Near-Death Experiences
15-04-2025, 12:19 PM
Recent medical and psychological research has focused on the moments of death, which have been reported to be surrounded by many strange phenomena to consider and explain. Medicine studies these phenomena as "Near Death Experiences," or NDEs, a rare abnormal phenomenon in which some who have experienced accidents leading to clinical death have experienced strange events and occurrences, some of which were described as good and beautiful, and some of which were described as scenes of horror and agony. The patient's description of a dark tunnel leading to a heavenly light far away at its end was a common theme in all of these experiences.
The NDE begins with the dying person's consciousness exiting his body, allowing him to see his body laid on his deathbed, surrounded by loved ones and relatives who are crying for his separation. The dying befuddles their grief because he believes he is in the best possible state; then he begins to pass through a tunnel, at the end of which he sees a bright light: he imagines he is on his way to paradise, but he actually meets his loved ones who have already died; this increases his desire to stay in this new place. Soon after, he hears the voice of a loved one who has died asking him to return to his natural body because the hour of his death has not yet arrived and he has many tasks (in his life) to complete first. He then comes back to consciousness.
Over the past four decades, the vast majority of near-death experiences (NDEs) that have been publicly reported have been positive, sometimes even glorious. The sobering fact that not all NDEs are as affirming has gone largely unnoticed in the euphoria surrounding them: Some are extremely upsetting.
The research on this topic is challenging because some people who have had such an experience vanish when questioned.
Nevertheless, three different types of distressing NDE—inverse, void, and hellish—have been documented. These terrifying encounters include visits to hell, conversations with demonic beings, and perhaps even torture and suffering. Another set of tests is characterized by loneliness and deep depression.[1]
Even though some experiences may be unusual, nine out of ten people in an American survey by George Gallup admitted to passing through one of these tunnels.
The experiences of approaching death are essentially the same across peoples, civilizations, and races despite differences in culture, religion, and geographic location. This suggests that the nature of the relationship between the soul and the body in humans and its laws are universal across all peoples, races, and civilizations.
Dr. Pim van Lommel[2] described the NDEs as follows: "Some people who survived a life-threatening crisis reported an extraordinary experience of near-death, and the number of such experiences increases as recovery techniques progress," What these experiences have involved and how they have affected patients appear to be universal across all continents, cultures, and eras. Despite the terminology used to describe and translate these experiences, which may be religious in nature, they are objective in nature and lack an image that refers to a state of individual culture.
These experiences can be defined as a memory report on full impressions during a state of consciousness, including several common elements among people who have met these experiences. This memory report includes common feelings between almost all experienced people such as the experience of out-of-body emergence, feelings of joy, vision of the tunnel and light, meeting dead relatives, or reviewing the previous life.
“I have described many cases in which these trials occurred, such as cardiac arrest, clinical death and fainting after the loss of a large amount of blood or harm during brain surgery, brain bleeding, drowning and asphyxiation, as well as in a number of serious diseases that did not end in complete brain death." Writes Dr. Lommel.
Near-death experiences confirm that they are a type of susceptibility found in the human psyche, which can occur in special circumstances as a function of the brain, and cannot be considered as the result of dysfunction but reflects the one nature of death that occurs in the brain in all human beings, regardless of their religions, races and cultures, and also confirms that the nature of the link between consciousness and the physical body is the same.
“This ability is like the other characteristics in the human psyche, such as the ability to dream and learn, telepathy or moving things through mental focus, supersensitive cognition and many responsibilities that can be developed through a special sport, or come as a talent whose owner has nothing to do with its existence”, says Edgar Cayce[3], who believes it is an innate possibility of human death.
During the experience, one imagines that what is happening to him is the death he always feared and there is no way back to life again. But some patients see what is happening as reality: they believe that this stage is the first premise to death, as this happened to many patients who were not religious or not believers in the existence of another world or another life after death. They converted to religious people working for God and stripped of many worldly things becoming Spiritualists, aware of their moral existence.
These human experiences confirm that the human being consists of both: a body and a soul, and that it is a being that transcends its mortal body. Its immersion in the concerns of the living however refers to that mistaken illusion that it is the body that appears to people is his essence, but those who have experienced approaching death believe in their supreme essence and that they are waiting for the day when they regain their spiritual purity.
Many philosophers and thinkers believed in such a vision and are sure that their apparent body contains what is superior to flesh and bone. The prevailing view agreed upon by all researchers who believe in near-death experiences is that: we all enter a world of human consciousness after we leave the physical world in the event of death, which can be likened to the dream state in which we move to another world in which the laws of our natural world do not apply.
The Qur’an doesn’t explicitly mention Near Death Experiences (NDEs) as we understand them today. However, it does address themes related to death, the soul, and the afterlife, which can be connected to the concept of NDEs.
For instance, the Qur’an states:
“Every soul shall taste death. And only on the Day of Judgment will you be paid your full recompense. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.” (Qur’an 3:185)
This verse emphasizes the inevitability of death and the reality of the afterlife, which aligns with the trans formative experiences reported by those who have had NDEs[4].
Additionally, Islamic teachings describe the moments of death and the transition to the afterlife. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) narrated what believers and non-believers will experience at the time of death, including the presence of angels and the soul’s journey.
NDEs often involve out-of-body experiences, encounters with spiritual beings, and a sense of moving towards a light, which can be seen as glimpses of the afterlife described in Islamic texts[5].
-------------------
[1] . Nancy Evans Bush, MA and Bruce Greyson, MD; Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics; Missouri Medicine Journal, Nov-Dec 2014.
[2] . Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] . Edgar Cayce (18 March 1877 – 3 January 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to channel from his higher self while asleep in a trance-like state.
[4] . https://biblequran.org/near-death-experience-in-quran/.
[5] . https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues...c-perspective/.
The NDE begins with the dying person's consciousness exiting his body, allowing him to see his body laid on his deathbed, surrounded by loved ones and relatives who are crying for his separation. The dying befuddles their grief because he believes he is in the best possible state; then he begins to pass through a tunnel, at the end of which he sees a bright light: he imagines he is on his way to paradise, but he actually meets his loved ones who have already died; this increases his desire to stay in this new place. Soon after, he hears the voice of a loved one who has died asking him to return to his natural body because the hour of his death has not yet arrived and he has many tasks (in his life) to complete first. He then comes back to consciousness.
Over the past four decades, the vast majority of near-death experiences (NDEs) that have been publicly reported have been positive, sometimes even glorious. The sobering fact that not all NDEs are as affirming has gone largely unnoticed in the euphoria surrounding them: Some are extremely upsetting.
The research on this topic is challenging because some people who have had such an experience vanish when questioned.
Nevertheless, three different types of distressing NDE—inverse, void, and hellish—have been documented. These terrifying encounters include visits to hell, conversations with demonic beings, and perhaps even torture and suffering. Another set of tests is characterized by loneliness and deep depression.[1]
Even though some experiences may be unusual, nine out of ten people in an American survey by George Gallup admitted to passing through one of these tunnels.
The experiences of approaching death are essentially the same across peoples, civilizations, and races despite differences in culture, religion, and geographic location. This suggests that the nature of the relationship between the soul and the body in humans and its laws are universal across all peoples, races, and civilizations.
Dr. Pim van Lommel[2] described the NDEs as follows: "Some people who survived a life-threatening crisis reported an extraordinary experience of near-death, and the number of such experiences increases as recovery techniques progress," What these experiences have involved and how they have affected patients appear to be universal across all continents, cultures, and eras. Despite the terminology used to describe and translate these experiences, which may be religious in nature, they are objective in nature and lack an image that refers to a state of individual culture.
These experiences can be defined as a memory report on full impressions during a state of consciousness, including several common elements among people who have met these experiences. This memory report includes common feelings between almost all experienced people such as the experience of out-of-body emergence, feelings of joy, vision of the tunnel and light, meeting dead relatives, or reviewing the previous life.
“I have described many cases in which these trials occurred, such as cardiac arrest, clinical death and fainting after the loss of a large amount of blood or harm during brain surgery, brain bleeding, drowning and asphyxiation, as well as in a number of serious diseases that did not end in complete brain death." Writes Dr. Lommel.
Near-death experiences confirm that they are a type of susceptibility found in the human psyche, which can occur in special circumstances as a function of the brain, and cannot be considered as the result of dysfunction but reflects the one nature of death that occurs in the brain in all human beings, regardless of their religions, races and cultures, and also confirms that the nature of the link between consciousness and the physical body is the same.
“This ability is like the other characteristics in the human psyche, such as the ability to dream and learn, telepathy or moving things through mental focus, supersensitive cognition and many responsibilities that can be developed through a special sport, or come as a talent whose owner has nothing to do with its existence”, says Edgar Cayce[3], who believes it is an innate possibility of human death.
During the experience, one imagines that what is happening to him is the death he always feared and there is no way back to life again. But some patients see what is happening as reality: they believe that this stage is the first premise to death, as this happened to many patients who were not religious or not believers in the existence of another world or another life after death. They converted to religious people working for God and stripped of many worldly things becoming Spiritualists, aware of their moral existence.
These human experiences confirm that the human being consists of both: a body and a soul, and that it is a being that transcends its mortal body. Its immersion in the concerns of the living however refers to that mistaken illusion that it is the body that appears to people is his essence, but those who have experienced approaching death believe in their supreme essence and that they are waiting for the day when they regain their spiritual purity.
Many philosophers and thinkers believed in such a vision and are sure that their apparent body contains what is superior to flesh and bone. The prevailing view agreed upon by all researchers who believe in near-death experiences is that: we all enter a world of human consciousness after we leave the physical world in the event of death, which can be likened to the dream state in which we move to another world in which the laws of our natural world do not apply.
The Qur’an doesn’t explicitly mention Near Death Experiences (NDEs) as we understand them today. However, it does address themes related to death, the soul, and the afterlife, which can be connected to the concept of NDEs.
For instance, the Qur’an states:
“Every soul shall taste death. And only on the Day of Judgment will you be paid your full recompense. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.” (Qur’an 3:185)
This verse emphasizes the inevitability of death and the reality of the afterlife, which aligns with the trans formative experiences reported by those who have had NDEs[4].
Additionally, Islamic teachings describe the moments of death and the transition to the afterlife. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) narrated what believers and non-believers will experience at the time of death, including the presence of angels and the soul’s journey.
NDEs often involve out-of-body experiences, encounters with spiritual beings, and a sense of moving towards a light, which can be seen as glimpses of the afterlife described in Islamic texts[5].
-------------------
[1] . Nancy Evans Bush, MA and Bruce Greyson, MD; Distressing Near-Death Experiences: The Basics; Missouri Medicine Journal, Nov-Dec 2014.
[2] . Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[3] . Edgar Cayce (18 March 1877 – 3 January 1945) was an American clairvoyant who claimed to channel from his higher self while asleep in a trance-like state.
[4] . https://biblequran.org/near-death-experience-in-quran/.
[5] . https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues...c-perspective/.
