The Hereafter (1/2)

"Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record all that they send before and that they leave behind, and We have taken account of all things in a clear Book (of evidence)." (Surah Ya-Sin, 36:12)

"And to every soul will be paid in full (the fruit) of its deeds, and He knows best all that they do." (Surah Az-Zumar, 39:70)

Belief in the hereafter— what pertains to the day of judgment, bodily resurrection, and heaven and hell— is another basic article of faith in Islam.

As we have already seen, Islam asserts that the present life is but a minute part of the totality of existence. The Qur’an informs the human being of the reality of another life of a very different nature from the life of this world, of infinite duration. For God, the All-Wise, All-Powerful Creator, is able to do anything He pleases. He is easily able to transform His creations from one state of being to another. Can we for a moment imagine that it can be more difficult for Almighty God to raise us up when we are dead than it was to create us in the first place? The Qur’an speaks again and again of familiar and obvious examples of such transformations: the coming to life again of the earth after it lies dead and barren in the grip of winter or drought: the development of a sperm and an ovum into an embryo in the environment of the mother's womb, and its further development from that state into a thinking, feeling, acting human being living in the world.

"And among His signs is this: You see the earth barren and desolate, but when We send down rain to it, it is stirred to life and yields increase. Verily, He Who gives life to the dead earth can surely give life to the dead. Lo! He has power over all things." (Surah Fussilat, 41:39)

"O mankind! If you are in doubt concerning the resurrection, then, verily, We created you from dust, then from a drop, then from a clot, then from a lump of flesh (both) shaped and shapeless, that We may make it clear for you. And We cause what We will to remain in the wombs for an appointed time, and afterwards We bring you forth as infants: then you attain your full strength. And among you there is he who dies (young) and among you there is he who is brought back to the most abject time of life so that, after knowledge, he knows nothing. And you see the earth barren, but when We send down water on it, it thrills and swells and puts forth every lovely kind (of growth). That is because God is the Reality, and it is He Who gives life to the dead, and it is He Who has power over all things, and because the Hour (of Judgment) will come concerning which there is no doubt, and because God will raise those who are in the graves." (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:5-7)

"Does not the human being see that it is We Who created him from sperm? Yet behold, he is an open adversary. And he makes comparisons for Us, and forgets his own creation. He says: 'Who can give life to bones wiser they are decomposed?' Say: 'He will give them life Who created them the first time, for He knows about every kind of creating.'" (Surah Ya-Sin, 36:77-79)

"Then how can you reject faith in God, seeing that you were without life and He gave you life; then He will cause you to die and will bring you to life again, and again, to Him will you return." (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:28)

As we have seen, Islam lays the greatest stress on the individual's accountability to God. The human being's life in this world constitutes a trial, an examination period, during which he prepares himself, either for good or for ill, for the next life of infinite duration. The day of judgment may be compared to the ending of the examination, during which the Teacher will ask each individual student, "What were you doing during the exam?" and will then evaluate the work he hands in. For although the human body dies, his soul, his personality has an existence extending beyond the present life: it is a continuous entity whose inner state will accompany it into the hereafter. It is this state, together with one's deeds, which will determine one's ultimate destiny.

It is obvious that an individual who has lived with the correct awareness of and relationship to Reality through submission to God Most High is in an entirely different inner state from one who has lived all his life with an incorrect or distorted awareness of Reality and in forgetfulness, rebellion and ingratitude vis-à-vis God, and who has died in this state. Moreover, although many of the deeds of such people may appear outwardly similar, they have been motivated by entirely different intentions: the one to obey and please God and the other for any reason other than pleasing God, Whose reality he does not acknowledge. Indeed, the differences between the inner states of such persons is so great that their being kept apart from one another, in entirely different environments corresponding to what is within them and among companions having a similar inner condition, is a requirement of the most rudimentary conception of justice, not to speak of the absolute, unswerving justice of the All-Knowing, All-Wise, Infinitely Just and at the same time Most Merciful God.

(Continued)