99 names

I'm designing a setting in the Aston (Birmingham), and finding myself enamoured of making a major power in the area the 99 names - a Tier 2 group consisting of about 60 members (but they're working on it). As is probably obvious from the name, they're a muslim group and they take titles based on the 99 most beautiful names - so they style themselves Abdurrahman, Abdurrahim, Abdulmalik etc. and tend to view their geister as Malaekah (angels).

I like the basic idea, but I don't really have a great grasp of islamic cosmology, and I'm not sure if I can give it enough of a deathly slant. Can anyone give me a hand?

Well, what are you looking for?

If I recall correctly (And if I am off on some things, I hope no one of the Islamic Faith will take offense), there seem to be three places that the dead go.  Jannah, which is the Muslim Paradise, is reserved for the devout, and is a beautiful garden.  Jahannam, on the other hand, is the Muslim Hell.  If I recall correctly, there is a third afterlife, reserved for those who were good and decent (And Monotheistic), but did not practice Muslim ways.

Like most world-views on Death, it is pretty easily adapted to Geist.  Of course, all religions are somewhat wrong, in the notion that many beleive that beleif in their religion is a free pass to the Beyond.  If there is a Jannah, no one is quite sure how to get in--Surely, there are good faithful Muslims who linger as ghosts, unable to pass on, just like there are Christians, Buddhists, etc.  The terrible Jahhannam could be the Underworld, or perhaps a different Beyond that represents torment.  The third realm, the realm of cleansing that seems similar to Purgatory and Limbo, could be Twilight or the Underworld, a longering existence but still capable of allowing the dead to move on to Jannah if they change their ways and learn how to let go of Earth and its desires.

Well we actually believe the same things that Jews and Christians do if that gives you any help. To add on to what Cleverest of Things said we have Paradise (called Jannah in Arabic) and Hell (called Jahannam). However the difference here is that we don't have purgatory as such. All souls will ultimately wind up in one or the other.

Thats the key part though. WILL. As per the Qur'an we believe that souls are in a sort of sleep called barzakh and will remain that way until Youm al-Qiyamah - the Day of Judgement - when God will awaken all souls and judge them. This might be bigger for us than for Sunnis. The important thing is that non-Muslims - especially Jews and Christians - can wind up going to Jannah. We believe God is merciful and judges each person based on their life and merits not necessarily their faith.

Jahannam IS a place of suffering and repentence though and most of that suffering comes from being seperated from God. In this it is much more like Purgatory. Especially since we don't believe Hell to be permanent either. Those who believe in God and repent their sins will eventually be allowed clemency because God is merciful. So pretty much the only people who would stay in Jahannam for eternity are those who commit shirk.

We do have different layers of both Jahannam and Jannah as well. Sufi cosmology gets even more elaborate and convuloted because it talks about the idea of a sort of unity with God and various metaphysical places like Jebel Qaf. As you probably know Islam is very big on spirituality. Part of our beliefs include the various Angels and Djinn. I'm not sure what else to add here. I mean our cosmology is so similar to Judaism and Christianity that theres not much to add that you probably don't know or couldn't guess. We (Ithna'ashari Shi'ites) do have a little more elaborate focus on Youm al-Qiyamah but thats easy enough to read about.

I'm sure you are aware of this but the 99 names of God are just that - titles or descriptive elements - not personal names of God nor are they individual beings. We Muslims are very big on monotheism and anything that seems polytheistic is avoided. And to dispell another common western myth Allah is not a personal name it is just the Arabic word for God. Thats why many Muslim groups in the western translate it as God and conversely why Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use Allah too (and I actually have a Bible I bought in Egypt that does use that term).

One more thing I MIGHT add though is that Islam doesn't exist in a vacuum. In other words no matter how much you try and focus on religion you've got to take into account culture too. Arab Persian and South Asian cultures all have certain folk lore and beliefs that aren't neccessarily "Muslim" but are part of our culture anyway.

Zakariya, I really enjoy readings your posts. While Im not muslim, I do love the religion (having studied it at university) and the history of Islam.
:-)

jburgos:

Zakariya, I really enjoy readings your posts. While Im not muslim, I do love the religion (having studied it at university) and the history of Islam.
:-)

I agree.  While I;m not a big fan of organized religions or extra laws to follow, I always thought that the Muslim faith carried a few pretty big "updates" for the Judeo-Christian religion.  They aren't duped into beleiving some of the things that the priesthood of Christianity made up--The Fall of Satan as a war in Heaven, the Rapture, Heaven or Hell before Judgement day, the true identity of Nuh (The name is closer to the original, Utnapishtim), the natures of Heaven and Hell, etc.  I always thought of Hell as more of a cleansing place than a punishment place.

In this case, its even easier to apply the faith to a Krewe.  Since Jahhanam can be escaped through time and effort to cleanse yourself and live a good life (or afterlife, in the case of the already dead), it would make a good Underworld.  Meanwhile, you can use Jannah as the mysterious Beyond.

Plus, the Djinn leave a lot of room for Spirits, Fae, and Astral entitites that are distinct from Angels and Demons.

Zakariya Bey:

non-Muslims - especially Jews and Christians - can wind up going to Jannah...

...

Zakariya Bey:

So pretty much the only people who would stay in Jahannam for eternity are those who commit shirk.

Surely trinitarianism is shirk though?

Zakariya Bey:

I'm sure you are aware of this but the 99 names of God are just that - titles or descriptive elements - not personal names of God nor are they individual beings.

Yeah... if you pick up on one thing about Islam it would probably be that it's pretty big on monotheism.

I have a fair amount of leeway to syncretise and generally mess about, but it'd be nice if there were any especially interesting things I could pick up on to mix in there. Munkar and Nakir seem like an interesting point to start with... Hmmm.

Zakariya Bey:

Arab Persian and South Asian cultures all have certain folk lore and beliefs that aren't neccessarily "Muslim" but are part of our culture anyway.

Presumably a lot of the folklore draws on muslim (or muslimised) themes though? Like the various histories of the saints and non-canon mythologies that spring up around Christianity/get Christianised (particularly amusing is the total christianisation of the entire irish and welsh pantheons).

Anyway, thanks for your help! I'll have a poke at the eschatology especially. Honestly, it's a very underworldy game, but I want a good solid setting for them to run into if they end up turning to the other Sin-Eaters for help.