The philosophy of Islam’s teachings (20)

We will now turn to the second consideration in this series of instalments: what is the state of man after death according to the teachings of the Holy Quran (see the first instalment where we described the table of contents and the sequence of these instalments: https://www.atalayar.com/opinion/qamar-fazal/la-filosofia-de-las-ensenanzas-del-islam/20230425163940184001.html ). 

The state of man after death is not a new state, but his condition in this life manifests itself more clearly in the afterlife. The true condition of a person with regard to his righteous or evil beliefs and actions in this life remains hidden within him, and its poison or antidote secretly affects his being. In the life after death, this will not be so; all will be openly manifested. A sample of this is experienced in dreams. The predominant state of the body of the sleeper manifests itself in his dreams. When a man has a high fever, he often sees fires and flames in his dreams, and when he has the flu or a bad cold he dreams that he is in the water. In this way, all the diseases that the body goes through are made visible in dreams. God acts in the same way with regard to the afterlife. Just as a dream gives our spiritual condition a physical form, so will it be in the afterlife. Our actions and their consequences will manifest physically in the afterlife, and all that we carry hidden within us in this life will manifest openly on our faces in the afterlife. In dreams, a person observes various kinds of manifestations, but is not aware that they are only manifestations, and considers them to be realities; in the afterlife the same thing will happen. Through these manifestations, God will show a new perfect power. It would be quite right to regard the conditions of the afterlife not as manifestations but as a new creation brought about by divine power. God says: 

"And there is no soul that is aware of the joy to the eyes that is reserved for them as a reward for their good deeds" (32:18). 

Here God describes all these mercies as hidden, incomparable to what can be found in this world. It is evident that the mercies of this world are not hidden from us, and we are familiar with the milk, pomegranates and grapes that we eat here. This shows that the bounties of the other life are distinct, and have nothing in common with the bounties of this life, except in name. He who considers the conditions of Paradise in terms of the conditions of this life, does not understand the Holy Quran at all. 

Interpreting the verse just quoted, our Lord and Master the Holy Prophet Muhammad (lpbD) said that heaven and its blessings are something that the eyes have not seen, nor the ears have heard, nor has it been conceived by the human mind; whereas we see the blessings of this world, we hear them, and we imagine them in our minds. Now, when God and His Prophet (lpbD) describe them as something strange, we would depart totally from the Holy Quran if we were to imagine that in heaven we were given the same milk that in this life we get from cows and buffaloes, as if herds of milch cows were kept in heaven, or that there were in the trees innumerable heavenly hives, from which the angels drew honey to pour it into the streams. Do such concepts agree with the teachings that describe these blessings as never seen in this world, and that they enlighten souls, increase our understanding of God, and provide spiritual nourishment? They are described in physical terms, but their origin is also said to be the soul and its righteousness. 

Let no one suppose that the verse of the Holy Quran quoted below indicates that the dwellers of Paradise, by observing such blessings, will recognise them as having enjoyed them in the Hereafter, as Allah the Glorious says: 

"And he proclaims the good news to those who believe and do good works, that for them there are Gardens under which streams flow. Whenever they receive a share of the fruits produced in them they will say, 'This is what was given to us before,' for they will find that these fruits resemble the fruits they have tasted" (2:26). 

From the words of this verse it is not to be inferred that in beholding the blessings of Paradise, the dwellers of Paradise will discover that they are the same blessings that had already been bestowed upon them in the former life. This would be a great mistake, and a misinterpretation of the meaning of the verse. What the Exalted God says is that those who believe and do good deeds build with their own hands a Paradise whose trees are faith, and whose streams are good deeds. In the afterlife they will also eat of the fruits of this Paradise, only these fruits will be sweeter and more manifest. Since they will have spiritually eaten of these fruits in this world, they will recognise them in the afterlife, and will exclaim: "These appear to be the same fruits that we have already eaten," and will find that these fruits resemble those they had already tasted in this world. This verse clearly proclaims that those who in this life fed on the love of God will receive the same food in physical form in the next life. Since they will have already tasted in this life the delights of love, and will therefore remember them, their souls will also remember the time when they thought of the True Beloved in the corners, in solitude and in the darkness of the night, and experienced His delights. 

In short, there is no mention of material food in this verse. And if someone were to object that this spiritual food had already been tasted by virtuous men in this world, and that therefore it cannot be said that it is a blessing never seen or heard of in this world, nor ever imagined by the human mind, the answer would be that there is no contradiction, because this verse does not mean that the dwellers of Paradise are granted the blessings of this world. What they receive in this world, through the realisation of the Divine, are blessings of the afterlife, of which they receive a token to stimulate their eagerness to enter Paradise. 

It is to be borne in mind that the divine person does not belong to this world, and for this reason the world hates him. He belongs to the heavens, and receives heavenly blessings. The man of this world receives worldly favours, and the man of heaven receives heavenly graces. It is true, therefore, that these blessings are hidden from the ears, hearts, and eyes of the men of this world; but he whose worldly life is at an end, and who drinks of the spiritual cup from which in the next life he will drink physically, will remember having drunk of it in his former life. It is also true that he will consider that these blessings are hidden from the ears, hearts and eyes of the men of this world. Since he was in the world though he was not of the world, he will also testify that the bounties of heaven are not of this world, and that he does not see such blessings in the world, nor perceive them with his ear or with his mind. He perceived a taste of the blessings of the afterlife, blessings which were not of this world, but a foreshadowing of the world to come, with which he had relation, but which had no connection with the life of this world. 

(lpbD) - God's peace and blessings be upon him. 

(To be continued in the next instalment, number 21, on three Quranic perceptions regarding the Afterlife).