Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

11. Belief In the Hereafter

A recent report about the migration of a Christian family from Michigan (U.S.A.) to Jerricho (Palestine) to start a new life in accordance with the scriptures, gives the declared rationale of their migration in these unequivocal terms: "We had to choose a citizenship in this world or the next, and we felt accountability to our Maker not to enjoy ourselves but to prepare for the next life." It may be clarified that the word ‘enjoy’ has not been used in the above quoted sentence in its literal sense but it tries to convey the idea of getting lost in this material world.

Similarly the mother of the family who gave the above statement is not advocating complete renunciation of this world. In actual fact she has a large family, every member of which has his defined duties and responsibility and all are participating actively in the school of lifeÕ as she calls it.

Those of us who have Course made a study of the Holy Quran would have noticed that the central idea propounded by this Christian lady has been mentioned in the Holy Quran not once but many times with varying nuances and emphasis. A few of the Ayats containing this idea are cited below by way of example.

Ayat 32 of Surah ‘Anam’ states, "What is the life of this world but play and amusement? But best is the Home in the Hereafter for those who are righteous." Ayat 46 of Surah ‘Kahaf’ says "Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: but the things that endure, good deeds are best in the sight of thy Lord." And then there is Ayat 39 of Surah ‘Mumin’:"O my people this life of the present is nothing but temporary convenience. It is the Hereafter that is the Home that will last." Finally there is Ayat 26 of Surah ‘Ra’d’ which states "The worldly rejoice in the life of this world, but the life of this world is but little comfort in the Hereafter."

Is it not truly amazing that while a Christian woman not only echoes one of the central themes of the Holy Quran but also tries to live by it, our Ulema and scholars and leaders of thought do not even mention these ideas in their speeches and statements and even the sermons delivered before the Friday prayers fail to end emphasise this theme. What can this disparity be due to ? It cannot be lack of knowledge, for any one who has read the Holy Quran even once could not but be struck forcefully by this theme of the sacred Book. That leaves us with only one other possibility that even those of us who read the Holy Quran regularly either do not understand it or do not ponder over it or do not absorb its message in their hearts and minds. That being the case their belief in the Hereafter cannot but be the vague and tenuous. As is wellknown the three pillars of a Muslim’s faith or ‘Iman’ are belief in one God, belief in the Prophethood Ravenfields of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and lastly, belief in the Hereafter The first belief in one God is most widely adhered to in the world today, at best among the educated and thinking human beings. Apart from other reasons this is so, largely because the more you come to understand the working of the winced that this world was created and is being run by one and only one God.

The second article of faith, namely belief in the Prophethood of Muhammad is confined to members of the Muslim Ummah and the highest proof of the authenticity of this article of faith is the words of the Quran themselves which are a living literary miracle for all times.

The third article of faith, belief in the Hereafter, is in some ways the most difficult to cultivate for the simple reason the existence of a Hereafter and the occurrence of events there are totally outside the experience and perception of human beings. As such one can have faith in the Hereafter Builder only on the basis of one’s complete and total belief in the first two articles of faith. Only when you believe without any mental reservation that the Holy Quran is the word of God as revealed to mankind through His last Messenger can you believe in the certainty, of the Day of Judgement. Belief in the Hereafter is thus derived directly from belief in one God and belief in the Prophethood of Muhammad (saw). There is no logic, no rationale to support our belief in the Hereafter except the words and logic of the Quran. At the same time if you believe in God and the Prophet, there is no escape from it.

Before proceeding further it would be desirable to refer to a few Ayats of the Holy Quran which describe the happenings of the Day of Judgement which in a way would be the culmination of the whole phenomenon of the Hereafter.

Let us begin with Ayat 25 of Surah Al_e_Imran where in it is stated "But how will they fare when we gather them together against a Day about which there is no doubt and each soul will be paid out just what it has earned, without favour or injustice." Then we come to Ayat 104 of Surah ‘Ambiyya’ wherein the words are:" The Day that we roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books completed, even as We produced the first creation, so shall We produce a new one, a promise We have undertaken, truly shall We fulfil it." Ayat 115 of Surah ‘Muminur’ refers to this matter from another angle "Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that you would not be brought back to Us for account." Then we come to Ayats 1 to 4 of Surah ‘Qiyyamat’ which answers the nagging question which all those who did not believe in the Hereafter have asked again and again from times immemorial: ÒI do call to witness the Resurrection Day, and I do call to witness the self_reproaching spirit (eschew Evil); does man think that We cannot assemble his bones, Nay We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers." And finally there is a graphic description of the Day of Judgement contained in Ayat 1 to 5 of Surah ‘Infitar’ in these words "when the sky is cleft as under, when the stars are scattered, when the Oceans are suffered to burst forth, and when the graves are turned upside down; then shall each soul know what it has sent forward and what it has kept back."

At this stage it needs to be noted that most, if not all Ayat of the Quran referring to the Hereafter, were revealed during the Makkan period of revelation. It seems that in God’s scheme for the propagation of the Islamic religion, the first step was the establishment of the base of Iman in the three things mentioned earlier, and it was only after the base had been firmed up that the superstructure of laws for the regulation of righteous conduct in this world were revealed during the Madinan period of revelation. Unfortunately for the Muslim Ummah as time passed the importance of Iman got diminished as more and more emphasis was placed by our ulema on Fiqah and in raising hair splitting disputes which apart from other things split the Ummah down the middle into numerous sects. Even today for many Muslims, the central core of Islam, as they understand it, is Fiqah and not Iman. This is the only plausible explanation for the fact that inspite of the existence of a vast network of Fiqahi laws and directives, there is Software so much rampant corruption and transgression of the laws of God in a country like Pakistan which claims to be a bastion of Islam. The fact of the matter is that there is no commitment to Iman which alone can provide the basis for conformity with the regulations of Fiqah.

Think for a moment that if there was a total commitment without any mental reservation, to the three ingredients of Iman. how could any man in his right senses indulge in the type of moral lawlessness which we see all around us in Pakistan today. How can a man in his proper mind, if he really believed in the Hereafter, indulge in the sort of bribery and nepotism and injustice and extortion and deception which he practices without batting an eyelid in today’s world. The only plausible explanation which will hold water is that inspite of his claim of being a Muslim, he does not believe in the Hereafter, and the accountability of the Day of Judgement. For him the life of this world is the be all and end all of human existence and it is this belief which enables him to undertake without any fear the scramble for wealth and power in which he is so deeply involved all the time.

If it is accepted that Iman is the only bedrock on which the superstructure of a truly Islamic society can be based, it becomes mandatory on those who claim to be propagating the Islamic way of life to lay proper emphasis on the three elements of Iman from the very beginning of the process of teaching. Tile teaching of Islamiat should first and foremost be the teaching of the Holy Quran in the mother tongue of the student or any other language that he fully understands. Other aspects of Islam should be introduced only after this first step has been completed.

Extensive and systematic use should also be made of the communication facilities which have become available in recent decades such as TV, Radio and hoardings etc., but the one thing which can really change the thinking of the common man is the example set by our leaders whether they be political, social or religious. Of course this can only happen if the leaders really believed in the Hereafter. It may be noted that it was the example of the Prophet (SAW) and his companions which so dramatically changed the thinking of the early Muslims that they were able to set up a social order which has remained a model for the whole world right up to the present day.

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12. The Quest for Muslim Unity

Index

Home Page

Preface

1. Theory & Practice of Islamic Socialism

2. Islamic Economic System

3. Islamic Financing

4. Quranic Commandments about Justice

5. The Quranic View-point about Tolerance

6. Interest on Production Loans : A case for Ijtihad

7. Moral Re-armament