Islamic Narrations

Muslim philosophers and theologians have disputed over the animal afterlife. Most Muslim scholars hold that the Quran, Islamic narrations and rational arguments affirm the resurrection of animals in the afterlife, though there is a dispute concerning how they will be resurrected and whether they will be rewarded or punished as humans will. Beside the controversies and disputes, several reasons suggest that they have their own afterlife. To prove the animal afterlife, it is necessary to prove primarily that they have soul. Mulla Sadra has attempted to prove that animals have soul, based on the immateriality of the faculty of imagination ( al-Khayal ). Likewise, most of the reasons provided for the immateriality of human soul could be employed for the animal afterlife. The second stage is to explain the purpose of animal afterlife. Two goals could be mentioned regarding this issue: first, the compensation of evils harming them requires the afterlife. Second, some Quranic verses and Islamic narrations establish the fact that at least some animals have the intellectual faculty and thus have responsibly for their actions. Though these Quranic verses and Islamic narrations are not explicit, they can be a probable evidence for the animal afterlife. Finally, two points must be noted: first, though there are several arguments in favor of animal afterlife, there is no general agreement on it in the Islamic world. Second, the above arguments are not general, but they include merely those animals that have the faculty of sensation and have been inflicted by evils.

The Quran, on one hand, generally affirms the current Torah and Gospel (Bible) while considering them to have deficiencies on the other hand. The verses of the Quran indicate that the Bible contain omissions and additions. This statement of the Quran aligns with the historical accounts of the Bible, and the Quran speaks in accordance with reality. That is to say, the Bible is divine, yet they have become humanized and contain deficiencies. The Quran possesses unique characteristics such as clarity, being blessed, wise, and a guardian, which elevate it above any other book and render all other books reliant on it. Accordingly, all books need to present their contents to the Quran for correction and completion. This interaction of the Quran with the Bible is similar to its interaction with Islamic narrations. Although this perspective has previously been presented by the author in articles and books, this writing employs a descriptive-analytical method with a new articulation and reasoning to substantiate this viewpoint.