2. Resurrection - Introduction

Faith in the Hereafter

Faith in the hereafter is one of the most important pillars of faith. In the first surah of the Qur'an, after His attributes, the "All-Merciful" and the "the Most Merciful", Allah states that "He is the King of the Day of Judgment" (Surat al-Fatiha: 3). In the third verse of the next surah, it is stated that believers are "...those who have faith in the Unseen..." (Surat al-Baqara: 3)

This concept of "the Unseen" also includes rising from the dead after death, the Day of Resurrection, paradise and hell, in brief, everything related to the hereafter. Indeed, in the 4th verse of Surat al-Baqara, with the words "...they are certain about the hereafter", the importance of faith in the hereafter is reminded once more.

The faith in the hereafter as defined in the Qur'an provides strong evidence for the sincerity and truthfulness of a believer. One having faith in the hereafter has already reposed unconditional faith in Allah, in His Book and in His messenger. Such an individual knows that Allah has power over all things and that His words and promises are true. Consequently, he never harbors doubts about the hereafter. Before seeing and witnessing these facts, he puts his faith in them as if he has already seen them. This is the natural consequence of the faith and trust he puts in Allah and the wisdom granted to him. An unshakeable faith in the hereafter, purified of all forms of doubts, embraces faith in the existence of Allah as well as in His attributes, as explained in the Qur'an, and complete trust in and submission to Him. This faith also makes one know Allah and appreciate Him as is proper. This is the faith Allah considers to be precious.

Having true and complete conviction is possible with a committed faith in the hereafter. In many parts of the Qur'an, Allah reveals the unbelievers' denial of the hereafter and their indecision about its realization. In fact, the majority of these are people who believe in the existence of Allah. However, what misleads them most is not the existence of Allah but His attributes. Some believe Allah initially created everything and then left human beings to their own devices. Some, on the other hand, hold that Allah created man, but that it is the individual himself who determines his own fate. Another group maintains that Allah does not know the inner thoughts and secrets of man. Some others believe in the existence of Allah, but reject the idea of religion. Allah reveals about the holders of this false conviction as follows:

As revealed in the verse, rather than a total denial of the existence of Allah, "not measuring Allah with His true measure" and accordingly, the denial of the hereafter, underlie faithlessness. Indeed, the proportion of people refusing to accept the existence of the Creator is rather low and many of them often entertain doubts about their convictions. One finds extensive reference to people who ascribe partners to Allah and deny rising from the dead, the Judgment Day, paradise, hell and to all the details and rationales pertaining to faith in the hereafter.

Although the hereafter is a fact which cannot be perceived through the five senses, Allah created it along with countless pieces of evidence so that our minds might easily have a grasp of it. As a matter of fact, as a requisite for passing the test of this world, one should perceive this fact, not through the five senses, but with wisdom and as a matter of conscience. Any average person, after some contemplation, easily recognizes that everything in his environment, including himself, could not have come into existence as a result of pure coincidence but rather by the exercise of the superior might, knowledge, will and control of our Creator. Then, he consequently comprehends that the creation of the hereafter is easy for Allah and that it is the result of Allah's wisdom and justice.

Although this is so apparent, one who is rebellious against the commandments of Allah, would dislike the idea of rising from the dead. As one who spends his life on satisfying his vain desires, he would not be willing to stand before Allah to give an account of the deeds he engaged in throughout his life. That is why, despite having a thorough grasp of the existence of Allah, he would choose to suppress the voice of his conscience and deceive himself. Being confined in heedlessness, an unbeliever starts to make unwise, inconsistent and irrational comparisons without any long-term considerations, just to deny the resurrection and the hereafter. In the Qur'an one of such comparisons made by the unbelievers is revealed thus:

However, this question, asked merely to escape reality and bolster self-deceit, has an explicit answer. Allah reveals:

In the Qur'an, Allah states that the making of such inconsistent comparisons is an attribute peculiar to unbelievers:

Some, on the other hand, attempt to justify their stance by providing some so-called explanations. However every word they say reveals their foolishness more. Allah says the following in the Qur'an about such people:

In Surat an-Nahl, the persistence of the unbelievers in denying the hereafter is revealed as follows:

Taking their whims and desires as their gods, these people veil their consciences and deceive themselves. Allah reveals the nature of these people who deny the existence of the hereafter:

In another verse in the Qur'an, the situation of these people is described as follows:

The Reality of the Worldly Life

Unbelievers have doubts about rising from the dead and the hereafter, however these are the truths of the life of this world.

Sleep and dreams are important comparisons for death and rising from the dead. One who insistently denies that he will rise from the dead after death and constantly escapes from the thought of death, is in fact not aware that he experiences death every night in his sleep and likewise rises from the dead in the morning when he wakes up. The account provided in the Qur'an of sleep is of great help in understanding the subject.

In the verses above, the state of sleeping is referred to as "death". No significant distinction is made between "death" and sleep. Sleep is the departure of the human soul from the body that it occupies while it is awake. In dreaming, on the other hand, the soul acquires a totally different body and starts to perceive a totally different setting. Most of the time we cannot discern that this is a dream. We feel fear, regret, and pain, we become excited, or experience pleasure. In our dreams, we feel very assured that what befalls us is real and we often give the similar responses as we give when we are awake.

If it were technically possible to intervene from outside and tell the dreamer that what he saw were mere illusions, he would simply ignore this warning or even would not believe. However, in reality, these perceptions have no material correlates in the external world and what we experience in our dreams is the sum of the images and perceptions which Allah projects to our souls.

The most important point we need to keep in mind is the fact that the same Divine law still applies when we wake up. Allah, in the Qur'an, affirms that dreams are under His will and control as stated in the verse: "Remember when Allah showed them (the unbelievers) to you in your dream as only a small band. If He had shown them to you as a great army, you would have lost heart and quarreled about the matter; but Allah saved you. He knows what your hearts contain." (Surat al-Anfal: 43). The verse, "Remember when Allah made you see them as a few when you met them, and also made you seem few in their eyes. This was so that Allah could settle a matter whose result was preordained. All matters return to Allah." (Surat al-Anfal: 44) provides clear evidence that the same law applies to daily life. The fact that the perceptions and images we have of matter are entirely subject to the will and creation of Allah and that apart from them, there is no existence in the external world is stated in the following verse:

Just as is in the case of dreams, what we experience in the course of daily life are images projected to our souls by Allah, along with the feelings He makes us perceive. Images and actions pertaining to our bodies as well as those of other beings exist because Allah creates the related images and perceptions frame by frame. This fact is explained in the Qur'an:

The same Divine law applies to the creation of the hereafter and the images and perceptions related to it. When death comes, all relations with this world and the body are broken. The soul, however, is eternal by Allah's will. Transition from this world to the hereafter is no different from waking up from sleep and proceeding with daily life.

With resurrection, a new life begins in the hereafter with a new body. Allah, the Creator of infinite images, voices, odors, tastes and feelings pertaining to this life, will, in like manner, create infinite images and feelings of paradise and hell. The creation of all these is easy for Allah:

Another fact to be noted is that just as life in this world appears in sharper relief than dreams, so does the hereafter as compared to life in this world. Likewise, just as dreams are short compared to this life, so also is this life as compared to the hereafter. As known, time is a relative concept. This is a fact which is verified by science today. In dreaming, an event assumed to go on for hours, lasts only for a few seconds. Even the longest dream is of only a few minutes duration. Yet, the one who has the dream assumes he has most probably spent days experiencing it. Allah reveals in the Qur'an the relativity of time:

Similarly, a person spending long years in this world actually lives a short life based on the time concept in the hereafter. The following conversation during the judgment in the hereafter is a good example of this:

Since this is the case, it is evident that risking one's eternal life in return for this temporary one is an unwise choice. This becomes more clear when one considers the shortness of the worldly life in comparison to the hereafter.

To sum up, everything we experience in this world is nothing but sensations projected to man's soul by Allah. The body is also nothing but an image which Allah projects to man's soul. Allah changes the images whenever he wishes. When one dies, the veil over the eyes is removed and then one realizes that death is not disappearance as one had believed. This is stated in the Qur'an as follows:

Unbelievers thereby attain a better comprehension of the truth and this is revealed in the Qur'an as follows:

From then on, the unbeliever starts to experience great regret—the greatest of all regrets.