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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Resurrection Judgement and the Hereafter Lesson Sixteen: Man's Situation in the Intermediate Realm The present existence of an intermediate realm and of separate destinations there for the virtuous and the wicked is a well-founded religious belief. There can be no doubt that after death the spirits of men the only element within them that is truly essential are transferred to the vast expanse of the non-material world.

Just as the spirit appears in man's body and material form after it has been fashioned to completion, the spirit retains its attachment to the body as long as the body retains the capacity for a harmonious relation with the spirit. Once this capacity vanishes as a result of external factors so that the union of spirit and body is sundered, the spirit separates from the body and pursues its existence under a different order and set of conditions.

What we mean by this order is the intermediate realm, the first stage reached by man after his migration from the world. He pauses there in the course of his journey to the meeting with God. He enters a realm with its own specific characteristics and properties, remaining there until the coming of resurrection. A further change then brings about the transformation of the intermediate realm, and man enters the plain of resurrection, the next stage in his journey toward God.

A limit or boundary separating two things is called barzakh in Arabic, which explains why the intermediate realm that separates the temporary and evanescent life of this world from the eternal life of the hereafter is also called barzakh. Life there is characterized by the liberation of the spirit from the fetters of the material body. The spirit is no longer harassed by passion and instinct, and thanks to the absence of time and space, the horizons of man's vision are vastly enlarged.

In just the same way that there is no question of time or space in the world of dreams, in the intermediate realm, too, man can observe and examine everything in a single instant. The Qur'an says: “The intermediate realm extends from now until the time of resurrection” (23: 100).

In the same connection, the Qur'an describes the state of the martyrs after their death: “Do not imagine those who have been killed in God's path to be dead; rather they are alive and receive sustenance in the presence of their Lord” (3:169) .