Imam Al Haddad in The Lives of Man: The Road Every Soul Must Walk
- Mariam Arfan
- Jun 14
- 7 min read
Introduction:
We have roughly 25,000 days in a lifetime. Most of us will spend the majority of them distracted, deluded by the allusions of this temporary Dunya, and convinced that the serious part of life starts tomorrow. We keep telling ourselves we will lock in and get serious later; later, we will start praying five times a day, later we will be better. But later isn’t guaranteed. It is merely an assumption. And it may be by far one of the most dangerous assumptions man has made.
The Lives of Man by Imam al-Haddad is a profound book that dismantles that assumption. It is a short work, but do not let its size fool you. Shaykh Abdul Hakim Murad writes in the editor’s preface that one cannot read it casually: to open to any page, even at random, is to have one’s attention caught and heart engaged.
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The Five Lives:
Imam Al Haddad mentions the five lives in chronological order. The first life has already occurred as life before conception, as mentioned in the Quran [7:172], which describes how the souls of all mankind were taken forth from Adam's loins and made to declare their faith in the Divine Unity. That memory, preserved in the embryonic human consciousness, fades before birth.
The second life is our sheer existence in the Dunya, that short interval of time with which we are most familiar. The author explains that within this period, life divides itself into five stages: childhood, youth, maturity, seniority, and decrepitude. Each carries its own distinct spiritual requirements and abilities.
The third life begins at the moment of death, when man enters the Barzakh, the intermediate realm which separates the Dunya from the events of the Judgement.
The fourth life takes us through the events of the Judgement itself: the Trumpet-Blast, the Gathering, the Bridge, the Balance, and the Intercession of the Messenger ﷺ.
And finally, the fifth life, the everlasting abode. Either the uproar of the Fire, or the perfection of Paradise. Of all five, it is the second, our existence in this Dunya, that I found most sobering. And not just because it is the one we are living in right now, but because it is the only one in which we can still do something about what comes next.
The Dunya:
It begins before we even have a say. The soul enters the womb, and the journey starts. There is something beautiful about the fact that Imam al-Haddad includes this phrase at all. It reminds us that our existence did not begin at birth. We were created, placed, and sent with a purpose before we could even articulate one.
Then comes childhood. A time of innocence, of formation, of learning what the world is. The child absorbs everything: the values instilled at home, the habits formed early. This is the time when it is the duty of both parents to raise the child well and protect the child from evil.
Afterwards, it is the youth, which is the peak because we have exuberant energy; however, it is also a precarious stage for us, due to excessive attachment to worldly material. It is unusual to find one in their youth who has engrossed themselves, locked in for the Akirah. Imam al-Haddad says:
“Youth is the time when acquiring merit, knowledge, and attaining positions of religious leadership and eminence are possible.”
The pious predecessors who lived their whole lives devoted to God said,
"Use your youth before you become like us: old, feeble, and too weak to perform many acts of goodness."
Then a young person reaches the “Age of Maturity”; at this age, one may expect to attain wisdom. Some have also stated, “Whoever reaches 40 without the goodness in him having become dominant over his evil should prepare himself for the Fire. Some hold the view that it is the age of 60. Regardless of our age, we all need to lock in and prepare for the hereafter. When Imam Shafi reached forty, he began to walk with a staff, and when questioned about it, he used to say:
"To remind myself that I am a traveller”. (p24)
We move on to seniority. At this time, the early signs of weakness begin to appear, such as the diminishment of strength, and the period from sixty to seventy is that which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called “the battle of deaths”. In this period, people's predominant state is to turn to Allah. At this age, white hair usually appears, and this is a reminder that one's time is ending soon.
After seventy and onward is when people become weak in all their senses, limbs, and faculties, says Imam Ibn al-Jawzi. This period is when death from a common fatal illness occurs. Remembering death often has benefits, such as losing desire for it and being content with a little of it.
The Intermediate Realm:
The Intermediate Realm is the abode where we leave this world at death until the moment we rise from the grave by the blowing of the horn. After one leaves this Dunya, they should be prepared for the grave, i.e. washed over and prayed over. It is recommended that the people who have died be taken to their graves quickly. After he is laid out in the grave, as mentioned in the hadith, the deceased will be asked three questions by Munkir and Nakir. For those who did well in this world and strived for the hereafter, they will be given glad tidings by the angels, and their graves will be spacious.
As for the ones who did not obey Allah in this world, for them, when they are questioned, they will be confused and hesitate, just as in Dunya they were neglectful of God’s commands. For such a person, the grave will tighten and be surrounded by torture. It is mentioned in the hadith:
“The grave is either one of the Garden's Meadow or one of the Fire’s pits”.
It is up to us how we spend our time on the Dunya; that will be our result in the grave.
Judgment Day:
The fourth life begins the moment one rises from their grave until mankind either enters Paradise or Fire. This is the day everything in Dunya was pointing toward.
On this day, the sun will draw so close that it is roughly a mile above people's heads. People will be thirsty and afflicted with hardship, unlike anything they have ever experienced. Every single person will stand at the mawqif, the standing place, and our feet will not move from there until we are questioned about four things: our youth and how we spent it, our life and how we used it, our wealth and how we earned it and how we spent it.
Then comes the Mizan, where every good and evil deed will be weighed. Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is lost. For those who strived in this life, their deeds will bring them comfort, and for those who were heedless, it will be a different experience entirely.
Following is the Sirat, the bridge stretched across Hell. It is sharper than a sword and narrower than a hair. People will cross it according to the weight of their deeds. For those who make it across, they will reach the Hawd, the lake of the Prophet ﷺ. Its water is whiter than milk, more fragrant than musk, and sweeter than honey. Whoever drinks from it will never feel thirst again.
The prophets, the scholars, the righteous, and the believers will all intercede on that day. But the first to be permitted to intercede will be the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and since he holds the greatest rank among all the prophets, his intercession is the greatest.
The Fire and the Garden:
The final and last stage spans from the time either the people enter the fire or the garden, and continues for eternity. Beginning with the first, some believers will first go through it and then get to the garden. There are various hadiths that have been mentioned in this book regarding the intensity of the fire. There are seven layers of the fire, each filled with excruciating pain. The first is called Jahannam; this is for those who were among the people of Tawhid but were sinners. Second is Saqar, then third is Laza, the fourth is Al-Hutama, the fifth is Al-Sair, the sixth is Jahim, and the seventh is Al-Hawiya. May Allah protect us all from the fire.
The garden is the place for Muslims, such a place which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has imagined. There will be rivers flowing with milk, honey, wine, and clear honey. They will be wearing amulets of gold and pearls. The people of the garden will always be at peace and never fall ill, nor will they ever grow old or die. There is a river in the garden mentioned in a Hadith by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, on which birds have necks like the necks of camels. May Allah make us among the people of the garden.
Conclusion:
The five lives that Imam al-Haddad outlines are not abstract theology. They are the road every single one of us is walking, whether we are aware of it or not. The first life has already passed. The third, fourth, and fifth are already waiting. All we have is this one, the Dunya, and it is moving faster than we realise.
Imam al-Haddad did not write this book to overwhelm us. He wrote it so that we would wake up. So that we would take this life seriously, not out of fear, but out of understanding. Because the one who truly grasps where this road leads do not waste time. They move with purpose. They remember what they promised before they were even born.
The road every soul must walk is already laid out. The only question is what kind of traveller you choose to be.
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