❖ Question: Do Life and Death Have an Actual Existence? A Qur’anic Perspective
📚 Source: Fatāwā Amaanpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amaanpuri
❖ The Answer:
Yes, both life (ḥayāt) and death (mawt) are actual created entities that have a real existence.
❖ Qur’anic Evidence:
﴿خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ﴾
“He created death and life…”
— (Surah al-Mu: 2)
✅ This verse clearly states that both death and life are created by Allah ﷻ, which affirms that they are not abstract or metaphorical concepts, but created realities.
❖ Prophetic Evidence:
The actual existence of death is further affirmed in the Sunnah.
❀ The Prophet ﷺ said:
“On the Day of Judgment, death will be brought in the form of a ram and placed between Paradise and Hell. Then it will be slaughtered. It will be announced: ‘O people of Paradise, eternity for you and no death; O people of Hell, eternity for you and no death.’”
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 4730
📚 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2849
✅ This ḥadīth proves that death will appear in a physical form, indicating its independent created existence.
❖ Summary:
| Concept | Status in Islam |
|---|---|
| Death (Mawt) | ✅ Created by Allah — Real and Independent |
| Life (Ḥayāt) | ✅ Created by Allah — Real and Independent |
| Abstract idea? | ❌ No — They are actual creations |
| Afterlife event? | ✅ Death will be manifested and destroyed on the Day of Judgement |
✅ Conclusion:
✔ Life and death are both real, created entities, as affirmed by Qur’an and Sunnah.
✔ Denying their existence or reducing them to symbolic ideas is against the teachings of Islam.
📌 Their creation is part of Allah’s divine wisdom to test mankind.
وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ بِالصَّوَابِ
