Week 3

While examining both Abrahamic and Eastern approaches to death this week, several similarities and differences were observed. Concepts of judgment after death differ greatly between worldviews, and the question of postmortem judgment is not easily answered in unison. Specifically, while Islam and Buddhism both account for one’s merits and good deeds in life, the concept of judgment after death differs drastically.

Islam, heavily influenced by Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Hanifs, follows the general Abrahamic tradition of an ultimate judgment day. As human, one is exiled onto the Earth, goes into the Earth once dead, and is raised from the Earth when the day of resurrection comes forth.  

“When the sun ceases to shine; when the stars fall down and the mountains are blown away; when camels big with young are left untended and the wild beasts are brought together; when the seas are set alight and men’s souls are reunited; when the infant girl, buried alive, is asked for what crime she was slain; when the records of men’s deeds are laid open and the heaven is stripped bare; when Hell burns fiercely and Paradise is brought near: then each soul shall know what it has done.” (from the Qur’an, The Cessation)

In Islam, God not only places one onto the Earth, but furthermore decides how long one should stay for, and when and if one can “return.” (Note that this gives further reason to worship God, as he controls one’s life and ultimatum.) On the last day, the book of man is laid wide open for judgment, and while this can be interpreted as a small window of opportunity to prove one deserves “salvation, ” the decision of going into barzakh (an intermediate state) or heaven or hell is left in the hands of a higher being to judge. Until judgment day, Islamic people invoke the 5 Pillars of Islam, involving a ritualized prayer, in the hopes of achieving a positive postmortem judgment.

Buddhism, however, follows an objective approach to postmortem judgment.  All is deemed transient, and because of this, permanence is an illusion. Immediately, we see the contrast from Islam, as no higher being controls the ultimatum. The universe and its energy has overruled that all must end eventually in the cycle of life. Instead, one can take a (determined) path to cessation if one follows the Eightfold Path, which includes eight specific “good” life practices. One can strive for good karma by doing good and avoiding harm, with the hopes that good will come back to oneself eventually. Furthermore, Buddhist aim to ultimately achieve Nirvana, which represents the extinguishing of desire, anger, and ignorance.

Amongst the contrasts of the two traditions, one significant quality they share is the sense of helplessness. To an extent, both practitioners of Islamic and Buddhist faiths follow the idea that their ending lies in the hands of something bigger than the individual.  However, the two differ in how they respectively approach the inability to control their fates.