Discover the meaning of the term Al-mwt (موت) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readAn existential attribute created the opposite of life; and in the usage of the people of the True: the crushing of the soul's desire: whoever dies to his desire lives by His guidance.
The opposite of life; one says 'mata yamutu' (he dies), and he is mayyit and mayt; a people 'mawta', 'amwat' and 'maytun'; the root of mayt is 'maywit' upon fa'il, then it was contracted, then lightened, and it is alike for masculine and feminine; the Most High said: 'that We may revive thereby a dead land' (al-Furqan, 49), and He did not say 'mayyita'; thus in al-Sihah.
An existential attribute, as His word, the Most High, indicates: 'He created death and life'; and it is the opposite of life. It is said: a non-existential attribute, which is life's absence from what may by nature be living, between them being the opposition of nonexistence and attribute; the meaning of His word, the Most High, 'He created death,' is: He decreed its measure. And in the terminology of the masters of the path, death is the crushing of the soul's desire: whoever dies to his desire has lived by His guidance.
The soul's parting from the body; one says 'mata al-insanu yamutu wa yamatu' (with fatha of the ya and lightening of the mim), and he is mayyit and mayt (with sukun).
'Amata Allahu fulanan': Allah made him die. Al-mamat: death. In the mighty revelation: 'Or do those who commit evils think We will make them like those who believed and did righteous deeds, equal in their life and their death? Evil is what they judge' (al-Jathiya, 21), that is: do they think We shall make them in the hereafter in good like the believers? Evil is their judgment.
﴿أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَـٰتٌۭ وَرَعْدٌۭ وَبَرْقٌۭ يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَـٰبِعَهُمْ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِم مِّنَ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقِ حَذَرَ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ مُحِيطٌۢ بِٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ﴾
« Or [it is] like a rainstorm from the sky within which is darkness, thunder and lightning. They put their fingers in their ears against the thunderclaps in dread of death. But Allah is encompassing of the disbelievers. »
Surah البقرة : 19
﴿ثُمَّ بَعَثْنَـٰكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ مَوْتِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ﴾
« Then We revived you after your death that perhaps you would be grateful. »
Surah البقرة : 56
﴿فَقُلْنَا ٱضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يُحْىِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ وَيُرِيكُمْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ﴾
« So, We said, "Strike the slain man with part of it." Thus does Allah bring the dead to life, and He shows you His signs that you might reason. »
Surah البقرة : 73
﴿قُلْ إِن كَانَتْ لَكُمُ ٱلدَّارُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ خَالِصَةًۭ مِّن دُونِ ٱلنَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا۟ ٱلْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ﴾
« Say, [O Muhammad], "If the home of the Hereafter with Allah is for you alone and not the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful. »
Surah البقرة : 94
﴿أَمْ كُنتُمْ شُهَدَآءَ إِذْ حَضَرَ يَعْقُوبَ ٱلْمَوْتُ إِذْ قَالَ لِبَنِيهِ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنۢ بَعْدِى قَالُوا۟ نَعْبُدُ إِلَـٰهَكَ وَإِلَـٰهَ ءَابَآئِكَ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمَ وَإِسْمَـٰعِيلَ وَإِسْحَـٰقَ إِلَـٰهًۭا وَٰحِدًۭا وَنَحْنُ لَهُۥ مُسْلِمُونَ﴾
« Or were you witnesses when death approached Jacob, when he said to his sons, "What will you worship after me?" They said, "We will worship your God and the God of your fathers, Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac - one God. And we are Muslims [in submission] to Him." »
Surah البقرة : 133
﴿إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلَـٰفِ ٱلَّيْلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلَّتِى تَجْرِى فِى ٱلْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ وَمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مِن مَّآءٍۢ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍۢ وَتَصْرِيفِ ٱلرِّيَـٰحِ وَٱلسَّحَابِ ٱلْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ لَـَٔايَـٰتٍۢ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يَعْقِلُونَ﴾
« Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, and the [great] ships which sail through the sea with that which benefits people, and what Allah has sent down from the heavens of rain, giving life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and dispersing therein every [kind of] moving creature, and [His] directing of the winds and the clouds controlled between the heaven and the earth are signs for a people who use reason. »
Surah البقرة : 164
This term appears in 65 verses of the Quran.