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Death as stated by the Qur’an and Hadith
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In this verse, death is represented with the term tawaffa an-nafs (complete retraction of the soul). Tawaffā happens at death and in sleep. During each phenomenon, the soul’s connection with the body—and thus the natural world—is severed in some way. During each phenomenon, the soul is withdrawn; however, one is temporary and partial and the other is permanent and complete. At the moment of death, our essence or soul, which is the body’s sustaining agent, is completely retracted.
Thus, the soul completely abandons the natural world and enters an invisible quarter of existence. Sleep provides us with a muted perception of the experience of death. As long as the soul is linked to the corporeal body, it may remain asleep; but if this link is severed, death occurs. As a result, death is not annihilation; rather, it is the launch of a new state of human existence, different from life in this world. Consequently, the soul discards its corporeal body, which belongs to the natural world.
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5 This type of verse indicates a deeper facet of death. It explains that our death is the day of return to the god (who is master of existence) and our real home. Life after death is our real life.
Accordingly, death is a passageway on which we travel from one facet of existence (the Manifest) to the other (the Invisible). On one side it is an exit and on the other, it is an entrance. Imām ‘Alī (‘a) has stated:
