Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
10. LIFE AFTER DEATH :
We have seen that Freedom of Will is a necessary condition for the realisation of morality and the moral ideal. We have also seen that the Holy Qur’an affirms Freedom of Will.
But, although affirmation of the Freedom of Will, taken by itself, may render morality possible, the realisation of the moral ideal remains inconceivable without, among other verities,* belief in Life-after-Death, or Life-Hereafter.
*The other verities are: belief in the creation of the world essentially as moral order, and belief in the existence of God.
This is so, because it is common experience that virtue is not adequately rewarded during the short period of human life on earth. Nay, quite often the virtuous actually suffer. And in many cases it is observed that the evil minded persons do not suffer the consequences of their evil acts.
Now, the appearance of incompatibility with the moral ideal which the world thus gives, especially in those instances where even the most disinterested moral efforts are frustrated by persons who possess violently devilish motives, is likely to unhinge the moral faith. But moral consciousness revolts against the very idea of virtue remaining frustrated or inadequately rewarded and evil & crime escaping their nemesis wholly or partly.
Therefore, to meet the consummation of the moral struggle and to realise the reciprocity of virtue and success, and of vice and punishment, the moral consciousness demands that man must survive after his death.[1]
Moreover, utmost effort for the realisation of the moral ideal cannot be invited from the human beings without faith in life-after-death. If survival after death is believed in, it will be easier not only to preserve the morals but also to lay down one’s life for the sake of the ideal.
Life-after-death is also the requirement of human nature from four other angles:
- Firstly, the love of life [2] and the yearning for self-preservation, which are ingrained in human nature, refuse to admit the cessation of life in death.
- Secondly, denial of life after death engenders nihilistic attitude, and nihilism is wedded to despair.
- Thirdly, confining the reward or punishment of actions to immediate execution in this life amounts to a negation of the world being a moral order, because the individual is deprived of the chance of exhausting the possibilities of improving himself. And if the world is not accepted as a perfect moral order, moral struggle becomes a meaningless idea.
- Fourthly, no human action—good or evil—can mature as regards its consequences until the present human world endures, because every action gives rise to an endless chain reaction. This renders the fulfillment of the principle of just and adequate reward and punishment in the present life impossible.
Hence final and full reward and punishment should be conceived to be deferred to the Life-Hereafter, where, according to the Holy Qur’an, Heaven and Hell exist for this purpose;[3] though, in this life also, virtue does bear fruit, even if not adequately and in all cases, and, as regards evil, the individuals cannot escape in acute cases the nemesis of their evil actions.
It may be observed here in passing that it is only in the nihilistic attitude, which emerges in the present-day conjectures of materialistic approach to human life, that we come across a denial of life-after-death. Modern Materialism objects, without any conclusive proof, to the concept of Personality, and teaches, again, without any conclusive proof, that the human being is only an embodiment of the interplay of mechanical forces—emerging as an accident and dissolving finally into oblivion. This is a subjective and fallacious judgment born of temperamental despair, and it is a challenge to human nature as well as to human history, wherein belief in survival after death has been held by almost all the human communities in one form or the other.
One of the most brilliant exponents of the philosophy of Nihilism is Bertrand Russell, who, with all his academic genius, has spoken more as a poet than as a scientific thinker. In his Essay on “Free Man’s Worship”, he projects his belief about Man thus:
“… Man is the product of the causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving, that his origin, his growth, his hopes and his fears, his loves and his beliefs are but the outcome of accidental collection of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual life beyond the grave, that all the labours of ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried under a debris of ruins …”[4]
Then, side by side with that arbitrary verdict, he lands himself in contradiction when he proceeds to project, with all his poetic fancy and with passionate idealistic fervour, all the grace and beauty of freedom for the ‘slave of blind forces’ that Man is in his estimation! He says:
“The life of Man, viewed outwardly, is but a small thing compared with the forces of Nature. The slave is doomed to worship Time and Fate and Death, because they are greater than anything he finds himself, and because all his thoughts are of things which they devour. But, great as they are, to think of them greatly, to feel their passionless splendour, is greater still. And such thought makes us free men; we no longer bow before the inevitable in Oriental subjection but we absorb it, and make it a part of ourselves. To abandon the struggle of private happiness, to expel all eagerness of temporary desire, to burn with passion for eternal things— this is emancipation, and this is free man’s worship. And this liberation is effected by a contemplation of Fate; for Fate itself is subdued by the mind which leaves nothing to be purged by the purifying fire of Time.
“United with his fellow-men by the strongest of all ties, the tie of a common doom, the free man finds that a new vision is with him always, shedding over every daily task the light of love. The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided …
“Brief and powerless is Man’s life; on him and on all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destruction, omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way; for Man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gates of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow falls, the lofty thoughts that ennoble his little day; disdaining the coward terrors of the slave of Fate, to worship at the shrine that his own hands have built; undismayed by the empire of chance, to preserve a mind free from the wanton tyranny that rules his outward life; proudly defiant of the irresistible forces that tolerate, for a moment, his knowledge and his condemnation, to sustain alone, a weary but unyielding Atlas, the world that his own ideals have fashioned despite the trampling march of unconscious power.”[5]
With the above preliminary discussion, we may turn to the guidance of the Holy Qur’an.
Belief in Life-Hereafter—an Article of Islamic Creed:
We may start by noting that belief in the Life-Hereafter forms an article of Islamic Creed in the Holy Qur’an. Namely, it is a basic truth without active belief in which it is impossible for anyone to be a Muslim. Indeed, the Qur’anic Guidance can benefit only him who, among other religious verities, believes in the Life-Hereafter, as, for instance, the following verse, which is to be found in the very early part of the holy book, clearly proclaims:
“This Book, whereof there is no doubt, is a guidance unto the god-fearing (or, Pursuers of Righteousness with Faith in God)—(namely, those) who believe in the Unseen (Reality), and establish prayer, and out of what We have provided for them spend (for the well-being of others); and who believe in the Revelation sent to you (O Muhammad!), and (sent) before your time, and of the (life-) Hereafter they have firm conviction. These are on the right path guided by their Lord, and these are the successful (in this life as well as in the next).” (2:2-5).
Indeed, belief in the Life-Hereafter is so important in the estimation of the Holy Qur’an that it has been mentioned therein at many places conjoined with belief in God[6], which indicates that, according to the Qur’anic evaluation, it stands immediately next to belief in God in importance for human success, which depends, in its turn, on proper approach to life.
For those who do not believe in the Life-Hereafter, the Holy Qur’an has emphasised the wrongfulness of their attitude and its consequences thus:
“Verily you call them unto a Straight Way (—the Way of Balanced Life). And verily those who believe not in the Hereafter are deviators from that Way (and cannot, therefore, enjoy balanced life and, as a result, cannot attain genuine success). And though We have mercy on them and We may remove the distress which is on them, they would obstinately persist in their transgression, wandering perplexed. We inflicted torment on them, but they humbled not themselves to their Lord, nor do they submissively entreat (Him)!—until We open on them a gate leading to a severe torment: then lo! they will be plunged in despair [7] therein.”[8] (33:73-77).
The following verses are also of similar import:
“Nay, it is those who believe not in the Hereafter, they are in a torment and error far-reaching.
“Behold they not [9] that which is before them and that which is behind them of the heaven and the earth.” (34:8-9).
Qur’anic Arguments in favour of Life-Hereafter:
The error (referred to in verse 8 above), whose evil consequences are far-reaching in so far as it deprives human beings of genuine success in this life and brings them grievous failure in the Hereafter, is rooted in a wrong philosophy which has been referred to in the Holy Qur’an thus:
“And they (i.e., the deniers of Life-Hereafter) say: there is nothing (i.e., no other life) but our life of the world, we die and we live (of ourselves, with no reference to the Creator);1* and nothing destroys us save Time.2* And they have no knowledge thereof: they do but guess (i.e., their denial is not based on any sound logical argument or any rational facts, but on mere superstition). And when Our Clear Signs (which affirm Life Hereafter) are rehearsed to them, their argument is nothing but this: they say: ‘Bring (back) our forefathers, if what you say is true’.” (45:24-25).3*
1* As to the pagan Arabs’ materialistic outlook and indifference to spiritual values Hitti observes: “The hedonistic Arabian character was too much absorbed in the immediate issues of life to devote much thought to the Hereafter. In the words of an old bard:
‘We spin about, whirl our own way through life, then, rich and poor alike, at last seek rest below the ground in hollow pits slate-covered, and there do we abide’. (History of the Arabs, p. 102).
2* We may quote here the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics: “Time in the abstract was popularly imagined to be the cause of all earthly happiness, and especially of all earthly misery … The poets are continually alluding to Time (dahr, Zaman), for which they often substitute ‘the days’, or ‘the nights’. Time is represented as bringing misfortune, causing perpetual change, as biting, weaning down, shooting arrows that never miss the mark, blowing stones and so forth. In such cases we are often obliged to render ‘time’ by ‘fate’ which is not quite correct, since time is here conceived as the determining factor, not as being itself determined by some other power, least of all by a conscious agent.” (vol. 1; pp. 661, 662).
3* Cf. 23:37.
Verse 9 of chapter 34, quoted prior to the above verses, gives an argument against disbelief in the Life-Hereafter which is sound; but it may not be properly graspable by the common folk. On other occasions, however, the argument has been stated in simpler terms. For instance, in reply to the argument of the disbelievers in the Hereafter, in 45:24-25, the holy book proceeds to state the counter-argument thus:
“Say! ‘It is Allah Who gives you life, then gives you death; then He will gather you for the Day of Judgment about which there is no doubt’: but most of humankind know not.”(45:26).[10]
At another place, the argument has been stated in terms of Evolution. Thus we read:
“Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled (without purpose and without moral responsibility)? Was he not a drop of sperm emitted (in lowly from)? Then did he become a leechlike clot; then did (Allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of him He made two sexes, male and female. Is not That One then able to quicken the dead?” (75:36-40).[11]
Another form of the Qur’anic argument in support of the Hereafter is in terms of the revival of the dead earth. For instance, we read:
“Know that Allah quickens the earth after its death. We have made clear Our Signs to you, that haply you may be able to understand rationally (the phenomenon of future Resurrection).” (57:17).
“And We send down from the sky rain charged with blessings, and We produce therewith gardens and grain for harvest; and tall (and stately) palm-trees, with shoots of fruit-stalks, piled one over another;—as sustenance for (Our) servants;—and We give new life therewith to a land that is dead: thus will be the Resurrection. Before them (i.e., pagan Arabs) was denied (the Hereafter) by the people of Noah, the Companions of the Russ, the Thamud, the ‘Ód, Pharoah, the Brethren of Lot, the Companions of the Wood, and the People of Tubba‘; each one of them rejected the Messengers, and My warning was duly fulfilled (in them). Are We then weary with the first Creation, that they should be in confusion about a new Creation (in the Hereafter)?” (50: 9-15).[12]
The Qur’anic conception of Life Hereafter related in all its steps to the concept of the World being a Moral Order:
Having seen that the Qur’an affirms the Life-Hereafter, we may now proceed to note that, in the Qur’anic system of meaning, Life-Hereafter is grounded in the Qur’anic teaching that the world is a Moral Order, wherein every action of man, however insignificant, is accountable and must meet its reward or punishment.
The first point that has been emphasised in this connection is that all our actions, including our most hidden thoughts and motives, are known to God at all times, and that instead of becoming relegated to oblivion—as might be thought by the ignorant, every human action, whether virtuous or vicious, is recorded and preserved by Divine Arrangement. We are told:
“He (i.e., Allah) knows the unseen and that which is open: He is the Great, the Most High. It is the same (to Him) whether any of you conceal his speech or declare it openly; whether he lie hid by night or walk forth freely by day. For each (one) there are angels in succession, before and behind them: they guard him with Allah’s command.” (13:9-11).
“And assuredly We have created Man and We know whatsoever his soul whispers unto him, and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.” (50:16).
“Verily We shall give life to the dead (on the Day of Resurrection), and We record that which they send before (i.e., their own deeds, good or bad), and of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence).” (36:12).
The recording and preservation of human words and deeds is done by the angels [13] appointed by God for this purpose. Thus says the Qur’an:
“By no means! But, you belie the Requital. But verily over you are appointed (angels) to protect you,—kind and honourable— writing down (your deeds). They know whatsoever you do.” (82:9-12).
“Behold, two (guardian angels) appointed to learn (human doings) (and note them), one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel [14] by him ready (to note it).” (50:17-18).
Man’s deeds, good or evil, are not only recorded by the angels, but they also hang round his neck. Thus “are his actions inseparable from him; and it is they that make or mar a man’s fortune.”[15] The Holy Qur’an says:
“Every man’s deeds We have fastened on his own neck: and on the Day of Judgment We shall bring out for him a scroll (containing the record of all his thoughts and actions), which he will see spread open. And it will be said (to him) ‘Read your (own) record. Sufficient is your soul this day to make out an account against you’.” (17:13-14).
Verse 14 points out that the recording of actions is done in order to produce evidence before every human being on the Day of Final Accountability on which Day God will pronounce the Judgment in order that every human action, having matured, reaches its full reward or punishment:
“Verily the Hour (of Final Accountability) is coming—My design is to keep it hidden—in order that everyone may be requitted according to that which he has endeavoured.”[16] (20:15).
That every action must reach its reward or punishment is the immutable Law of God, ingrained, so to say, in the very constitution of the universe and in the very destiny of Man:
“Yes, to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth: so that He may recompense those who do evil according to their deeds, and He may reward those who do good with ‘what is best’.” (53:31).[17]
The good and evil fruits of human deeds become manifest, in accordance with the limitations of man’s earthly life, even in this world. The Holy Qur’an affirms this fact when it says:
“Verily, your endeavour is (directed to) diverse (ends) (which may be broadly classified as good and evil). Then as for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to God, and (in all sincerity) testifies to the Good,—We will indeed make for him smooth the path to ease (by way of reward).
“And as for him who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient (not believing in accountability in the Hereafter), and belies the Good,—We will indeed make smooth for him the path to hardship (by way of punishment).” (92:4-10).
On the Day of Judgment in the Life-Hereafter, however, every human action, however insignificant it might appear to us in this life, shall meet its full and complete recompense:
“When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, and she throws up her burdens (from within), and Man cries (distressed): ‘What is the matter with her’,—on that Day will she declare her tidings (i.e., will declare all the events that ever took place on her): for that your Lord will have given her inspiration. On that Day will humankind proceed in companies sorted out, that they may be shown their Deeds. Then whosoever has worked good of an atom’s weight shall behold it; and whosoever has worked evil of an atom’s weight shall behold it (—i.e., the subtlest form of good and evil will then be brought to account).” (94:1-8).[18]
Virtue might give the appearance of being frustrated in this life, and vice might appear in certain circumstances to gain the upper hand, and this may cause suffering to the virtuous; but on the Day of Final Accountability in the Life-Hereafter, the virtuous shall be more than fully rewarded for their righteous life, and they shall have the upper hand. So says the Holy Qur’an:
“Those who are god-fearing (i.e., cultivate and practise righteousness out of respect for Divine Pleasure) shall be (triumphant) above them (i.e., the Unbelievers in Submission to God, or the unrighteous) on the Day of Resurrection.” (2:212).
As we remarked before, the moral ideal consists in adequate, nay, full reward of virtue and vice. We have now seen that the Holy Qur’an ensures it through the affirmation of the Life Hereafter and Final Accountability, and for that purpose it affirms the existence of Heaven for the former and of Hell for the latter:
“Then, when there comes the great, overwhelming Event,—the Day when Man shall remember (all) that he strove for, and Hell-Fire shall be placed in view for (all) to see,—then, for such as had transgressed all bounds (in rebellion against Truth and Goodness) and had preferred the life of this world (in respect of indulgence in the satisfaction of their lower Desires), his abode shall be Hell-Fire. And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord’s (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from (the sway of) lower Desires, their abode will be the Garden.” (79:34-41).
[Note : Basic Principle no: 11, mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, shall be taken up in chapter 2 under ‘Heaven and Hell’.]
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[1] It may be observed here that life-after-death, or immortality, is not the condition of the realisation of the moral ideal alone but of all spiritual ideals, as affirmed by the Holy Qur’an. For instance, the ideal of art consists in the beautification of the self and the surroundings. According to the Holy Qur’an, this ideal will be realised in the form of Heavenly Bliss in the next world, as a reward of righteous life in this world. Again, the actual fact of religion consists in faith in a metaphysical outlook on the testimony of Prophetic Revelation. But there is also involved the ideal of intimate experience of religious verities, including the direct Vision of God. This ideal is to be realised, according to the Holy Qur’an, as a reward in the Life- Hereafter. (see: forthcoming discussion on “Heaven”).
[2] This love may have roots in what is called the Unconscious and may be representative of the urge of human ego to survive to witness the transformation of the world as moral order.
[3] Here we should keep in mind the distinction in the belief of life-after-death imparted by the Holy Qur’an and the notion of Immortality presented by Kant. Kant’s notion originates in despair, which seems to be based on the Christian dogma of sinful beginning of human life and the evil character of the earthly environment. This despair leads to the view, that the present life is basically unamenable to success in the realisation of the moral ideal, and that there ought to be a Life-Hereafter in order that the said ideal may be realised. The Qur’anic point of view is based on the other hand, on hope which is enshrined in the Qur’anic concept of Evolution.
[4] Bertrand Russell : Mysticism and Logic (London 1969), p. 4 1.
[5] op. cit., pp. 46-47.
[6] E.g.: in the following verses: 2:228, 2:264, 3:114, 4:59, 9:29, 9:44, 9:45, 9:99. 65:2.
[7] Cf. our remark earlier: “… denial of life-after-death engenders nihilistic attitude, and nihilism is wedded to despair.”
[8] The verses portray the psychology of the person who disbelieves in the Life-Hereafter and the evil consequences of such disbelief.
[9] Commencing on it, A. Yusuf Ali says: “The men who walk in spiritual darkness and laugh at a Hereafter, have but to observe the power of God in the nature around them. He who created the heavens & the earth and sustains them can surely make a new Creation (op. cit., p. 1135, n. 3796).
[10] Other verses with similar wordings and the same import are: 2:28; 22:66; 30:40.
[11] Cf. 23:12-16, and other similar verses.
[12] Cf. 30:50.
[13] The personality of an angel should not be understood in the anthropomorphic sense.
[14] The three together seem to constitute the honourable Recorders, Kiraman Katibin (plural, not dual number), mentioned in 82:11.
[15] Abdul Majid Daryabadi (op. cit., p, 460, n. 46.),
[16] Mark the word ‘endeavoured’.
[17] There are numerous other verses also of the same import, e.g.: 10:4; 14:48-50; 30:45; etc.
[18] Cf. 39:67.
to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
