Afterpants: Nether Regions Pt.3 (Alam al Jabarut)

Next on the list is a place called "Alam al Jabarut."

This is apparently the 'highest realm' of Islamic folklore. However it is normally referred to by Sufi practitioners. Why? well, if you know anything about Sufi belief, you'll know that they tend to be considerably more mystical in their practices.

The more conservative Muslims view Sufi as something of a cult as they also practice pietism (saint veneration)

The three realms acknowledged by this system are Jabarut, Malakut and Al Mulk.

Angelic, Dominionative and Earthly realms respectively.

The angelic realm governs Malakut and it, in turn governs Al Mulk.

I'm actually more interested in Malakut but that will be another entry.

If you're looking for more detailed info, you can go here or here

I like this representation because it seems to indicate that "the stairs go down."

(ref: Ancient Egypt)

Jabarut appears to correlate to the Hebrew concept of Beri'ah; the 2nd of the 4 celestial worlds in Kabbalistic traditions. (Again, there is always some debate amoung Jewish and Islamic scholars as to the nature, placement or even existence of these 'otherworlds.'

Another interesting point is that Jabarut is considered by some to be a creation/manifestation of the al-Insān al-Kāmil (the perfect, first spirit of Adam)

(If that's too complex a concept, you can refer to the Hindu ideal of the Atman or the Buddhist concept of Adi-Buddha)

As in many spiritual ideals, Jabarat is not considered a place of the dead. Many belief systems hold that dead spirits (formally humans) have a seperate place to go rather than the home of gods or other 'higher' beings. In this case Jannah or Jahannam (Heaven and Hell respectively) But some believe that Jannah is, in fact, a part of this realm.

I couldn't find a solid answer as to whether or not Allah is considered to reside in Jabarat

as the general belief is that this particular god is everywhere and everything so...

probably doesn't have a nice cottage there or anything.

Overall, I like the '3 realm' concept of the reality of existence (available in many religious systems) and Jabarat seems to go nicely within this context. Afterpants gives Jabarat a solid 3 out of 5 Hellbriefs!