According to Islamic teachings, all humans will be tortured in hell, and before that, in their graves. Muslims are included in this mass torture orgy, but they have the advantage of moving on to eventually settle in paradise. There are only two hard ways to avoid being tortured:

• Be a prophet
• Become a martyr

Certainly there is another easy way out, which is simply not to believe in this nonsense. Nevertheless, I am quite sure most Muslims will not use it. It simply does not strike their minds that the Islamic schemes of torture, either in hell or in the grave are just fibs. Mohammed stole this idea from the ancient Jewish scriptures so that he could effectively paralyse the Muslims’ minds with paranoid of fear.

Practicing Islam is similar in many ways to managing a bank account, where the acceptable currencies are called hasanat and sayaat. Hasant refers to the good deeds, which Muslims accomplish during their lives, whereas sayaat refer to their sins. Muslims strive to keep their accounts positive, in other words to accumulate more hasanat than sayaat. Any negligence in this can result in sayaat becoming heavier than hasant with disastrous outcome in the after life.

The terms and conditions of the account are set in the Quran and hadiths. There are no monthly statements and Muslims are kept in the dark regarding the current states of their accounts, which is only revealed to them on the judgment day. And what a big day that is! All humanity will be crammed in one place in front of Allah, each will wait for his/her own trial. The Quran is not clear about the venue of such a big gathering, but one thing is sure- it is going to be a very crowded place. It is so crowded that Allah calls it the crowded day (yawm alhashr) . Muslims believe they will appear on that day, presumably naked, and in a state of extreme devastation. The Quran describes these dramatic events in a number of places, like this one from surat Abasa: (Q.80: 34- That Day shall a man flee from his own brother. 35- And from his mother and his father. 36- And from his wife and his children. 37- Each one of them, that Day, will have enough concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others)

The day starts by sounding a massive whistle, which is so loud that it wakes up the dead. Allah, the merciful, starts the interrogation process of humans while they are in such state of mind. Allah’s other creations like animals and plants and rocks, will be on standby as witnesses. Allah will use a special scale to weigh hasanat and sayaat. Surat Al Quaria (Q.101) describes this (Q.101: 6- Then, he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) heavy.7- Will be in a life of good pleasure and satisfaction. 8- But he whose balance (of good deeds) will be (found) light. 9- Will have his home in a (bottomless) Pit. 10- And what will explain to thee what this is? 11- (It is) a Fire Blazing fiercely!)

Those Muslims whose hasanat are heavier will be handed their documentation papers (account books) in their right hands (Q.69: 19-21, Q.84: 7-9), and sent to paradise after a temporary stay in hell fire (Q.19: 71). Those Muslims whose sayaat are heavier will be handed their account books in their left hands behind their backs (Q.69: 25-32, Q.84: 10), a sign that they will spend long time in hell.

The Quran states clearly that all Muslims will taste hell fire no matter how good they where during their lives, read this from surat Maryam (Q.19: 71) Not one of you but will pass over it: this is, with thy Lord, a Decree which must be accomplished. It seems that the question is not whether a Muslim will go to hell or not, but it is a question of for how long the grilling will last.

It may look bizarre that even Muslims get treated in this way after all those prayers and fasting during their lives. The astonishment will disappear once we know what is defined as a sin (haram) in Islamic teachings. Watching TV, listening to music, looking at women, taking a photograph, congratulating non Muslims on christmas, dressing or behaving like non-Muslims, eating with the left hand and lack of concentration during prayers are just few examples of how easily Muslims can gather sins. Therefore Muslims have to do something to counterbalance that heap of sayaat. Performing Islamic duties, known as furuds, such as prayers, pilgrimage and fasting does not earn Muslims any extra points, although any negligence in this area is catastrophic because it counts as a major sin. It is reported that Mohammed once said ‘if a Muslim doesn’t fast a day in Ramadan without a valid excuse then life-long fasting is not enough to make up for the sin!’

In a religion where the rules are so strict, no wonder that Muslims are always in a state of fear. But here comes the role of Mohammed and the advantage of following his example. Mohammed introduced the system of working overtime, Muslims call this system sunna, which is basically extra ibadat that earn extra hasant. This is exactly like working extra hours and getting paid by extra hasanat instead of extra money.

Muslims can perform sunna by doing extra ibadat such as extra prayers or extra fasting or extra hajj. Mohammed was keen on performing these extras himself, possibly he felt guilty about his behaviour during his legendry space journey, known as al mirage. Mohammed claimed that the angel Gabriel escorted him through a marvellous sight seeing tour to some important landmarks of the universe like hell and paradise, as well as meeting with all previous prophets, and then meeting with Allah himself. During that meeting, Mohammed used his influence to make Allah change his mind and reduce the number of obligatory prayers from fifty to only five. The unbelievers take this incidence out of context as it indirectly suggests that Mohammed has got more wisdom than Allah himself. With hindsight we know that Allah was unrealistic in his initial demand for fifty prayers, which would leave Muslims with no time to do anything else, not even to learn about Islam!

Unlike what many non-Muslims seem to think, Allah is truly the most merciful and most generous. His generosity is clear in the system He introduced some fourteen hundreds years ago to help Muslims to reduce the torture they will suffer in the next life. In simple terms every hasana earned by a Muslim will be counted as ten, which should serve as an incentive to Muslims to do more of the good work. In addition to this ‘do one get nine free’ offer, there are other promotions like the long night prayers of the 27th of Ramadan (lailat al qadr) , and fasting the 9th of Dul huja, and many others.

This account keeping system is very accurate, very just and very efficient. It is immune to mistakes and cheating although it uses only basic technology. There are two angels sitting on top of each one of us to monitor our activities. One angel records hasant and sits on top of the right shoulder while the other, who sits on top of the left shoulder, records the sayaat (Q.50: 17,18), both records are kept safe until the judgement day.

However, Mohammed seems to think that Allah cannot wait all this time until the judgment day to start torturing his creatures. To avoid this boredom, Mohammed told his followers that Allah started the fun already in what is known as the ‘grave’s torture’. As a welcome to new comers, two angels make a visit to the graves of Muslims who just died and torture them in the darkness of their graves. Mohammed did not give an explanation about the reasons behind such a rude reception, or the sense of justice in torturing people before their trial. However, the good news here is that the grave’s torture will be automatically deducted from the final torture bill to be paid in hell. Who knows? It may work out better this way, besides it helps to introduce Muslims slowly and ‘gently’ to the new life style of tortures.

The above description of practicing Islam may look like a comic story, the sad news it is not. This is a reality and all Muslims are aware of it and all live in fear because of it. This fear explains why Muslims work hard to reduce their grave torture and shorten their stay in hell to the minimal possible.

Muslims also know another secret about Islam; They know of the only way to avoid all the above nightmare altogether, with no worry about the grave torture or ever seeing hell at all – become a martyr!

That is true because according to Islam, martyrs are not dead at all. They join the fast lane straight to paradise (just like prophets) regardless of their sins or the state of their hasanat/ sayaat account balance (Q, 2.154, Q.3.169- 170)

Does anybody still wonders why so many Muslims want to become suicide bombers?

Quranic References( translations: Yusef Ali):

• Q. 69: 19. Then he that will be given his Record in his right hand will say: “Ah here! Read ye my Record!

 

• Q. 69: 20. “I did really understand that my Account would (One Day) reach me!”

 

• Q. 69: 21. And he will be in a life of Bliss,

 

• Q.74: 39. Except the Companions of the Right Hand.

 

• Q.84: 7. Then he who is given his Record in his right hand,

 

• Q.84: 8. Soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning,

 

• Q.84: 9. And he will turn to his people, rejoicing!

 

• Q.69: 25. And he that will be given his Record in his left hand, will say: “Ah! Would that my Record had not been given to me!

 

• Q.69: 26. “And that I had never realised how my account (stood)!

 

• Q.69: 27. “Ah! Would that (Death) had made an end of me!

 

• Q.69: 28. “Of no profit to me has been my wealth!

 

• Q.69: 29. “My power has perished from me!”…

 

• Q.69: 30. (The stern command will say): “Seize ye him, and bind ye him,

 

• Q.69: 31. “And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire.

 

• Q.69: 32. “Further, make him march in a chain, whereof the length is seventy cubits!

 

• Q.84: 10. But he who is given his Record behind his back,

 

• Q.50: 17. Behold, two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (his doings) learn (and noted them), one sitting on the right and one on the left.

 

• Q.50: 18. Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it).

 

• Q.2. 154. And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah. “They are dead.” Nay, they are living, though ye perceive (it) not.

 

• Q.3. 169. Think not of those who are slain in Allah.s way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord.

 

• Q.3. 170. They rejoice in the bounty provided by Allah. And with regard to those left behind, who have not yet joined them (in their bliss), the (Martyrs) glory in the fact that on them is no fear, nor have they (cause to) grieve.