Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Abstract

Atheists often assert with confidence that there is no afterlife, treating death as the definitive end of existence. Yet this bold denial rests on assumption rather than evidence – what the Quran pointedly calls mere conjecture. In contrast, the Islamic perspective (as articulated by scholar Zia H Shah MD in a series of articles) presents reasoned arguments that life after death is not only possible but philosophically and morally necessary. From the Quran’s own rational proofs of resurrection to the human longing for cosmic justice, a coherent case emerges that belief in an afterlife stands on firmer footing than its outright rejection. This article synthesizes Dr. Shah’s major insights on the afterlife, highlighting how the Quran challenges baseless skepticism and aligns faith in the hereafter with both logic and our deepest intuitions. In doing so, we will see that denying the afterlife is itself an unfalsifiable assumption – a leap of faith in nothingness – whereas affirming it is supported by spiritual, rational, and ethical considerations.

Atheism’s Denial of Afterlife: Conjecture Without Knowledge

Modern atheism typically dismisses the afterlife as a fantasy, insisting that human consciousness simply ends at death. Notably, the late physicist Stephen Hawking once claimed that a belief in life after death is nothing more than a “fairy story for people afraid of death,” asserting that “there is nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time” islamforwest.org. Such statements exude certainty – yet on what factual basis? No scientist, including Hawking, has proven what (if anything) happens to a soul or mind after bodily death. As Zia H Shah MD observes, neither he nor Hawking (nor anyone else) has returned from the hereafter with empirical data, and indeed “afterlife, heaven and hell are beyond time, space and matter and so, outside the scope of a scientific study” islamforwest.org. In other words, the confident rejection of an afterlife is not derived from hard evidence but from a materialist assumption that consciousness must cease when biology ceases – an assumption that itself cannot be scientifically verified.

It is precisely this epistemological error that the Quran highlights. Regarding those who categorically deny any resurrection or accountability after death, the Quran pointedly says: “They assert: ‘There is nothing but our present life; we die and we live and it is the passage of time that kills us.’ But they have no real knowledge of the matter; they do nothing but conjecture.” thequran.love. In this verse (Quran 45:24), the skeptical claim that “nothing destroys us except time” is exposed as a mere guess, a convenient belief in oblivion rather than a conclusion born of knowledge. By labeling their surety as conjecture, the Quran turns the tables on dogmatic skeptics: it is the deniers of the afterlife, not the believers, who are speaking without evidence. This critique perfectly aligns with a scientific mindset – one that demands evidence for grand claims. From the Quranic perspective, to pronounce with certainty that no future life exists is to venture far beyond what one can objectively know. It is an unfalsifiable position held only because it fits a desired materialist narrative. Thus, the scripture invites humility: if we truly “live in mystery, and die in mystery,” as religious philosopher Huston Smith wrote, then ultimate questions about death should be approached with caution and openness thequran.love.

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