The difference of martyrs to other people is that the...

The difference of martyrs to other people is that the martyrs are sustained by their Lord in that elevated stage. They receive sustenance from the Almighty Allah. Therefore, it must be said: All the people are also alive after death and they are transferred to a world called Barzakh and they continue their life there.

Numerous traditions also imply this point; for example: Abu Walad says: I asked Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as): “May I be your ransom, it is narrated that after death the souls of the believers will be placed in the gizzard of green colored birds. And they will circulate around the throne of Almighty.” He replied: “No, it is not so. The believer is more exalted that his soul should be placed in the gizzard of fowls.

On the contrary, the souls of believers will be in bodies like the bodies of this world.”[^1] Yunus says: I was with Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as) when he asked: “What do people say about the souls of believers?” I said: “They say that they would be placed in crops of green birds, in the lanterns hanging below the Arsh.” He said: “Glory be to Allah! A believer is more respectable than that his soul should be placed in crop of birds.

O Yunus, when the death of a believer approaches, the Holy Prophet (S), Ali, Fatima, Hasan and Husain (as) and the proximate angels of the Almighty Allah appear to him and when the Almighty Allah captures his soul, He places it in a body, which is like the worldly body. Thus he eats and drinks.

When the fresh soul enters it, they recognize him in the same form as he was having in the world.”[^2] Abu Basir has narrated from Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as) that he said: “Souls of believers live in form of bodies between the trees of Paradise. They introduce and speak to each other. When a new soul enters, they remark to each other: Leave him/her; he just escaped a great terror. After that they ask him: How is so-and-so person? If he replies: He is alive.

They hope for his salvation and if he says that he is dead, they say: He has gone into perdition.”[^3] Such traditions and some traditions we mentioned in the discussion of grave show that that the souls of man after death are transferred to a world called Barzakh. And in that world they possess a physical body, which is exactly like the body of this world, in such a way that those who know him would recognize him and speak to him.