As-Salamu `alaykum. I have a question concerning the concept of a past life or reincarnation as they call it. I believe in the afterlife as Islam states, but what about those people who have some “recollections” of past lives? How is that explained or why do they have those feelings?
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
Dear sister in Islam, thanks a lot for your question, which reflects your care to have a sound belief and faith. Allah commands Muslims to refer to people of knowledge to become well acquainted with the teachings of Islam in all aspects of life.
Before addressing this question, it is essential to state that the Islamic approach to dealing with any issue relating to faith and practice is direct. Thus this invariably involves looking at what the Qur’an has to say, how this was understood and applied by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the pious generations, who are considered our perennial role models in all matters of deen (religion).
According to the Qur’an and Sunnah, there is no reincarnation (tanasukh al-arwah), but there will be indeed resurrection (ba`th).
Those people who claim to have recollections of past lives — usually under hypnosis — may be hearing the whispers of jinn, even without their knowing it. In such an altered state of consciousness they would be more susceptible to such whispers and suggestions and then interpret them as their own memories.
Answering your question, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states the following:
"Reincarnation (tanasukh) is an un-Islamic idea. It has no place in the Qur’an and Sunnah. In Islam we believe in resurrection, not reincarnation. Thus, there is no such thing as past lives according to Islam. Allah created us from nothing and gave us existence. We have only one life on this earth. After death we will be raised up again on the Day of Judgment. There is no return to this life before the Day of Judgment.
People have all kinds of imagination. Sometimes people imagine and dream things. That does not mean that this actually happened to them. Our mind works in so many different ways. The so-called recollections of lives before this life are nothing but hallucinations."
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I found a hadith which says: the sons of infidel people will go to hell as Allah knows what to do in their lives if they lived.
can you please provide this Hadith