Assalamo Alaikum,
Life, Death And The Life After (Ahmad H. Sakr)
VII. Death. Pg. 44-46
It was narrated that Imam Hassan Al-Bassri ( R ) said that indeed every day the Angel of Death visits each house three times to recognize who’s who. Whenever he finds out that someone’s life is over and his sustenance is also over, he will take his soul out of his flesh. When the person is dead, his family and relatives come with crying voices as usual. The Angel of Death holds the doors with his hands saying: In the name of Allah I never ate up his sustenance; I never stopped his life span and I never reduced his life. I am supposed to come back to you again till I finish all of you.
As far as the removal of soul from the flesh is concerned, the Angel of Death will extract it from good people with ease. For those who are bad, the removal of the soul is tough and difficult. The Qur’anic expression for the removal of the soul from hypocrites and disbelievers is horrifying: More than one angel are to work together. They beat the face and back of the deceased while extracting the soul, otherwise, it will come out with difficulty. Allah says in Surah Al-Anfal (The Spoils of War) the following:
If you could see, when the angels take the souls of the unbelievers (at death), how they smite their faces and their backs, saying: taste the penalty of the blazing fire. Because of the deeds which you owns hands sent forth: For God is never unjust to His servants. (8:50-51)
The Hadith of the Prophet about extracting the soul from the flesh of bad people is summarized as follows.
Al-Baraa’ Ibn ‘Azib narrated that the Prophet (SAW) said:
If an unbelieving servant is more concerned with the worldly life than he is about the other life, tarfaced angels descend from the sky. These angels, who are carrying bad smelling fragrance, sit in near proximity to the dying believer. Then the Angel of Death descends and places himself near the head of the unbeliever. The Angel of Death says: ‘O bad soul! Come out to Allah’s curse and anger.’ The Prophet (SAW) said: The soul disperses in the dying person’s body. The Angel of Death grabs the soul like a sufud (a piece of metal stuck in wet wool). The Angel of Death takes the soul without letting it stay in his hand for even an instance. Then the angels put a rough garment that smells bad on the deceased’s soul. The sol comes out having a very foul smell.
For those who are good, the Qur’an informs us that the extraction and pulling out the soul from the flesh is very easy. The dying person will not feel the pain for the removal of the soul from his body. It will be as easy as a piece of hair being removed from a dough. The Hadith of the Prophet (SAW) narrated by Al-Baraa’ Ibn ‘Azib states the following:
If the believing servant refrains from the coveting material things in his temporal life and desires the hereafter, white-faced angels descend from the sky. Their faces shine as brightly as the sun. They carry with them funeral garb and hanut (fragrance) from Heaven. They sit in near proximity to the dying person. The Angel of Death (may Allah bless him) comes and sites near the dying person’s head, saying: O good soul, come out to Allah’s mercy and forgiveness.
The Prophet (SAW) said,
The soul comes out like a drop of water pouring out. Then the Angel takes the soul, without letting it stand in his hand; he releases it like a blink. The other angels take the soul of clothe it in funeral garb and hanut. From that soul comes the best smell, one resembling the best musk found on earth.
[This message has been edited by Sadiaa (edited April 02, 2001).]