The philosophy of Islam’s teachings (21)

Three Quranic perceptions regarding the Afterlife 

It should be noted that the Holy Quran has set forth three perceptions regarding the conditions of the afterlife, which we will now discuss. 

First insight 

The Holy Quran has repeatedly stated that the afterlife is not a new phenomenon, and all its manifestations are reflections of this life. It says, for example:

"And We have fastened to every man's neck the account of his deeds; and on the Day of Resurrection We will bring out for him a book which he will find wide open" (17:14). 

In this verse, the word "bird" is used as a metaphor denoting actions, because every action, good or bad, flies away like a bird as soon as it is done, and the joy or sorrow felt in doing it ends, leaving only its trace, deep or light, in the heart. 

The Quran expounds the principle that every human action leaves its hidden imprint in the heart of the doer, and attracts an appropriate divine reaction that preserves the evil or virtue of that action. Its imprint is engraved on the heart, face, eyes, ears, hands and feet of the doer. This is the hidden record that will manifest in the afterlife. 

Concerning the dwellers of Paradise, The Holy Quran says:

"Think of the day when you will see believing men and women with their light running before them and on their right hands" (57:13). 

Elsewhere, concerning the wicked, he says: 

"The mutual competition to amass wealth has distracted you. You even went to the graveyards. No! You will soon know. Again, No! Soon you shall know. No! If you had the knowledge of certainty. You would indeed see Hell in this very life. Alas, verily you shall see it with the eye of certainty. Then, on that day, you will be called to account for material favours". (102:2-9). 

That is, the desire to increase worldly possessions seduces you to the grave. Do not set your hearts on the world. You will soon come to know the vanity of your occupations; I repeat, you will soon come to realise how wrong you were in pursuing the world. Had you possessed the certainty of knowledge you would surely see Hell in this very life. But you will see it with the certainty of sight in your middle state (Barzakh). Then you will be called to account on the Day of Judgement and torment will be imposed on you and you will know Hell through your experience.

Three kinds of knowledge 

In these verses, the Exalted God points out very clearly that for the wicked Hell begins invisibly in this world, and that if they were to reflect they would see Hell in this very life. Here God the Exalted indicates three different kinds of knowledge: knowledge by certainty of reason, knowledge by certainty of vision, and knowledge by certainty of experience. This could be explained as follows: when a person sees a column of smoke in the distance, his mind deduces that smoke and fire are inseparable, and therefore where there is smoke there will also be fire. This constitutes knowledge by certainty of reason. As he comes closer, he sees the flames of the fire - and this constitutes the knowledge by certainty of vision. If he were to enter the fire, he would gain knowledge by certainty of experience. In these verses, God the Exalted states that knowledge with certainty of the existence of Hell can be acquired in this life by the use of reason, while knowledge by the certainty of vision will be acquired in Barzakh, the intermediate state between death and judgement, and on the Day of Judgement this knowledge will be proven by the certainty of experience. 

Three conditions 

At this point it is worth noting that according to The Holy Quran there are three states of existence. 

The first is the world, called the first creation, and is the state of striving. In this world man performs good or bad deeds. After the resurrection, the virtuous will continue their progress in goodness, but not as a result of human effort, but by the grace of God. 

The second state is the intermediate state called Barzukh. In the Arabic language, Barzukh denotes something situated between two other things. As this state is situated between the first creation and the resurrection, it is called Barzukh. This word has always been used to denote an intermediate state. Therefore, this word comprises a great occult testimony in favour of the existence of the intermediate state. I have established in my book Minanur Rahman that the words of Arabic are words from the mouth of God, and that Arabic is the only language of the Holy God, the most ancient language, the source of all wisdom, the mother of all languages and the first and last throne of divine revelation. It is the first throne because Arabic was the word of God, and was with God from the beginning; it was finally revealed to the world, and the peoples made it their respective language. It is the last throne of divine revelation, because the last Book of God, The Holy Quran, was revealed in Arabic. 

Barzukh is an Arabic word composed of Barra and Zakha, which means that the system of attaining merit through action has ended, and has fallen into a hidden state. Barzukh is the state in which the mortal condition of man disappears, and the soul is separated from the body. The body is buried in a pit, and the soul is also buried, as it were, in a pit, as the word Zakha indicates, because it is no longer capable of meriting good or evil, as it could only be through the actions of the body. It is evident that the health of the soul depends on the health of the body. A blow to a certain part of the brain gives rise to amnesia, while an injury to another part of the brain destroys the mental faculties, and gives rise to unconsciousness. Similarly, a brain seizure, a brain tumour, haemorrhage or disease, by causing damage, may lead to insensibility, epilepsy or cerebral apoplexy. Thus our experience teaches us that the soul, divorced from the body, is utterly useless. It is utterly absurd to think that our soul, without a body, could enjoy any bliss. We could imagine it to be so, but reason lends no support to such a hypothesis. We can hardly imagine that the soul, which is altered by the slightest discomfort in the body, can be maintained in perfect condition after the ties which bind it to the body have been severed forever. Does not our daily experience teach us that the health of the body is essential to the health of the soul? When we reach an advanced age, the soul also becomes senile. Old age robs us of the store of our knowledge, as God the Glorious says: 

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"And others who go back to senescence, with the result that they know nothing after they have had knowledge" (22:6). 

These observations of ours are sufficient proof that the bodiless soul is nothing. In favour of this, we may also state that if the bodiless soul had been of any value, God Exalted would have had no reason to establish a relationship between the soul and the mortal body. Moreover, it should be noted that the Exalted God created man to make limitless progress. Therefore, if the soul cannot achieve the least possible progress in this life without the help of the body, neither can we expect it to achieve, on its own and without the help of the body, the unlimited progress of the next life. 

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

(We will continue in the next instalment, number 22, picking up where we left off, since the explanation on this point is sufficiently extensive).