Where Is Barzakh?
Based on verses of the Holy Quran and Hadiths, our conditions in the Barzakh will depend on how we have lived our life in this world.
The Barzakh in a way is the continuation of this world and man’s life after death.
It is the first station where the soul goes after answering the questions when one’s soul departs and he is placed in his grave. He will then be in the Barzakh until the Resurrection Day.
The Barzakh is a temporary world and a place to get ready for the Day of Judgment and then heaven or hell.
According to Islamic teachings, the Barzakh exists for both believers and unbelievers. The difference is that it is a beautiful and peaceful place for believers and an unbearable and grim place for infidels. The disbelievers seek a way to return to this world and rectify their deeds but there is no way.
“When death approaches one of the unbelievers, he says, ‘Lord, send me back again so that perhaps I shall act righteously for the rest of my life.’ Although he will say so his wish will never come true. After death they will be behind a barrier until the day of their resurrection.” (Surah Al-Muminun, Verses 99-100)
In the Barzakh there is no possibility for deeds that are based on free will although some of the deeds we had in this world could continue to affect our situation there.
The questions of Nakir and Munkar, manifestation of the beliefs and deeds that we had in this world, and the interaction of those in the Barzakh among themselves and with this world are among the features of the Barzakh that have been explained in Hadiths.
But the most important feature of the Barzakh is that no one, even our family members and our friends, can help us there.
“Because of their sins, they were drowned and made to enter hell. They could find no one to help them besides God.” (Surah Nuh, Verse 25)
