And death remains — death remains the sovereign power whose judgment is never overturned, the commander whose command is never disobeyed.
Death — this eternal enigma — has, of course, struck fear into the hearts of human beings since the dawn of mankind, and it will remain the greatest obsession and the chronic fear of every person until the very end.
Naturally, there is no difference here between rich and poor, learned and ignorant, master and slave, nobleman and vagabond. No — death equalizes all and terrifies all.
As death casts its shadow equally across all walks of life, so too has it summoned reflections from every corner of the human spirit. Among Muslims, three profound minds stand out in their confrontation with mortality:
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The ascetic sage, Hujjat al-Islam Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.505 AH)
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The mystic visionary, al-Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (d. 638 AH)
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And the rational healer, the physician-philosopher Abu Bakr al-Razi (d. 313 AH)—[date approximate]
Imam al-Ghazali on the issue of Death
Let us begin with Imam al-Ghazali. He may be categorized within the ascetic current in Islamic thought — that stream which believed that the best means of purifying, disciplining, and cleansing the soul, and of course inclining it toward faith and religious commitment, lies in the constant remembrance of death.
On the matter of constantly thinking about death — and in practices such as doing anything that might remind a person of the reality of their death, like visiting graves, which of course contain lessons and reminders — Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, in this context, considered that remembering death and fearing it remain the most important factors in disciplining and training the soul.
Imam al-Ghazali believed that knowing the true nature of death and uncovering the mystery of death is impossible — one of the utmost impossibilities — because such knowledge is tied to understanding the reality of the soul, and no one knows the reality of the soul except God, or, as he says, no one knows it except its Creator.
That is to say, even the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) — as Imam al-Ghazali points out — was not given permission to speak about the soul, as stated in the well-known verse and famous story:
“And they ask you concerning the soul. Say: The soul is from the command of my Lord, and you have not been given knowledge except a little.”—Surah Al-Isra - 85
In this sense, even the Prophet was not permitted to speak on the matter, and therefore, no one can grasp the true nature of death, since it is bound to understanding the reality of the soul.
Imam al-Ghazali also believed that death is painful — but this pain, he asserted, affects the soul, not the body. While death does involve a degree of suffering, it is spiritual rather than physical.
Moreover, al-Ghazali held that death is easier for the believer than for the non-believer. The believer can come to terms with the idea of death, since — according to religious belief — it serves as a passage to eternal bliss in paradise.
For the sinner, however, death is akin to an irrevocable judgment — an eternal sentence, like a life imprisonment with hard labor and endless torment in Hell.
Al-Ghazali also observed that the ascetic is the person most accepting of death, particularly sudden death, because they are prepared. The ascetic does not need time to repent before dying — they are already ready to meet death.
In contrast, many people fear sudden death because it deprives them of a final chance to repent — and this, al-Ghazali believed, is the main reason most people are afraid of dying.
This idea is echoed by ascetics who say the hadith as al-Ghazali quotes in The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Iḥyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn) :
"Sudden death is a relief for the believer, and a sorrow for the sinner."
In the same vein, al-Ghazali notes that death is a form of dispossession — it takes from a person what they once possessed. So, if someone owned little in this world, parting with it becomes easier.
In the end, al-Ghazali strongly emphasizes the importance of asceticism and being spiritually prepared for death.
Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi on the Issue of Death
While Imam al-Ghazali followed a Sufi path—a spiritual approach to faith—not all Sufis agreed with his perspective, particularly regarding the nature of death.
One such figure is the great Sufi master Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, known as al-Shaykh al-Akbar (“The Greatest Master”) and Dhu al-Jalālah al-Ḥamrāʾ (“the Red Dignity”). Unlike al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi taught that there is no reason to fear death. In fact, he stated clearly: we should not fear death at all.
For Ibn Arabi, death does not signify destruction, annihilation, or disappearance. Rather, he described it as separation, not cessation. Only the body dies—the soul, he believed, continues to live eternally after parting from the body.
He once "wrote in Fusus al-Hikam/The Bezels of Wisdom" [18]: A Chapter of Psychological Wisdom in the Word of Yunus
"And it is God (al-Ḥaqq) who undertakes the dismantling of this present form—what is called 'death'—but it is not annihilation; rather, it is separation. He takes the person to Himself. And the only thing truly meant by death is that God takes the person to Himself: 'To Him all matters return.'
When He takes the person to Himself, He constructs for him a new vehicle (body), unlike this one, from the substance of the abode to which he is transferred—an abode of permanence, because of its equilibrium. In that form, he will never die—meaning, its parts will never be separated."
In other words, while the physical body perishes, the spiritual or intelligible form persists.
Building on this view, Ibn Arabi asserted that in the afterlife, God grants each person a new body—not a physical body, but one suited to the nature of the next world. This new form, he said, will not suffer from weakness, decay, or dissolution.
Thus, in his view, there is no cause to fear death—not only for the believer or ascetic, as emphasized by figures like al-Ghazali, but for all people. Ibn Arabi offered a universal message of comfort: death is not an end, but a transformation.
This hope was grounded in his deep belief in the mercy and kindness of God. From this perspective, he even argued that the fire of Hell itself would, one day, be transformed by divine mercy.
Ibn Arabi did not necessarily mean that Hell would be extinguished altogether. Rather, he proposed that its fire would become cool and peaceful for its inhabitants—just as it did for the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), when he was cast into the flames and emerged unharmed.
Through God's mercy, even Hell, he suggested, would be a place of divine presence—not eternal punishment.
In this way, Ibn Arabi’s reflections on death are not a warning, but a message of hope. A kind of good news.
Abu Bakr al-Razi on the issue of Death
Finally, we come to the great philosopher and physician, one of the leading figures of Islamic civilization: Abu Bakr al-Razi.
Al-Razi, in fact, in his "Philosophical Letters" did not agree with either views by al-Ghazali or Ibn Arabi.
First, he criticized the views of the ascetics that was similar to al-Ghazali— who believed that fear of death is essential for moral and spiritual training. In contrast, al-Razi believed the opposite: that overcoming the fear of death is the best way to develop and refine the soul and character.
Second, as a physician, al-Razi naturally leaned toward logical reasoning and evidence. He used concepts like pleasure and pain as a way to judge between life and death.
He defined pleasure as the absence of pain. Based on this definition, he argued that death is actually better for a person than life — because in death, there is no pain.
According to al-Razi, life is full of pain, hardship, and suffering — even though it also includes some pleasure.
In contrast, death contains nothing — no pain, no pleasure, no feeling at all.
So, while life is a mixture of both pain and pleasure, death is completely free from pain or any sensation.
From this, al-Razi reached a logical conclusion: that something completely free of pain is better than something that includes both pain and pleasure.
Through this kind of rational argument, al-Razi believed that death is not painful, and that a person feels nothing after dying — no pleasure, no pain — because death is total extinction and absence.
Conclusion
In the end of everything that has been said so far, is what emerges from these three perspectives is not merely a divergence of theological views but a profound philosophical triad. Each thinker offers a unique and compelling response to the most universal of human concerns – the confrontation with death.
Al-Ghazali, the ascetic, presents death as a spiritual trial. Its mystery, for him, should inspire humility, repentance, and moral discipline. The key to facing death, he teaches, lies in being prepared – not through fear alone, but through a life steeped in ethical awareness and detachment from worldly distractions.
Ibn Arabi, the mystic, invites us to see death not as an end but as a divine unveiling. It is a transformation, not an annihilation. For him, death is neither curse nor punishment, but a gateway into a deeper reality. His view is rooted in an unwavering trust in God’s mercy, where even Hell may eventually become a place of divine presence rather than torment.
Al-Razi, the rationalist, strips death of metaphysical speculation. He challenges both religious fear and mystical hope by proposing a naturalist approach. Death, in his view, is the absence of pain, sensation, and self. Because there is nothing left to suffer, death should not be feared – it is a return to nothingness, and thus a form of peace and a release from all suffering.
Together, these perspectives form a rich philosophical landscape. Al-Ghazali compels us to prepare, Ibn Arabi asks us to trust, and al-Razi teaches us to accept. They do not converge in doctrine, but they converge in purpose – to make sense of death, and through that, to make sense of life.
In the end, the final power of their reflections lies not only in their differences but in their shared insistence that how we think about death profoundly shapes how we live.
