Sakaraat al-Mawt
Definition
Sakaraat al-mawt refers to the spiritual and physical experiences of the moment of death — the withdrawal of the soul from the body, the clarity and terror of what lies immediately ahead, and the final state of the heart at the moment it meets its Lord. Al-Ghazali describes these agonies with characteristic precision: they are not merely physical suffering (though they may include that) but the soul's encounter with the reality it has spent its life preparing for — or failing to prepare for. The preparation of the heart for this moment is one of the practical purposes of the entire Ihya: every chapter of the book is, in a sense, preparation for the sakaraat al-mawt.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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