• They Think They will Perish After Death
Ignorant people believe only in what they perceive through their five senses. This materialistic approach lays the groundwork of the denial of the life beyond. Yet such a denial is nothing but a poor excuse they invent for their disbelief. Every man bestowed with the faculty of thinking conceives that there is technically no difference whatsoever between the creation of this life and the Hereafter. That man came into existence from nothingness proves that everything’s existence is consequent upon the exercise of Allah's will.
Nevertheless, people bent on remaining ignorant simply treat this reality as though it did not exist. In the Qur’an, Allah deplores the excuses they make up to support their denial:
Man answers us back with arguments, having forgotten the fact of his own creation, saying: Who will revive these bones when they have rotted away? Say:
He will revive them Who produced them at first, for He has knowledge of every creature.(Surah Ya-Sin: 78-79)
And they say: When we are lost in the earth, how can we then be re-created? But they are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord. (Surat As-Sajda: 10)
Surely there is a reason for their denial. After all, renouncing the existence of the life beyond justifies their attachment to this life. Acceptance of the resurrection is committing oneself to the notion that one will be summoned to account for one’s good and wicked deeds on the Day of Judgement. This fact is surely unacceptable in terms of their inherently groundless system.
A person attesting to the existence of the life beyond also has to acknowledge that he should prepare himself for it. However, due to the unbridled ambitions of ignorant people, this is rather a difficult thing to do. Therefore, the only solution provided by their primitive rationale is a denial of the Hereafter.
Nevertheless, such an approach is to the detriment of the ignorant; as a consequence, they live troubled lives and deserve unceasing torment in the Hereafter. It is apparent then that denial of the life beyond is by no means in man's best interests. On the contrary, it entails great loss both in this life and beyond.
• They Believe Allah is Up in the Heavens
Ignorant people have various perverted beliefs about religion, since they base their decisions about what is right and wrong upon their primitive rationale rather than on the Qur’an. Mostly they gather these beliefs from their parents or other people immediately surrounding them, who influence them deeply during their early years. Yet these beliefs, especially the ones regarding the existence of Allah, misguide them all through their lives.
Many people, who in fact do not really deny the existence of Allah but have a wrong perception of Him, share the basic mistake of those who deny Allah. They do not deny creation, but have superstitious beliefs about “where” Allah is. Most of them think that “Allah is up in the sky.” They imagine that Allah is behind a very distant planet and interferes with “worldly affairs” only once in a while. Or, perhaps, that He does not intervene at all: He created the universe and then left it to itself and people are left to determine their fates for themselves. Still others have heard that in the Qur’an it is written that Allah is “everywhere”, but they cannot perceive what exactly this means. They think that Allah surrounds everything like radio waves or like an invisible, intangible gas. For some, on the other hand, Allah evokes the image of an old wise man.
However, those who interpret and evaluate all happenings according to the Qur’an have an accurate grasp of Allah. Such people understand that the entire universe has a single Sovereign, that He changes the entire physical world, including all human beings, as He pleases, and that He is not confined to a particular place and time. They know that even a dust particle, invisible to the naked eye, is under His control. Allah’s existence encompasses all things and “reason” apprehends this. As the verse suggests: “Allah is nearer to man than his jugular vein.” (Surah Qaf, 16). Just as He has created this all-pervading order, He is the One Who also maintains it incessantly. He encompasses all things and all places as stated in the Qur’an:
To Allah belong the East and the West, and wherever you turn, there is Allah’s Countenance. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.(Surat Al-Baqara: 115)
To Allah belong whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Allah ever surrounded all things.(Surat An-Nisa: 126)
• They Believe Only a Limited Number of People will be Punished in Hell
There is one another rationale which lays the ground for ignorant thinking. They assume Hell to be a place of limited capacity. Compared with the number of people that have ever lived on earth throughout the ages, they find it unlikely that all these people can be punished. Consequently, they find it unlikely that they will be the ones who will be exposed to torment, since there are many other guilty people who deserve it more.
However this reasoning is totally wrong. Those who carry such a conviction do not truly grasp the power of Allah. Surely Allah has the power to gather all men of all ages in Hell, a place of huge dimensions beyond the grasp of the human mind. The following verse gives an idea of Hell:
On the day when We say to Hell: Are you filled? and it answers: Can there be more to come? (Surah Qaf: 30)
Ah, what will convey to you what that burning is! -
It leaves nothing; it spares no one.
It shrivels the man. (Surat Al-Muddaththir: 27-29)
One who fears Allah and who believes without doubt in the Hereafter, knows for certain that he will be resurrected and judged along with his soul. This judgement is the ultimate justice of Allah. Therefore, those heedless of Allah’s commandments in this world will not be saved from torment in Hell. In the Qur’an, the absolute justice of Allah is explained thus:
Have you not seen those who praise themselves for purity? Allah purifies whom He will, and they will not be wronged in the slightest degree.(Surat An-Nisa: 49)
On that day Allah will pay them their just due, and they will know that Allah, He is the Manifest Truth. (Surat An-Nur: 25)
