Барзақ: Өлім мен Қиямет күні арасындағы кезең

Islamic eschatological term, place where dead go before Judgment Day

Barzakh (Arabic: برزخ ) is an Arabic word meaning "obstacle", "hindrance", "separation", or "barrier". In Islam, it denotes a place separating the living from the hereafter or a phase/"stage" between an individual's death and their resurrection in "the Hereafter". while some Shia scholars believe the experience will not be like the physical pain or pleasure of the temporal world. According to Ibn Hazm, Barzakh is also the place for unborn souls, which are elsewhere described as residing in the lowest of the seven heavens, where an angel blows them into the wombs of women.

The Arabic word is borrowed from an Iranian language, either Parthian or Middle Persian. It is said to originate from the Parthain compound word *bwrz ʾxw (/⁠burz axw⁠/, “height, unsurmountable passage, Lit. high world”), from Parthian bwrz (/⁠burz⁠/, “high”) + ʾxw (/⁠axw⁠/, “world”). Axw also occurs in compounded formations, e. g. Manichaean Middle Persian rwšn’xw ‘world of light’ and Parthian dwj ’xw ‘hell’ (also borrowed into NP duzax). The other two occurrences refer to Barzakh as an impenetrable barrier between fresh and salt water. While fresh and salt water may intermingle, an ocean remains distinct from a river. In hadith, Ibn al Qayyim cites that, albeit not mentioned in the Quran, souls in Al Barzakh would be grouped with others matching in purity or impurity.

In Islam, the soul and the body are independent of each other. This is significant in Barzakh, because only a person's soul goes to Barzakh and not their physical body. Since one's soul is divorced from their body in Barzakh, the belief is that no progress or improvements to one's past life can be made.

In mainstream Sunni and Shia Islam, Barzakh has been defined as "an intermediary stage between this life and another life in the Hereafter"; "an interval or a break between individual death and resurrection"; "The Stage Between this World and the Hereafter"; the period between a person's death and his resurrection on the Day of Resurrection. Based in least in part on the verse "Before them is a Partition till the Day they are raised up." (Q.23:100)
Muslim scholars who do believe in Barzakh still have varying interpretations of this intermediate state based on different traditions. Some traditions suggest that a person's deeds in their life will affect their experience in Barzakh. In these traditions, the state known as "Azaabul Qabr," will be one where a person is punished for his or her deeds in their past life. While those in a second state known as "Tan'eemu Ahlit Taa'ah Fil Qabr," will receive the blessings and bounties of Allah because of his or her faith and good deeds. Al Zamakhshari explains Barzakh to mean hā'il, "an obstacle." His adaptation of the meaning of the word coincides with mentions of Barzakh in Quran 25:53. Abdullah Yusuf Ali referred to a Barzakh state as a "quiescent state." The soul lies in a resting state until Yawm al Qiyāmah.

In Sufism the Barzakh or Alam e Araf is not only where the soul resides after death, but also a place it can visit during sleep and meditation. Ibn 'Arabi defines Barzakh as the intermediate realm or "isthmus". It is between the World of Corporeal Bodies and the World of Spirits, and is a means of contact between the two worlds. Without it, there would be no contact between the two and both would cease to exist. It is described as simple and luminous, like the World of Spirits, but also able to take on many different forms just like the World of Corporeal Bodies can. In broader terms Barzakh, “is anything that separates two things”. It has been described as the dream world in which the dreamer is in both life and death. Barzakh can also refer to a person. Chronologically between Jesus and Mohammad is the contested Prophet Khalid. Ibn 'Arabi considers this man to be a “Barzakh” or the Perfect Human Being. Chittick explains that the Perfect Human acts as the Barzakh or "isthmus" between God and the world. Ibn 'Arabi's story of Prophet Khalid is a story of Perfect Human being. Khalid's story is of a Prophet whose message never emerged because before he died, he told his sons to open his tomb forty days after his death to receive the message of Barzakh. The sons, however, feared they would be looked down upon for opening their dead father's tomb, therefore they decided not to exhume their father. Thus, his message was never shared. An Ottoman scholar explained that for Khalid to give the knowledge of Barzakh he would have to travel through the different worlds and then return, but because he was not exhumed, his message was never heard. Ibn 'Arabi explains that because this mission ended in failure, it does not conflict with The Prophet Mohammed’s statement: “I am nearest of men to Jesus son of Mary, for there is no prophet between him and me." In Shia theology, there are seven checkpoints in Barzakh. The first being kindness/trust/wilayah. Second is salaat. Third is zakaat/khums. Fourth is fasting. Fifth is hajj. Sixth is cleanliness. Seventh is rights. It is believed that the terms and conditions to understand Barzakh are limited in scope and full comprehension because it is Shia's belief that it is incomprehensible, to a certain degree, until one actually reaches the realm beyond our physical world. A common analogy used is that of a baby in the womb. Just as the baby cannot possibly begin to understand the vast outside world until they experience it for themselves, we cannot hope to understand what Barzakh entails until we transition there ourselves. Though despite this obstacle, the Shia Imams, as cited through various sayings, have explained Barzakh to a significant degree as compared to other sects within Islam.

The term has also found its way into more contemporary, non religious sectors of life. At least three bands have adopted the name Barzakh, including an Indonesian Jakarta black metal band, a Tunisian oriental metal band and Naqash Ali Shawkat band. Additionally, Barzakh was used as the title of a 2011 documentary following citizens of a war torn Chechen community searching for a lost friend who they believe may have transitioned from our physical world to the realm of Barzakh.

According to the belief of some Christians, intermediate state is an middle area after physical death. This is a temporary place, similar to Barzakh. Because they have this in common, some believe that they are the same idea or concept. Barzakh is actually closer to the idea of intermediate state than other similar concepts. In this place, people await their final judgment in Christianity, much like some definitions of Barzakh in Islam. The Quranic idea of aʿrāf (“the heights”) is closer to that of Christian purgatory, not intermediate state. Aʿrāf is also thought of as a place where souls go whose good and bad deeds are too evenly matched to go directly to Paradise or the Fire.