Life After Death Sir James Jeans once observed that the Creator of the universe must have possessed a mathematical mind. Here, I must add that the very meaningfulness of the universe is a proof that its Creator must have had a deep sense of purpose. Such a purposeful Creator could not have created a world, which was imperfect—and therefore meaningless—if this objective was to be fulfilled. Yet despite all its meaningfulness, our world in its present state is incomplete. It requires the existence of another world for its completion. It is such a world that all the prophets have called the world of the Hereafter. This world of the Hereafter is not just a matter of dogma. It is an entirely scientific fact. Scientific Proof First of all, we must define what is scientific proof? According to modern science, scientific proof does not mean that there can be any degree of absolute certainty about whatever is to be proved. This kind of undeniable certainty is not possible. According to the modern scientific stand, when we say that something has been scientifically proved, this statement only means that its probability has been established. In modern science, concepts that are presented as established facts are generally accepted only because their probability has been established, not because there is any definite knowledge of them acquired as a result of observing them. An example of this is the acceptance of the structure of the atom. We can, with confidence, apply the same scientific method to our belief in the world of the Hereafter. Indeed, employing any other method would not in principle be appropriate. And, from the scientific viewpoint, we cannot refuse to apply to the case of the world Hereafter, a method that we hold valid in most scientific matters. As we know, the steps to a scientific inquiry include —hypothesis, observation and verification. If we apply this three-point formula to the world Hereafter, we can certainly arrive at an understanding of its probability. And as we know, probability is another word for certainty. Out of all God’s creatures, man, who is unlike any of His other creatures, is the only one who has the greatest need for certainty, for he must know what lies ahead of him. No other created entity, whether animate or inanimate, possesses such a concept of “tomorrow.” It is a well-acknowledged fact that the destination of all creatures, save man, is simply that of ‘today’, while man’s destination pertains to ‘tomorrow’. Reasons To Believe Life After Death and Day Of Judgement .!!! The question whether there is a life after death does not fall under the jurisdiction of science, as science is concerned only with classification and analysis of data. Moreover, man has been busy with scientific inquiries and research, in the modern sense of the term, only for the last few centuries, while he has been familiar with the concept of life after death since times immemorial. All the prophets of God called their people to worship God and to believe in life after death. They laid so much emphasis on the belief in life after death that even a slight doubt in it meant denying God and made all other beliefs meaningless. The very fact that all the prophets of God have dealt with this metaphysical question of life after death so confidently and so uniformly - the gap between their ages being thousands of years - goes to prove that the source of their knowledge of life after death as proclaimed by them all, was the same, i.e., Divine revelation. We also know that these prophets of God were greatly opposed by their people, mainly on the issue of life after death, as their people thought it impossible. But in spite of opposition, the prophets won many sincere followers. The question arises: what made those followers forsake the established beliefs, traditions and customs of their forefathers, notwithstanding the risk of being totally alienated from their own community? The simple answer is: they made use of their faculties of mind and heart and realized the truth. Did they realize the truth through perceptual consciousness? Not so, as perceptual experience of life after death is impossible. Actually, God has given man, besides perceptual consciousness, rational, aesthetic and moral consciousness too. It is this consciousness that guides man regarding realities that cannot be verified through sensory data. That is why all the prophets of God while calling people to believe in God and life after death, appeal to the aesthetic, moral and rational consciousness of man. For example, when the idolaters of Makkah denied even the possibility of life after death, the Quran exposed the weakness of their stand by advancing very logical and rational arguments in support of it: And he has coined for us a similitude, and has forgotten the fact of his creation, saying: who will revive these bones when they have rotted away? Say: He will revive them Who produced them at first, for He is the Knower of every creation, Who has appointed for you fire from the green tree, and behold! you kindle from it. Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth, able to create the like of them? Yes, and He is indeed the Supreme Creator, the All-Knowing. (Holy Quran 36:78-81) At another occasion, the Quran very clearly says that the disbelievers have no sound basis for their denial of life after death. It is based on pure conjecture: They say, There is nothing but our present life; we die, and we live, and nothing but Time destroys us. Of that they have no knowledge; they merely conjecture. And when our revelations are recited to them, their only argument is that they say, Bring us our fathers, if you speak truly. (Holy Quran 45:24-25) Surely God will raise all the dead. But God has His own plan of things. A day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and then again the dead will be resurrected to stand before God. That day will be the beginning of the life that will never end, and that Day every person will be rewarded by God according to his or her good or evil deed. The explanation that the Quran gives about the necessity of life after death is what the moral consciousness of man demands. Actually, if there is no life after death, the very belief in God becomes irrelevant, or even if one believes in God, that would be an unjust and indifferent God: having once created man and not concerned with his fate. Surely, God is just. He will punish the tyrants whose crimes are beyond count: having killed hundreds of innocent persons, created great corruptions in the society, enslaved numerous persons to serve their whims, etc. Mans having a very short span of life in this world, and this physical worlds too being not eternal, punishments or rewards equal to the evil or noble deeds of persons are not possible here. The Quran very emphatically states that the Day of Judgment must come and God will decide about the fate of each soul according to his or her record of deeds: Those who disbelieve say: The Hour will never come unto us. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but it is coming unto you surely. (He is) the Knower of the Unseen. Not an atoms weight, or less than that or greater, escapes Him in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Record. That He may reward those who believe and do good words. For them is pardon and a rich provision. But those who strive against our revelations, challenging (Us), theirs will be a painful doom of wrath. (Holy Quran 34:3-5) The Day of Resurrection will be the Day when Gods attributes of Justice and Mercy will be in full manifestation. God will shower His Mercy on those who suffered for His sake in the worldly life, believing that an eternal bliss was awaiting them. But those who abused the bounties of God, caring nothing for the life to come, will be in the most miserable state. Drawing a comparison between them, the Quran says: Is he, then, to whom We have promised a goodly promise the fulfillment of which he will meet, like the one whom We have provided with the good things of this life, and then on the Day of Resurrection he will be of those who will be brought arraigned before God? (28:61) The Quran also states that this worldly life is a preparation for the eternal life after death. But those who deny it become slaves of their passions and desires, make fun of virtuous and God-conscious persons. Such persons realize their folly only at the time of their death and wish to be given a further chance in the world but in vain. Their miserable state at the time of death, and the horror of the Day of Judgment, and the eternal bliss guaranteed to the sincere believers are very beautifully mentioned in the following verses of the Holy Quran: Until, when death comes unto one of them, he says, My Lord send me back, that I may do right in that which I have left behind! But nay! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a barrier until the day when they are raised. And when the Trumpet is blown there will be no kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another. Then those whose scales are heavy, they are successful. And those whose scales are light are those who lose their souls, in hell abiding, the fire burns their faces and they are glum therein. (Holy Quran 23:99-104) The belief in life after death not only guarantees success in the Hereafter but also makes this world full of peace and happiness by making individuals most responsible and dutiful in their activities. Think of the people of Arabia. Gambling, wine, tribal feuds, plundering and murdering were their main traits when they had no belief in life after death. But as soon as they accepted the belief in One God and life after death they became the most disciplined nation of the world. They gave up their vices, helped each other in hours of need, and settled all their disputes on the basis of justice and equality. Similarly the denial of life after death has its consequences not only in the Hereafter but also in this world. When a nation as a whole denies it, all kinds of evils and corruptions become rampant in that society and ultimately it is destroyed. The Quran mentions the terrible end of Aad, Thamud and the Pharaoh in some detail: (The tribes of) Thamud and Aad disbelieved in the judgment to come. As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the lightning, and as for Aad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind, which He imposed on them for seven long nights and eight long days so that you might see the people laid prostrate in it as if they were the stumps of fallen down palm trees. Now do you see remnant of them? Pharaoh likewise and those before him and the subverted cities. They committed errors and those before him, and they rebelled against the Messenger of their Lord, and He seized them with a surpassing grip. Lo, when the waters rose, We bore you in the running ship that We might make it a reminder for you and for heeding ears to hold. So when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast and the earth and the mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow, then on that day, the Terror shall come to pass, and the heaven shall be split for upon that day it will be very frail. Then as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he shall say, Here take and read my book! Certainly I thought I should encounter my reckoning. So he shall be in a pleasing life in a lofty garden, its clusters nigh to gather. Eat and drink with wholesome appetite for that you did long ago, in the days gone by. But as for him who is given his book in his left hand, he shall say: Would that I had not been given my book and not known my reckoning! Would that it had been the end! My wealth has not availed me, my authority is gone from me. (Holy Quran 69:4-29) Thus, there are very convincing reasons to believe in life after death. First, all the prophets of God have called their people to believe in it. Secondly, whenever a human society is built on the basis of this belief, it has been the most ideal and peaceful society, free of social and moral evils. Thirdly, history bears witness that whenever this belief is rejected collectively by a group of people in spite of the repeated warning of the Prophet, the group as a whole has been punished by God even in this world. Fourthly, moral, aesthetic and rational faculties of man endorse the possibility of life after death. Fifthly, Gods attributes of Justice and Mercy have no meaning if there is no life after death. THE CONCEPT OF DEATH AND ISLAM. This Article explains that death is a reality that every man faces – the fate of a king or a pauper is alike in this regard – all die. It must however be understood that death is not an end; it marks a new beginning of man’s eternal life. God created man as a perfectionist. He does not feel satisfied with anything less than perfect and therefore finding happiness seems forever impossible. Death reminds him that when God has made him a perfectionist, he must have made a perfect world as well. If man reflects on this seriously, he would not settle unless he finds the purpose of his life and what his Creator wants of him. Remembrance of death therefore course corrects man’s life and gives it right direction. If he does not remember death, man’s efforts and focus will be on the pre-death period even though it is only a fleeting phase in his eternal lifespan. The lesson: Death of a fellow human being is a reminder for all others. It conveys the reality of human life and the importance of assessing the purpose of human life before it comes to an end. In his pre-death period therefore, man must discover the truth, acknowledge God and adopt a God-oriented way of life. Death Death is such a reality which each man must face – the fate of a king or a pauper is alike in this regard – both die. According to the Quran Every human being is bound to taste death (Holy Quran 3:185) The term “taste” in this verse refers to experience. It is suggestive of the fact that every mortal has to necessarily experience death. Death is not an end, it marks a new beginning of an eternal life, and it is to acquaint man with this fact that God revealed the Quran. Unfortunately, though each person knows that he would die, no one thinks about it seriously. Doing so would be a life-altering experience! The incident of the famous American missionary, Billy Graham is very illustrative in this regard. He once received an urgent message from an American billionaire who wanted to meet him without a moment’s delay. On receiving this message, Billy Graham cancelled all his other appointments and immediately set out to meet this man. When he arrived at the billionaire’s palatial home, he was immediately taken to a private room, where the two men sat on chairs facing one another. Then, with great seriousness, the billionaire said to Billy Graham, “You see, I am an old man and life has lost all meaning for me. I am going to take a fateful leap into the unknown, young man can you give me a ray of hope?” An American billionaire is not the only person to be faced with this kind of desperation. Every individual, man or woman, born into this world, is faced with this question at one time or the other. The answer or the solace can come only from a staunch belief in the world of the Hereafter. If we do not believe in a world after death, then this most perplexing question will remain unanswered. According to the Creation Plan of God, man is an eternal creature. However, God has divided his life-span into two parts. A very tiny part of it has been placed in this world, while all of the remainder has been placed in the Hereafter. The present world is the world of action, while the world of the Hereafter is the place for reaping the harvest of actions. The present world is imperfect, but the world of the Hereafter is perfect in every respect. The Hereafter is a limitless world where all things have been provided in their ideal state. Every person is aware of this truth at the level of his nature, he does not acknowledge. I came to know about an Indian born, London-based, ultra-secular Muslim writer who is now very old and of ill health. His excessive drinking behavior has deteriorated his health to such an extent that the fear of death now looms large on him. His relative told that while discussing death the writer said to him, “Agar koi aadmi mujhe milta jo ye jaanta aur jis ko ye khabar hoti ki maut ke us paar kya hai toh us se mein bheek mangta ki who mujhe bata de (If I knew of a man who would know what lies after death, I would beg him to tell me about it!) This is no simple remark! The words of this write convey the intensity with which he wants to know what lies after death. God is Merciful I recently underwent an experience, which made me realize that our biggest solace after death is that we shall be face-to-face with a God who is Merciful and Compassionate. According to the Quran In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful. (Holy Quran 1:1-3) God is supplying oxygen to everyone of us indiscriminately; He does not distinguish between old and young. According to a Hadith Allah ke nazdeek, qavi banda zyada mehboob hai zaeef ke muqable mein, lekin har ke ke liye khair hai (Muslim) [The strong believer is better and dearer to Allah than a weak believer, while there is good in both.] According to the above Hadith, a strong person (qaavi) is expected to perform the religious tasks with fervor and is therefore dearer to God. An old man is the subject of God’s mercy as he is in a state where he should be helped and shown compassion towards. It must be understood that life after death is not a world where man shall meet a fierce God. God is All-compassionate and Merciful. The only condition to invoke mercy is that in his pre-death period, man discovers the truth, acknowledges God and adopts a God-oriented way of life. It is the need of the hour to make man that he must develop his nature such that he becomes the recipient of Divine compassion and mercy. According to a Hadith Maut ko bahut zyada yaad karo kyun ki who lazzaton ko dha dene wali hai (Tirmidhi) [Remember death (the killer of all pleasures) often] Remembrance of death course corrects the life of man and gives it right direction. If man does not remember death, his efforts and focus will be on the pre-death period even though it is only a fleeting phase in his eternal lifespan. Recently, I came to know about a man who despite being born in a poor household, worked his way up and built himself businesses and houses. After his death, all that he had spent his life setting up was left behind! It is important to understand that he who does not remember God would end up making political power, money, and status as his goals. These may serve him during his pre-death lifespan but would be rendered valueless as soon as he breathes his last. This is the case of every man. Each person runs from morning to evening to pursue his material desires and earn a status in society. Death serves to remind man of the ephemeral nature of his worldly pursuits. The case is similar to that of a person who had established himself materially in his country of stay but when he travelled to a different land, he got robbed of all his belongings! Suddenly, he would find himself in an unknown land, penniless and all alone! Why did God create man what is the end of his life? The Quran gives to man, a very hopeful map of life. It says, No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them as a reward for their labours. (Holy Quran 32:17) In the present world, one who accepts the Truth, proves that he gives prime importance to Truth. His test is on his ability to make the rightful use of the freedom granted to him by God. Such a person will have greatness conferred upon him in the Hereafter. As opposed to this, one who considers himself great, while ignoring the Truth, shall have a lesser position in the real life of the Hereafter. Pharaoh was an unbeliever and a tyrant. But his wife Asiyah, was a woman of faith and a doer of pious deeds. She was not born in a polytheistic culture and therefore the message of monotheism addressed her, at once. So, when she kept herself on the right path, her husband caused her infliction and even threatened to kill her. Her prayer to God is recorded in the Quran thus My Lord! Build me a house in nearness to You in Paradise (Holy Quran 66:11) This is a very significant dua with which Pharaoh’s wife derived the courage to endure his atrocities and still adhere to the religion of God. Eventually, Pharaoh got her killed. The case of Asiyah was a case of opting for a better choice. Leaving behind the ephemeral palace of the Pharaoh, she opted for the eternal neighborhood of God. Similarly, the magicians whom Pharaoh had invited to compete with Moses were confronted by the cogent reasoning of Moses on one hand and the towering personality of Pharaoh, on the other. The magicians preferred convincing arguments to authoritarianism, although they knew very well how dearly they would pay for their choice in this world. The magicians’ faith was not hereditary or formal, ritual kind: it amounted to a ‘discovery’ for them. And faith received as a discovery is so powerful that under its influence everything else appears worthless – be it a great personality or some other worldly consideration. When Pharaoh was defeated in the field of arguments and reasoning, he tried to suppress the truth by force. He ordained brutal killing of these magicians at which they said, So, decide whatever you will. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world. (Holy Quran 20:72) The magicians had understood that Pharaoh’s control was temporary and God shall reward them with that which is better in the life hereafter. The above incident illustrates how death makes man fathom the reality of life and enables him to discover the eternal life that succeeds death. It prepares man to pursue a higher goal, which is to strive to unfold potential and become deserving of paradise. This is because paradise is not to inhabit a herd but to inhabit those who would deserve to be a part of God’s neighbourhood. If man realizes the importance of eternal paradise – where those who live by the Creation Plan of God would be chosen to inhabit – he would remain in awe! Every man undergoes the experience in this world of not getting what he wants. Not even kings or great men get what they want. This is because man is a perfectionist but God did not make this world as a perfect world. Everything in this world is less than ideal and imperfect. This means that a perfection-seeking animal has been cast into an imperfect world. According to the Quran We have indeed created man in the best of mould, then We cast him down as the lowest of the low (Holy Quran 95:4 - 5) God created man as a perfectionist. He does not feel satisfied with anything less than perfect and finding happiness seems forever impossible. The issue is the disparity between nature of man and the nature of the present world whereby a perfectionist is forced to live in an imperfect world. Death reminds him that when God has made him a perfectionist, he must have made a perfect world as well. According to the Quran, We created pairs of all things. (51:49) The pair of a perfectionist is a perfect world. An imperfect world would not be his pair. If man reflects on this seriously, he would undergo a transformation and strive to find for himself, a line of action where he should devote his time and energy. Do not despair of God’s mercy; none but those who deny the truth despair of God’s mercy. (Holy Quran 12:87) Conclusion Death is not merely a phenomenon where a human being who was walking, eating and interacting in a society, passed away. Death of a fellow human being is a reminder for all others. It conveys the reality of human life and the importance of assessing the purpose of human life before it comes to an end. When those who do not remember death will come face-to-face with it, they will think of themselves as being a case of missed opportunities! They would regret the fact that they did not utilize the avenues which life had opened for them. I am reminded of the case of a man who used to regret the fact that despite his father’s insistence, he did not study else he could have had a good job. Similarly, he who did not prepare himself in this world would think upon entering into the world hereafter that he missed the golden chance to prepare himself else he could have been selected for paradise. The Bible uses the following phrase for such individuals who would regret themselves in the life hereafter ‘Abad tak rona aur daant peesna hoga’. [They shall weep and grind their teeth for eternity.] I pray that God gives us the ability to tread the path of righteousness and He selects us for inhabiting paradise! The Purpose of Creating Life In The Light Of Holy Quran. We have not created for a pastime the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them.(a) Had We meant to make it a plaything and nothing more than this, We would have done it by Ourself.(b) But We give falsehood a hard blow with the Truth, which breaks its head and falsehood vanishes away in no time; and there is woe for you because of the falsehoods you invent.(c)(Holy Quran 21: 16-18) (a)This was to refute their entire conception of life which was based on the assumption that man was free to do whatever he liked, and there was none to call him to account or take him to task: that there was no life in the Hereafter where ones good deeds would be rewarded and evil deeds punished. In other words, this meant that the whole universe had been created without any serious purpose and therefore there was no need to pay any heed to the Message of the Prophet. (b)That is, This world has been created with a definite purpose and not as a plaything; for, if he had wanted to enjoy a sport, We would have done so without creating a sentient, rational and responsible creature like you. Far be it from Us to put man to trial and conflict for the sake of mere fun. (c)That is, The object for which this world has been created is to stage a conflict between the Truth and falsehood. And you yourselves know that in this conflict falsehood has always been defeated and destroyed: You should, therefore, consider this reality seriously, for, if you build the system of your life on the false presumption that it is mere fun, you will meet with the same consequences as the former people did, who presumed that the world was a mere show and pastime. Therefore you should reconsider your whole attitude towards the Message which has come to you. Instead of making fun of it and scoffing at the Messenger, you should take a warning from the fate of the former peoples.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 05:04:53 +0000
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