Afterlife: Do We Need This Hope?

Epigraph: Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. (Al Quran 2:62) I am reproducing the following from…

November 18, 2024

3–5 minutes

Epigraph:

Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve. (Al Quran 2:62)

The Muslim Times has a very extensive collection Afterlife

I am reproducing the following from Maulana Wahiduddin Khan’s website.

Every individual has desires embedded deep within him. One can in fact conclude that man is a ‘fulfillment-seeking animal.’ But experience shows that human desires are seldom if ever fulfilled.

Billy Graham, a well-known American missionary, writes that he once received an urgent message from an American billionaire who wanted to meet him without a moment’s delay. On receiving this message, Billy Graham cancelled all his other appointments and immediately set out to meet this man.

When he arrived at the billionaire’s palatial home, he was immediately taken to a private room, where the two men sat on chairs facing one another. Then, with great seriousness, the billionaire said to Billy Graham, “You see, I am an old man and life has lost all meaning for me. I am going to take a fateful leap into the unknown, young man can you give me a ray of hope?”

An American billionaire is not the only person to be faced with this kind of desperation. Every individual, man or woman, born into this world, is faced with this question at one time or the other. The answer or the solace can come only from a staunch belief in the world of the Hereafter. If we do not believe in a world after death, then this most perplexing question will remain unanswered.

A careful study of the human condition shows that all men and women have two contradictory themes running through their lives right from birth. On the one hand, they are consumed by a limitless desire to establish a dream world for themselves-a world that is in keeping with their ideals and where they may lead their lives-with all the sought-after pleasures and comforts. But, on the other hand, they are faced with this contradiction that, despite surrounding themselves with all the material things conceivable, they fail to build their desired world. Boredom, loss, illness, accident, the infirmities of old age and finally death-within a period of a100 years-that is the story of every individual born into this world. All men and women are destined to die before the realization of their beautiful ideal.

We can come to grips with this paradox by examining the observable phenomenon of the principle of pairs, which is universally operative. Everything in this world exists in pairs; everything becomes complete only in a pair-the negative and positive particles in an atom, the male and female in animals and humans and even in plants. Therefore, it follows that along with this world there must exist another parallel world, and in its existence lies the completion of our present world.

If we accept this logic, everything becomes meaningful. Everything begins to fall into place.