Belief in the Last Day (3/3)

As Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created the heavens and the earth, with their greatness and vastness, He (Noble and Sublime) is Able to bring man to life after his death, since the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater and more glorious than the creation of a meager human being.

We mentioned that, from belief in the Last Day is that we believe in the torment of the grave and its delights. In other words, man lives another type of life in his grave, but we have no knowledge of what it is like. It is the life of the Barzakh, the Partition between Life and Death. During this life of the Barzakh, inside the grave, a person will either experience joy and delight, because he was a good, believing Muslim, or he will be tormented because he was a disbeliever, idol worshipper, atheist, or disobedient evil-doer.    

A disingenuous denier might argue that there is no torment in the grave because he can see neither torment nor delight if the grave is left open so one can see the person buried there, and because two or three or more people might be buried in a common grave (when necessary) though some of them might be obedient Muslims and others sinners and disbelievers, so how would the sinner be tormented right beside the righteous person who would be harmed by the sinner's punishment? How could the righteous person be rewarded right beside the sinner when some of that reward could affect him?

To refute this misconception, we say:

First of all, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is Able to do anything, as we have established, and as we have shown in the Supreme Attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His Absolute Power.

As such, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has the Power to conceal from human eyes that which takes place inside the grave beyond the Barzakh, in terms of the questioning of the two angels and the torment or delight, even if the grave was left open for all to see, in fact, even if the person was not even buried at all.    

Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has the Power to punish the disobedient or to reward the righteous without the sinner sharing in the reward of the righteous or the righteous being harmed by the punishment of the sinner, even if they were both buried in the same grave.    

To prove this logically:

If two men are sleeping, and one's bed is next to the other's, one of them could have a dream that frightens and harms him to the extent that, at times, he wishes he could rise from his sleep from how bad the dream is, but he cannot wake up.    

While the other man might see a good vision which brings him good news that cheers him up and makes him so happy that he wishes the dream would last forever and he would never have to wake up.    

So, we say: Even though both men are sleeping before our eyes, very close to us, we are not able to see what is happening to either of them. So should we deny anything they tell us about what happened while they were sleeping?    

Of course not.    

Even though the two men's beds were near each other, side-by-side, neither of their dreams got mixed up with the other. So, if this is how it is in the life of this world, then how will it be in the life beyond the Barzakh and in the Afterlife, after the resurrection and judgment, which will both be of another sort, with other measurements and standards, different than what we find now in the life of this world?    

That is why we are obliged to believe in everything we have been told by the prophets and messengers, and why we must submit and be certain of everything they came with.