THE HEREAFTER: desirable
and necessary
Without the idea of the Hereafter – of
resurrection and judgment and just recompense, God would not be the just and
wise and merciful God that He is. God created people and made them responsible for
their actions. Some behave well and others do not. On earth the virtuous are
often in a wretched state while the wicked often seem to have the good things
of life. Innocent people often suffer at the hands of exploiters and criminals
who seem to gain rather than suffer by their crimes in this world.
If there is no future life in which the virtuous
are rewarded and the vicious suffer loss, there would be no justice. There
would be no purpose in creating people with a sense of responsibility and in
sending prophets to them to remind them of these responsibilities.
Justice and fairness require that there must be a
Hereafter. But the Hereafter is also necessary to clarify the true purpose of
life so that men may see clearly the real ‘ends’ of life and what they have
been striving for. All intentions plague of doing good things for wrong motives
is to be exposed. All matters that were disputed in this world, differences
between people and their worldviews, differences in beliefs and orientations
will need to be, and will be settled to determine what was right and what was
wrong. This is why the Hereafter is called in the Qur’an,
the Day of Truth’ and the ‘Day of Decision’ when all man’s self-deceptions or ghuruur will be laid bare and
‘you will come to know with the eye of certainty’.
Your consciousness of these truths of the
Hereafter will have important effects on your attitudes, emotions and actions
in this world. It will give meaning and purpose to your life. Your life will
not be limited to worldly desires and your own greed. Your life, therefore,
will not be a materialistic life because you know that this life will not end
with your death.
You will have as a result greater emotional and
psychological balanced. You would be better able to face challenges, difficulties
and trials because you have confidence in the wisdom, mercy and justice of the
Master of the Day of Judgment. You will be less afflicted by anxiety, sadness
and fear. Frustration will not be a part of your mental make-up.
You will be determined not only to avoid bad,
obnoxious and criminal acts, but to use all your resources to the best of your
ability to do good for indeed, as God says in the Qur’an,
‘He has created death and life to test which one of you is best in conduct’. (top)
How
is the Hereafter possible?
It is therefore necessary and desirable that
there should be the Hereafter. But how is it possible? While some people may
believe in a Supreme God, they cannot conceive that their dead and decayed
bodies will be resurrected and that they will be called to account for their
actions on earth. The secular Quraysh, and even those
with a vague belief in the existence of God, found it difficult to accept the
possibility of resurrection. ‘Who shall bring back the bones to life after they
have decomposed and become dust? They asked. (36: 78)
The Qur’an tells the
story of a person who passed by a deserted town. Its roofs were caved in and
its inhabitants were dead and buried. The person asked incredulously, ‘How
could God bring all this back to life after its death? (2: 259)
The Qur’an also tells
of people who ‘As it is, swear by God with their most solemn oaths, ‘Never will
God raise from the dead anyone who has died’, (
Those who are bewildered or scoff at the fact of
resurrection are told by the Qur’an that there is no
reason for such astonishment and mockery because resurrection is not only a
logical but a physical possibility. If it is God who created man in the first
place, why should it be impossible for Him to re-create him when he dies. (top)