Chapter 2 - Resurrection
2. Resurrection - Introduction
...Yet man still wants to deny what is ahead of him, asking, 'So when is the Day of Resurrection?' But when the eyesight is dazzled, and the moon is eclipsed, and the sun and moon are fused together, on that Day man will say, 'Where can I run?' No indeed! There will be no safe place. That Day the only resting place will be your Lord. (Surat al-Qiyama: 5-12)
Faith in the Hereafter
Faith in the hereafter is one of the most important pillars of faith. In the first surah of the Qur'an, after His attributes, the "All-Merciful" and the "the Most Merciful", Allah states that "He is the King of the Day of Judgment" (Surat al-Fatiha: 3). In the third verse of the next surah, it is stated that believers are "...those who have faith in the Unseen..." (Surat al-Baqara: 3)
This concept of "the Unseen" also includes rising from the dead after death, the Day of Resurrection, paradise and hell, in brief, everything related to the hereafter. Indeed, in the 4th verse of Surat al-Baqara, with the words "...they are certain about the hereafter", the importance of faith in the hereafter is reminded once more.
The faith in the hereafter as defined in the Qur'an provides strong evidence for the sincerity and truthfulness of a believer. One having faith in the hereafter has already reposed unconditional faith in Allah, in His Book and in His messenger. Such an individual knows that Allah has power over all things and that His words and promises are true. Consequently, he never harbors doubts about the hereafter. Before seeing and witnessing these facts, he puts his faith in them as if he has already seen them. This is the natural consequence of the faith and trust he puts in Allah and the wisdom granted to him. An unshakeable faith in the hereafter, purified of all forms of doubts, embraces faith in the existence of Allah as well as in His attributes, as explained in the Qur'an, and complete trust in and submission to Him. This faith also makes one know Allah and appreciate Him as is proper. This is the faith Allah considers to be precious.
Having true and complete conviction is possible with a committed faith in the hereafter. In many parts of the Qur'an, Allah reveals the unbelievers' denial of the hereafter and their indecision about its realization. In fact, the majority of these are people who believe in the existence of Allah. However, what misleads them most is not the existence of Allah but His attributes. Some believe Allah initially created everything and then left human beings to their own devices. Some, on the other hand, hold that Allah created man, but that it is the individual himself who determines his own fate. Another group maintains that Allah does not know the inner thoughts and secrets of man. Some others believe in the existence of Allah, but reject the idea of religion. Allah reveals about the holders of this false conviction as follows:
They do not measure Allah with His true measure when they say, 'Allah would not send down anything to a mere human being.' (Surat al-An'am: 91)
As revealed in the verse, rather than a total denial of the existence of Allah, "not measuring Allah with His true measure" and accordingly, the denial of the hereafter, underlie faithlessness. Indeed, the proportion of people refusing to accept the existence of the Creator is rather low and many of them often entertain doubts about their convictions. One finds extensive reference to people who ascribe partners to Allah and deny rising from the dead, the Judgment Day, paradise, hell and to all the details and rationales pertaining to faith in the hereafter.
Although the hereafter is a fact which cannot be perceived through the five senses, Allah created it along with countless pieces of evidence so that our minds might easily have a grasp of it. As a matter of fact, as a requisite for passing the test of this world, one should perceive this fact, not through the five senses, but with wisdom and as a matter of conscience. Any average person, after some contemplation, easily recognizes that everything in his environment, including himself, could not have come into existence as a result of pure coincidence but rather by the exercise of the superior might, knowledge, will and control of our Creator. Then, he consequently comprehends that the creation of the hereafter is easy for Allah and that it is the result of Allah's wisdom and justice.
Although this is so apparent, one who is rebellious against the commandments of Allah, would dislike the idea of rising from the dead. As one who spends his life on satisfying his vain desires, he would not be willing to stand before Allah to give an account of the deeds he engaged in throughout his life. That is why, despite having a thorough grasp of the existence of Allah, he would choose to suppress the voice of his conscience and deceive himself. Being confined in heedlessness, an unbeliever starts to make unwise, inconsistent and irrational comparisons without any long-term considerations, just to deny the resurrection and the hereafter. In the Qur'an one of such comparisons made by the unbelievers is revealed thus:
He makes likenesses of Us and forgets his own creation, saying, 'Who will give life to bones when they are decayed?' (Surah Ya sin: 78)
However, this question, asked merely to escape reality and bolster self-deceit, has an explicit answer. Allah reveals:
Say 'He Who made them in the first place will bring them back to life. He has total knowledge of each created thing.' (Surah Ya sin: 79)
In the Qur'an, Allah states that the making of such inconsistent comparisons is an attribute peculiar to unbelievers:
Evil are the ways of those who do not have faith in the hereafter. But most sublime are the ways of Allah. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat an-Nahl: 60)
Some, on the other hand, attempt to justify their stance by providing some so-called explanations. However every word they say reveals their foolishness more. Allah says the following in the Qur'an about such people:
They will say, 'Are we to be restored to our former state? When we have become decayed, worm-eaten bones?' They say, 'That will clearly be a fruitless restoration!' (Surat an-Nazi'at: 12)
In Surat an-Nahl, the persistence of the unbelievers in denying the hereafter is revealed as follows:
They swear by Allah with their most earnest oaths that Allah will not raise up those who die, when, on the contrary, it is a binding promise on Him; but most people do not know it. (Surat an-Nahl: 38)
Taking their whims and desires as their gods, these people veil their consciences and deceive themselves. Allah reveals the nature of these people who deny the existence of the hereafter:
We created many of the jinn and mankind for hell. They have hearts they do not understand with. They have eyes they do not see with. They have ears they do not hear with. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware. (Surat al-A'raf: 179)
In another verse in the Qur'an, the situation of these people is described as follows:
Have you seen him who takes his whims and desires to be his god—whom Allah has misguided knowingly, sealing up his hearing and his heart and placing a blindfold over his eyes? Who then will guide him after Allah? So will you not pay heed?
The Reality of the Worldly Life
Unbelievers have doubts about rising from the dead and the hereafter, however these are the truths of the life of this world.
Sleep and dreams are important comparisons for death and rising from the dead. One who insistently denies that he will rise from the dead after death and constantly escapes from the thought of death, is in fact not aware that he experiences death every night in his sleep and likewise rises from the dead in the morning when he wakes up. The account provided in the Qur'an of sleep is of great help in understanding the subject.
Allah takes back people's selves when their death arrives and those who have not yet died, while they are asleep. He keeps hold of those whose death has been decreed and sends the others back for a specified term. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat az-Zumar: 42)
In the verses above, the state of sleeping is referred to as "death". No significant distinction is made between "death" and sleep. Sleep is the departure of the human soul from the body that it occupies while it is awake. In dreaming, on the other hand, the soul acquires a totally different body and starts to perceive a totally different setting. Most of the time we cannot discern that this is a dream. We feel fear, regret, and pain, we become excited, or experience pleasure. In our dreams, we feel very assured that what befalls us is real and we often give the similar responses as we give when we are awake.
If it were technically possible to intervene from outside and tell the dreamer that what he saw were mere illusions, he would simply ignore this warning or even would not believe. However, in reality, these perceptions have no material correlates in the external world and what we experience in our dreams is the sum of the images and perceptions which Allah projects to our souls.
The most important point we need to keep in mind is the fact that the same Divine law still applies when we wake up. Allah, in the Qur'an, affirms that dreams are under His will and control as stated in the verse: "Remember when Allah showed them (the unbelievers) to you in your dream as only a small band. If He had shown them to you as a great army, you would have lost heart and quarreled about the matter; but Allah saved you. He knows what your hearts contain." (Surat al-Anfal: 43). The verse, "Remember when Allah made you see them as a few when you met them, and also made you seem few in their eyes. This was so that Allah could settle a matter whose result was preordained. All matters return to Allah." (Surat al-Anfal: 44) provides clear evidence that the same law applies to daily life. The fact that the perceptions and images we have of matter are entirely subject to the will and creation of Allah and that apart from them, there is no existence in the external world is stated in the following verse:
There was a sign for you in the two parties which met face to face, one party fighting in the Way of Allah and the other unbelievers. You saw them as twice their number with your own eyes. Allah reinforces with His help whoever He wills. There is instruction in that for people of insight. (Surah Al 'Imran:13)
Just as is in the case of dreams, what we experience in the course of daily life are images projected to our souls by Allah, along with the feelings He makes us perceive. Images and actions pertaining to our bodies as well as those of other beings exist because Allah creates the related images and perceptions frame by frame. This fact is explained in the Qur'an:
You did not kill them; it was Allah Who killed them; and you did not throw, when you threw; it was Allah Who threw: so He might test the believers with this excellent trial from Him. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Surat al-Anfal: 17)
The same Divine law applies to the creation of the hereafter and the images and perceptions related to it. When death comes, all relations with this world and the body are broken. The soul, however, is eternal by Allah's will. Transition from this world to the hereafter is no different from waking up from sleep and proceeding with daily life.
With resurrection, a new life begins in the hereafter with a new body. Allah, the Creator of infinite images, voices, odors, tastes and feelings pertaining to this life, will, in like manner, create infinite images and feelings of paradise and hell. The creation of all these is easy for Allah:
...When he decides on something, He just says to it, 'Be!' and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)
Another fact to be noted is that just as life in this world appears in sharper relief than dreams, so does the hereafter as compared to life in this world. Likewise, just as dreams are short compared to this life, so also is this life as compared to the hereafter. As known, time is a relative concept. This is a fact which is verified by science today. In dreaming, an event assumed to go on for hours, lasts only for a few seconds. Even the longest dream is of only a few minutes duration. Yet, the one who has the dream assumes he has most probably spent days experiencing it. Allah reveals in the Qur'an the relativity of time:
The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is fifty thousand years. (Surat al-Ma'arij: 4)
He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth. Then it will again ascend to Him on a Day whose length is a thousand years by the way you measure. (Surat as-Sajda: 5)
Similarly, a person spending long years in this world actually lives a short life based on the time concept in the hereafter. The following conversation during the judgment in the hereafter is a good example of this:
He (Allah) will say, 'How many years did you tarry on the earth?' They will say, 'We tarried there for a day or part of a day. Ask those able to count!' He will say, 'You only tarried there for a little while, if you did but know! Did you suppose that We created you for amusement and that you would not return to Us?'(Surat al-Mu'minun: 112-115)
Since this is the case, it is evident that risking one's eternal life in return for this temporary one is an unwise choice. This becomes more clear when one considers the shortness of the worldly life in comparison to the hereafter.
To sum up, everything we experience in this world is nothing but sensations projected to man's soul by Allah. The body is also nothing but an image which Allah projects to man's soul. Allah changes the images whenever he wishes. When one dies, the veil over the eyes is removed and then one realizes that death is not disappearance as one had believed. This is stated in the Qur'an as follows:
The throes of death come revealing the truth. That is what you were trying to evade! The Trumpet will be blown. That is the Day of the Threat. Every soul shall come attended by one who will drive it on, and another to testify against it. One will say: 'You were heedless of this, so now We have stripped you of your covering and today your sight is sharp.' (Surah Qaf: 19-22)
Unbelievers thereby attain a better comprehension of the truth and this is revealed in the Qur'an as follows:
They will say, 'Alas for us! Who has raised us from our resting-place? This is what the All-Merciful promised us. The Messengers were telling the truth.' (Surah Ya sin: 52)
From then on, the unbeliever starts to experience great regret—the greatest of all regrets.