The Lives of Man – Imam Haddad

The Lives of Man: A Guide to the Human States: Before Life, In the World, and After Death

Translated by Mostafa Al Badawi with a Preface by T.J. Winters.

Based on the Qu’ran and Hadith, in this fascinating book, Imam al-Haddad explains that every human being passes through several “lives:” before conception, life in the world, life in the grave, the Resurrection, and finally, the Garden or the Fire. A complete Muslim must be aware of each of these if he is to be sufficiently prepared for eternal life.

What happens after Death? Who are “Munkar and Nakir?” What will Heaven and Hell be like? What signs should we expect before the day of Judgement? Who is the Dajjal? When will the Mahdi appear?

These and many other questions are answered, on the basis of the Qu’ran and Hadith, in this fascinating book. Imam al-Haddad explains that every human being passes through the “lives:” before conception, life in the world, life in the grave, the Resurrection, and finally, the Garden of the Fire. A complete Muslim must be aware of each of these if he is to be sufficiently prepared for eternal life.

From Timothy Winters preface to the book:

“No culture since Adam has lived in deeper ignorance of what man truly is: a symmetrical, noble form enshrining a soul, an organ capable of such translucence that it can, when the senses and passions which distract it are stilled, form a window onto that Reality of which this world offers no more than a distorted reflection. For those human beings who have been granted this state of awakening, the real world which they survey is truer than anything they had known here-below. All of us will see the real world, the _khira, at death. But only the Prophets fully know of it before they die, and hence can warn their contemporaries. The revelations which God gives them, and which they give to mankind, are thus the only sources of meaning and understanding which will ever be available. To hold to them is to cling to a rope let down from God, while to let go is to fall ineluctably into chaos.”