Q. Since Arabic has only two tenses, past and present, all references to the hereafter and the Day of Judgment are made in the present tense. This means that when a person dies, he or she immediately go to either heaven or hell. This means that the reward or punishment they receive are immediate. It also means that the common notion about torment in the grave is inaccurate, particularly since there is no reference to it in the Qur’an. I think that when a person dies his or her spirit is no longer confined to their bodies. The spirit would be immediately facing God. Actions of the person concerned would have been immediately reviewed. Since time does not apply there, it is difficult to imagine how this happens. Hence God describes it in the Qur’an in a way which we can understand. Please comment.

H. Khan, Karachi

A. The reader starts with a false premise. While Arabic may be said to have two tenses, past and present, it expresses the future very clearly by adding a modal to the present. There are two modals, “sa” for the immediate future and “sawfa” for the distant future. Thus, to say that the hereafter starts immediately on one’s death is a misconception. It starts with a day when all creation will be gathered together. This means that there is a time gap between one’s death and resurrection for the hereafter.

While torment in the grave is not mentioned in these words in the Qur’an, there are clear references to it. One such reference occurs in verse 46 of Surah 40, which speaks about the people of Pharaoh and states: “They are brought by the fire morning and evening; then when the Last Hour occurs, (it shall be said:) Place the people of Pharaoh in the most severe torment.” The verse clearly provides for a sequence of actions: the bringing of those people before the fire twice a day; then their entry in hell where the worst place is reserved for them.

Now how does all this occur and what sort of time applies there, we do not know. But we take what the Qur’an says about the hereafter at face value and believe in it without hesitation. Why should we bother ourselves with its being a mental picture drawn in a way that is possible for us to understand or it is a reality described in real terms? This affects the truth of the hereafter in no way. If we believe in God, we take His word, i.e. the Qur’an, as it is and believe in it as it is expressed.

Having said that, I should add that much of what people tend to believe concerning what happens after death is invalid. For example in certain parts of the Muslim world some people install electric fans to cool down the atmosphere so as to reduce any torment their loved ones may be suffering in the grave. This is wrong, because they do not know whether God has forgiven their deceased relatives or not. If not, then no amount of cooling will reduce God’s punishment.

Interest and the devaluation of currency

Q. In our part of the world, the value of currency continues to fall. If one has some savings and leaves them in cash, they will dwindle in value. If one puts them in some deposit account, is it permissible to take the extra money one is given?

M. Arifuddin

Tabuk

A. Unfortunately, it is true that the value of currency falls so as to make the value of one’s money decrease unless one is able to retain its value through some investment. This is one of the evils of the capitalist system which operates in most countries. However, straightforward interest is not the answer to protect the value of one’s money. It is often the case that inflation outstrips the rate of interest, so that one continues to lose even if one takes interest on one’s bank deposits. Suppose that the rate of interest in a certain country is 8%, and the rate of inflation is 12%, taking interest does not retain the value of one’s deposits.

The way out of this problem is to invest the money in a profit-and-loss-sharing account, in which the bank acts as an investment agent for its clients and tries to get their investments to make returns higher than the rate of inflation. There are such accounts or investment schemes in most countries and one should always resort to these in preference to straightforward bank deposits.

The four schools of Islamic law

Q.1. When were the four schools of Islamic law instituted and what were the reasons for that?

Q.2. Did the Prophet offer his prayers in different ways?

Y. Ali Ahsanuddin, Riyadh

A.1. If we date the four schools of Islamic law by their founders then we say that they all started in the second and early part of the third centuries of the Islamic era. Imam Abu Haneefah was the earliest of the four scholars. He was born in year 80 and died in 150. Imam Malik was born in 93 and died in 179, while Al-Shafie was born in 150 and died in 204. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born in 164 and died in 241. May God bless them all.

None of these scholars started with the aim of establishing a school of his own. However, they distinguished themselves as scholars of the highest caliber. Each of them had a large number of students, many of whom later became eminent scholars in their own right. Sufficient it is to say in this regard that Imam Ahmad was a student of Al-Shafie, while Al-Shafie studied under Malik for 9 years and under Muhammad ibn Al-Hassan of the Hanafi school for three years.

These schools differ in their methodologies which help them to arrive at verdicts to questions that are put to them.

A.2. Basically prayer is the same, but schools of Islamic law differ in certain aspects of prayer. These differences are largely due to the way prayer was taught by different companions of the Prophet to different communities.

The differences suggest that the Prophet actually resorted at different times to some variations in the form of prayer. The Prophet performed his prayers in such different ways to indicate that they are all acceptable.

Arab News Islam 17 January 2003