Reincarnation

The roots of this religious belief about reincarnation can be traced back to ancient Greek and Egyptian philosophy. The Hindu and Buddhist teachings are also centred around this concept. The main idea is the same except for minor variations, that being the constant evolution of the soul until it reaches through trial and error, a state when it can merge back into the "Universal Soul".

The ancient Egyptians on one hand believed that the dead person returns back to this earth for another life as the same person he/she used to be. Consequently, the pharaoh was buried with all his treasure and wealth intact so that he can claim them back upon his re-birth. The Hindu version of reincarnation is slightly different, whereas the dead pharaoh would return to life as the same person he used to be (the pharaoh), the Hindu version believes that a dead person would not return as the same person he/she used to be, but return as a completely different person but with the same soul.


The idea of this article is not to go into the depth and details of the various beliefs regarding the reincarnation theory, but to present a Quranic perspective of the concept and its validity.



What the Quran says about reincarnation?

Reincarnation in its essence is a religious belief. Millions of people worldwide believe in reincarnation or cyclic rebirths based on "transmigration" of the human soul from one physical body to another. Numerous Quranic verses confirmed this belief regarding the reincarnation concept, the Quran says:


"When death comes to one of them, he says, "My Lord, send me back. I will then work righteousness in everything I left." Not true. This is a false claim that he makes. A "Barzakh" (barrier) will separate his soul from this world until resurrection" (QS 23:99-100)

The above words of God are clear and unambiguous. When a person dies, God takes his/her soul while he is still in the process of imploring God for another chance. As soon as the human dies a barrier is immediately put in place. This barrier prevents his/her soul from returning to earth. This barrier is maintained until the Day of Resurrection.

Therefore, muslims do believe in reincarnation, but we believed that after death, humans will be reincarnated into a different realm, a realm other than this world. We believed that the first birth happens in our mother womb, the Quran says:

"He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, within three darknesses. That is Allah , your Lord; to Him belongs dominion. There is no deity except Him, so how are you averted?"(QS 39:6)

"We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump of flesh, and We made from the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah , the best of creators. Then indeed, after that you are to die. Then indeed you, on the Day of Resurrection, will be resurrected."(QS 23:14)


On the day of Judgement, we will be reincarnated again to face our deeds done in this world during our stay here. In this life every human being is apportioned a share in accordance with God's will. The Quran explains this concept in the following verse:

"Use the provisions bestowed upon you by God to seek the abode of the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world" (QS 28:77)

This means that God has decreed for each human a share in this earthly life, which is entirely dependent on His will, and has nothing to do with one"s actions in previous lives. A concession for multiple lives would violate the concept of a fixed and preset share in this life, this is because each different life would encompass a different share, and not a set share as we read in 28:77. The Quran rebutted the beliefs of reincarnating back into this world, the Quran says:

"And they say, "There is not but our worldly life; we die and live(reincarnation), and nothing destroys us except time." And they have of that no knowledge; they are only assuming."(QS 45:22-25)

The word 'they' refers to the people who believed in reincarnating back into this world after their death. To be frank, i was once a believer too in the concept of reincarnating back into this world. But after a in depth study, i became skeptical about it and found it could meant lots of other things other than reincarnating back into this world.

Physically speaking, it could meant after our death, the energy and the nutrients of our physical body remains in this world. It would be absorbed by nature and be reuse back by other living creatures and the cycle continues, thus a rebirth occurred. But this does not mean we are reborn again from our past life, it's just a recycle of natural ingredients created by the ingenious all mighty Creator.

There are always some case studies which may influence one's thinking causing some to believe in such multiple life theories. Many observations and beliefs are based on so called "past life recall" or "dejas vu". Many interpret such occurrences to having been living in a different place and time in a previous life. However, there are many plausible explanations to such phenomena.

One such explanation is the unseen contact with the jinn who could be transferring such visions to us and tricking us into believing that we were alive in a previous life and place. The stories of jinn and their interactions with humans is well documented in the Quran. It is worth noting here that the majority of the jinn are disbelievers, and it is understandable that they would try to trick us into thinking that we have numerous lives, and thus impale the urgency to strive for righteousness in this only life we are given.

To conclude, and since we are given clear Quranic evidence against the concept of reincarnation, we must accept such truth and discard this concept without any hesitation. This life on Earth is our only chance for redemption. We should set our goals and priorities straight, and seek God's approval through righteousness and good deeds. Contrary to what the devil may want us to believe, we will not get another chance.



Wallahu'alam