Syllabus

The key topics discussed are:

• The experience of death and its accompanying signs
• Entering the world of Angels and conversing with them
• Barzakh: Limbo, Oblivion or Purgatory
• Questioning in the Grave and its reality
• The Trumpet and Resurrection; the two blowings of the Trumpet
• Coming back alive and starting the final journey towards the Lord
• Categorization of people into different types
• The imprint of the actions on the face, and the light and darkness of people
• The Book (kitab): the amazing Book of creation, the Original Book, those with a knowledge of the Book, the Book of Human Record
• Incarnation of actions, expiation (takfir) and annihilation (ihbat)
• Meeting with God (liqa’ Allah)
• The Balance (mizan) and the Path (sirat)
• The Reckoning: evil reckoning and good reckoning
• Revelation of personality
• Witnessing and the final judgment, intercession
• The Elevated Positions, a’raf, Paradise, and Hell

Learning outcomes

Knowledge
On completion of this module, the successful student will be able to:

• Critically write about different viewpoints on those verses of the Qur’an dealing with eschatology. (A2, A3)
• Collect and summarize the Qur’anic concept of the evolution of the human soul after death. (A1, A7)

Skills
This module will call for successful student to:

• Critically assess some doctrinal implications of the verses about the afterlife and its comparison with a similar concept from one other religion. (B4, C5, C7)
• Critically provide arguments to engage in comparative study of the subject. (B6, C1-C3, C5, D3, D6)

Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy

Alongside lectures and seminars, students will also be expected to undertake individual study in preparation for lectures, and as further reading required for the submission of their essay.

Assessment Mode
Questions arising from lectures form the basis formative assessment, through small group discussions leading the development of exegetical skills. Tutorial time enables Tutors to give constructive feedback to student on the preparation and development of their comparative studies, tutorials will not be assessed but will form part of the formative learning process. This should help develop students’ learning and enhance their final submission. Additionally, revision sessions are arranged that will cover topics in preparation for exams, providing constructive formative feedback to students.
Summative Assessment is by a comparative study and written examination. The comparative study will require students to write an essay of 1,500  words that demonstrates a critical understanding of an eschatological concept as explained by the Qur’an and its comparison with a similar concept from one other religion
(Outcomes 3, 4). The 2 hour written examination will take place at the end of the module (1, 2).

Assessment Weighting
Comparative Study: 40%
Written examination: 60%

Learning Material

Core Reading 

• Bahmanpour, M.S. (2015) Towards Eternal Life, n.l.: World Federation of KSIMC.
• Al-Ghazali, Muhammad (2004). The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife: Kitāb Dhikr al-Mawt wa Mā Ba’dahu, Book XL of Iḥyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), T. J. Winter (trans.), Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society.
• Musavi Lari, Sayyid Mujtaba (1992). Resurrection, Judgment and the Hereafter: Lessons on Islamic Doctrine, trans. Hamid Algar, Potomac: The Islamic Education Center.
• Swedenborg, E. (2010). Heaven and Hell, George F. Dole (trans.), West Chester, Pennsylvania: The Swedenborg Foundation.