into major languages, yet a coherent, wellselected and integrated spiritual diet for the dayiah is hardly to be found.

CONCLUSION

To conclude , we have known what is Al akhirah from every scope . We have to work hard on this world to save ourselves on the day of resurrection . In fact , we do not lose anything if we follow all the obligations that have been assigned to us . We have to set our destiny from now as the only safe place in Al-Akhirah is the heaven. If we did not follow what Allah ask, then we will pining in the hell and receive our punishment . Belief in Al-akhirah is also one principle in Islam, means if neglect it we are lost from the right path in dunya .

REFERENCE

1. The Provision of Akhirah by Moulana Jalil

2. The Exquisite Pearl ( The journey to Allah and the home of Hereafter) by Shaykh Abd-Rahman AlSadi

3. Paradise and Hell: In Light of the Quran and Sunnah by Umar S. Al-AshqarParadise and Hell:

In Light of the Quran and Sunnah by Umar S. Al-Ashq

4. http://lazuardy-berseri.blogspot.com/2010/12/tafsir-ayat-ayat-tentang-akhirat.html

5. http://www.dawahinamericas.com/AkhirahConcept.htm

6. http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IC1103-4553

7. http://www.islamreligion.com/category/59/