This Life is a Test, the Next is the One

IMPORTANT: See also 'In The Beginning', extracts from the book 'The Fundamentals of Tawheed', by Sheikh Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips

"I did not create the Jinns and the human beings except for the purpose that they should worship Me." - Adh Dhariyat, 51:56 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Day (behold), ye prefer the life of this world; But the Hereafter is better and more enduring." - al-Ala, 87:16-17 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"O my people! This life of the present is nothing but (temporary) convenience: It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last." - al-Ghafir, 40:39 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Know ye (all), that the life of this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children. Here is a similitude: How rain and the growth which it brings forth, delight (the hearts of) the tillers; soon it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. But in the Hereafter is a Penalty severe (for the devotees of wrong). And Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the devotees of Allah.. And what is the life of this world, but goods and chattels of deception?" - al-Hadid, 57:20 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Did you think that We had created you without a purpose, and that you would not be brought back to Us?" - al-Muminun, 23:115 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Everyone is going to taste death, and We shall make a trial of you with evil and with good. And to Us you will be returned." - al-Ambiya, 21:35 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing)." - al-'Imran, 3:185 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Say (to them): Verily, the death from which you flee will surely meet you, then you will be sent back to (All�h), the AllKnower of the unseen and the seen, and He will tell you what you used to do." - al-Jumuah, 62:8 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least. For Allah hath power over all things." - at-Tawbah, 9:38-39 (Interpretation of Meanning, al-Qur'an)

"Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion; and He over all things hath Power;- He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-" - al-Mulk, 67:1-2 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Those who believe and (constantly) guard against evil;- For them are glad tidings, in the life of the present and in the Hereafter; no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity." - Yunus, 10:63-64 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"Whatever ye are given (here) is (but) a convenience of this life: but that which is with Allah is better and more lasting: (it is) for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord:" - Ash Shura, 42:36 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"This mortal life of ours is an opportunity, to gain Jannah. We can accept this opportunity, or decline it." - Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt [1]

"As Muslims, we view our life here, in the dunya, as but a prelude, a means. We look toward Jannah and its rewards. That is, we understand the meaning of the Hadith: Abu Hurayra reported that Allah's Messenger (salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: "The dunya is but a prison for the believer and yet [seems] Paradise for a kaffir."  Muslim:  Book 42 (Kitab Al-Zuhd wa Al-Raqa'iq) 7058"  - Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt [1]

"The perspective of the Muslim is the perspective of The Last Day, of the judgement of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) - of this mortal life as but a means - and of following the guidance given to us in the Quran and Sunnah so that we might attain Paradise (Jannah) InshaAllah."  - Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt [1]

"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah., never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good)." - al-'Imran, 3:85 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"But the Islamic perspective in respect of "innocent" is that it is only Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala who knows who is, or is not, innocent - just as it is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala who will decide, when someone dies or is killed by whatever means, whether to grant them Jannah and thus let them attain the true goal of their mortal life. The problem here is that the kuffar - and those Muslims imitating them - perceive life and death in the context of mortal life and not in the Islamic context of the immortal life to follow this mortal life. That is, they are thinking - and judging - according to kaffir criteria, not according to Islamic criteria. What matters for us, as Muslims - above everything - is the next life. What does not matter is when we die; how we die; where we die. We will die - and we have been given this life as a test, from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, to find out if we are suitable for Jannah. This life is an opportunity, which we can use, or waste." - Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt [1]

"The likeness of the life of the present is as the rain which We send down from the skies: by its mingling arises the produce of the earth- which provides food for men and animals: (It grows) till the earth is clad with its golden ornaments and is decked out (in beauty): the people to whom it belongs think they have all powers of disposal over it: There reaches it Our command by night or by day, and We make it like a harvest clean-mown, as if it had not flourished only the day before! thus do We explain the Signs in detail for those who reflect. But Allah doth call to the Home of Peace: He doth guide whom He pleaseth to a way that is straight." - Yunus, 10:24-25 (Interpretation of Meaning, al-Qur'an)

"The perspective of Islam is Jannah. The perspective of the kuffar is this mortal life - their own desires, their own happiness, their own so-called freedom; or some fallible idea which they believe in and which they, in their ignorance, have invented. We as Muslims see this life as but a means - as but a test, a gift, from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. If we do our duty as Muslims, if we submit, we may - InshaAllah - be granted the reward of Jannah. That is, we can attain the very purpose of this brief mortal life, which is Jannah. Everything else is fundamentally irrelevant." - Sheikh Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt [1]

Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to Allah's will) in Islam. - 15:02