#twelvers

Beauty of absolute truth , axis of asceticism

‎markaz-e-fakhar-e-do aalam ka wali yaad aya,

master of both worlds, came to the mind.

‎jab kabhi maah-e-rajab sahen-e-harm sey guzra,

whenever in month of Rajab dawned through courtyard of Ka’ba

‎muskuratey hovy Kaa’bey ko Ali (A.S) yaad aya.

Ka’ba smiles, as it remembers Ali

What is Shia Islam? - Twelverism

Islam, like its predecessor Christianity, has detailed accounts of the End of Days recorded in the Quran and Hadith. There is the classic dualistic theme, messiahs, final judgments, an Antichrist; The whole apocalyptic package.

Signs of the End Times

So when the horn is blown once, and the earth and the mountains are lifted and crushed with a single blow; on that day the inevitable event will occur. (Quran 69:13-15)

There are two categories the prophetic signs fall under: The Minor Signs and the Major Signs. Many of these sound familiar to signs mentioned in Christianity, such as a decrease in modesty and an increase in promiscuity, devastating earthquakes, idolatry, greed, and global loss of faith, to name a few of the Minor signs.

There are 10 Major signs of the end: notably, the arrival of the Antichrist (ad-Dajjal), whose appearance is described as “one-eyed” (the right eye will be blind and disfigured). This figure will deceive non-believers, claim to be God, and lead many astray. Other signs include the sun rising in the west, the return of Jesus and the Mahdi, and the sounding of a trumpet which will indicate the resurrection and Last Judgement (see below).

The Mahdi & the Antichrist

In Christianity, the Second Coming is the belief that Jesus Christ will return to earth, hearkening the Last Judgement. Similarly, Islam also believes in the Second Coming of Jesus, the main difference is that Jesus is not believed to be God- he is a great Prophet. There is also the popular belief of the return of the Mahdi, a messiah figure who will return with Jesus to earth to defeat the Antichrist and restore righteousness and justice; however the Mahdi figure himself is more emphasized in Shia Islam. The Twelvers, the largest sect of Shia Islam, believe the Mahdi to be the 12th in a line of successors to the Prophet Muhammad. According to them, around the year 940 the Mahdi was “concealed” or hidden, and remains in this hidden state, hearing prayers and interceding for believers.

Final Judgement & Death

The unbelievers … shall be in the fire of Gehenna, therein dwelling forever; those are the worst of creatures.

But those who believe, and do righteous deeds, those are the best of creatures. (Quran 98:6–7)

In Islam, God is the Judge (Al-Hakam), the Giver of Life (Al-Muhyi), the Bringer of Death (Al-Mumit), and the Resurrector (Al-Ba’ith). Therefore God as creator gives humans life, appoints their death and resurrection, and will be the sole Judge of each person in the next life. It is said that each person has two angels, each recording that individual’s good or bad deeds which will affect their soul’s “verdict”: heaven or hell.

“In classical thought, the word barzakh came to stand for both the time and place of waiting between death and resurrection, even though the Qurʾān uses the word rarely and only in the sense of a barrier.

By the time of the famous theologian al-Ghazālī (d. 1111), who wrote in detail about the barzakh, a clearer picture had emerged. At the moment of death, ʿIzrāʾīl, the angel of death, appears; then the soul slips easily from the body, borne upward by other angels. Subsequently, the angelic pair Munkar and Nakīr question the dead in their graves about their deeds. The interrogation is followed by pressure on all grave-dwellers and punishment of some. Whether this punishment prefigures or mitigates later punishment is unclear. According to some, the dead may interact with the living during the barzakh, particularly in their dreams.” [Source]

Death is not necessarily the end of life, but merely a transition to a new kind of existence. Heaven, or Paradise, is called Jannah. There are several different levels of heavenly rewards mentioned in the Quran. Hell, or Jahannam, likewise has different levels of punishment. However, many theologians assert that Hell is not necessarily a permanent state, since God may forgive sins at any time (except, some say, the sin of unrelenting denial of God’s existence).